It's London on Valentine's Day and Jen is on her way to meet her good friend Bex. Bex has been Jen's main support during a brutal breakup, lost job and subsequent breakdown. While Jen wait for Bex, she and four other strangers witness a brutal murder of a woman by her boyfriend..or did they.

Jen uses this incredibly emotional moment to potentially jumpstart her stagnant journalism career. As she interviews the other strangers for an article she learns more and more about the tragic couple, Some of the facts do not make sense. As she begins to question her own eyes, she starts to receive progressively creepier and threatening texts.. Who can she trust?

This was a quick read and an interesting premise. While I was not pulled in at the start, I was very interested midway to learn more and more about Bex's behavior and why she supported Jen. Although the ending was a bit contrived, I did enjoy it and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys mysteries, domestic thrillers and unreliable narrators. Thank you to @NetGalley and @Scarlet Publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A good read, which offered all I look for in a thriller. Good twisty turns, chills, thrills, and shocks! Well written, with fantastic character development! An intense storyline that kept me gripped in the story! Highly recommend this twisty, intriguing, and deliciously dark tale!

Will make sure to buzz around and use top Amazon reviewer number on release!

I was intrigued by this tense mystery, Five Strangers by E.V. Adamson. On a beautiful day in Hampstead Heath in London, the lawns are full of with people celebrating Valentine’s Day until a terrible fight breaks out between a couple that results in a murder-suicide. There were five strangers close by that had witnessed the awful act.
The gripping plot unfolds as one of the witnesses, a dethroned journalist, decides to write a story about the tragic event. As she starts to learn more, she becomes convinced she is in danger, and her story spirals into an obsessive quest. The story is fast paced with the POV alternating between the two female lead characters, Jen and Bex.
While some aspects were so unbelievable, the plot was compelling and kept me turning the pages. Fans of mysteries and thrillers should enjoy this one!
This is my first time to read Adamson. Apparently he also writes under the name Andrew Wilson, though I am not familiar with him either.
Thank you to NetGalley and Scarlet for providing a digital ARC of Five Strangers in exchange for an honest review.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle by Scarlet and #NetGalley for my honest opinion.

Gripping, suspenseful, unputdownable. Grab this one as soon as you can.

With a background in criminal investigations, the premise of this book was very interesting to me. It is common for five different witnesses to provide five different accounts of the same incident, with each witness statement accounting for one piece of a puzzle. Five Strangers starts out strong in that regard. As the author delves into each character’s background, the reader begins to question the motivations and reliability of each witness, and in that respect, Five Strangers detours into a character study more than a mystery. It wasn’t what I was expecting from this novel, and at times the stretches of imagination the author asked readers to take was a bit too much, although the novel was enjoyable enough that I was willing to make those stretches. All in all, I enjoyed this book and I found it entertaining and fun to read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Five strangers have witnessed a murder. Each of their stories are told, but each is affected by their own traumas in their past. Does this make what they saw reliable? Can their views be trusted?

Told through multiple unreliable narrators and character view points, this novel is meant to keep you questioning.

I was flying through the first half of the novel, but did find myself losing interest in several of the characters which made it feel as if the tension was lost somewhere along the way. While a good read, it wasn’t quite the rollercoaster I was hoping for.

This book does cover/ incorporate themes like obsession, dark obsession, as well as manipulation which some readers may not be comfortable indulging in.

This was a 3 out of 5 star read for me, but one that I will still recommend for people that like the mystery/ thriller genre.

Thank you to #NetGalley, the publisher and author for the electronic ARC given in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
"I told you I'd kill you and you didn't listen...In an instant...both so quickly...and also so slowly...I hear the smash of a bottle and then a cry." Five strangers witness a horrific murder-suicide on Hampstead Heath on Valentine's Day. In addition to the five witnesses, a jogger runs past the scene and a bicyclist, in a black hoodie, bypasses the Heath.

