I thoroughly enjoyed this story.. This is the third Tracy Buchanan novel I've read and the standard is always consistently high. I won't rehash the whole plot except to say that having a postie as a main character is a stroke of genius. Who knows more about a town and those who live in it? Liz the postie is shocked to see her old school friend Tamsin return to the town and even more shocked when Tamsin doesn't seem to know her the next time they meet. This kicks off a chain of events that brings up unwelcome events from the past and some even more unwelcome events in the present.

Secrets Between Friends was intriguing from the start with a satisfying number of twists and turns and juicy town gossip. This was a very absorbing read from the first chapter and kept up a cracking pace all the way through to the shocking ending. I wholeheartedly recommend it..

“We’re all in charge of our destinies, Liz with an L. You need to take life by the horns and make it what you want.”

Ever had a piece of clothing with a loose thread? Did you pull at it constantly and then regret it when you saw the damage you’d done? Our protagonist, Liz, is no different. Her determined search for the truth comes at a cost. You’ll have to read to find out if it was worth it. Was she able to live out her childhood advice and take charge of her own destiny? Did she take life by the horns?

Mail carrier, Liz Barrowman is nervous and excited to see her old friend, her bestie, Tamsin Lakewell after so many years. However, when she delivers mail to the clifftop mansion, she discovers another woman there claiming to be her friend.

After Tracy Buchanan’s 5-star suspense series, I really didn’t want to trade Forest Grove for Easthaven. The cover of the book and a reliable author pulled me in but the slow beginning ALMOST caused reader’s regret. Despite something missing, an essential ingredient that the Forest Grove books had that I can’t name, this book grew on me. It has quirky characters, a dark and mysterious mansion, a seaside setting, plenty of drama and …secrets between friends. Thankfully, the suspense ramped up about ¼ of the way through and then my curiosity held me to the end.

I was gifted this advance copy by Amazon Publishing UK, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Twenty years ago, Liz and Tamsin were friends and Tamsin allowed Liz to stay in her house Lakewell Manor.. After an incident, that both friends want to forget, Liz leaves the small town, leaving behind the memories. Now present day, Liz returns back to the small town and is working as a post woman. As she delivers letters, she meets Tamsin again and something is very off about her.

This was a slow-burn thriller but it actually helped me to get hooked into the story. .The story divides between the present and past twenty years ago and I like how the story was engaging and the author did a good job of drawing the reader into the story. Towards the middle part only it started getting exciting and that was where I got literally hooked into the story. The twist at the end was completely unexpected and I actually liked the ending. This was the second book I have read form this author and I actually enjoyed reading this book as I was hooked into the story from the first chapter till the end!

Overall this book worth four stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Liz's best friend from 20 years ago returns to inherit the Manor House, when her mother died. She now has a fiance, Carl, and is pleased to see Liz. However, the next time they meet she has forgotten their shared past, and missing friend Gabe. What has happened? As Liz investigates, things get dangerous and lots of secrets are revealed.
A great twisty thriller from this excellent author, great read!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK, Lake Union Publishing for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest thriller/mystery by Tracy Buchanan - 4 stars!

The prologue takes place 20 years ago at Lakewell Manor, where a young man has plunged into the sea to his death - that event split up best friends Liz and Tasmin. In the present, Liz is back in her hometown, living with her two children and her abusive mother, as she is embroiled in a custody fight with her ex. Liz had to give up her career as a journalist and is now working as a "postie" - delivering mail and packages in her neighborhood. She keeps a notebook of all the comings and goings in the neighborhood and sees activity at Lakewell Manor, she encounters her old friend. But on the next visit, Tasmin has changed and Liz knows something is terribly wrong.

The story plays out between past and present from different viewpoints. This was a good mystery and Liz was a somewhat haphazard but fun character. She was loyal to her friend and was desperate to find answers. There were a few moments where credulity is stretched, but it doesn't detract too much from the storyline. I've always enjoyed Buchanan's books and this one is another good read!

The characters were a little hard to like in the beginning but my curiosity for how the story unfolds was enough to keep me going. In the end, I didn’t expect what happened to happen and was pleased with the ending. However, it did feel a little rushed and left me with questions. Overall I give 3/5 stars because I couldn’t put it down and had to know what happened. Thank you @NetGalley for the ARC.

