Zoe Nolan seems to have it all - a talented singer who could be the next big thing. However, when she mysteriously goes missing one cold December night, the threads of seemingly charmed life begin to unravel, revealing hidden depths that stunned even the people who were closest to Zoe. Years on, the mystery remains unsolved until author Evelyn Mitchell picks up the threads of the story, determined to find the truth, but will she be able to reveal what happened, or will someone be doing their best to ensure that she doesn’t reveal what really happened?

What a great mystery! Lots of characters / suspects to pick and choose from, each with their own hidden motives, including the people closest to Zoe, such as her twin sister Kimberly, who is always treated as second best; her father Rob, a pushy stage dad who is determined to see Zoe succeed where he failed, and her boyfriend Andrew, a spoilt snob who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and who doesn’t even seem to like Zoe very much?

The characters are distinct and vividly drawn. The structure of the book is interested, following the layout of Evelyn’s book and incorporating interviews with the people involved and Evelyn’s own email correspondence as she tries to unravel the mystery to find out exactly what happened to Zoe and who was responsible. Without giving too much away, there is a proper, satisfying resolution, which still remains slightly ambiguous, which I found interesting. Well-paced and interesting- I really enjoyed this!

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A book made for the audiobook!
Absolutely fabulous read/ listen.
A premise so unique that it made me want Joseph Knox to become an investigator or make a podcast!
As a huge fan of true crime, podcasts and audiobooks, this book was made for me!
The execution was nothing short of spectacular and was so believable, I had to do some research of my own to confirm it was actually fiction. That speaks volumes to me!
There were lots of characters and therefore lots of narrators, but that just made it all the more authentic, and I loved the little sound effects of the typing and texting noises, they were such a cute addition! The narrators were all very distinctive though, so it was easy to follow.
The plot was so gripping, the kind that made me think about it when I wasn't listening to it. Truly absorbing.
I'm so blown away by this novel that I really hope I do it justice, but all I can say is 'read it, listen to it, and marvel at it.'

I requested an ARC of this from Netgalley after hearing some early buzz about it. I’d not read anything of the author’s before but was intrigued by the premise.

As is briefly mentioned in the synopsis above, the story is told through transcripts of interviews with Zoe’s friends and family which are interspersed with emails between Joseph Knox and Evelyn Mitchell. I find this type of storytelling very addictive; I always want to just devour the next nugget of information and the next and the next….

We’re all True Crime addicts, aren’t we? The success of things like Making a Murderer and Tiger King show that we’re all just desperate for a peek of that dirty underbelly of human nature. So, Knox’s idea of taking this fascination and twisting it into a fictional narrative is genius and works really well. Adding to this is the intentional blurring of lines between fiction and reality by inserting himself into the book as a minor character, backed up by a note from his publisher stating that, following his involvement and failure to disclose it in an earlier edition of the book, they will no longer be working with him.

The story itself twists and turns, with family members and new friends alike taking the spotlight in turn as potential culprit. Not many of the characters are particularly likeable, but they felt real and I got a real sense of them from the interview snippets. I was thoroughly satisfied by the plot and the outcome and didn’t see what was going to happen until just before it was revealed.

I’d recommend this to any fans of true crime or crime fiction in general. Fans of the Six Stories series by Matt Wesolowksi might enjoy this too as it has a similar blend of true crime and a novel story telling method. As I said, it’s the first of the author’s I’ve read but have had his other books recommended and will certainly be watching out for what comes next.

I really enjoyed this stand-alone novel from Joseph Knox, an author who has already shown his considerable writing skills in his most impressive Aidan Watts series. I found True Crime Story to be original, innovative and entertaining in a really clever way. But having let it settle for several days, I find that it is also a book that gives me cause to consider it over and over. There’s a lot to this book that stays in the mind and makes me want to think through some of the attitudes that it throws up.

