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Clare Mackintosh spent twelve years in the police force, including time on CID, and as a public order commander. She left the police in 2011 to work as a freelance journalist and social media consultant, and now writes full time. She is the founder and director of Chipping Norton Literary Festival, and lives in the Cotswolds with her husband and their three children.
Author photo © Smart Photography
Prepare yourself for an emotional read… full of deep abiding love and hope, there are also parts of this book that caused an intensely physical ache long after I’d finished reading. I don’t want to give too much away, I want you to be able to enter as I did, and experience all that is on offer. So, let me just say that Max and Pip have to make an impossible decision, one that will affect them forever more. The prologue sets the scene perfectly, and I felt a fellow sharp intake of breath at the last sentence before moving to chapter one. This is one of those books where I didn’t make many notes as I read, I was completely caught up in the story. Each character is perfectly placed, their emotions reaching out from the page to touch my heart and soul. There are times when right and wrong do not exist in a clear, comprehensive format and this book successfully shreds presupposition into tiny confetti-like pieces. After I had finished reading, the note at the end by Clare Mackintosh sent goosebumps skittering down my arms. After the End is powerful, provocative, and I can wholeheartedly recommend this extraordinarily beautiful read. I have chosen it as one of my picks of the month and a LoveReading star book.
The police say it was suicide. Anna says it was murder. They're both wrong. One year ago, Caroline Johnson chose to end her life brutally: a shocking suicide planned to match that of her husband just months before. Their daughter, Anna, has struggled to come to terms with their loss ever since. Now with a young baby of her own, Anna misses her mother more than ever and starts to ask questions about her parents' deaths. But by digging up the past, is she putting her future in danger? Sometimes it's safer to let things lie . . . Discover the sensational, gripping new page-turner and NUMBER ONE Sunday Times bestseller from Clare Mackintosh, award-winning author of breakout bestsellers I See You and I Let You Go
'A highly accomplished novel ...arresting ...ingenious' Sunday Times 'Wonderfully sinister' Fiona Barton, author of The Widow When Zoe Walker sees her photo in the classifieds section of a London newspaper, she is determined to find out why it's there. There's no explanation: just a grainy image, a website address and a phone number. She takes it home to her family, who are convinced it's just someone who looks like Zoe. But the next day the advert shows a photo of a different woman, and another the day after that. Is it a mistake? A coincidence? Or is someone keeping track of every move they make ...
Winner of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2016. A hit-and-run in Bristol, a dead five year old and a CID police partnership with a spark between the partners. Good police procedural stuff. Then a first-person narrative girl, Jenna, goes into hiding in Wales and another first-person voice from her past tells a story too. There is so much left hanging, so much you assume and then find it not to be so that enables the mystery to ratchet up the tension. What starts slowly and pretty formulaically suddenly turns and becomes truly compulsive. Great stuff. ~ Sarah Broadhurst May 2015 Debut of the Month
A tragic accident. It all happened so quickly. She couldn't have prevented it. Could she? In a split second, Jenna Gray's world descends into a nightmare. Her only hope of moving on is to walk away from everything she knows to start afresh. Desperate to escape, Jenna moves to a remote cottage on the Welsh coast, but she is haunted by her fears, her grief and her memories of a cruel November night that changed her life forever. Slowly, Jenna begins to glimpse the potential for happiness in her future. But her past is about to catch up with her, and the consequences will be devastating ...