The Prologue begins 20 years ago, when the narrator and we witness the aftermath of a horrible crime, as the battered body of a young man is consigned to the waves. This chapter was very intriguing and reeled me into reading the rest of the story.

Liz once dreamed of being a journalist; now she is a divorced postie, delivering the mail in her hometown of Easthaven, England. Fighting a legal battle with ex-husband Scott Thomson for the custody of teenage girls, Ruby and Mia, she is constantly belittled by her wheelchair-bound mother who has always been mean to her.

Liz doesn’t need any more drama in her life. But that’s exactly what she gets when her former best friend Tamsin Lakewell, now a famous poet, returns to Lakewell Manor along with her fiancé Carl to grieve the death of her mother. The two haven’t seen each other in 20 years, not since the night Gabe Arnaud, the man they both loved, died a horrible death.

Friendless and lonely, Liz takes the opportunity to re-connect with Tamsin, but discovers, a day later, that there is another woman in the house pretending to be Tamsin. She decides to resolve the mystery. Who is Fake Tamsin, and what has she done with Tamsin? More importantly, is the secret that Liz and Tamsin have hidden over 20 years about to destroy them?



The book is written in the first person present tense PoV of Liz Barrowman, now and 20 years ago when she was only 16.

The description of Easthaven was lovely. The sense of intrigue and mystery were handled deftly. The links between the past and the present were handled smoothly. The narrative was well-paced, with details peeled off bit by bit. We never find our interest flagging. The writing was good. Here’s a sample of the prose:

Sitting with the very poison ivy that tangled its limbs around my own childhood.

There’s only so many times woodworms nibble at a piece of furniture before it begins to weaken.



The creative arts and social media play a big role here with a lot of the characters pursuing their creative side. Liz wants to be a journalist, Tamsin writes poetry, Ruby has a Tik-Tok channel called Young, Beautiful and Dead, and Gabe is a photographer and an aspiring novelist. Minor characters Imogen and Celia are social media influencers.



Liz has a good sense of humour and is sensitive. She was a flawed, all-too-human character. Her actions, guided by love for those she cared for, weren’t always sensible. Her troubles kept increasing, causing us to remain invested in her. Another positive attribute of hers is that despite having an emotionally abusive mother, she is a loving and supportive mother to her own daughters.

All this I figured out later. Initially she didn’t come across as a likeable character, with her penchant for making notes on people’s personal lives, and what appeared to be, until we got details later, snooping into people’s private correspondence.



Liz’s mother was an awful character. She constantly belittled her daughter and idolised her cheating ex-son-in-law, Scott.

The final change of heart that Scott has is unconvincing.

Summary: Twenty years ago, Liz left Easthaven to escape the memory of one tragic night at Lakewell Manor. Only she and her best friend Tamsin saw what really happened, and in the aftermath they drifted apart. Now she’s forced back after a nasty divorce, with two daughters in tow, the shadows of that terrible night lurking on every corner. With a custody battle looming, she’s one wrong move away from her life falling apart completely.

So when news arrives that Tamsin, too, is returning to Easthaven, Liz fears their reunion will bring the awful truth spilling out into the open. But when she finally meets Tamsin, now mistress of the clifftop house whose locked gates have guarded the friends’ secret all these years, she’s in for a surprise. Tamsin looks different, and she doesn’t remember Liz, let alone what happened that night…

Something is clearly wrong. But confronting Tamsin means reliving the nightmare Liz has been running from for twenty years. Can she risk exposing what happened that night, knowing that the truth will destroy everything?

I was initially drawn in to Secrets Between Friends for the spooky sounding premise, but this one took me a long time to get into and a long time to finish. (and I think Liz struck me as too creepy in the beginning). I judge books partly by their "unputdownability," and unfortunately, I just spent too much time putting this one aside for other things to read.

Thanks very much to Lake Union Publishing for making this available to read for review through NetGalley.