True Crime is unquestionably a great listen and a fantastically impressive novel, but it also deals with some really rather intense questions about the nature of our celebrity culture.

True Crime Story plays on our current fascination for True Crime podcasts. In this instance, it is the case of talented music student 19 year old Zoe Nolan, who in December 2011 disappeared from her shared student accommodation in Manchester University and was never seen again.

Her case intrigues writer Evelyn Mitchell and she begins researching Zoe’s disappearance and interviewing those closest to Zoe at the time.

What the reader is party to – and how we find out the details pertaining to Zoe’s disappearance is contained in exchanges between Evelyn Mitchell and her friend, another author named, yes, you guessed it, Joseph Knox.

So what the reader gets is extracts from Evelyn’s interviews for her book, interspersed with e-mails from Evelyn to Knox and vice versa which detail the progress of the investigation and contain speculation on what these interviews mean.

Evelyn’s interviews focus on those closest to Zoe. Her twin sister Kim, Zoe’s father, Robert Nolan, her mother Sally and her closest friends Liu Wai, Andrew Flowers, Fintan Murphy and Jai Mahmood.

What emerges is a picture of a dysfunctional family and a disparate group of friends who each carry their own troubles with them. Each one of them has something they want to reveal about Zoe or one of the others in this tight circle – or to share an opinion they’ve carried around for the last ten years wanting someone to listen.

We are treated to interview transcripts and recollections from her friends and family of the night that Zoe disappeared. What emerges is a confused and unclear account of Zoe and what happened that night. Her friends are by and large unlikeable; from her boyfriend through to her unreliable sister and her obsessive dad, it seems that everyone interviewed has something they are hiding. Zoe’s father Rob is determined to take centre stage in his daughter’s dramatic disappearance while others shy away from the media spotlight.

The reader is caught up in these accounts, trying to decipher who can be believed. The more you find out, the creepier this story becomes and as the investigation goes deeper the atmosphere becomes more menacing and the story more complex. Then there’s the exchanges between Evelyn and Joseph ‘Foxy’ Knoxy which themselves tell another story….this is metafiction taken to a glorious level.

Verdict: True Crime Story really does have all the hallmarks of a real case and it feels and sounds authentic. That Joseph Knox has managed to pull off something so ambitious and absorbing is a real achievement. Fast paced and utterly addictive this blend of fiction with a factual feel is compelling and so cleverly written. True Crime Story is a brilliant tour de force.

I loved True Crime Story from start to finish. I didn't see the brilliant ending coming, and that's quite rare with this genre. The structure was excellently done and the characterisation was so good, I could have happily read another 500 pages of the interviews. I'll miss all the characters now that it's over.

5*

Review also posted to amazon.co.uk

With its innovative format, "True Crime Story" reads like a genuine true crime investigation. The group who were with Zoe Nolan the night she disappeared are interviewed throughout and come across as a bunch of bitter arseholes. It's hilarious to read in places and Joseph Knox clearly has a wicked sense of humour. The characters are vivid and well-drawn. The 'Shadow Man' is vile and terrifying in his ability to creep around undetected. If "Scream" was a podcast, I imagine it would look a little something like this.

Zoe Nolan disappeared three months into her first year at Manchester University in 2011. Years later, struggling writer Evelyn Mitchell wants to write about what happened girls that vanish into thin air like Zoe. She starts speaking to the people in Zoe's life to find out more and undercovers a whole host of secrets and lies. She realises she may have bitten off more than she can chew and enlists the help of fellow writer, Joseph Knox. Evelyn gets closer to revealing the truth about Zoe's disappearance, but someone wants the truth to remain hidden is watching Evelyn from afar.

I can safely say I have never read a book like this ever before. I challenge anyone to read to the first ten minutes of this book and not have their interest sparked and the story slip under their skin before they have even realised it.

I love books written in the epistolary style and for the most part I really enjoyed the structure of the interview transcripts from Zoe's friends and family and the email exchanges between Evelyn and Joseph.