Disgraced columnist Jen Hunter, one of the witnesses, writes an article about the city trader, Daniel Oliver, from a working class family, who murders his girlfriend Victoria da Silva, an interior designer and daughter of a multimillionaire, and then takes his own life. In an attempt to write an additional piece, one that addresses the trauma of witnessing a crime, each witness, unwilling at first, describes the crime from their vantage point. This rehashing dredges up far reaching trauma from each individual's past.

Jen and Bex are joined at the hip. These unreliable narrators advance the story in alternating voices. Friends since university, their camaraderie is one of codependence. Jen has always leaned heavily on Bex. When Jen was sacked for discrepancies in her newspaper column and lost her high paying job, Bex was there to pick up the pieces. Bex said, "I've been worried about her. I hope it doesn't trigger another...". After a five year courtship with Laurence, Jen's world collapsed as the relationship ended. Jen cried on Bex's shoulder. A new woe came to the forefront in the form of a Twitter feed: @Watching You Jen Hunter "Daniel Oliver didn't kill Victoria Da Silva"
In Jen's words, "I had to forget about myself and my own opinions. I had to get to the rotten heart of the story. At the root ...a mystery...Who was responsible for the crime?...What was the motive behind the killing?..."

According to Bex, Laurence was the mystery jogger who ran past the unfolding criminal act. She kept this information from Jen, feeling that Laurence might be violent. Was Laurence behind the continuous Twitter messages of a threatening nature? Was the crime committed by more than one culprit?

"Five Strangers" by E.V. Adamson describes a violent crime committed on Valentine's Day. Witness accounts are perhaps skewed when the memory of prior trauma rises to the surface. Can these accounts be trusted? What started as a compulsive read seemed to fizzle out for me. My taste might not be representative of others. I did not find the themes of dark obsession, codependency and manipulation to be compelling.

Absolutely fantastic! This was unputdownable and I read it in one sitting. Unreliable female characters, a tight, twisty plot, psychologically creepy in the best ways. Best friends, a murder, 5 strangers, and much more you might get vertigo if you look too quickly. Wow!! I loved it so much.

This was one of my favorite books I have read thus far this summer. Five Strangers needs to be bought by everyone who enjoys a good thriller! E.V. Adamson, does an incredible job with character development and shows the depth of personalty of each one.

This is a dual narrated novel told from the perspective of both Jen and Bex. Jen , is one of 5 strangers who withness a terrible murder/suicide on Hamstead Heath. Jen becomes attached to the case and needs to know what actually happened. Sometimes things are not always what they seem.

I loved the short chapters and the pace of this book. I would highly recommend this to all my fellow thrill loving book enthusiasts !

QUICK TAKE: one of the darkest openings to a book I've ever read, but it definitely set the stage for what has been one of my favorite thrillers of the year so far. A disgraced journalist witnesses a brutal act of violence in the middle of a public park in broad daylight. In an attempt to revive her flailing career, she decides to write an investigative piece about the attack and interviews the four other witnesses from the scene of the crime, only to discover what they saw might not actually be accurate. What's really fun about this one is seeing how Adamson writes himself out of a corner here, flipping a traditional murder mystery on its head, and really playing with red herrings and the idea of gaslighting. I was a huge fan of this one, and think it will definitely be a book a lot of people will be talking about.

I have taken a break from unreliable, cross story narratives for a bit and I was so pleased to return to these themes and styles with Five Strangers. I appreciated how the experience of witnessing what seemed a straightforward murder suicide lead to a lot of complexity with the memories (or are they) if the strangers who saw the event happen. Secrets, deception... how did these five strangers end up witnessing this event, was it a coincidence, was someone manipulating them? What is true and who can be trusted and can we believe what we see or think we see? I found it enjoyable to read this book, to not try to guess what was going on, and to let the author take us on this wild ride that makes for a great end of summer read.
This was a fast paced, fun, and well done thriller, I enjoyed it and will definitely recommend it in my mystery and thriller book clubs.
Thank you NetGalley and Scarlet for the chance to enjoy and review this book. I look forward to sharing my recommendation1

Five Strangers by E.V. Adamson is a superb book with an engrossing plot and well drawn characters. Well worth the read!

