Her Last Secret

A Gripping Psychological Thriller

By: Barbara Copperthwaite

Narrated by: Katie Villa

Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's Summary

There are some secrets you can never tell.

The last thing to go through Dominique Thomas's head was the image of her teenage daughter's face and her heart lifted. Then the shot rang out.

They were the perfect family. Successful businessman Ben Thomas and his wife Dominique live an enviable life, along with their beautiful children: teenager Ruby and quirky younger daughter Mouse.

But on Christmas Day the police are called to their London home, only to discover a horrific scene: the entire family lying lifeless, victims of an unknown assailant.

But when Ruby's diary is discovered, revealing her rage at the world around her, police are forced to look closer to home for the key to this tragedy.

Each family member harboured their own dark truths - but has keeping their secrets pushed Ruby to the edge of sanity? Or are there darker forces at work?

This dark, gripping psychological thriller will have you holding your breath until the very last minute. Fans of Behind Closed Doors, Sometimes I Lie, and The Girl on the Train will be captivated.

©2017 Barbara Copperthwaite (P)2017 Bookouture

Critic Reviews

"Compelling, claustrophobic and horribly believable - a great read!" (B. A. Paris, author of Behind Closed Doors)

I was never bored... BUT...

This is a tough book to review, because although I was never bored , and although the narrator did a great job , this was collectively the most miserable, angry, and unlikable group of characters I have ever encountered in one story.

I Had To Think On This One..

'Her Last Secret' is a gripping listen in parts. Some parts are rather slow. However, I couldn't figure out why it was deemed 'a psychological thriller' until the very end.

We have a husband having an affair, a wife who's afraid to leave the husband, a misguided teen getting cyber-bullied.. a 'normal' abnormal family with severe problems behind closed doors. As the problems accumulate and tension mounts, the book feels more like a murder-mystery. It's very depressing, and it deals with depressing subject matter.

The end made me go 'Wow..' And, when something makes me do that, it's worth the read. The narrator was fantastic. The book is definitely interesting.. and I would give the story a solid 4 stars.

-Wendi

Had to go all the way to the end!

This story was a tease throughout. I loved it. Enough suspects were introduced to make it impossible for me to guess the ending:) I like that in a who done what story!

How is it so good but so depressing at the same time?

This was a very well written and read book. If you want to feel helpless and depressed this is the book for you. It’s kind of like when an actor is so good at playing a bad guy in a movie or show that you will always see them as that character.... that’s what this book is like. It’s so well written that I do t like it but I also recognize the talent. The ending kind of made up for it but it was only 15 minutes worth. I am truly mixed up about my feelings about this book it’s good because I was so invested in hoping that things would turn around quicker but it’s bad because I’m emotionally drained once I finished it. I’m going to have to mentally prepare for her other books because I’m intrigued to read them. 🙃😏😕

My mind wandered

Would you try another book from Barbara Copperthwaite and/or Katie Villa?

Maybe

Any additional comments?

It was hard for me to focus on this story...it seemed to ramble. After 8 chapters and I still can't get into the story...it's time to turn it off.

I thought I knew the ending!

This was a really good book! I thought it was a predictable ending but was totally surprised, The story line was sad as it went along and I almost stopped listening but picked up and the ending was completely a surprise.

Thrillingly excellent

This book was so good. The twists and turns made for an awesome book!
The book left you ready to read again!

Amazing!

I thought I had this one all figured out.... man was I wrong!!!! Loved this book!!!

Disappointing

While the plot line has potential and is tied up in an interesting way the characters are trite and one dimensional for most of the novel. I found myself rolling my eyes at the mustache-twirling villainy of the father character in particular. While characters are given some redeeming dimension towards the end of the book I was already disinterested and skimmed the last third just to see how it ended (something I’ve never done before with an audiobook). While this may be aimed at young adults the author seems to underestimate their intelligence. Most adults will find it disappointing. The performance is lovely and I couldn’t help but wonder if such a talented voice actor found herself struggling to choke out the material.

Intense

loved it! Really good book. sucked me in from the first chapter and kept my attention throughout.

Absolutely brilliant

Brilliant storyline, brilliantly narrated, perfect in every way. The best book I've listened to in years with a twist I didn't see coming. A totally MUST READ if you like psychological thrillers.

A fabulous read

Excellent loved every minute. A roller coaster of emotions - tears, tantrums, anger, love, hate.

Really average book

Kept waiting for something but nothing came, if your looking for a gripping read I would pick something else in this genre

Slightly disappointing

Not as good a book as I expected from other reviews. Think this was probably because the ending was told at the beginning of the story. The first chapters were very slow and at one stage I was temped to give up but I persevered and it did pick up about three quarters of the way through the story. Quite a good story, just a pity the beginning dragged so much.

Whose Secret?

Certainly not a gripping psychological thriller! Full of one-dimentional characters (apart from little Mouse) and the cliches of overworked husband, acquistive wife with not enough to do and silly young mistress. I stuck with it to the end to see who lived and who died, but was not impressed by the story at all. The narrator did her best but this was not an un-put-downable novel.

Not really what was advertised.

If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

I would have enjoyed a bit more atmosphere. There were very little positives just a sea of catastrophic scenarios and characters just constantly making terrible decisions to the point of it just being very annoying to read. There was so much going wrong in the story that I stopped caring. I skipped through a few of the more self-pitying chapters.

What was most disappointing about Barbara Copperthwaite’s story?

It was sold as a gripping thriller which I felt was misleading. If I had bought this book knowing it would be more of a social drama talking about relationships and family life I'm sure I wouldn't feel as badly towards it. The book had no suspense, not a lot of mystery and it didn't mess with me psychologically so I'm not sure why it's advertised as a gripping psychological thriller. It's not an altogether terrible book, nor do I feel it's badly written, it's just not my cup of tea and I felt it was advertised incorrectly.

I don't like leaving scathing reviews and I don't want to insult anybody, but I feel it's fair to leave my honest review for future customers so they are fully aware of what they're purchasing. This book is about troubled relationships, lack of communications and family/social issues. The murder didn't even feel necessary to the story which is weird.

Have you listened to any of Katie Villa’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Her performance was good.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The performance was good. I felt that the younger characters were realistic and well researched in terms of behaviours and nuance.

Not particularly well written

Entertaining in a trashy sort of way. Predictable and over the top. Wouldn't read again but fine for an easy poolside read or something. Much better books of a similar nature out there.

Very poor characters and utterly boring

This was very poor. The characters were unrealistic and it be honest I couldn’t have cared less what happened

Didn't enjoy this book it was too slow and ended

Didn't enjoy this book. It wasn't very gripping at all! I found it rather boring and the end was a let down! narrator was good!

Her Last Secret review

I loved this book! This was the first audio book I have really enjoyed. The lady reading the story had the most amazing voice and made it enjoyable to listen to.
A great thriller. I couldn't wait to find out what actually happened on Christmas day!