Nicci French

Monday, the lowest point of the week. A day of dark impulses. A day to snatch a child from the streets ... The abduction of five-year-old Matthew Farraday provokes national outcry and a desperate police hunt. And when his face is splashed over the newspapers, psychotherapist Frieda Klein is left troubled: one of her patients has been relating dreams in which he has a hunger for a child. A child he can describe in perfect detail, a child the spitting image of Matthew. Detective Chief Inspector Karlsson doesn't take Frieda's concerns seriously until a link emerges with an unsolved abduction twenty years ago and he summons Frieda to interview the victim's sister, hoping she can stir hidden memories. Before long, Frieda is at the centre of the race to track the kidnapper. But her race isn't physical. She must chase down the darkest paths of a psychopath's mind to find the answers to Matthew Farraday's whereabouts. And sometimes the mind is the deadliest place to lose yourself.

Blue Monday

In this new heart-pounding standalone from the internationally bestselling author that People calls "razor sharp," a single mother suspects her young daughter has witnessed a horrible crime when she draws a disturbing picture--but the deadly path to unravel the truth could cost her everything. Maybe Tess is overprotective, but passing her daughter off to her ex and his new young wife fills her with a sense of dread. It's not that Jason is a bad father--it just hurts to see him enjoying married life with someone else. Still, she owes it to her daughter Poppy to make this arrangement work. But Poppy returns from the weekend tired and withdrawn. And when she shows Tess a crayon drawing--an image so simple and violent that Tess can hardly make sense of it----Poppy can only explain with the words, "He did kill her." Something is horribly wrong. Tess is certain Poppy saw something--or something happened to her--that she's too young to understand. Jason insists the weekend went off without a hitch. Doctors advise that Poppy may be reacting to her parents' separation. And as the days go on, even Poppy's disturbing memory seems to fade. But a mother knows her daughter, and Tess is determined to discover the truth. Her search will set off an explosive tempest of dark secrets and buried crimes--and more than one life may be at stake.

The Unheard

In this thrilling standalone from the internationally bestselling author of the Frieda Klein series, a married woman’s affair with her boss spirals into a dangerous game of chess with the police when she discovers he’s been murdered and she clears the crime scene of all evidence. One little secret between a married woman, her lover, and a killer. It should have been just a mid-life fling. A guilty indiscretion that Neve Connolly could have weathered. An escape from twenty years of routine marriage to her overworked husband, and from her increasingly distant children. But when Neve pays a morning-after visit to her lover, Saul, and finds him brutally murdered, their pied-à-terre still heady with her perfume, all the lies she has so painstakingly stitched together threaten to unravel. After scrubbing clean every trace of her existence from Saul’s life—and death—Neve believes she can return to normal, shaken but intact. But she can’t get out of her head the one tormenting question: what was she forgetting? An investigation into the slaying could provide the answer. It’s brought Detective Chief Inspector Alastair Hitching, and Neve’s worst fears, to her door. But with every new lie, every new misdirection to save herself, Neve descends further into the darkness of her betrayal—and into more danger than she ever imagined. Because Hitching isn’t the only one watching Neve. So is a determined killer who’s about to make the next terrifying move in a deadly affair….

A Novel

The Lying Room

In this heart-pounding standalone from the internationally bestselling author that People calls "razor sharp," a woman accused of murder attempts to solve her own case from the confines of prison--but as she unravels the truth, everything is called into question, including her own certainty that she is innocent. Tabitha is not a murderer. She knows she's not. She thinks she's not. She hopes... Tabitha moved back to her childhood hometown in Okeham, England, a few weeks ago, quietly taking up residence in a fixer-upper house. Reclusive and absorbed with home improvement, she hardly had a chance to reacquaint herself with familiar faces around the village. Then her handyman discovers a dead body in her shed. The police arrive to investigate--and shockingly, Tabitha finds herself being placed in handcuffs and taken into custody. It is a mistake. The police and her lawyer will sort it out and let her go. But as Tabitha is shepherded through the system, she becomes less confident of her imminent release. Everything about her past is called into question--her history of depression and medications, her decision to move back to a town she supposedly hated, and of course, her relationship to the victim, Tabitha's former teacher. And most unsettling, Tabitha's own memories of that day are a blur. Waiting passively for justice to run its course is no longer an option, so Tabitha takes matters into her own hands. From the isolation of the correctional facility, she dissects every piece of evidence, every testimony she can get her hands on, matching them against her own recollections and memories from her childhood. The deeper she digs, the more peculiar the case becomes. Her guilt seems undeniable--so much so, that Tabitha begins to question whether she might have committed this horrible act after all. But if she did not, someone has gone to great lengths to make it seem that way. Crackling with suspense and packed with emotion, House of Correction is a subversive twist on a locked-room mystery, perfect for fans of Ruth Ware and Paula Hawkins.

