2 girls, one murdered, 20 years later....

Sylvie returns to her childhood home, the town where her best friend was murdered and the killer never identified. Her mother was found dead in her home and Sylvie needs to return to take care of the house. A blank envelope is pushed through her letterbox, a heart shaped locket inside, the very locket her friend Victoria was wearing when she was killed! Who is doing this to her and why?!

Sylvie is the main narrator and scenes go back in time to 20 years before when her and Victoria were best friends. The 20 year anniversary is approaching and Karen Price, a journalist, is doing a podcast called "Someone Must Know". Will they ever discover who killed Victoria and why? Only vague details are given about Sylvie and you are left wondering where her husband is and why she has been estranged from her mother for all of these years. She doesn't let you completely in and give you all of her secrets! I wanted answers! This is my first book by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I will be looking for all of her future work! Well written and suspenseful! 4.5/5 stars!
I would like to thank Bookouture and NetGaley for an advanced copy of this book!

A well written and satisfying read....2 15 year olds go home from a party, but do they????....one is found dead in ‘the lake’, the place that dodgy people meet and no good happens....

The murder remains unsolved

Years later Sylvie returns to the town, reluctantly, to sell her Mum’s house and all manner of secrets are unleashed, the past is back and
of course the past is never as it seems....who did kill Victoria and why....

The book is written from various perspectives and from the present and the past but unlike can happen this does not confuse the story and it flows really well, also it is partly told via Karen a journalist who is trying to re open the case, but her narrative is as she is broadcasting her radio show which looks into unsolved murders, very different and very well done

All the characters are instantly imagined and you get comfortable with them quickly, some great descriptive writing and scene setting

The book doesn’t go off on a tangent but keeps you focused on the story and keen to know what will happen

The twist and turns keep coming, I thought I had solved it but was wrong, then when it has been solved and you think its ‘game over’ there is a fab ending which left me thinking ‘oooooooooo now what will happen’

A gripping, suspenseful but enjoyable read and one that will thrill, shock and make you smile in equal measure, loved it and would highly reccomend

Absolutely stunning! I literally couldn't leave this book alone and read it in just 2 sittings. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a twisty gripper type read.

Enjoyable read - story switches from past to present.
It tells the story of childhood friends, Sylive & Victoria - Victoria is murdered as a teenager, the killer is never found and 20 years later, Sylvie returns home to face the events of that night when she lost her best friend.
Bit of a slow start but a good twist at the end.

Sylvie Armstrong (and her baby) returns to Conley - a medium-sized town in Yorkshire, close to Leeds -- after having left shortly after her best friend, Victoria Bland, was murdered when they were 15 years old. Sylvie's mother has recently died and Sylvie needs to get the house for sale. Her return brings back a lot of feelings about her best friend. No one has ever been charged in Victoria's murder.
Twenty years is a long time...hence the interest of Karen Price on "Someone Must Know" for TrueCrime.com. It's hoped that the podcast episodes will jar memories and new details will come to light -- and find out what really happened the night that Victoria Bland ended up in the lake.

This is an interesting mystery told in first person POV thru Sylvie both in 1995, when the murder happened, and present day. The podcasts are also scripted to give yet another layer to the narrative. As Sylvie cares for her daughter and starts the clean up at her mother's house, she also comes back into contact with other people she knew when growing up in Conley. The ancillary characters are a mixed bag and include an old high school friend who Victoria and Sylvie weren't very nice to, and some nosy neighbors. Victoria's parents even come around. It seems that most everyone is listening to the podcasts. Will the truth come out?

The thing is, something seems a little "off" about Sylvie. She's easily spooked and there are only vague hints about why she has left her husband and brought her baby to Conley. I'm a longtime reader of this genre, naturally very curious/suspicious -- and can usually catch on fairly quickly to where a story is going, but NO SPOILERS. There are some tense scenes and some big questions with a nice wrap-up at the end. I enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the e-book ARC to read and review.

Really enjoyed this book it was full of suspence and twists. I liked how the story switched from the present to the past and the characters were likeable. I totally didn't see this ending coming I had no clue who the bad guy was. A really good read.

Sylvie and Victoria were the very best of friends when they were 15 years old. But Victoria was murdered that year and the killer never found. Sylvie left her parents' house and went to live with an aunt. She never went back ... until now.

Twenty years later, Sylvie has returned home ... and to the secrets she's been running from since her friend died. A necklace, once worn by her friend, is mailed to Sylvie. Someone knows exactly what happened that night. There are some who will keep their secrets ... will she be one of them? Or will she be a victim?

This is one of those books that grabbed me from the very first and didn't let go. Told in chapters of Sylvie today and Sylvie when she was a teenager, and a cleverly written 'witness' in the form of a TV program.. think Unsolved Mysteries.

I think the author did a fine job in fully defining characters... especially when both girls were teenagers. I was one once and I lived through two teenagers of my own, so I didn't have to overuse my imagination when the girls did the things they did. The introduction of secondary characters ... Victoria's parents, Sylvie's mother's neighbors, the girl they knew in school that they weren't very nice to. The TV program introduced several others that knew the girls from their childhood.

The story is very cleverly written and quite easy to follow. There were some twists and turns along the way with a surprise ending.