Have you heard about the book that everyone's talking about? 'If I could give this book 10 stars I would' (Reader review) 'This book touched my soul' (Reader review) 'I could not put it down. What a story. What a storyteller' (Reader review) 'This is in my top five books of all time. Absolutely incredible' (Reader review) 'I have never felt so emotionally wrapped up in characters in a book' (Reader review) Powerful, uplifting and full of hope, AFTER THE END is the most moving book you'll read this year - from number one bestseller Clare Mackintosh __________________________ Max and Pip are the strongest couple you know. Only now they're facing the most important decision of their lives - and they don't agree. As the consequences of an impossible choice threaten to devastate them both, nothing will ever be the same again. But anything can happen after the end . . . *********** 'The most moving book you'll read this year' LISA JEWELL 'Life-affirming . . . richly drawn' SUNDAY TIMES 'Compelling and clever, tender and true. I can't stop thinking about it' LIANE MORIARTY 'Heart-wrenching . . . an absolute must-read' MIKE GAYLE 'Put this on the top of your list. You won't regret it' JANE CORRY 'One of the most moving stories I have ever read. It's perfect' JOANNA CANNON
Prepare yourself for an emotional read… full of deep abiding love and hope, there are also parts of this book that caused an intensely physical ache long after I’d finished reading. I don’t want to give too much away, I want you to be able to enter as I did, and experience all that is on offer. So, let me just say that Max and Pip have to make an impossible decision, one that will affect them forever more. The prologue sets the scene perfectly, and I felt a fellow sharp intake of breath at the last sentence before moving to chapter one. This is one of those books where I didn’t make many notes as I read, I was completely caught up in the story. Each character is perfectly placed, their emotions reaching out from the page to touch my heart and soul. There are times when right and wrong do not exist in a clear, comprehensive format and this book successfully shreds presupposition into tiny confetti-like pieces. After I had finished reading, the note at the end by Clare Mackintosh sent goosebumps skittering down my arms. After the End is powerful, provocative, and I can wholeheartedly recommend this extraordinarily beautiful read. I have chosen it as one of my picks of the month and a LoveReading star book.
Don't miss the powerful and page-turning new novel from Clare Mackintosh - AFTER THE END is out now ___________ From bestselling author Clare Mackintosh, A Cotswold Family Life is a humorous, warm memoir of family life in the countryside 'Insightful, funny, absorbing' Prue Leith 'Original yet totally recognisable' Katie Fforde 'Sheer bliss!' Jill Mansell 'Heartfelt and poignant' Sunday Express I have always loved the Cotswolds. I think I loved them even before I found them, in that half-formed ideal one has of where to put down roots. Somewhere peaceful, green, where the road meanders between drystone walls and from town to town, and a strip of blue bursts from brook to river and back again. For 8 years, Clare Mackintosh wrote for Cotswold Life about the ups and downs of life with a young family in the countryside. In this memoir she brings together all of those stories - and more - for the first time. From keeping chickens to getting the WI drunk, longing for an Aga to dealing with nits, Clare opens the door to family life with warmth and humour and heart.
'Another one-more-chapter, stay-up-late sensation' Lee Child 'A work of genius' Joanna Cannon 'No one writes a twist like Clare Mackintosh' Paula Hawkins -------------------------------------- The police say it was suicide. Anna says it was murder. They're both wrong. One year ago, Caroline Johnson chose to end her life brutally: a shocking suicide planned to match that of her husband just months before. Their daughter, Anna, has struggled to come to terms with their loss ever since. Now with a young baby of her own, Anna misses her mother more than ever and starts to ask questions about her parents' deaths. But by digging up the past, is she putting her future in danger? Sometimes it's safer to let things lie . . . Discover the sensational, gripping new page-turner and NUMBER ONE Sunday Times bestseller from Clare Mackintosh, award-winning author of breakout bestsellers I See You and I Let You Go
The police say it was suicide. Anna says it was murder. They're both wrong. One year ago, Caroline Johnson chose to end her life brutally: a shocking suicide planned to match that of her husband just months before. Their daughter, Anna, has struggled to come to terms with their loss ever since. Now with a young baby of her own, Anna misses her mother more than ever and starts to ask questions about her parents' deaths. But by digging up the past, is she putting her future in danger? Sometimes it's safer to let things lie . . . Discover the sensational, gripping new page-turner and NUMBER ONE Sunday Times bestseller from Clare Mackintosh, award-winning author of breakout bestsellers I See You and I Let You Go
The stunning new novel from Clare Mackintosh, the international bestselling author of I Let You Go and I See You.The police say it was suicide.Anna says it was murder.They're both wrong.Last year, Tom and Caroline Johnson chose to end their lives, one seemingly unable to live without the other. Their daughter, Anna, is struggling to come to terms with her parents' deaths, unwilling to accept the verdict of suicide.Now with a baby herself, Anna feels her mother's absence keenly and is determined to find out what really happened to her parents. But as she digs up the past, someone is trying to stop her.Sometimes it's safer to let things lie....
