In Claire Allan’s Ask No Questions, this crime thriller is twisted and dark in nature. Twenty-five years ago, ten-year-old Kelly Doherty went missing and wounded up dead in Derry Ireland. It shocked the small village town of Creggan as they mourned the death. Now in late October 1999, Ingrid Devlin, one of Kelly’s former classmates, is reporting the anniversary of her death for the local newspaper. While she tried not to sensationalize the story by bringing up the past, she snooped around for answers on what happened to her. It all started when she talked to Jamesy Harte, who’s been released from prison, and always believed in his innocence. He became the town’s pariah when people called him vicious names like a pervert. But as Ingrid digs deeper for the truth, she’s become a target of threats to warn her to keep her mouth shut. She already felt the heat from her boss, Ryan Murray, who didn’t want her to print the story, though she believes he might be holding something back. For two brothers, Declan and Niall Heaney, it told a different story since they were the ones who discovered her dead body. It forever had changed their lives. Niall had a sober life and a successful career as a teacher, while Declan had run-ins with the law and a drinking problem. When Ingrid talked to them about the murder, one brother painted the other in a dark corner. One of them knew the whole story. As she continued to push for answers, more bad things happened to her and to the Doherty family. In the end, she discovered the truth on what really happened when she fought for her life to solve the biggest mystery of them all.

This twisted crime thriller would have you on your tenterhooks from start to finish. So many twists and turns and red herrings would have you guessing who had really done it. I really cared for Ingrid, who really wanted to stop at nothing to get the truth, even if her boss stood in the way. And she wouldn’t let threats or other heeded warnings affect her integrity to get to the heart of the story. I did feel bad for Declan, who had a troubled life, while he secretly idolized his twin brother’s successes, though he might had something to hide in the end. The dual locations of Derry and Creggan had brought some charm and mystique to the story. The theme of the story is honesty is the best policy while little white lies would find its way out into the open.

This dark crime thriller will give you goosebumps even after you finish reading the book. I couldn’t find anything to nitpick on the storyline since it had a fictional true crime vibe. I rated this book, four out of five stars since it was so good. If you love dark psychological thrillers with heart-stopping and breath-taking moments with non-stop action, plenty of suspense, and lots of nail-biting drama, Ask No Questions is the one for you. This book is recommended if you love reading Tana French’s and Tawny O’Dell’s thrillers, or watching dramatic thrillers on TV or in the movies.

Ask No Questions is a solid thriller about an eight year old girl who went missing on Halloween twenty five years earlier. Her body was found two days later in the river. Now, a journalist named Ingrid who was a little girl at the time of the crime is investigating since the man convicted of the murder says he is innocent. The story is filled with twists and turns. Highly recommended to those who enjoy suspenseful crime fiction.

30 years ago a local girl was murdered.
30 years ago an arrest was made.
Now, the town still has trouble moving past what happened, and it doesn’t help that the anniversary of the girl’s death is approaching.
Now, the man convicted of the murder is out of prison, and claiming his innocence.
Now, Ingrid, who was just a little girl when the murder took place, is a journalist.
She’s covering the anniversary of the murder that shook the town 30 years ago.
But she’s asking questions that some people don’t want answered.
Was the wrong man convicted?
Why does it seem like so many people don’t want her looking into the past?
Who can she trust?

I really enjoyed this one!
It was fast moving and it kept you guessing.
You didn’t know who you could trust.
And honestly, the ending I did NOT see coming at all!

I thought that the book, was such a page turner. A great read. I loved the book. The plot was very well written and I cannot wait to read another book by this author.

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. This was a great book! The ending was a little predictable so that’s why it didn’t quite make 5 full stars for me, but I really enjoyed it. The story kept my interest from beginning to end, the characters were likable and even though I was correct in predicting the ending, it did keep me guessing at times. Normally I don’t care for books with journalists because 9 out of 10 times I can’t stand the journalist but I have to say I was not annoyed by Ingrid’s character at all. If you are a fan of crime thriller novels, then I definitely recommend this one!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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This isn't my first Claire Allan novel and it certainly won't be my last either! In fact, it may be my favourite of hers so far.

