Having previously loved Nuala Ellwood's first book, My Sister's Bones, I was really keen to read her next. She has written another solid psychological mystery drama with the seemingly popular motif of a character in/just waking up from a coma and not knowing what has happened or is going on. The descriptions of Maggie's grief and confusion are heartbreaking, her attempts to rebuild and get some answers are very moving and the unknown flashbacks are increasingly sad and disturbing. There are secrets new and old to be discovered here and the story keeps you engaged throughout, but be warned - it is quite emotional and bittersweet in places. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Books (UK) for the ARC of The Day of the Accident.

This story absolutely blew me away, I was supposed to be having a brief rest from psychological thrillers but decided to read a couple of pages to see how I got on and suddenly I was halfway through!

Maggie wakes in a hospital bed, unable to speak or think clearly. She soon learns that she’s been unconscious for many weeks, after a tragic accident that left her with severe injuries and took the life of her young daughter Elspeth, as the events of that night unfold Maggie discovers that her husband has disappeared and left her with nothing except a lot of unanswered questions. As the story moves on Maggie starts having flashbacks and things start happening which makes Maggie begin to wonder if things are really happened how she’s being made to believe they did.
A well written and intriguing story, with great characters and interesting twists.
I felt totally absorbed in this story, which in my eyes is a winner. 5 very well earned stars.

This was a convoluted storyline. One of those books that you can't put down and have to keep reading to find out what happens.. Great read.

I enjoyed the first half of this book as the mystery around a daughters death emerged and became more intriguing, but then as the solution emerged, I found it pretty unbelievable and just too much of a stretch to be acceptable. Bit disappointed overall.

An easy reading psychological thriller, which keeps you engrossed until the end.
Loved the writing, and how everything falls into place.
Did not predict the ending.

Thank you netgalley, Nuala Ellwood, and Penguin for allowing me to read and review this book.

I was a huge fan of author Nuala Elwood’s debut novel My Sister’s Bones, and after reading Day Of The Accident the author is now firmly on my “favourite author’s list”. What an exciting, nerve-wracking read Day Of The Accident turned out to be. If you are looking for a psychological thriller that will keep you up late I’ve found it, if you are looking for a deliciously devious plot, you guessed it I’ve found it! I think an author has done their job well if they are able to surprise me, but Nuala Elwood has gone one better and left me stunned. I smugly thought I had pretty much worked out the plot half way through, EPIC fail as I reached the conclusion I realised the author had well and truly duped me and that’s the reason you will hear me shouting from the roof tops about how much I enjoyed this book.

From the start of the Day Of The Accident the author draws you. We first meet Maggie as she wakes from a coma and is told that her child Elspeth had drowned in an unfortunate accident, and add to her heartache husband Sean has vanished. Maggie’s life is in tatters, she has lost everything that is dear to her, not only does she have to cope with her grief but she also desperate to find out what happened on that fateful day. The author has done a superb job in maintaining the tension throughout the Day Of The Accident I’m surprised I never ended up with repetitive strain injury as I was flipping the pages of my kindle so fast, desperate to get to the truth.

Maggie isn’t the most reliable narrator partly due to her memory loss from the accident, but also the events the author alludes to regarding Maggie’s past, which encourage the reader to be suspicious of her. I raced through this book I read the first 60% in one sitting so engrossed was I in Maggie’s story, if life hadn’t got in the way I’m sure I would have read the book cover to cover in one sitting. Apologises if this review appears to be vague, but I’m desperate not to spoil the read for others, I want you to be surprised, just as I was, it certainly makes the read all the more enjoyable. Nuala Elwood is a master of deception and misdirection and I consider Day Of The Accident to be a brilliant crafted, psychological suspense-filled read that will keep you guessing to the last few chapters, cliched but true. Highly recommended.

Review maybe altered slightly and edited prior to publication on my blog

"They say you killed...But What If They're Wrong?

Sixty seconds after she wakes from a coma, Maggie's world is torn apart

The police tell her that her daughter Elspeth is dead. That she drowned when the car Maggie had been driving plunged into the river. Maggie remembers nothing.

When Maggie begs to see her husband Sean, the police tell her that he has disappeared. He was last seen on the day of her daughter's funeral.

What really happened that day at the river?
Where is Maggie's husband?
And why can't she shake the suspicion that somewhere, somehow, her daughter is still alive?"

Wow what a roller coaster of a read! It had me completely hooked from the start. I felt every emotion with Maggie and really engaged with her character. I found all of the characters believable. I really disliked Sean from the start, throughout and at the end. I loved the style of writing and it was that, that had me gripped all the way through.

