Who Did You Tell?

A Novel

By: Lesley Kara

Narrated by: Georgia Maguire, Sian Brooke

Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's Summary

A recovering alcoholic’s dark secrets catch up with her in this gripping novel of psychological suspense from the internationally best-selling author of The Rumor.

“Instantly immersive, then intriguing, then insanely suspenseful, then...the truth. Believe me, Lesley Kara knows what she’s doing.” (Lee Child)

We said to keep it a secret, that no one needed to know.

Astrid is newly sober and trying to turn her life around. Having reluctantly moved back in with her mother, in a quiet seaside town away from the temptations and darkness of her previous life, she is focusing on her recovery. She’s going to meetings. Confessing her misdeeds. Making amends to those she’s wronged. If she fills her days, maybe she can outrun the ghosts that haunt her. Maybe she can start anew. 

But someone is tormenting me now. Someone knows where I am and what I’ve done.

Someone knows exactly what Astrid is running from. And they won’t stop until she learns that some mistakes can’t be corrected. Some mistakes, you have to pay for....

The question is: Who did you tell?

©2020 Lesley Kara (P)2020 Random House Audio

Suspenseful tale zigzags…

Author Lesley Kara pens an exceptional thriller that grabbed me from the first chapter and never let go. Narrators Georgia Maguire and Sian Brooke are spot-on and perfectly paired. Kara leads us on a emotionally complexellent trip encompassing an oddly unique cast of characters and a jaw-dropping ending I never saw coming. Who can be trusted? “Moderation management?” I found it hard to take a break. After seven years with Audible, this is one of many audictive listens I have in my vast library; I’ve built quite an awesome collection. Highly recommended. Kudos to Audible for making this winner available. Worth a treasured credit!

Twists, Oh my!

Great story. Twists til the end. I was riveted throughout the entire read. I'm definitely going to find more books by Kara

Baskerville Book Reviews

This book is somewhat difficult to recommend and made me understand why content warnings are so important to some people.

I purchased this book in May 2021 and as I was listening to it for the second time in July 2021, I couldn’t figure out why the hell I purchased a book about a struggling alcoholic. I often add books to my wish list, then forget about them until I have the funds, credits, points, whatever to purchase. It wasn’t until I re-read the summary for this review that I understood why. It says Astrid is a struggling addict, but there are many kinds of junkies out there and I didn’t think of Alcohol when I read that.

The second reason I find this book difficult to recommend is because it barely feels like a Mystery. Don’t get me wrong, it’s 100% a Mystery novel, but it really feels as if that aspect of it is a background story in Adtrid’s journey as a struggling recovering alcoholic. Astrid really doesn’t do any detective work to figure out who is tormenting her or why and when you think it’s finally figured out, you realize it’s not. But that will likely just leave you in disbelief that so many things could be going on parallel to each other. I wish I could elaborate more, but I try to keep my reviews spoiler-free.

If you’re somebody who has had issues with alcoholism, then this book probably isn’t for you. It’s mentioned constantly and I found myself wishing I had some wine or rum the entire time I was listening to it. If you’re the type of person who likes to figure out the mystery as you read along, this book doesn’t offer many clues and I think will leave most people lost.

The book is well written and the voice acting is in the audiobook is incredibly well done. Despite my complaints, you might think I’d suggest not to read this. But my suggestion is quite the opposite. My struggles with the alcoholism bits aside, I did enjoy this book both times that I listened. Less for the Mystery and more for the reliability of Astrid and her struggles.

It Keeps You Listening

There were parts that were a bit boring but for the most part the book kept you on your toes. There are a lot of twists and turns to keep it interesting. It has a great ending.

Good slow burning psychological suspense novel.

This read was true to the psychological suspense genre for me. It's about a newly sober alcoholic in recovery, who has just gotten out of treatment and moved in with her mother, away from her old life in London. Astrid is the main character, she struggles to live a new life without alcohol and drugs. Astrid is going to Alcoholics Anonymous regularly, and is trying hard to straighten out her life and build a new relationship with her mother, who distrusts Astrid because of her past and her constant lying and broken promises. Astrid struggles to make new friends as well because of her terrible past. Someone in her old neighborhood knows about Astrids past, her secrets, and is following her and leaving her nasty threatening notes. But who?
After getting into a couple of chapters I thought this book was going into too much detail, and the pace was set very slow. But as I kept reading, I realized the author was just giving the viewer a very detailed description of what it's really like to be a newly sober alcoholic struggling to live a life without alcohol and drugs. It's very raw and terrifying for an addict to live without mind alternating chemicals that helped them cope with life. There is so much denial; they do not want to face the real truth of their actions of what they have done when they are under the influence. They do things they would never otherwise do when they use. Then the next day when sober they are filled with guilt, shame and remorse and have a hard time dealing with what they have become, so they drink more to forget.
Wow the author was correct in every aspect. I have family members who are in recovery so I've seen first hand what is like. A real psychological nightmare at first until they work through the steps and learn how to live a new life without chemicals.
Good strong story and writing. The suspense is given at a slow but steady pace. Great buildup of the story. You never know who is really Astrid's stalker, and there are many suspects. There were a some good twists in this story... but that ending! You never knew who it was until the end, and you find true evil really exists (at least in this novel!)
This is the first book I've read by Lesley Kara, and I can't wait to go back and read her first novel "The Rumor". Very one credit worthy for me and the narrators did a great job. I highly recommend this slow burning psychological suspense book to anyone who enjoys the genre.