This was a great page turner, but it was hard to get comfortable with it. All of the characters wer in some degree problematic and the focus, a sort of emotionally crippled child, created, at least for me, a sense of angst. Great book, but don’t read before bedtime!

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book.
Unfortunately I gave up with this book as it just wasn’t going anywhere and it was boring.  I got 28% of the way through and just couldn’t keep going. I am not normally someone who gives up but this just wasn’t for me.

This was such a great read, enjoyed it thoroughly, i was hooked from the first page, great storyline and loads of twists and turns , highly recommend this book x

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley. 

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. 
Natalie.

While this was well written, Magpie Lane was predictable from the start and, while this can occasionally be a good thing, it didn't work in the book's favor this time. I'm not sure I was the audience for this book.

Absolutely amazing book. It has everything you want from a novel: gripping storyline, interesting characters and I am just gutted it’s over. Going to buy EVERYTHING this author has written! 
A strong 5/5.

I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Quercus Books, and the author Lucy Atkins. 
I really enjoyed this mystery thriller, and couldn't put it down. The characters were clearly presented and developed, and the author clearly knows Oxford inside-and-out, which added an interesting dimension. Lucy Atkins writes beautifully, and the anticipation built through every page of the novel. For that reason, I was a little bit disappointed by the end, the only reason why I can't give it 5 stars. Would highly recommend though, 4 stars!

Yep 5 beautiful stars from me. 

What can I say.
Lucy Atkins is such a prolific author and knows just what her readers need to keep their attention.

The build up in this is slowly awesome with brick by brick laying a foundation that’s firm to climb onto and the higher it goes the less you breath.

It’s atmospheric and yields such a cobweb around you that you just don’t notice you are caught in that web. Nowhere to go until you satisfy your hunger and devour each page.

Can’t you tell I loved it

Although some of the (villainous) characters were a little unconvincing the tale is told in an interesting, twisty way that kept me engaged to the end.  I don't know Oxford and would be intrigued to see how someone who did thought the setting added to the narrative.  I really appreciated the central character being middle aged, particularly as she is unusual and felt 'fully formed'.   I'd recommend this read to anyone who enjoys a mystery and whose enjoyment is enhanced by beautiful prose.

When we meet Dee, she has taken on a nannying role in Oxford in the hope that she might be able to live an unobtrusive existence, untroubled by even the most innocuous of questions about her background. The nanny with an agenda is fertile ground, as Leila Slimani famously detailed in 2018, but as with Slimani’s novel, ‘Magpie Lane’ is not just a one-dimensional thriller. Issues of class, mental health and absent parenting are handled superbly.

Dee is a more likeable central character than Vivian- the knowing, dubious figure at the heart of Atkins’ last novel The Night Visitor. Here we root for Dee, despite always knowing that she has the potential to subvert our faith in her at any given time.

Atkins is a master at channelling the inner workings of the unreliable narrator, sketching out ulterior motives, complicated anxieties and shadowy malevolence. Here, she crafts a tale that examines what it means to love and belong, against an atmosphere of tension and claustrophobia. An author continuing to go from strength to strength.

Wow... Another different read with a novel style of writing which started with a police interview. A missing child plot always get to me.

Felicity disappeared and nanny Dee was the suspect. 

My first book by this author, I was quite pulled in by the secrets revealed as the nanny looked back on all that she had learned about the family. 

Subplots layered up as the investigation fired up. The writing kept the mystery alive right till the end. 

Overall, a fun read

I have been extremely busy so haven’t had chance to read this book yet. I will get to it as I’m loving the glowing reviews for it and when I do I’m sure it’s one that will feature on my blog

'Nobody, after all, wants to be reminded of how precarious parenthood really is - how parents fail their children all the time in small ways and big, and how, in the blink of an eye, those failures can prove catastrophic.'

Felicity is gone. And her nanny Dee is the prime suspect in her disappearance. But as Dee reflects on her memories of her time with Felicity and her parents, the truth behind the facade emerges: a disengaged father, an uninterested step-mother, and a desperately lonely young girl seeking solace in silence. Dee seems to be the only one on Felicity's side, and when she goes missing it's Dee to whom the police turn. But as the investigation continues, it soon becomes clear that Dee has secrets of her own...

I will admit, it took me a while to get into this one, due in part to its unusual narrative structure: Each chapter begins with Dee in an interview room with two police detectives, being questioned about the disappearance of Felicity. They ask questions, and Dee's answer then transitions into flashes of memories pertaining to her time with Felicity. It's an odd structure, but once you get used to it it is one that works very well, and makes for a very engaging read, albeit one that is a bit of a slow burner.

A further strength of this book was the fact that it also encompassed a range of side plots, all of which added to the suspense of the novel. Obviously, you have the main mystery of what happened to Felicity. But alongside this, there are also several other secrets waiting to be revealed: What really happened to Felicity's mother? Who is the young girl lurking in Dee's memories? What's behind all of the ghostly goings-on in the attic? And is Dee really as trustworthy as she seems?