As a reader it really felt the author effectively blurred the line between fact and fiction and the case felt so real to me as I read on that I was tempted to google for news stories to look further into Zoe's disappearance.

It's so cleverly written because every character is an unreliable narrator, with their own agenda, version of events and secrets they're hiding. Because of this, I really enjoyed speculating about who was really to blame as well as wild and wonderful theories about Zoe's secrets - I was so engaged in the book that when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. There are a ton of revelations and twists, including one that made me literally shout out loud as I read it. It's creepy and sad and clever as many of my opinions on the characters were completely changed by the end of the book. I identified the culprit early on with a hunch but the context was still unexpected and intricate enough to shock me.

The only slight drawback was that the pace felt a little slow around the middle of the book, because you were listening to five or six versions of the same event before you got a snippet of information or a clue. Some events in the plot felt far fetched too, These were minor things and didn't dectract from my overall opinion of the book.

"True Crime Story" is an apt title in some many ways - it's impossible to know who is telling the truth and it's written in such a way that it felt so real that it really messed with my head. I was lucky enough to be given an audiobook and book of the novel and there is a slight difference in the ending between them which has really got me thinking and reexamining the whole book.

All in all, it's a fantastic reading experience and one I would recommend to both fans of psychological thrillers and the true crime genre. I really want to buy it for all my friends so we can discuss it!

Thanks to the author, Netgalley, and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was excellent and original. I liked the way it was written and thought it was very clever, using excerpts of interview from lots of different characters to tell the story. The description of Manchester and student life struck me as believable and the mystery kept me guessing to the end. I’d definitely recommend this and the story will stick in my mind.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

One of the best things I’ve read in ages. Loved it. Kept having to double check that I was definitely reading fiction!

True crime, fiction, mystery – the three intermingle in this clever and original novel. Detailing the disappearance of university student Zoe Nolan in December 2011, this is an interesting, engaging read that’ll have you almost reaching for a whiteboard to start your own investigation. Seven years after she goes missing, writer Evelyn Mitchell is drawn into the mystery, speaking with Zoe’s closest family and friends to piece together the true events of that fateful night. Some versions differ – which causes Evelyn to worry about inconsistencies – while some overlap – which is as much of a problem for the writer. Unsure how to proceed, Evelyn reaches out to crime writer Joseph to help her make sense of a case where anyone could be responsible (though the ending is super impressive). Told in varying ways, you’ll only be impressed at the measured way the author drip feeds the reader with information.

Written as a transcript for a documentary this novel deals with the disappearance of a university student Zoe.

7 years later the case is not solved and is growing colder, writer Evelyn interviews everyone who knew Zoe and finds herself no closer than before she started. So she calls in Joseph Knox (yes the author of the novel is part of the novel, and it’s great).

This book is absolutely spectacular, it takes an old format of the cold case and modernizes it perfectly to be a gripping fresh must read.

I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Crazily immersive, hugely innovative - I suspect it’s total Marmite but I thought it was brilliantly written and I couldn’t put it down.

I was really intrigued by this book and it did not disappoint (until the end, but we'll get to that)

I think the way the story is told works for the story and adds a nice level of tension but I think that it loses something in a digital format, I wanted to flip back to earlier sections but that just wasn't doable on a kindle.

The plot was really well structured, I enjoyed the journey and playing detective.

The main characters are really well written but some of the peripheral ones are a little caricature. A lot of the situations, reactions and conversations had a "real" feel about them which was excellent.

Spoiler bit ahead....

The ending: Mostly, I loved the ending with one huge exception. The bit where person A and person B are the same person made me swear A LOT and launch my kindle at the wall. Honestly that was such a lame move that I almost didn't read the rest. Stories like this need to have all the clues in the story, to be blindsided by that, I felt cheated to be honest and the story didn't need it.

WOW, I absolutely loved this, I have to admit I hadn’t looked it up until I finished the book and actually believed it was a True crime story.

