The dark, twisty new domestic suspense from the author of Cuckoo
She’s married to him. But does she know him at all?Claire lives with her family in a beautiful house overlooking the water. But she feels as if she’s married to a stranger – one who is leading a double life. As soon as she can get their son Joe away from him, she’s determined to leave Duncan.But finding out the truth about Duncan’s … leave Duncan.
But finding out the truth about Duncan’s secret life leads to consequences Claire never planned for. Now Joe is missing, and she’s struggling to piece together the events of the night that tore them all apart.
Alone in an isolated cottage, hiding from Duncan, Claire tries to unravel the lies they’ve told each other, and themselves. Something happened to her family … But can she face the truth?
Perfect for fans of Ruth Ware and C. J. Tudor
‘A deftly dark, creepy and disturbing psychological thriller’ LoveReading
‘Great for anyone who loves an enticing thriller’ Marie Claire
‘An eerie page-turner’ Crime Scene Magazine
‘Chilling and heart-rending, a creepy, atmospheric story with a beautifully-drawn, bleak setting and memorably flawed characters’ Roz Watkins
‘Beautifully written, with a chilling mystery at its core, Magpie is a suspenseful and twisty pleasure of a read’ Howard Linskey
‘This eerie tale lingered with me for days after I’d read the final page. I didn’t see the final twist coming!’ Nicola Rayner
‘I could not stop reading this – creepy and compelling. I loved it’ Sarah Ward
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An atmospheric psychological thriller set in the Derbyshire Peak District. Claire seems to have it all – a happy family – husband, son, and dog – living in a beautiful house in the country overlooking the water. But she suspects her husband of having an affair and plans to leave him, taking their son with her. She goes to live in an isolated cottage and then her son goes missing. As the plot unravels, the reader is left wondering what is real and what isn’t. All preparation for the breath-taking climax.
I did end up enjoying this book but it, in my opinion, it just seemed to fall a bit flat. The ending was great and worth getting to but it was slow in parts it felt disconnected and as I was reading I felt like I wanted to rush through to get to the point. The pacing is slightly off which really threw me.
Claire and Duncan’s marriage is in trouble, from the outside it looks like they have it all but the reality itself is far different with Duncans growing coldness and numerous infidelities seeming to be a route cause of a lot of the problems between them.
Her eighteen-year-old son through not diagnosed definitely has an ASD and his additional needs have also piled on the pressure on top of what is already a pressure cooker just waiting to explode.
So this narrates the events in a before and after fashion from both Claire and Duncans POV.
This did keep me turning the pages to discover the truth and I did enjoy the mysterious obscurity of it all as I pieced the puzzle together.
I must confess I did guess the twist so the ending here didn’t really come as a surprise to me but some of the whats and whys were news.
I also realised the further I read that the same story could be interpreted differently depending on who you actually listened to and that this actually was a lot of shades rather than the black and white like I originally thought.
I could kind of see how events had come to pass the way they had, of course, I am in no way excusing it just understanding how they had come to be at the stalement they now were.
Guilt and blame can rot the strongest of foundations and Duncan’s games are almost like a crutch he uses to cope.
So for me, this was a bit repetitive and also a tad slow.
The narrative at times was also overly descriptive and somewhat confusing though it did set a great spooky atmosphere.
I was also left feeling somewhat sad and melancholy after finishing.
One last thought I really liked the inclusion of the son Joe in this: my own son has Aspergers and I really could appreciate a lot of similarities between them.
My son is as obsessive in his interests as Joe was here, he also extremely literal so I got that also.
I did have a few issues with this but it was still an interesting experience.
I voluntary reviewed a copy of Magpie.
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/9460945-bex-beckie-bookworm
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Beautifully written, with a chilling mystery at its core, Magpie is a suspenseful and twisty pleasure of a read.
Chilling and heart-rending, a creepy, atmospheric story with a beautifully-drawn, bleak setting and memorably flawed characters.
This eerie tale lingered with me for days after I’d read the final page. I didn’t see the final twist coming!
I could not stop reading this — creepy and compelling. I loved it.
FIVE STAR REVIEW on Sophie Draper’s newest book “Magpie” to be released 11/28/19. I love the writing style where Sophie goes back and forth from the present to the past. This story is a must read psychological thriller with an amazing ending I did not see coming! After reading this it has shown me how you never really know someone, including your spouse.