Book Title: Secrets Between Friends
Author: Tracy Buchanan
Publisher: Amazon Publishing UK ~ Lake Union Publishing
Genre: Mystery
Pub Date: October 25, 2022
My Rating: 3.3 Stars

Twenty years ago, Liz became friends with Tamsin, who welcomes her to her home in Lakewell Manor. There, Liz finds everything she isn’t getting at home – friendship, maternal comfort with Tamsin’s mother, and even a budding romance.
However, something happens that destroys all these relationships.
Now two decades later, Liz is a postal carrier and is able to watch the residents of Easthaven while she delivers the mail. Tamsin has just returned to their small town, but something about her seems more than just a little off.
The characters in this were indeed unique, some are fakes, and most are unlikeable including our protagonist ‘Postie’ Liz. I am sure any mail carrier can write stories about the folks living in their area but it probably is a good idea not to do so!!!
Have to admit they kept me curious. I did enjoy it ~ well most of it.

I did enjoy reading the authors acknowledgments and was sorry to hear about the death of Ms. Buchanan mother, who died of lung cancer. She mentions that is was difficult writing while she was experiencing such grief but her supporters kept her going. She writes more about this in her blog “The Sunny Spot”.

Want to thank NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK ~ Lake Union Publishing for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for October 25, 2022

This is a good read with a mystery at its heart. The characters were okay but I did not warm to all of them. The book has a good pace and I mostly enjoyed it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for an advance copy.

Tracy Buchanan’s latest book “Secrets Between Friends” is my first book by this author. Liz became friends with Tamsin over 20 years ago and this book tells the story of their friendship over the years. They shared a tragic secret. Lots of secrets to be had. And nothing is as it seems. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the early release of this book. All opinions expressed are completely my own.

Liz sees the return of an old friend, Tamsin, to a small seaside town. They share a secret from twenty years before that seems to be coming apart at the seams.

While the plot was solid and well thought out, the devil is in the details, and there were problems with the characters , dialogue, and some ideas didn'tn pan out well.

******Spoilers*******

Liz wasn't sure that Tamsin had been replaced with someone else even though she spoke to her before the body switch. However, she managed to recognise Gwen from a photo even without wig and makeup. Did Gwen really look that much like Tamsin to be able cause such a confusion? Gwen looks like Tamsin and Carl looks like Gabe. Really?

Gabe replaced the ring with an duplicated fake. How was that even possible? A fake that good would still cost a lot of money, which Gabe presumably did not have.

Tamsin was in love with Carl who was a ringer for Gabe. Wouldn't she question that? What a coincidence that Gwen happened to be Carl's girlfriend and Gabe's sister and enter Tamsin's life to swindle her again. And Gwen was dating Carl who looked like a grown up Gabe. Insest much ? I think it would have been more reasonable to have Carl be one of her six brothers than her lover.

Liz was very Harriet the Spy, and it was vague about all the trouble she had got up to previously. She seemed like a great person, albeit too sweet and patient when it came to her mother. And too silly when it came to her notebook and snooping.

Scott at the end turned out to be sweet. Really? After all his weasely antics we are supposed to buy that he had such a change of heart?

Lester swooped in at the last minute to help save the day. How convenient that he was on hand to give his testimony about how Gabe really died, and the police were on hand to hear all of it.

******** End of spoilers *******

These situations, amongst many more of them, were just poorly done. The story itself is great but many details are not tight enough or explained well. This feels like an uncorrected first draft that still needs to be polished (and maybe it is still in the editing stage), but the potential for it to be great is there.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to advance read.

I have mixed feelings about this book as I did really enjoy the majority of it. I liked the back and forth between the two timelines and I was invested in what had happened in both. The main character Liz was engaging and interesting and the mysteries involving Tamsin were intriguing. It was just the final reveal and action scenes that I wasn’t overly keen on, it was just a bit unbelievable and too neatly wrapped up. I thought it was going to be a bit darker and more tragic. This is the first book I’ve read by the author but I would definitely read more as it’s in the vein of Amanda Jennings and Eve Chase who I love and I know lots of other people would enjoy the ending.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Amazon Publishing UK and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Settle in for the day to read this one.

Thanks NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK and Tracy Buchanan for the opportunity to read this book!. 20 years ago three friends meet and things go wrong. The book alternates between the past and present lives of Liz, Tamsin and Gabe.
I really enjoyed reading this, it was full of surprises. Totally a 5⭐️ read!