Zoe Nolan is a 19 year old twin, her father has big dreams for her to become a successful singer, she tries to get into University to study this but isn’t good enough. So ends up at the same university as her twin Kimberley. Kimberley is not happy about this as she had hoped she would finally be able to find herself. Always being seen as second best in her fathers eyes. This seems to continue at University.

Zoe is having a sort of relationship with Andrew Flowers. A group of students all living in the same block in Manchester, but one night in December they are having a party, Zoe sees something that upsets her and she goes to the roof of the building, never to be seen again. What happened to Zoe Nolan. Her body was never found, she was never seen again. Many eyes were looking at Andrew as he had scratches on his face, Kimberley was also under scrutiny and another flat mate Jai Mahmood.

The story is told through the voices of Zoe’s flatmates, and her parents and sister. All as recorded by author Evelyn Mitchell who had met Joseph Knox at a book signing, they had become friends and had the occasional coffee together. Evelyn would send occasional emails to Joseph, as well as the manuscript as she was writing it, but then she started getting odd phone calls in the middle of the night.

This literally read as if it was an actual crime that had happened in 2011 and as I reached the end, I cried for what had happened, looking up on the internet to see if any more updates I realised it was all fictional. But so well written, I have written the authors previous novels so knew I liked how he wrote. Seeing this as a stand alone read it definitely appealed. Add to that the fact I love watching true crime documentaries this pulled me in.

As I neared the end I was so way off who was responsible., and found myself thinking how the police did such a poor job.

If you like a good crime story, or like true crime documentaries then grab a copy of this. It doesn’t disappoint. See if you can work out who was responsible. Was Zoe ever found?

I would like to thank #netgalley and #PenguinRandomHouseUK for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review.

Loved the way the book was constructed, easy to read, and one that has left me thinking about for some time. I can see this prompting some entertaining discussions..

I really don't know what to say about this book, it's repetitive and in parts boring. But it's the story of a missing girl so I did read it to the end and what happens to the original writer is shocking but would I recommend it. No sorry I wouldn't

Zoe and Kim Nolan are identical twins who have recently enrolled at Manchester University. They’re housed together in a flat in a hall of residence, and the narrative revolves around them and their flatmates, and some other students they befriend. Most important is Zoe’s boyfriend, Andrew Flowers, her course mate, Fintan Murphy, a flatmate of the twins, Liu Wai, and one of Andrew’s housemates, Jai Mahmoud. Other friends and flatmates appear in the narrative but are less central. Soon after the term begins, just three months into their time at university, Zoe Nolan goes missing and is never heard from again.

True Crime Story is written as a true crime book (hence the title) and includes emails between the author, Evelyn Mitchell, and a character called Joseph Knox (yes, THE Joseph Knox), who in an act which kind of breaks the fourth wall, appears in the narrative of his own novel. There are even references to Knox’s brilliant Sirens trilogy. Evelyn is obsessed with the case and interviews all the surviving participants - Andrew Flowers, Fintan Murphy, Liu Wai, and Jai Mahmoud, and Zoe and Kim’s parents, as well as the police liaison officer and some other people who become involved in the case.

The case became a media sensation, with Andrew Flowers, Kim Nolan and Jai Mahmoud in particular, coming under suspicion. Evelyn pulls on these threads, and on others, and soon exposes the dark underbelly of this story. For example, the twins' dad is quickly exposed as a repellent piece of work, as are others.

This is an innovative crime thriller that will keep readers guessing until the end and is not like many books on the market. It’s well worth a read.

Firstly I absolutely loved the layout and style of this book. The story is told via transcripts of interviews with each character along with copies of emails sent between Evelyn and the author Joseph Knox.

This is one of those books that will have you questioning whether what you are reading is actually real or just a work of fiction. It was just so well executed and the way the author placed himself within the story of the book really brought the whole thing to life and definitely gave it that ‘non-fiction’ / true crime vibe. I’ll admit I even googled to see if what I was reading was true it was that convincing.