This is definitely a read that keeps you intrigued throughout. I for one was desperate to know what really happened to Felicity, and I found the ending to be completely satisfying in that regards - don't worry, no mysteries left unsolved in this one! The characterisation was very strong, and the author makes great use of the Oxford setting. All in all, a great read, and one that I would definitely recommend. 

Disclaimer - I was fortunate enough to receive an advance reading copy from NetGalley. This has not affected my review in any way, and all opinions are my own.

Magpie Lane is another compelling book by Lucy Atkins. The story centres around the disappearance of Felicity, a nine year old child who suffers from selective mutism. The narrative progresses through the police interview of Dee, who is Felicity’s nanny. From Dee’s perspective, Felicity’s father, Nick and stepmother Mariah are negligent and self absorbed, and the fact that they are expecting their first child together leads Dee to believe that Felicity will be marginalised further within the family unit. Felicity and Dee build up such a strong and trusting relationship, that Felicity begins talking to Dee when previously she only spoke in front of her father. 
Throughout the book, we learn about the death of Felicity’s mother, as well as traumatic events in Dee’s own past. They also develop a new friendship with a local man, employed by Nick to research the history of the Oxford house they live in. 
This is an intense and thrilling novel that allows the story to unfold gradually, while still keeping you completely absorbed. The characters are varied and believable, and the book includes incredible detail and research into the many different topics raised within the story.

It was probably bad timing on my part to read this straight after I read ‘The Turn of the Key’ as there were so many similarities and the main premise was the same; a nanny staying with a family and something happens to the child.

I loved how this started, the story coming from Dee the nanny being interviewed by the police. This carried on through out the book and I enjoyed these little interjections as the story progressed. For me, this is what kept the story going as this is definitely a slow burner of a book.

The setting of Oxford was described perfectly and I found some aspects of her writing rather spooky at times. I could really picture where the story was set and found the house fascinating! 

Overall, the book keeps you intrigued and I definitely wanted to find out what happened but just found it a bit lack lustre in comparison to ‘The Turn of the Key’. Dee, the nanny is quite an unreliable narrator and the ending wasn’t quite as exciting as I wanted it to be.

An Absorbing thriller set in Oxford. Some interesting descriptions of Oxford which add to the structure of the story. A missing a child, a nanny and a mystery. Rather abrupt ending.

I enjoyed reading this book. 

It's a well written psychological thriller with realistic characters and an interesting plot.

This is a mystery with a ghostly, creepy and eerie feel to it. It’s set in the university town of Oxford, and centers around a family that have recently moved into the Masters Lodgings, an old house with a fascinating and disturbing history. The story opens with the police interviewing Dee, the baby-sitter who has been looking after Felicity, a little girl with selective mutism, and who has gone missing from her home (the Masters Lodgings) in the middle of the night. The thing is though, Felicity is not your average little girl. Not only does she not speak (other than to her father), but she sees things, and suffers from night terrors and episodes of sleep walking that she can’t remember, making her fearful and nervous. It’s thus unlikely that she would have run away. Or is it?

With reference to priests’ holes, ghosts, witches hexes, bones of dead animals and strange happenings, this story is extremely atmospheric, and it’s a mystery that’s so different to anything that I’ve read before. It’s also largely a character driven novel, playing on the reader’s emotions and attachments to certain characters. It’s important to work out who you like and who you don’t, who you trust and who you don’t, and ultimately, who you believe.  

I loved the fact that the story was told in the form of flashbacks, with Dee relating her experiences working for the family in question to two police officers who are interviewing her about the disappearance of Felicity. It soon becomes clear that Dee is a suspect, and perhaps their primary suspect, even though her recollections of certain events seem to be very exact and hugely possible. But as the reader, you find yourself starting to doubt Dee, and to wonder whether everything she’s saying is the absolute truth. And for me this just added to the addictive nature of the read.

This is a suspense / mystery novel that moves along at a great pace, and even though it’s largely character based, I was never bored. There are no twists and turns like one finds in traditional psychological thrillers, which is why I wouldn’t classify this one as a thriller, although many other people have. To me, this is part mystery, part suspense and part family drama. It’s a novel full of secrets, and it touches on topics of neglect, love, trust and how painful childhood memories can stick with us as we progress through our lives. 
At times, this book reminded me of the hugely popular novel by Ruth Ware, titled The Turn of the Key. There are definite similarities regarding the setting, the eeriness and the plot. I think that if you enjoyed that novel, then you’ll definitely enjoy this one.

Overall, this is a fantastic novel, and I highly recommend it.

This book was not what I expected!

A selectively mute, little girl is missing.  

Told from the p.o.v of the nanny during her police interview, the story flashes back and forth between now and before Felicity went missing.

This one is a slow burn as the story and characters develop, the ending was unexpected and let’s just say..... I couldn’t read this one when I was on my own, late into the night!

Magpie Lane had me hooked. A child has gone missing and the police talk to the nanny to attempt to unravel the twisted relationships of the family. 

I was so invested in the story of Dee, Felicity and Linklater; they should have been a family...3 pieces of a puzzle which slot together. The story had a melancholic feel to it and a tension that runs throughout.

My only issue with the book is the ending which left me with a feeling of loss, but I don’t think the book could have ended any other way, and shouldn’t have.