House of Correction

Psychotherapist Frieda Klein thought she was done with the police. But once more DCI Karlsson is knocking at her door. A man's decomposed body has been found in the flat of Michelle Doyce, a woman trapped in a world of strange mental disorder. The police don't know who it is, how he got there or what happened - and Michelle can't tell them. But Karlsson hopes Frieda can get access to the truths buried beneath her confusion. Painstakingly, Frieda uncovers a possible identity for the corpse: Robert Poole, a jack of all trades and master conman. But the deeper Frieda and Karlsson dig into Poole's past, the more of his victims they encounter - and the more motives they find for murder. Meanwhile, violent ghosts from Frieda's own past are returning to threaten her. Unable to discover quite who is telling the truth and who is lying, they know they are getting closer to a killer. But whoever murdered Poole is determined to stay free - and anyone that gets too close will meet the same fate.

Tuesday's Gone

Now that you've read GONE GIRL... Alice Loudon has it all: a devoted boyfriend, a marvelous circle of friends, a challenging job as a research scientist. Then one morning, on her way to work, she exchanges a lingering look with a devastatingly attractive man. Adam Tallis is the essence of every female fantasy--a daring mountain climber who has been hailed as a hero. As a lover, he is more passionate than Alice's wildest imaginings. Soon there isn't anything or anyone she wouldn't give up to stay by his side. Soon all she has is Adam, and life with this stranger will take her to new heights of madness...and fear.

Killing Me Softly

While consulting on the murder of housewife who was hiding a shocking secret, brilliant psychotherapist Frieda Klein is brought closer to a serial killer who has long escaped detection and wonders if she is solving both cases or if she is the victim of her own paranoid, fragile mind.

Waiting for Wednesday

What do you do when your husband dies suddenly in a car accident? How should you react when you learn a mystery woman was by his side? Where do you turn when your perfect marriage is now lying in tatters? For grieving widow Ellie Falkner there is only one option. Find out exactly who Milena Livingstone was & why she was in Greg's car.

What to Do when Someone Dies

When three women with seemingly nothing in common each receive the same death threat, the police begin to dig into their pasts for clues to who is behind the menacing correspondence. By the author of Killing Me Softly. Reprint.

Beneath the Skin

A nerve-tingling and atmospheric thriller from master of suspense Nicci French about two families shattered by tragedy and the secrets that have been waiting decades to be revealed. On the day of Alec Salter's fiftieth birthday party, just before Christmas 1990, his wife Charlotte vanishes. Most of the small English village of Glensted is at the party for hours before anyone realizes Charlotte is missing. While Alec brushes off her disappearance, their four children--especially fifteen-year-old Etty--grow increasingly anxious as the cold winter hours become days and she doesn't return. When Charlotte's coat is found by the river, they fear the worst. Then the body of the Salters' neighbor, Duncan Ackerley, is found floating in the river by his son Morgan and Etty. The police investigate and conclude that Duncan and Charlotte were having an affair before he killed her and committed suicide. Thirty years later, Morgan Ackerley, a successful documentarian, has returned to Glensted with his older brother Greg to make podcast based on their shared tragedy with the Salters. Alec, stricken with dementia, is entering an elder care facility while Etty helps put his affairs in order. But as the Ackerleys ask to interview the Salters, the entire town gets caught up in the unresolved cases. Allegations are made, secrets are revealed, and a suspicious fire leads to a murder. With the podcast making national news, London sends Detective Inspector Maud O'Connor to Glensted to take over the investigation. Resented by her mostly male colleagues, she has no tolerance for either their sexism or their incompetence. And she will stop at nothing to uncover the truth as a new and terrifying picture of what really happened to Charlotte Salter and Duncan Ackerley emerges.

Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter?

Thursday's Child by Nicci French is the fourth novel in the bestselling Frieda Klein series, following Blue Monday, Tuesday's Gone and Waiting for Wednesday. Two crimes, generations apart . . . Twenty years ago teenager Frieda Klein was brutally attacked in her own home. No one believed her - not the police, not her mother, not her friends. She left town, trained as a psychologist and never went back. Now an old classmate has shown up. She wants help with her daughter, who claims to have been attacked at home. An attack eerily similar to the one on Frieda. No one else believes the girl's story. Now - with a school reunion in the offing - Frieda returns to the darkness she fled. To the small town which refused to help her and which hides a terrible secret. Because someone at the reunion knows what happened. And they'll stop at nothing to prevent Frieda discovering the truth . . . Praise for the Frieda Klein series: 'Nicci French's sophisticated, compassionate and gripping crime novels stand head and shoulders above the competition' Sophie Hannah 'Expert in the unguessable twist, supremely skilled at ratcheting up the tension' Easy Living 'French leads the field' Sunday Express 'Brilliantly crafted . . . masterly control of suspense' Daily Mirror 'Magnificent' Evening Standard 'A nerve-jangling and addictive read' Daily Express

A Frieda Klein Novel (4)

Thursday's Child

Nina Landry is supposed to be taking her two children on a Christmas holiday today. But the road away from Sandling Island seems littered with obstacles. Most pressing of all, her 15-year-old daughter, Charlie, has yet to return from a night out... Minute by minute, Nina's unease builds to worry and then panic. Has Charlie run away? Or has something more sinister happened to her? And why will nobody take her disappearance seriously? As a series of half-buried secrets lead Nina from sickening suspicion to deadly certainty, the question becomes less whether she and her daughter will leave the island for Christmas - and more whether they'll ever leave it again.

Losing You

- Nicci French's previous novel, "Land of the Living, was published in Warner hardcover in 5/03 and has over 80,000 copies in print. Film rights were sold to Courtenay Valenti of Warner Bros.- "The Red Room (Mysterious Press, 2001) has 290,000 hardcover and paperback copies in print combined, while "Beneath the Skin (Mysterious Press, 2001), with film rights sold to Casey Silver and his Gone Fishin' productions, has 400,000 copies in combined print.- "Killing Me Softly (Mysterious Press, 1999) was a national bestseller with close to 340,000 hardcover and paperback copies in print combined.

Secret Smile

It started with Monday. But it doesn't end with Sunday. Read Sunday Silence, the new novel in the series that LOUISE PENNY calls "fabulous, unsettling, and riveting" — and brace yourself for the breathtaking series finale in summer 2018. Lover of London, gifted psychologist, frequent police consultant — Frieda Klein is many things. And now she's a person of interest in a murder case. A body has been discovered in the most unlikely and horrifying of places: beneath the floorboards of Frieda's house. The corpse is only months old, but the chief suspect appears to have died more than seven years ago. Except as Frieda knows all too well, he's alive and well and living in secret. And it seems he's inspired a copycat... As the days pass and the body count rises, Frieda finds herself caught in a fatal tug-of-war between two killers: one who won't let her go, and another who can't let her live. Crackling with suspense, packed with emotion, Sunday Silence is a psychological thriller perfect for fans of Elizabeth George and Paula Hawkins.

Sunday Silence

Did a teenager kill her family, or was she framed? You must find the truth . . .Thirteen years ago Hannah Docherty was arrested for slaughtering her family. The police saw an open and shut case and ever since Hannah has been locked up. When psychotherapist Frieda Klein is asked to assess Hannah, she finds a traumatised woman who appears as much a victim as her family. Delving deeper into the case, Frieda uncovers mistakes, inconsistencies and the suggestion that someone has been hiding the truth. Someone who'll do anything to protect themselves . . .