We are introduced to Ingrid Devin who you may have come across before if you are a Claire Allan fan. She is flawed that's for sure. She has all of the key characteristics which make people dislike journalists. But there is still something likeable about her. She is honest with herself at least. She is self-aware. She is not pretending to be anybody she isn't.

As a child, her neighbourhood went through the horror of a missing child who then showed up murdered. It is something that has clearly haunted her for years. A local man was sent to prison for her murder but he has always proclaimed his innocence, even after being free for 8 years. Ingrid is doing an anniversary piece for her paper, The Chronicle and decides to interview him despite protests from her boss. Along the way she realises other's have no desire for her to do this piece either. Is she putting herself in danger?

Declan is the boy who found the girls body along with his twin brother Niall. Declan is down on his luck and has never gotten over finding her like that. Niall, however, has thrived as an adult. Do they know something more about that fateful night?

This book is full of twists and whodunnits. I found myself coming up with several different theories along the way. It is a well told story and the characters are very layered and real.

Love the cover. Good story line. Definitely kept me reading. Will check out more from this author. I picked the book because of the cover and definitely was pleased. Excellent character development.

4.5 I liked the first two thirds of this book quite a bit. the main character was strong, gutsy, determined, flawed and hot on a trail of a story that she lived through as a child. the last part of the book fell off a bit for me, was a bit flat, but still worth reading. I have read other of her books and have enjoyed them

Having been a big fan of Claire Allan's Forget Me Not, I was really looking forward to her new book and I wasn’t disappointed. Whilst the story line is much grittier and more shocking than her previous novels, her writing style is every bit as engaging. How she describes the different areas of Northern Ireland adds to the realism and enjoyment of the book and the character development is complex and draws you in.

It is heart stopping thriller and Ms. Allan had me suspecting everyone committed the sad crime of killing a wee girl, yet it was gripping to find that the one who was responsible, was a person I never suspect. Brilliant , clever , emotional book, not to be missed. The story develops to a climax that I genuinely couldn’t put down. Very well done Claire Allan, can't wait for your next book.

Ask No Questions is fun, suspenseful, and the perfect book to read at Halloween! This is the ultimate 'curl up with a blanket during Autumn' kind of book.

I kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was interesting to me because the author is Irish, and hardly surprisingly, the novel takes place in the town of Derry and the area, all Irish settings. It's also written in the 1st person, which is sort of disconcerting to me, but I got used to it.

It's about a terrible murder that took place on Halloween when all the current characters were children. They all have different memories of the event, and have gone into different occupations. The main character is a journalist, working at a newspaper, but she also writes books on the side. There's her boss who she has a complicated relationship with, and 2 brothers who she knew as a child. One succeeded as a teacher, and the other is a ne'er-do-well. There are other characters who aren't fleshed out as well as them, including the parents of the poor dead girl, and the Police.

I found the protagonist to be somewhat unlikable. Several bad things happen to her, and she doesn't report them to the Police, and when she ultimately gets caught in lies, she looks stupid. I also thought the pace of the book was very slow, till the end. At that point, it sped up to what it should've been the entire book.

Also, I found the ending wanting. I wanted to know more about what happened to each of the people arrested. It just seemed an abrupt conclusion to me.

All in all, I give it 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 because of the location. I actually heard the Irish accents in my head, which was nice.

Solid book! 25 years ago, on Halloween, an 8 year old girl goes missing. Days later, her body is found in a reservoir. Goes on to be a pretty classic whodunnit, which I love. The emotions and grief portrayed by the author was gut wrenching and raw. This was my first time reading anything by Claire Allen, but it won’t be the last.

WoW! This book is AWESOME! I couldn't stop reading like no seriously I couldn't stop!
Loved this creepy thriller of a book by Claire Allan. It kept me on my toes and kept me turning page after page fro the beginning to the end. This thriller will have you scanning the pages and sitting on the edge of you couch like I was!
What I loved was it had me guessing till the very end! This fast paced book was a homerun and I look forward to more!.

Thank you so so much to Avon and NetGalley for this copy!.
Ill post to my Goodreads and bookstagram closer to pub date

This was a great book to read a week before Halloween. It was well written and kept me interested in the outcome.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review

The book took a few twists I really wasn’t expecting, which took it up from 3 to 3.5 rounded up. The writing and the character development is not amazing but you keep turning pages to find out what will happen next.