I started to put plot twists together and came up with the ending but i felt like it wasn't premature, it progressed and happened naturally. I would definitely recommend this book to anybody who loves a mystery and a thriller!

When Maggie wakes up from a coma, her whole life has changed. The nurse tells her that she has been in an accident, her little daughter is dead, and her husband sold the house and left her.
Maggie doesn’t remember a thing.

With no home, no family, and no memory, she has to find a way and discover what happened that day.

A thriller that will uncover the greatest of secrets everyone could have. A nail-biter, this one, I tell you.

The character of Maggie was so well formed, that love between a mother and her little daughter is expressed in such a lovely and caring way. A book that will be definitely hard to read for all the parents out there, but a very good one.

I especially loved the part with the letters – it was such a unique way to present …
… present what?
I am not telling you. Go and read it, duhh!

The scenes are so vivid and realistic and the little Virginia Woolf Easter eggs thrown across the pages of this book were so precious. Thrilling story and plot that keeps you on your toes. I haven’t read anything this good in a while!

If you are looking for a book to keep you up at night – this is the one.
If you are looking for the great plot twist – there isn’t only one plot twist…

I highly recommend it to all of the mystery lovers that are reading my review.

A masterpiece.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Books UK, for providing me with an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Maggie awakens from a coma to find out her daughter is dead, her husband has left her and the home she thought she owned did not belong to her at all. What follows is a whirlwind of a story as Maggie tries to recover from the devastating impact of these events and figure out why her daughter drowned locked in her car.

The author keeps us intrigued by alluding to events in Maggie’s past that may have bearing on her current situation, but I did not see any of the twists and turns coming, especially the ending.

Fantastic second novel from Nuala Elwood. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

Wow an amazing read that was truly gripping with a twist I didn't see coming. I just could put this book down. Martha wakes from a coma to the shocking news of her daughters death. She tries to start piecing her life back together and trying desperately to rember the details of the tragic accident. This really is a great read. You won't be dissapointed. Well done Nualla Ellwood. I look forward to your next fantastic book.

This is a below average psychological thriller.
The characters were bland and the story line was predictable.
Not for me.

Wonderfully crafted, suspense-filled thriller which keeps you guessing about what actually happened on the "Day of the Accident". Highly recommended.

Regrets and losses

Truth and lies

Vengeance and revenge

Pride and hurt

Pretense and real

Innocence and mature

What is true, what is false

One is memory, the other life

These are the lines which came into my mind when I finished reading this book. A psychological thriller turned emotional which started with Maggie in the ICU waking up from the coma and being told that her child Elspeth had drowned due to her mistake, and she herself was found to be a state of near drowning trying to save her daughter. Add to this, her husband Sean had vanished into thin air. Then came the trials of Maggie trying to get her memory of the day back, which led to the tortuous road of the past and its hidden secrets.

My first book by Nuala Ellwood had me gripped to my kindle wanting to make the pages fly and at the same time, slowing down to soak up the atmosphere of this mother and her grief. The book had me totally entwined in Maggie's story and her love for daughter Elspeth. I couldn't help but have my heart broken at the way she cried for her daughter. Told in dual viewpoints by Maggie and anonymous letters by a child searching for her mother, which created its own eerie effect.

Some parts of it I could guess, but I have to admit Nuala did a phenomenal job in maintaining the tension in the plot all through. Maggie's emotions created a powerful arc which leapt off the pages to wrench my heart in her pain.

The mystery of the lost memory, hidden past, vanished husband, drowned daughter, old affairs, old connections kept me hooked to this book till the last page which drew the entire story in a perfect circle.

A few implaucible scenes kept me from completely believing in the plot, but they were just my niggles, which didn't detract me from shedding a few tears at the end for this mother who just tried her best. Psychological thriller turned emotional!!

Maggie's life as she knew it is over. She wakes up from a coma to find there has been an accident, daughter is dead and her husband has disappeared. She has no memory of the accident or the events leading up to it. Disorientated and grief-stricken she must find out what happened - was it her fault? can her daughter really be dead? where is her husband?

As Maggie begins to remember snip its and starts to investigate her life before the accident we learn that she has a complex past and things aren't as idyllic as they seemed. Adding to the intrigue are the mysterious letters from a young child certain to pull on your heart-strings scattered throughout this novel. It's not Elspeth is it? She is dead isn't she? Maggie is understandably not the most reliable narrator scared, vulnerable and grieving but soon you'll be willing her to work out what happened and take you along for all the twists and turns along the way. This complex psychological thriller will have you turning pages long after you should have turned the lights out.