'Tightly-plotted, tense and affecting, Let Me Lie will keep you guessing until the very last line. No one writes a twist like Clare Mackintosh' PAULA HAWKINS 'Brilliantly clever . . . Let Me Lie is a work of genius' JOANNA CANNON 'Let Me Lie is absolutely BRILLIANT. I LOVED it. I think this is Clare Mackintosh's best yet. An engaging, engrossing read' MARIAN KEYES *** The police say it was suicide. Anna says it was murder. They're both wrong. One year ago, Caroline Johnson chose to end her life brutally: a shocking suicide planned to match that of her husband just months before. Their daughter, Anna, has struggled to come to terms with their loss ever since. Now with a young baby of her own, Anna misses her mother more than ever and starts to ask questions about her parents' deaths. But by digging up the past, is she putting her future in danger? Sometimes it's safer to let things lie . . . The stunning, twisty new psychological thriller from number one bestseller Clare Mackintosh, author of I LET YOU GO and I SEE YOU. *** What everyone is saying about LET ME LIE: 'Another one-more-chapter, stay-up-late sensation from Clare Mackintosh. No doubt about it now - she's a major talent' LEE CHILD 'Clare Mackintosh does it again. A brilliantly twisting tale of toxic families' ERIN KELLY 'It's phenomenal, super-twisty and, incredibly, EVEN BETTER than I Let You Go and I See You' JILL MANSELL 'Brilliant. Tense and surprising but heartbreaking and sensitively written . . . I expect no less from Clare but she seems to get better with each novel' GILLIAN McALLISTER 'One word - wow! Compelling, twisty and wickedly good, I loved it!' ALICE FEENEY 'Fantastically twisty, utterly gripping and kept me guessing until the very end' LUCY DIAMOND 'Shocking, dark and brilliant, I loved it!' SAM HEPBURN 'So very clever. Totally absorbing and original' SABINE DURRANT 'Clare Mackintosh has nailed it again. Let Me Lie is an emotional ride with fantastic twists' FIONA BARTON 'Raced through Let Me Lie . . . Inventive, twisting and perfectly controlled' SARAH VAUGHAN 'Let Me Lie is a triumph for Clare Mackintosh and a must read for 2018' LOUISE CANDLISH
'Let Me Lie will keep you guessing until the very last line. No one writes a twist like Clare Mackintosh' Paula Hawkins 'Brilliantly clever . . . Let Me Lie is a work of genius' Joanna Cannon 'I LOVED it. I think this is Clare Mackintosh's best yet. An engaging, engrossing read' Marian Keyes -------------------------------- The police say it was suicide. Anna says it was murder. They're both wrong. One year ago, Caroline Johnson chose to end her life brutally: a shocking suicide planned to match that of her husband just months before. Their daughter, Anna, has struggled to come to terms with their loss ever since. Now with a young baby of her own, Anna misses her mother more than ever and starts to ask questions about her parents' deaths. But by digging up the past, is she putting her future in danger? Sometimes it's safer to let things lie . . . The stunning, twisty new psychological thriller from number one bestseller Clare Mackintosh, author of I LET YOU GO and I SEE YOU. What everyone is saying about Let Me Lie: 'Another one-more-chapter, stay-up-late sensation from Clare Mackintosh. No doubt about it now - she's a major talent' LEE CHILD 'Clare Mackintosh does it again. A brilliantly twisting tale of toxic families' ERIN KELLY 'It's phenomenal, super-twisty and, incredibly, EVEN BETTER than I Let You Go and I See You' JILL MANSELL 'Brilliant. Tense and surprising but heartbreaking and sensitively written . . . I expect no less from Clare but she seems to get better with each novel' GILLIAN McALLISTER 'One word - wow! Compelling, twisty and wickedly good, I loved it!' ALICE FEENEY 'Fantastically twisty, utterly gripping and kept me guessing until the very end' LUCY DIAMOND 'Shocking, dark and brilliant, I loved it!' SAM HEPBURN 'So very clever. Totally absorbing and original' SABINE DURRANT 'Clare Mackintosh has nailed it again. Let Me Lie is an emotional ride with fantastic twists' FIONA BARTON 'Raced through Let Me Lie . . . Inventive, twisting and perfectly controlled' SARAH VAUGHAN 'Let Me Lie is a triumph for Clare Mackintosh and a must read for 2018' LOUISE CANDLISH
'A highly accomplished novel ...arresting ...ingenious' Sunday Times 'Wonderfully sinister' Fiona Barton, author of The Widow When Zoe Walker sees her photo in the classifieds section of a London newspaper, she is determined to find out why it's there. There's no explanation: just a grainy image, a website address and a phone number. She takes it home to her family, who are convinced it's just someone who looks like Zoe. But the next day the advert shows a photo of a different woman, and another the day after that. Is it a mistake? A coincidence? Or is someone keeping track of every move they make ...