20 years ago, Liz and her best friend Tamsin, shared a tragic incident that shaped both their lives. They went their separate ways, with no intentions of ever coming back to Easthaven. Now Liz, plus her two daughters, has had to come back home following her divorce, to live with her bitter, unsympathetic mother. Liz is totally surprised to see Tamsin back at Lakewell Manor, and that the second time she sees her, Tamsin seems to have completely changed from the woman Liz had met a couple of days earlier.

I liked the premise of this book, two friends, scarred by a tragedy, returning to the area despite everything that has happened. Unfortunately, for me, Liz is not a very likeable character, her mother feels like a caricature of an evil, unfeeling parent and I was surprised that Liz hadn’t been sacked by her boss several times over. As the story went on I did become more invested in it, but also more frustrated with Liz's behaviour. It was a bit predictable the way the plot was going but I was pleasantly surprised with the plot twists at the end. Nicely written, just not the book for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thanks to netgalley and publishers for allowing me to read this ARC.

This being my first read by this author. It took me sometime to get into it. Very slow going . But once 28 percent in . I raced through . A good mystery, especially if read whilst a storm is going on outside ,which in my case it was. 3✨️✨️✨️

Twenty years ago, Liz became fast friends with Tamsin, who lived in the sprawling cliffside Lakewell Manor. At the manor, Liz finds everything she isn’t getting at home – friendship, a loving maternal figure in the form of Tamsin’s mom, and even a budding romance with a handsome and mysterious young man. When tragedy strikes, all of the relationships Liz cherishes are destroyed. Now two decades later, Liz is a postal carrier (a postie! 😊 ) who keeps tabs on the residents of Easthaven while she delivers the mail. Tamsin has just returned to their small town, but something about her seems more than just a little off. What on earth is going on? Liz is determined to get to the bottom of things!

This is a solid story that leans more toward cozy mystery than thriller. Tracy Buchanan has a gift for writing small towns and quirky characters. Liz is appealing albeit a little odd, and I would have loved to see her weirdness and unreliableness fleshed out even more. You can’t help but feel sorry for Liz’s situation with her over-the-top horrible mother and custody dispute with her ex. The story is told on dual timelines, with the past holding my interest more than the present. Overall an enjoyable read that’s perfect for readers who like their mysteries and thrillers on the lighter side.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for providing me an advance copy of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC to read and review.

While this wasn't my favorite Tracy Buchanan novel, it was certainly worth sticking with. I felt it started a little slow and contains a lot of unlikeable characters...Liz's mother is emotionally withdrawn and unloving, Scott, Liz's ex is trying to gain custody of their two daughters and the townsfolk are just mean. Despite something clearly being wrong with Tamsin, Liz doesn't go to the police because she is afraid a 20 year old secret will come out in the open.

I enjoyed the past/present way of reading the story and that helped weave the mystery of the current and past events together. Despite not being a dramatic enough mystery for me (we know all along what has happened 20 years prior) there are some surprises that come out towards the end. Overall, a quick read with a tidy ending.

Twenty years ago, Liz and introverted Tamsin strike an unlikely friendship. In Tamsin and her mother, Liz finds something she has never experienced, a loving mother daughter relationship. But every relationship has secrets, right?
Young and wealthy Gabe joins the duo and ends up disappearing. What does our duo have to do with it?

Both girls leave Easthaven behind them, only to return some twenty years later. Liz’s dream of being a successful journalist have failed. Her marriage ended in a nasty divorce and she is back where it all started, living with her mother. Liz works as a postal worker with dubious reputation.

Then Tamsin returns and the women meet again. Something weird happens the day after, Tamsin has changed. Not only so in appearance but also on behaviour. Something is up, and Liz starts to investigate.

In the beginning I really had trouble with Liz. She is nosy and I can’t explain it, but she does not come across as very serious. She is almost comical in an unintended way. But she grew on me. I still found her strange at times, but she had balls after all.

The story is solid and written fluently. The narrative changes between present and past. We get to meet a set of weird and quirky characters. Liz’s mother is just so cringe worthy, you can’t help to feel bad for Liz.

I am not the biggest fan of the citizen gone investigator trope. Yes, she solved the case, but it’s not what I go for in books. It was too much of a cosy mystery for me. I am not saying the book is bad, just not my style.