Andrea Mara is an amazing storyteller and weaves a thoroughly enjoyable tale where you think you know what’s happening and then BAM! a plot twist throws everything you thought you knew out of the window! The characters in Hide and Seek are hiding so many secrets from each other that I learned to trust no one. And Joanna also has a past she doesn’t want to reveal, not even to her family, and is much closer to the truth about what happened to Lily than she wants to admit! But the whole community needs to look within and Joanna may be the catalyst needed to solve the mystery once and for all. You made the huge and very brave decision to try to make a living writing in 2015, and have been very successful. Knowing what you know now, how would you advise anyone finding themselves in a similar position? Joanna is curious, has some time on her hands, and draws somewhat tenuous links to her own childhood. So unfolds the tale of two timelines, interweaving the past, the present and the secrets of the residents of Rowanbrook. This is very hard to put down, it’s very smart and keeps you guessing to the end, the characterisation is masterful although there are a bunch of them to get your head around. Overall, an unpredictable, riveting read from start to finish. Your first book All Her Fault tapped into every parent's nightmare with the disappearance of Marissa's son. What made you choose this subject?

Alongside the tension you could cut with a knife and those whiplash inducing plot twists the book is full of characters that are relatable. Some you will see in yourself, others are that annoying neighbour a few doors over that never smiles, remember that family down the road that seem to have it all or even that cluster of snotty Mummies at the school gates. We all know these characters, whether we love or hate them, it becomes ridiculously hard not to become invested in them. Having read countless domestic suspense novels about a child gone missing, I found this one to be refreshingly different and a cut above the rest. Andrea's latest book, Hide and Seek, was published by Bantam Press in August 2022. You can find Hide and Seek and all Andrea's books on our catalogue.Thanks so much to the author Andrea Mara, publishers Bookouture and Netgalley.co.uk for the opportunity to read it prior to it's publication on August 4th 2022. Wow, I absolutely bloody loved this extremely well-written, cleverly plotted mystery/thriller that had me hooked in and captivated from the spine-chilling opening sentence right through to the satisfying concluding dash of poetic justice.' May 1985: Lily Murphy (age 3) goes missing playing hide and seek in the woods near her home in South County Dublin (‘SoCoDu’) Set in a leafy suburb in Dublin, Lily Murphy disappears in 1985 while playing the age-old favourite children’s game of hide and seek. Many years later, a new family has moved the house once occupied by the Murphy family. When Joanna realises that Lily once lived there, she is immediately overcome with an awful sense of dread that she just can’t shift. She thinks she knows that happened to the little girl and if the truth comes out, her world will also be turned upside down. As a reader, I love twists and surprising reveals, so as a writer, my instinct is to surprise the reader. If there are three suspects, I want the reveal to show it was someone else entirely, but someone that makes perfect sense, an ‘aha’ moment where everything falls into place, and suddenly it’s so obvious. It might be one big twist or a series of smaller twists or a reveal that’s unexpected but satisfying. The twist has to fit the story – I don’t want to add something just for the sake of having a big twist if it doesn’t actually make sense.

I couldn’t work out the solution to the mystery for most of the book, even at that I only deduced part of it! I’m not slipping, it’s just a particularly good mystery! 😅 A book I love is We Begin At The End by Chris Whitaker. It’s got everything – an incredible protagonist in thirteen-year-old Duchess Day Radley, a mystery, past secrets, family drama, tragedy, comedy, and a satisfying ending. Do you enjoy a multi layered, slow burner psychological thriller where are you are so darned into it you can’t put it down? Where are you scratch your head trying to figure out the puzzle exercising every ounce of grey matter desperate to figure it out and coming up with all sorts of theories? When the answers come it is so not what you had in mind but it’s so well thought out in a cleverly executed executed plot? Look no further, Andrea Mara is the author for you.

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Andrea Mara has perfected her own south Dublin version of domestic noir where secrets are buried under manicured lawns and expensively paved patios. In Mara's world no one, from the babysitter to the new neighbour to the smiling guests at a garden drinks party can be considered above suspicion." - Sinéad Crowley Years later, Joanna moves into a new house. It seems perfect in every way, until she learns that Lily Murphy used to live here. A lot of thriller writers in recent years seem to be fans of the slow burn approach and often that can leave a reader underwhelmed. The opening section of Hide and Seek immediately grabs hold of you, slaps you in the face and leaves you cast aside agonising over what's to come. Andrea Mara is a Sunday Times and Irish Times top ten bestselling author, and has been shortlisted for a number of awards, including Irish Crime Novel of the Year. She lives in Dublin, Ireland, with her husband and three young children, and also runs multi-award-winning parent and lifestyle blog, OfficeMum.ie. As Joanna unravels the secrets at the heart of this close-knit community, her own dark past begins to resurface. Because she thinks she knows what really happened to Lily - and if the truth gets out, it might be her undoing...”

I found myself on the edge of my seat with Joanna’s anxiety and her fear about being responsible for Lily’s death. She appears to be a good person, but as her lies surface, I found myself curious about what she was hiding. This poor woman had such a bad start in life I understand why she chose to rather lie about her past – I might have done the same. She gained my respect when she decided not to destroy lives with a truth best left unknown. I’ve loved her previous books so I was delighted to get an advanced copy of Hide and Seek, prior to its release in August. Close your eyes. Count to ten. And when you open them, your child is gone... A top ten bestselling, twisty and compelling thriller about a little girl who goes missing during a game of hide and seek.

I raced through this at high speed, enjoying the ride through Andrea's twists and turns.' * Observer *