THE SENSATIONAL SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER and winner of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2016 A tragic accident. It all happened so quickly. She couldn't have prevented it. Could she? In a split second, Jenna Gray's world descends into a nightmare. Her only hope of moving on is to walk away from everything she knows to start afresh. Desperate to escape, Jenna moves to a remote cottage on the Welsh coast, but she is haunted by her fears, her grief and her memories of a cruel November night that changed her life forever. Slowly, Jenna begins to glimpse the potential for happiness in her future. But her past is about to catch up with her, and the consequences will be devastating . . .
';[A] well-told suspense story...refreshingly realistic.'The New York Times Book Review ';Danger feels real in the brilliant I See YouMackintosh seems destined to do important work for many years to come.'The Washington Post ';Mackintosh allots her characters the perfect amount of back story, allowing them to carry their own weight throughout the investigation. She also casts enough extras to keep readers guessing who could be behind these attacksreaders may find themselves wanting to reread this one.'Associated Press';[A] deliciously creepy tale of urban paranoia.'Ruth Ware, New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in Cabin 10The author of the New York Times bestseller I Let You Go propels readers into a dark and claustrophobic thriller, in which a normal, everyday woman becomes trapped in the confines of her normal, everyday world... Every morning and evening, Zoe Walker takes the same route to the train station, waits at a certain place on the platform, finds her favorite spot in the car, never suspecting that someone is watching her... It all starts with a classified ad. During her commute home one night, while glancing through her local paper, Zoe sees her own face staring back at her; a grainy photo along with a phone number and a listing for a website called FindTheOne.com. Other women begin appearing in the same ad, a different one every day, and Zoe realizes they've become the victims of increasingly violent crimesincluding murder. With the help of a determined cop, she uncovers the ad's twisted purpose...A discovery that turns her paranoia into full-blown panic. Zoe is sure that someone close to her has set her up as the next target. And now that man on the trainthe one smiling at Zoe from across the carcould be more than just a friendly stranger. He could be someone who has deliberately chosen her and is ready to make his next move
When Zoe Walker sees her photo in the classifieds section of a London newspaper, she is determined to find out why it's there. There's no explanation: just a grainy image, a website address and a phone number. She takes it home to her family, who are convinced it's just someone who looks like Zoe. But the next day the advert shows a photo of a different woman, and another the day after that. Is it a mistake? A coincidence? Or is someone keeping track of every move they make . . . I See You is an edge-of-your-seat, page-turning psychological thriller from one of the most exciting and successful British debut talents of 2015
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLEROne of The New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Crime Novels of 2016!The next blockbuster thriller for those who lovedThe Girl on the Trainand Gone Girl...';a finely crafted novel with a killer twist.'(#1New York Timesbestselling authorPaula Hawkins) On a rainy afternoon, a mother's life is shattered as her son slips from her grip and runs into the street... I Let You Go follows Jenna Gray as she moves to a ramshackle cottage on the remote Welsh coast, trying to escape the memory of the car accident that plays again and again in her mind and desperate to heal from the loss of her child and the rest of her painful past. At the same time, the novel tracks the pair of Bristol police investigators trying to get to the bottom of this hit-and-run. As they chase down one hopeless lead after another, they find themselves as drawn to each other as they are to the frustrating, twist-filled case before them. Elizabeth Haynes, author of Into the Darkest Corner, says, ';I read I Let You Go in two sittings; it made me cry (at least twice), made me gasp out loud (once), and above all made me wish I'd written it...a stellar achievement.'
Winner of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2016. A hit-and-run in Bristol, a dead five year old and a CID police partnership with a spark between the partners. Good police procedural stuff. Then a first-person narrative girl, Jenna, goes into hiding in Wales and another first-person voice from her past tells a story too. There is so much left hanging, so much you assume and then find it not to be so that enables the mystery to ratchet up the tension. What starts slowly and pretty formulaically suddenly turns and becomes truly compulsive. Great stuff. ~ Sarah Broadhurst May 2015 Debut of the Month