How did you and Matthew establish that strong brother and sister bond? Did you spend a lot of time together before the show? Recently, Kelly has again joined journalism. She spends her daytime performing her duties as a journalist and teaching creative writing in college. It is only in the evening and in the spare time that Kelly is able to put her imaginary stories on paper. She is hopeful of continuing to work this way for a few more years before leaving everything else and settling down as a full-time author. As of today, Kelly resides in north London with her loving husband and their beautiful daughters. She considers her family as her biggest strength. The presence of her daughters and husband in her life gives her the motivation to keep going on.

Paul reminds Louisa of a man she knew long ago. Although they are twenty years apart in age, each recognizes that they’ve lived very similar lives. Both are solitary individuals, each losing a parent and becoming dependent on other people to make their lives happier. Paul’s friend Daniel protected him from bullies when they were younger, and when Paul discovers a weakness in his friend, he feels the need to protect him in return. Louisa was obsessed with a man she simply can’t get out of her mind, and when this incredible author blends these two storylines together, the reader can not only see the fireworks, but can feel them, as well. Louisa goes home believing that. Hides in her home waiting for the cops to come, but they don't. Waiting for Adam's band mates to barge in accusing her of his murder, but they don't. Karen is ending her university years and has her future mapped out. But then she meets Biba, who opens doors to a world she's never seen before, and to the type of intense friendship that she's never experienced either. As Karen embarks on this friendship, she collects all kinds of new experiences along the way. At the start of that summer, she could never have predicted just how indelible the mark left by the friendship would turn out to be. These two, scarred and solitary, begin a secret affair. Louisa starts to believe she can again find the happiness she had given up on. But neither of them can outrun his violent past. Most of us have flirted with dangerous situations or people during our college or young adult years, but few pay the price that Karen does. What inspired her story?Why is she hiding? Or more like WHAT is she hiding? We don't know. She has this weird ritual now and then, where she gets herself drunk and watches Adam's videos and listens to his songs and cries. Clearly he's dead, but why is she doing all of this? We don't know. On the other hand, as soon as Louisa sees Paul returning she panics, as there are Adam's stuff lying around and she doesn't want Paul to see them and realize that Louisa loved him due to his resemblance with Adam. What does Louisa do, collect them at one place and burn that down. So we come to the present. Knowing just that Paul is treated as a witness and not as an accomplice to the murder, which murder you ask, yes, I'll get to that. And he'll be getting sent to some place in the meantime until the Trial starts, and that place is where Louisa works, and also hides herself from the world. From an incredible new voice in psychological suspense, a novel about the secrets that remain after a final bohemian summer of excess turns deadly. We all knew Daniel from the snippet of this plot anyway. What surprised me was that Daniel.. seemed like a nice guy. When he saved Paul for the first time, he shouted at those guys asking the very same questions which I wanted to ask, "Why do you go around bullying innocent people?!"

Paul Seaforth is a man fighting with the concepts of loyalty when he is sent to Kelstice Lodge to volunteer in the garden until his friend’s murder trial begins, and he must take the stand as the “star witness.” but - yeah- this book - a great diversion, definitely captivating, good characters. i don't know that i would encourage anyone to own it, but it would be an excellent library loaner. it is a fairly uncomplicated story about cause and effect, with some odd human behavior thrown in. just a lot of me second-guessing the characters with "why didn't she..." and "but why not simply..." I liked Paul, I loved his story and I'd have actually preferred the book if it was just a more detailed story of him. He was engaging and honest and I really felt for him in his plight. It could have been expanded on so more and I felt let down by that.Is any part of this novel autobiographical, or is it wholly imagined? Would you say that you were—or are—more like Karen or Biba? i hope not. i hope secret history is every bit as good as i remember it, and the haters are the same people who hate anything that falls into that "ambitious without being highbrow" category. if it wasn't good, why would there be so many people trying to imitate it?