Jen is on the Heath on Valentine’s Day when she witnesses a murder / suicide. It seems cut and dry, but is it? The story revolves around her and her life, and her trying to figure out what really happened that day. Her ex-BF Laurence might have been there that day but denies it, but why? Her new friend Penelope let’s her stay at her house for awhile, because she’s down and out…. Her best friend Bex tried to take care of her through it all…

What is truth and what isn’t? Who can you believe? I knew pretty early on who the “bad guy” was, but I wanted to know if I was right and what would happen. It ended up being a pretty good story! My only complaint was the very end… I was hoping for a little more wrap-up, but overall it was really good. I’d say 3.75 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ rounded up.

If you like unreliable narrator(s) and people who are a bit psycho/stalker in nature, then you should read this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to allow me to read/review it early! It didn’t disappoint. #NetGalley #FiveStrangers

I'm not quite sure why this book is titled Five Strangers because not all 5 characters were developed. Some appeared to be an afterthought and I'm not quite sure why they were included in the story. The author asks us to suspend belief throughout the story and the plot totally falls apart at the end.

Five strangers witness a brutal murder in the middle of the day, but can they truly believe what they saw?
 
On a warm Valentines Day in London’s Hampstead Heath an aggressive lovers quarrel turns deadly and the audience of park goes see the whole thing. One of these audience member’s is journalist Jen Hunter. Her journalist brain goes into overdrive and she decides to investigate the validity of the heinous crime when she starts receiving messages stating things may not be as they seem. During her investigation the other witnesses lives unravel in their own way and one thing becomes certain-its more twisted and far reaching then they ever imagined!
 
Thoughts: Hmmm what can I say? I saw the major twist for this one a mile away!!! All of the characters were unlikeable (I think for a reason) but Jen’s character just continued to get worse and she made some really dumb ass decisions that seemed extremely unbelievable. With that being said, the writing is wonderful. I loved the concept and the fact that there were several little unexpected twists I did not see that were well done. I do love a good obsession/stalker story as well and this one definitely had those traits. I wish there was more info into Bex’s earlier life but I think another was added to help beef up the creep factor. I don’t want to give any spoilers here. All in all I liked this one, but I don’t know if it’s memorable enough for me. I will say the cover is super clever. I love that you can look at it from both sides!

Thank you Netgalley for the advance copy in exchange for my review!

We LOVE unreliable narrators! But is everyone unreliable? Can I trust anyone in this story? Oh man, it threw me. It surprised me. It got me. Everything is distorted and only perceived. I loved this book so much.

The beginning of this book was fantastic. The plot was decent and that’s about where it ended for me. It was very obvious throughout what was going on and why. I kept waiting for a plot twist that didn’t happen. There were some good parts and some solid character development but I found the main character unlike able and wishy washy.

The best part of this book is the premise- that even when things happen right in front of you, there is a deep and complex set of drivers behind everyone's actions. That is the best part of the story, the horrifying act of violence that seems so spontaneous is in fact the result of lots of behind the scenes string pulling.

I liked the characters, even the ones I didn't like, they seemed to have some depth and background. Why some did the things they did was a little shocking, but probably no less shocking than in the real world, although we seldom know these back stories.

How all the different people and strings come together for a horrific moment of violence that needs to be untangled makes this an interesting read.
I must say that I really enjoyed the ending.......I recommend this for a thought provoking read.
The damage that one person can do is a bit unsettling.

I really loved this book!! It had so many twists and turns. It kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next!! This was my first book by this Author, and it won’t be the last!! Quick read!! Highly recommended!! You won’t be disappointed!!

Wow, this book should definitely be turned into a movie.. When Jen Hunter and four bystanders witness a horrific murder-suicide in a lovely park, it seems as if it is a cut and dry case. However,Jen,recovering from a horrible break up with her boyfriend and the loss of her job as a blog writer, thinks that she and the witnesses have all missed something. Jen turns to her best friend, Bex, to help her keep from having another mental breakdown and perhaps discover what really happened on that horrible day.
Adamson cleverly reveals more about each character until all is revealed.