Thanks to NetGalley & Penguin Books UK for sending me this in exchange for an open and honest review.

Maggie wakes up from a coma to find her daughter has died and her husband has disappeared. She is told her daughter died in an accident which she caused but she has no memory from the day of the accident. Can she piece together what happened that day and find out the truth?

It is a well written, compelling psychological thriller that I read in one sitting. If you are looking for a twisty, fast paced thriller then look no further. 4****

An excellent novel! This is the second novel I read by Nuala Ellwood, the first being the absolutely amazing My Sister’s Bones. It’s so tricky to write a great sequel after such a debut but she pulled it off with great ease it seems, I wanted to keep on reading. The prologue alone is enough to draw you in, it opens with Maggie (Margaret) in court taking the stand and she’s determined to make things right now…

The story then cuts back to Maggie waking up in the hospital and being told her daughter is dead. She locked her car condemning her daughter to die! How could she? It doesn’t make sense because the love for her little girl is spilling from the pages. Her husband disappears quite literally out of the picture and she is left on her own devices – without a home even – with nothing but the tiniest snippets of flashbacks.

The mystery was really well developed and Maggie was a very likeable character. Is she reliable though? I felt sorry for her and rooted for her to find some answers. There are fragments of her memory that come to her and help piece together what happened on that day but there are also letters written by a little girl who misses her mother enormously and pleads for her mother to take her home. The emotional letters tugged at my heart but did not make it easier to work out what happened. They only created more doubt and confusion actually because enthralled as I was by them, it remained a mystery who the author was. I didn’t want to jump to any conclusions but if it wasn’t Elspeth, then who? Maggie is convinced her daughter is alive and there are a few strange events that could be a sign she just could be right…

The Day of the Accident had a tantalising plot with great twists and turns making it even unpredictable for me to figure out where to search for answers or know who held them. It was difficult to know who to trust, Ellwood kept me guessing throughout and it all built up to a devastating finale.

The story ends in court the way it begun, making it a full circle. Knowing the story though, you’ll look at it with a whole new set of eyes. Brilliant conclusion.

Even though My Sister’s Bones is still my number one novel, I thoroughly enjoyed The Day of The Accident and I look forward to her next novel already!

Wow what a brilliant book ,it gripped me from page one .I love it when a book does that !.The story kept me guessing all the way through with many twists and turns and surprises .The story is about Maggie who wakes up in hospital from a long coma and learns her daughter has died in a car accident and she can't remember what has happened ..I can't imagine how that must feel ,what devastating news .The story is so well written I thoroughly enjoyed it Ten stars if I could ! Many thanks to the Publisher ,the Author and NetGalley for my review copy in return for an honest review

After a terrible accident, Maggie wakes up in the hospital to find out she had been in a coma for nearly ten weeks. She also gets the devastating news that her daughter is dead. Maggie has no memory of that night. While dealing with the loss of her daughter and her memory, Maggie also finds out her husband disappeared and no one knows where he went. While Maggie tries to remember what happened on the night of her daughter's death, painful memories from her past start to surface.

I absolutely LOVED this book!! I was hooked from the first page. I kept trying to figure out what was going on and then would be completely wrong. Then I would come up with a new idea and wrong again. There were so many twists and turns. I never guessed the ending, although I had some suspicions. One person had me curious about their true identity and that was the only part I was right about. Throughout the book I kept hoping Maggie would get her memory back so I could finally know what happened. When the truth was finally revealed, I couldn't believe how some people could be that cruel and evil. That person's hatred seemed completely misplaced. All those letters written from the child to her mummy were heartbreaking. It wasn't until the end when I figured out who the author was of those letters. Loved everything about this book- the characters, writing style and story.

Definitely recommend this book. I now need to read My Sister's Bones.

Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Books (UK) and the author, Nuala Ellwood, for a free electronic ARC of this novel.

The day of the accident starts with a gripping start. Maggie wakes up from a coma.

She finds out she was in an accident and her daughter has died. Tragic.

What makes the start so gripping is that on top of this, her husband leaves, without a trace. And probably not because of what has happened, see he had sold the family home a few years ago and has given notice to the new landlords.

Maggie has nowhere to go and no memories of what has happened.

Fascinating story that was intriguing and kept me hooked

This book for me was a book of two halves. . The begining had me hooked straight away and I found that I couldn't put it down. The charcaters are likeable and the dialogue fast paced... I wanted to read on.
The second half felt a little rushed and the explanation of the mystery of the incident and the subsequent happenings a little unbelievable. How've having said this I have to remember this is fiction.
Overall a good read worth 4 stars.