Daniel is quiet. Without any friends. And Paul soon realises Daniel has knowledge but he is an illiterate. He can't read or write. So they make a deal. Paul will be helping him manage his life being an illiterate, and Daniel will be his bodyguard, watching out for him whenever he is in trouble. What about Daniel's trial? What about Paul's poor mother? She's already expecting, how did she feel she's about give birth to a new life knowing her first born is no more?At one point in the novel, Karen turns the tables on Alison Larch, a television journalist she suspects of investigating Rex, and interrogates her on her current roster of work. In what other ways did you draw upon your own experiences as a journalist? Finally, could you share your top three tips for writers who want to write a psychological thriller? Despite the slow build-up, Kelly makes it very clear that nothing good can come from these dynamics. And whilst I did predict a major part of the “twist” (I read A LOT of these mysteries), I was still invested to watch the slow descend into disaster as both Karen and Rex act as if remote-controlled by Biba’s destructive hand. I love a good character study, and the way poor Karen gets drawn into the Capel siblings’ world was well executed. I related to some of Karen’s fascination with the Capel’s lives – “straight A student falls for more exciting personalities” is a theme that really does play out in real life. A wonderful premise for a novel that is part character study and part domestic thriller and will undoubtedly stun some readers with its twist. I liked the pacing and the story but I did have a problem with characterisation. I can't understand why Karen is attracted to Biba. She is so spoilt, whiny, selfish and pretentious. I didn't get it at all. She treats Rex like absolute crap. And Rex - what a complete doormat. What Biba did was beyond stupid and she should have paid the price for it in the first place. Stupid little girl - you would think Karen would know better than that. And how did Rex think he could just go through life without a job? Odd.

Anyway. When Paul informs her with all this information, hoping that Louisa will be super happy knowing she isn't a murderer after all. Knowing she won't have to hide anymore... Biba is a bohemian, an aspiring actress looking for a German coach. Karen speaks the language, and they embark on a friendship filled with parties, drugs, artistic people, and what Karen feels is freedom from her normal, dull life. Biba’s brother, Rex, tries to look out for them, but Biba is a force of nature. And we won't know any of it, what Louisa is hiding or how/why did the murder happen to which Paul was a witness, until half of the book. And the half was all about Paul and Louisa meeting and getting to know each other. And also having a relationship! Nothing is off the table as long as it’s done well. Psychological thrillers are littered with duplicitous husbands and amnesia but if the characterisation is strong and the sentences work hard and the plotting is skilful then you can get away with it. The only thing I really can’t stand is laziness: novels concocted from tropes rather than coming from the heart. I usually find my research enraging rather than upsetting, and I let that power me through the writing. Once the research is done, though, I don’t let the subject matter get to me otherwise I’d end up writing a polemic, not a thriller. The threat to my own wellbeing is far more likely to come from my own plot holes than anything else. I’m a master at painting myself into corners.What can Paul even do, run for his (and Louisa's) life as fast as he could and make sure Louisa survives the impending explosion. He makes it. She's alive. Or at least till that point. it gets points for having the central character named karen. and having her be a genius of languages. but a lot of it is just a secret history tongue and groove DIY project. brilliant underachievers? crumbling mansion? wealthy layabouts sponsoring a poor friend?? mysterious happenings? moral blurriness? alcohol and drug anesthesia? Martin Edwards is the 2020 recipient of the CWA Diamond Dagger, the highest honour in UK crime writing. His latest book is The Life of Crime, a history of the genre, while his latest series of novels features Rachel Savernake and is set in the 1930s. He has received the CWA Dagger in the Library, awarded by UK librarians for his body of work. He is President of the Detection Club, consultant to the British Library’s Crime Classics, and former Chair of the CWA. His contemporary whodunits include The Coffin Trail, first of eight Lake District Mysteries and shortlisted for the Theakston’s Prize for best crime novel of the year. The Arsenic Labyrinth was shortlisted for Lakeland Book of the Year. The Golden Age of Murder won the Edgar, Agatha, H.R.F. Keating and Macavity awards, while The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books also won the Macavity and was nominated for four other awards. He has also received the CWA Short Story Dagger, the CWA Margery Allingham Prize, a CWA Red Herring, and the Poirot award “for his outstanding contribution to the crime genre”. Howdunit, another award-winning book, is about 'crafting crime', which is the title of his online writing course.