I loved the pace of the book as I always find interview style books easy to read and there was also the added layer of not knowing who to trust. At times I felt like this could have been a Netflix documentary and will have you in full detective mode trying to figure out if you can spot anything from the interviews or if you can pick up on any discrepancies with some of the retelling of what happened that night.

It’s full of secrets, twists and kept me guessing until the very end. The only reason why it missed out on 5 stars was because of the ending unfortunately – after all the suspense throughout I was hoping for a complete jaw dropping or explosive reveal / ending but I just didn’t feel like it did that. I would have preferred a different ending.

Apart from that minor niggle with the ending, overall this was a refreshing, compelling and unique take on the crime thriller genre that I thoroughly enjoyed.

True Crime Story is a very clever, unique story, written as a factual investigation in to the disappearance of Zoe Nolan, a 19 year old fresher at Manchester uni just before christmas in 2011 we follow the accounts of the people closest to Zoe when novelist Evelyn Mitchell picks up on her story several years later and interviews them all in a bid to find out what really happened to Zoe. Joseph Knox weaves his himself in to the story, which gives the story an added level of reality.

The twists and turns will keep you guessing, the format also has you questioning if it is an actual true crime story, I even googled Zoe Nolan when I started reading it as it was so convincing!!!

My book of 2021 so far.

I was given a copy of True Crime Story by NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

True Crime Story is a truly original and unconventionally written book, and although this chilling, disturbing and riveting story is penned in an intriguing true-crime documentary format, I found that this uniqueness, and the fact that Knox even permits himself a role in the fictional narrative within these pages, made it all the more difficult to put down as well as categorise accurately. In the early hours of Saturday, 17 December 2011, Zoe Nolan, a nineteen-year-old Manchester University student, walked out of a party taking place in the shared accommodation where she had been living for three months. On the surface, Zoe had everything in the world going for her; intelligence, beauty, a supportive family. In September of that year, she’d travelled from Stoke-on-Trent to Manchester, realising a long-held ambition to live in the city. She moved into a high-rise student apartment with her twin sister, Kimberly, and two other girls who quickly became her closest friends. Singing had always been the great passion of Zoe’s life, and she’d moved to Manchester to more seriously study music, finding herself unexpectedly popular with coursemates and around campus. Her contemporaries found her talent and dedication impressive and she soon met the young man who would become her first serious boyfriend. She passed three seemingly happy months in this state, right up until 17 December, the day her parents arrived to take her home for the Christmas holidays, only to find that she had vanished without a trace. Never to be seen again.

Evelyn Mitchell, a fellow writer who Knox meets at his book signing and later becomes a friend, had been investigating Zoe’s disappearance and had spoken to her family about the surrounding circumstances and relayed much of it to Knox in meetings at coffee shops or via email. There were rumours that the book was the death of Evelyn as she passed away, creating a profound sense of unease, before she could complete it leaving Knox to continue her hard work. In a fragmented and convoluted style, the narrative comprises emails, pictures, newspaper clippings, interview transcripts and the thoughts, feelings and memories of Zoe’s friends, her twin sister, wider family, the police investigators, the media and those who were with her the fateful night she vanished without a trace. While the format can take a little getting used to, I found it was the perfect way to tell an immersive, all-encompassing story focusing on the victim and accumulating the experiences and feelings of those who knew Zoe as a person; by the end you feel you know her, too. Suspicious characters emerge as do a plethora of twists and turns as the many secrets, lies, jealousies, betrayals and infatuations unravel and pave the way for the explosive and shocking conclusion. It's a compulsive, claustrophobic feeling novel, and I must say, Knox has excelled himself once again. Never anything less than scintillating, his ideas are always dark, unsettling, totally original and refreshingly different in a genre becoming increasingly indistinguishable. Highly recommended.