The Favour: The gripping new thriller from an author 'at the top of British psychological suspense writing' (Observer)

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Then, out of the blue, after an absence of eleven years, her first serious boyfriend, Liam Birch turns up to meet her with a strange request. He wants her to drive up to a remote cottage on the Norfolk coast, using his car and paying with his credit card, and then wait for him to arrive by train the following evening. For some reason we are not initially aware of, Jude agrees to this suspicious proposition. Life is going pretty well for Dr. Jude Winter. She has a rewarding job in the geriatric division of a London hospital and is looking forward to her wedding to fiancé Matt in two weeks time.

Fantastic - a breathless drumbeat of dread and suspense . . . no one does it better than Nicci French' Lee Child PROS: beautifully written with unique, fragmented prose, loved the strange caste of characters, strong exploration of memories vs reality

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In 1989 she became acting literary editor at the New Statesman, before moving to the Observer, where she was deputy literary editor for five years, and then a feature writer and executive editor. This was my first Nicci French novel and unfortunately it was not a success. Future readers, if you are okay with preposterous and illogical plots then you'll have a better time than I did. 2 stars!

Heart-thumping, head-scratching, nail-biting stuff: The Favour is classic Nicci French. I read it in one breathless sitting' Erin Kelly It's been eleven years since they last saw each other but Liam has come to ask a favor and Jude agrees, how could she not? Part of this favor has her lying to her fiancé so she can travel for hours to a cottage to await Liam's arrival and this is when and where he'll explain more. In the early eighties she taught English Literature in Sheffield, London and Los Angeles, but moved into publishing in 1985 with the launch of Women's Review, a magazine for women on art, literature and female issues. BRINGING DANGER CLOSE TO HOME . . . THE GRIPPING NEW THRILLER FROM BESTSELLING AUTHOR NICCI FRENCH,** shortlisted for the 2023 Ned Kelly Awards for Best International Crime Fiction I always seem to have an unpopular opinion, but this time it's because I seemed to enjoy the book more than the other reviewers.Jude's life has gone to plan. She's a geriatric doctor, about to be married. Liam's life has not gone to plan, but then Liam never had a plan. Until now . . . The premise of The Favour immediately drew me in and intrigued me. Just what was Liam up to? What did he want? Unlike Jude - oblivious, indebted and confident - I was a little less trusting and I soon began to detect a few red flags. But still I didn't know why Liam had asked Jude to do this favour. It was like an itch I couldn't scratch. It consumed me. I had to know.

Het moment dat Jude op hem staat te wachten in Norfolk en Liam niet op komt dagen vond ik best spannend. Is er misschien iets met hem gebeurd of heeft hij zijn trein gemist? Heart-thumping, head-scratching, nail-biting stuff: The Favour is classic Nicci French. I read it in one breathless sitting’ Erin Kelly BRINGING DANGER CLOSE TO HOME . . . THE GRIPPING NEW THRILLER FROM BESTSELLING AUTHOR NICCI FRENCH, shortlisted for the 2023 Ned Kelly Awards for Best International Crime Fiction​Leila later tells Jude that she’s already performed the favour, in the form of providing Liam with an alibi, using his car, his credit card, taking his phone to Norfolk. But for what had Liam needed an alibi? That is a mystery. Liam’s murder would have looked like a mugging, except for Jude’s involvement. It’s no secret that the Nicci French duo are on my favourite writers’ list, so as soon as I heard they had a new book out I had to read it! I loved the premise of agreeing blindly to a “favour” a person you owe something to asks of you, without knowing any details, and then having to reap the unforeseen circumstances – this had so much potential to be tense and even a bit creepy (like one of their earlier novels SECRET SMILE). Sean French was born in May 1959 in Bristol, to a British father and Swedish mother. He too studied English Literature at Oxford University at the same time as Nicci, also graduating with a first class degree, but their paths didn't cross until 1990. In 1981 he won Vogue magazine's Writing Talent Contest, and from 1981 to 1986 he was their theatre critic. During that time he also worked at the Sunday Times as deputy literary editor and television critic, and was the film critic for Marie Claire and deputy editor of New Society.