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.

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.

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.

It’s Valentine’s Day in London and Hampstead Heath is filled with people celebrating the holiday. Suddenly a fight breaks out between a man and woman as they start to yell at each other. This argument then leads to violence that leaves the woman dead and then the man proceeds to commit suicide.

There were five strangers that had observed the entire incident. One of them, Jen Hunter, is a journalist and instinctually questions the facts of the event they had witnessed. Is there more to the story than a simple lover’s quarrel gone wrong?

E.V. Adamson has created a fantastic thriller that will pull you in and keep you guessing. I loved the fast pace and the alternating POV between Bex and Jen, this kept me fully engaged from beginning to end. It was a mental puzzle with all of the pieces falling into place one by one. I can highly recommend this one to thriller/mystery fans!

Many thanks to Scarlet and NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

Thank You to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of five strangers in exchange for an honest review. This book was not what I expected. I thought it would be about five stranger solving a mystery, but it did not quite turn out like that. The main characters were two women that have been best friends forever and had been through some trauma’s together. I could not identify with either one of those characters, thus the book was not really to my liking. I think other people may like it. It is well written

The title makes it sound like it’s going to be about 5 strangers working together to figure out some mystery. It’s not. In fact, I found the “strangers” that were there with the main character to be a second thought distraction.
Fun story, but it depended on coincidences to pull it off.

A seemingly random murder in broad daylight, surrounded by people visiting the park. But did they really see what they think they saw?
This book was just ok to me. I felt that the pacing was off and it was a little predictable. However, the twist at the end caught me a bit by surprise. Overall, I will give this book 3 stars. I only connected with a few of the characters, and it’s hard when the main character is so blind to everyone around her.

Two unreliable narrators, a brutal crime scene, seven witnesses! Here’s our main question : are those witnesses also reliable?

But…What if their perceptions are also distorted! What if what they think they’ve seen is a lie, an illusion, an orchestrated play?

It seemed like a peaceful Valentine’s Day at London’s Hampstead Heath with its gravy hills and breathtaking views. Couples holding hands, planning romantic dinners, looking at the beautiful London-skyline. But a shout cuts the peaceful silence that couples share: 28 years old Daniel Oliver starts screaming at his 26 years old girlfriend Victoria De Silva, threatening to kill her, smashing broken Champagne bottle into her mouth. A brave middle aged bystander Jamie wrestles the bottle off him but Daniel takes out his knife to finish what he’s started, slashing his lover’s and his own throat.

Jamie: hedge fund manager who couldn’t stop him this time, his boyfriend Alex who videotaped the traumatic event, Ayesha Ahmed: 25 years old young doctor who performs CPR to save them, Julia Jones: middle aged, Labour MP gets startled after witnessing this horrible crime, unidentified young black man and a jogger passing by were the witnesses alongside Jen Hunter who was there to meet her friend Bex.

Jen Hunter is also one of our unreliable narrators of this story. She was a journalist, writing a popular column about her personal life till she suffered from a nervous breakdown and got sagged.

But the tragic event she’s witnessed opens can of worms and intrigues her to write a special article from the entire witnesses’ perspectives and when an anonymous Twitter account starts texting to warn her Daniel is not the one killed his girlfriend, she decides to dig out more. Could all those witnesses make a terrible mistake? Could they be misled?

Jen gets intrigued because this story gives her a chance to make a fresh start. She can return back to her writing job. She can have a chance to make things right with her ex Lawrence.

But her overprotective friend Bex is so worried that she can have another nervous breakdown and she keeps eye on her friend by watching her every move because somebody is already after her to threaten her life!

I’m not giving away more. There are so many twists in this book. The big one is foreseeable but the last one was one played. The entire conclusion was a little far fetched but I always admire great written, sick, dark obsession stories and balanced pacing, riveting development of the book still kept me on my toes.

There are still some plot holes and some too exaggerated explanations but I’m still rounding up 3.5 stars to 4 cat-mouse game, manipulative, mind bending, pathological liar stars.

I couldn’t put this delicious mystery down. It was so much fun to read!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Scarlet for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.