A Frieda Klein Novel (6)

Saturday Requiem

Rich in intrigue, intensity and atmosphere, Friday on my Mind is classic Nicci French - a dark, gripping and sophisticated masterclass in psychological suspense in which nothing is quite what it seems . . . When a bloated corpse is found floating in the River Thames the police can at least sure that identifying the victim will be straightforward. Around the dead man's wrist is a hospital band. On it are the words Dr F. Klein . . . But psychotherapist Frieda Klein is very much alive. And, after evidence linking her to the murder is discovered, she becomes the prime suspect. Unable to convince the police of her innocence, Frieda is forced to make a bold decision in order to piece together the terrible truth before it's too late either for her or for those she loves. Praise for Nicci French: 'Nicci French's sophisticated, compassionate and gripping crime novels stand head and shoulders above the competition' Sophie Hannah 'French leads the field' Sunday Express 'Brilliantly crafted . . . masterly control of suspense' Daily Mirror 'Tense, frightening, gripping' Easy Living 'Dark, nerve-tingling and addictive' Daily Express

A Frieda Klein Novel (Book 5)

Friday on My Mind

Land of the Living

One of the world’s most acclaimed suspense writers, Nicci French delivers a fascinating story of old sins and fresh blood—a riveting thriller perfect for fans of Gilly Macmillan, Jane Shemilt, and Fiona Barton. She hadn’t realized the stabbing was happening, even though it was with her own knife. She’d stolen it and kept it beneath her mattress and brought it with her, tucked in her waistband. But it has all gone wrong… A decade ago, eighteen-year-old Hannah Docherty was arrested for the brutal murder of her family. It was an open-and-shut case, and Hannah's been incarcerated in a secure psychiatric hospital ever since. When psychotherapist Frieda Klein is asked to meet Hannah and give her assessment, she reluctantly agrees. But what she finds horrifies her. Hannah has become a tragic figure, old before her time. And Frieda is haunted by the thought that Hannah might be as much of a victim as her family—that something wasn't right all those years ago. As Hannah's case takes hold of her, Frieda begins to realize that she's up against someone who will go to any lengths to keep the truth from surfacing—even kill again. Utterly compelling and enthralling, Nicci French’s thriller takes readers down a labyrinthine trail of secrets, suspense, and murder.

Dark Saturday

Als het tienermeisje Dora Lennox op woensdagmiddag uit school komt treft ze de voordeur van het huis open aan. Hoewel de auto op de oprit staat, is het stil in huis. Dan doet Dora een verschrikkelijke ontdekking: haar moeder Ruth ligt op de grond, vermoord. Maar wie zou een doodgewone huisvrouw willen vermoorden? En waarom? Inspecteur Karlsson krijgt de zaak toegewezen. Wanneer tijdens het politieonderzoek aan het licht komt dat Ruth Lennox een geheim leven leidde, is haar gezin geschokt. Om het onderzoek te kunnen voortzetten schakelt Karlsson Frieda s hulp in, die hij nu meer nodig heeft dan ooit tevoren. Maar Frieda heeft zo haar eigen problemen. Ze heeft veel moeite om de mislukte aanslag op haar leven te verwerken. En als ze dan ook nog door een van haar patiënten op het spoor van een seriemoordenaar wordt gezet, raakt Frieda steeds dieper verstrikt in een gevaarlijk web. Of is het slechts haar eigen verbeelding die met haar aan de haal gaat? Zal het Frieda lukken het duistere geheim op te lossen voordat ze er zelf door wordt verzwolgen? Wachten op woensdag is, na Blauwe maandag en Dinsdag is voorbij, de derde thriller met Frieda Klein in de hoofdrol. Opnieuw heeft Nicci French een razend spannende en goed geconstrueerde thriller geschreven, waarin het leven van Frieda stapje voor stapje verder wordt blootgelegd.

Wachten op woensdag

On an autumn morning the body of a sixteen-year-old girl is found buried in the garden of a country house in Shropshire. She is Natalie Martello and she has been missing for a quarter of a century. The Memory Gameis a highly sophisticated psychological thriller based around the controversial theme of recovered memory syndrome. It provides a deeply disturbing and original portrayal of how family secrets can tear the most successful lives apart. It is a thriller of rare power.

Nicci French

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