Many thanks to the author / Bookouture / Netgalley for the advance digital copy of this Psychological Thriller. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

I really enjoyed this book. The protagonist was holding a secret from years gone bye. Will you find out the secret before completing the book? Read it and find out! I love a good mystery and this one hit the spot. Thank you to Netgalley and Bookature for a digital copy in return for an honest opinion.

so enjoyed this book every town has its secrets but this a big one two best friends who would do anything for each other the story draws you in I thought I had I got who but no the twist is brilliant and I cried at what price can you protect others

Very suspenseful with an ending twist I did not see coming. It needs, however, some very serious editing. It will be a much better book with professional proof reading and editing.

This book was pretty decent. I didn't LOVE it so much but I didn't hate it either. It was kind of short so the characters weren't fully developed so I felt like I didn't know them that well, especially Sophie the main character who the book centers on. I knew something was off with her and how she just showed up at her mom's house with baby in tow and no communication with her husband. Also there were hints throughout about how she and her mom hadn't had much of a relationship since Victoria was found dead. I knew it all connected somehow and at the end, the conclusion wrapped up all the loose ends. I wasn't totally surprised though at the end because I knew there was something going on with the parents.....without giving it away, The writing was good but I guess the suspense and mystery weren't really there, for me at least. I finished it because I wanted to see if I was right about the end. A quick read for sure and I'm sure others will really enjoy it.

This is a dual time frame narrative told entirely from one point of view. It is about best friends Victoria Preston and Sylvie Armstrong and focuses mainly upon the mystery of what happened one night when both girls were 15 years old. It’s a particularly painful memory for Sylvie because it is not only the night Victoria died, but then very soon after her father also passed away, leading to a rift between Sylvie and her mother; a rift never repaired. It was the night her parents threw a party; a night that always haunted Sylvie, but that she had tried her very best to put out of her mind. Victoria’s murder was never solved.
Twenty years later Sylvie’s mother is discovered dead, at the bottom of her stairs. Sylvie returns to her childhood home to get the house tidied up and ready to sell. She has her baby daughter with her who she had named Victoria. It is close to the twentieth anniversary of the party night and fresh investigations are being undergone by an investigative reporter with speculation and innuendo readily available for all to read online. Sylvie is grieving and baby Victoria is unsettled, leaving her mother exhausted. Then a package is posted through the letterbox. Inside is Victoria’s heart shaped locket, the very locket she wore at the party. When other messages arrive on the doormat, Sylvie begins to believe she is being watched and that her life may be in danger. Every new day is a challenge for her as she doesn’t know what will happen next.
‘Her Best Friend’ relives the last days of Victoria’s life through flashbacks, untold memories and interviews with potential witnesses broadcast online. The suspense racks up as piece by piece the bits of the jigsaw are put into their right place. The information gathered together accumulates, layered with menace and shocks. I found the story slow moving to begin with, but as the story gathered momentum I was gripped, never once predicting how it would end. Secrets, lies, cover-ups and startling revelations finally tease out the shocking truth as it is laid bare for us all. I don’t have a favourite character. In some ways they were all self-serving with agendas of their own and I didn’t like any of them. I felt sympathy for Victoria’s parents, losing a daughter so young, and for Sylvie, whose life was turned up-side-down, damaging her forever, but I still did not like these two women at all. I thought the actual plot was complicated, clever and original.
I would like to thank NetGalley and publisher Bookouture for my copy of this novel, sent in return for an honest review. It’s a 7/10 from me and the recommendation that this is well worth a read.

I would like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Her Best Friend’ by Sarah Wray in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
In the summer of 1995 Sylvie walks her best friend Victoria part of the way home after a party but the next day Victoria’s dead body is found submerged at the Lake. Nobody was charged with her murder and the police seemed to lose interest. Now, twenty years later, the story of Victoria’s death is being serialised into a podcast by Karen Price. Will the truth ever be revealed as to what happened that evening?
‘Her Best Friend’ has been well-written, the plot starting slowly but gradually building up until I couldn’t stop reading. I found it interesting how the story progressed from Karen Price’s interviews to Sylvie telling her version of events. There were enough twists and turns to keep me guessing and a conclusion that came as a surprise.

Although this isn't a fast paced story it is a gripping,intreguing thriller.The story is mainly told by Sylvie in the third person point of view.There is also chapters that cover a podcast series by journalist Karen Price who is conducting her own investigation into Victoria`s death.At times the story also slips back in time to 1995,these parts cover events leading up to the night that Victoria died.We learn about the girls lives,the people around them and the specifics of their friendship.Sylvie like many of the characters in this book was a multi layered,complex,well developed character,some of them were likeable,some not so.I especially liked Michelle,she reminded me so much of myself when I was a teenager.

Like the wrapping paper on a pass the parcel game the layers are gradually removed until the truth of what happened on that hot summer night is revealed during a final shocking confrontation.I admit I did work out that one character wasn't all they appeared to be but the truth about Victoria`s death was totally unexpected.This is second book by this author that I have read and enjoyed this year and look forward to reading more of her books in the future.Highly recommended by little old me.

WOW! What an incredible book. This is the story of two 15 year old girls told twenty years later. They were best friends. One is murdered and the other is faced with the events from twenty years in the past. A fast paced page turner. You will not see the ending coming. A superb read! Thank you NetGalley, Bookoutre and the Author for allowing me to read and review this book.