Interestingly, for some time, one of my most-read reviews on this blog was Kathryn Croft’s The Girl With No Past, which I reviewed in October 2015. I’ve subsequently also reviewed Croft’s The Girl You Lost earlier this year so having a chance to read her latest was a no-brainer.

While You Were Sleeping
by Kathryn Croft
Published by Bookouture
on November 16th 2016
Source: NetGalley
Genres: Thriller / Suspense, Psychological Thriller
ISBN: 9781786810946
Pages: 296

Goodreads

Tara Logan lives a quiet life with her husband, Noah, and two children, teenager Rosie and eleven-year-old Spencer.

But her peace is shattered when she wakes in her neighbour Lee’s bed, with no memory of how she got there or what happened between them. And worse – he has been stabbed to death.

Convinced she didn’t kill Lee, Tara stays silent, fearing the truth will rip her family apart.

But as her daughter spirals out of control, and her husband becomes increasingly distant, Tara soon realises that someone in her life knows what really happened to Lee. She must get to the truth before they do.

Firstly you need to know this book is as twisty as the blurb suggests.

It opens with Tara waking in bed (naked) beside her neighbour Lee, before jumping back a day to the events leading up to her arrival at her neighbour’s house; then returning to the point when Tara leaves the bloodied scene and retreats to her house.

We soon learn a bit about Tara’s life. She’s an aspiring painter – though that element felt a little irrelevant. I kept waiting for her painting to play a role in what was unfolding, but I was left hanging in that regard.

We also discover there’s been some tension between Tara and her husband Noah whose work required him to live overseas at some point. The couple are also struggling to deal with 17 year old Rosie who’s had some behavioural issues and is again acting out…. big-time.

Tara waits for the inevitable – the police to come knocking on her door – but when they do it’s for other members of her family who have fallen under suspicion.

As Tara’s life starts to unravel she becomes increasingly dependent on her carefree sister, hoping Lisa can help with Rosie. And as she becomes suspicious of those around her Tara realises she needs to know what happened to Lee. Even if it’s something she doesn’t want to hear.

I should mention there were a couple of plot holes (for me)… I was never quite sure why the police didn’t find Tara’s DNA in Lee’s bed and I didn’t understand what exactly happened to her memory but thankfully I wasn’t forced to belabour those points because Croft keeps us guessing in this well-paced and intricate psychological thriller.

While You Were Sleeping by Kathryn Croft was published by Bookouture and is now available.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley from the publisher for review purposes.

Do you love a good psychological thriller?