Thank you so much to William Morrow for the gifted book!

I absolutely LOVED the first book in this Maud O'Connor series, Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter? I still think about that one ALL the time. The characters were memorable, I couldn't put it down, and the ending still has my head spinning!

Suffice it to say, I was SO excited for a second book with Maud O'Connor!

Maybe I should have tempered my expectations more and that was my problem, but I hate to say that I struggled with this one. I really liked the premise, but after a while it became so repetitive and drawn out. I think it could have been half the length and had an even stronger punch than it did at the longer length.

There were definitely parts I enjoyed, but overall, it didn't measure up to book #1!

I'll still read what they write next!

Gahhh, this one was so frustrating at times because the gaslighting was unreal! I felt so awful for Nancy and wanted to scream at how she was being treated. Part amateur detective, part procedural there was a good mix of investigating throughout the story. I wish there was more comeuppance in this book as I absolutely loathed several of the characters.

Nancy North is taking her medication after a terrible mental breakdown. With her husband, Felix, they have moved into their new flat. After moving in, she has visions and hears voices from a woman in distress. Then, they find a woman, Kira Mullan from downstairs, dead from a hanging. It’s ruled a suicide. However, something just doesn’t sit right with Nancy.

At first, I was really into the storyline. I, too, wanted to find out what happened to Kira Mullan. I was definitely intrigued. Unfortunately, as the story went on, I realized most of the plot focuses on GASLIGHTING. It really irked me! I wanted to get past that. The gaslighting was making me furious. On top of that, I think the story was a bit too long.

Overall, it was an okay read. Please check out other reviews as people have really enjoyed this one.
3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Massive trigger warning of gaslighting. Suicide. Mental breakdowns

Happy Pub Day!

This book hits the shelves today, and I highly recommend it for fans of psychological thrillers or mysteries!

This read is a bit on the longer side, but I didn’t feel it at all. The stand out for me was the character of Nancy North, a woman struggling to rebuild her life after experiencing psychotic episodes that led to a mental breakdown. She’s lost everything—the restaurant she owned, her independence, and any sense of stability. Felix, her overbearing partner, keeps her on a very tight leash as they move into their London apartment, where her fresh start takes a dark turn. A neighbor in the building dies. The police have determined is a suicide. But Nancy is certain there’s more to the story. She begins poking around to learn more, but every move she makes is evidence to Felix and others in the building of her loosening grip on reality.

As a reader, I felt I got to experience - in some small way – what it might be like to hear voices and constantly question one’s perception of reality, while also being viewed as ‘different’ and ‘less than’ by those lacking empathy for those living with mental health challenges.

This is the second book in the Maud O’Connor series, but it works beautifully as a standalone.

Thank you William Morrow for the ARC!

The title of this is a bit misleading as I feel the book mainly focused on Nancy's unreliability and very little on Kira as a character. I liked the story, and I am excited to see that this is #2 in a series about Detective Maud. I

I genuinely think author duo Nicci French are some of the best thriller/suspense authors right now, and they don’t get enough hype. I was so excited when I learned that this was going to be a series, as I absolutely adore their Frieda Klein series.

They do the best job at bringing you up close and personal to everyone in their stories - whether it is the victim, the family, neighbors, or even Maud herself. I felt like I knew each character, even ones who don’t get a lot of page time.

In this particular story, we follow Nancy as she fights to have a suicide in her building investigated. Nancy has a psychiatric disorder and has to fight 100x harder to get anyone to believe her. The tension surrounding Nancy and those who opposed her was palpable.

There was just one thing I wish they would have cleared up at the end, but it ultimately wrapped up really well. I will now be anxiously awaiting book 3!

I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It took a bit of effort for me to get engaged with the book, but once it got its hooks in me, I could not put it down. Nancy, has had some challenges mentally, but feels she is on the mend. Her boyfriend, Felix, is super supportive and wants to ensure Nancy’s safety, so he moves her from all she’s known to an apartment building where he believes she can start over. The problem is this building and its neighbors are the worst kind of dysfunction, not to mention the death of one of the neighbors, Kira. The book has lots of twists and some characters that would drive anyone mad. How is Nancy going to survive and how is Maud, our detective underdog, superhero, going to solve the crime. After a slow start, I loved this story!!!

The Last Days of Kira Mullan by Nicci French is a tense thriller / police procedural where mental health awareness is delicately represented. This is the second book in the Maud O'Connor series but it can 100% be read as a standalone novel.

Nancy North is dealing with a lot. After being hospitalized after a very public breakdown, Nancy and her partner Felix have moved into a new apartment building. She is desperately trying to put her life back together, taking her pills and speaking with her therapist. But as Nancy starts hearing things are not real, she realizes that her grip on reality is tenuous at best. During a breakdown of sorts Nancy meets Kira, her downstairs neighbor briefly, long enough to suspect something is wrong. And then when Kira is found dead in her apartment, Nancy is certain she was murdered. But what happens when no one takes poor Nancy seriously?

This was a tense book. The dread I felt throughout made me want to race through the pages to figure out what was happening. I have not read the other book in the series, but I can honestly say that this works very well as a standalone. I especially loved the way the issues with Nancy's mental health were written as though the reader is feeling her emotions as well. This is definitely a thriller that I would recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley, Nicci French, and William Morrow for this ARC. Publication day is March 4th 2025.

I enjoyed the first book of the Maud O'Connor series: "Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter?" So I was excited to get my hands on this book!!

We meet Nancy North a woman whose recovering from a psychotic break, and Detective Inspector Maud O’Connor, who is an experienced investigator but fighting against prejudice in her department. Two woman facing difficulties in their personal lives. We soon see their paths cross.
Nancy is craving stability in her life after a move into a new flat with her partner Felix, he’s determined to help her after her stay in the psychiatric hospital. Nancy is haunted by mysterious voices and scary occurrences in her new home and she’s hoping the medication, therapy, and avoiding stress will make them go away. Her neighbour downstairs, Kira is soon found dead and the police quickly identify her death as suicide. Nancy is convinced there is something far more sinister a foot but everyone is convinced she’s crazy.
She becomes determined to uncover the truth
Maud O’Connor is also sceptical of the police verdict and decides to carry out her own investigations on the down low. Maud is suffering against an all male-dominated police force and soon becomes an unlikely ally to Nancy. This was a dark locked room mystery that takes place at Nancy’s apartment complex. So many different suspects and I loved it!

Nicci Gerrard and Sean French write under the name Nicci Franch. You can depend on them for great psychological thrillers, so i was happy to pick this one up. This is the seond book in the Maud O'Connor series and I enjoyed the first one and was ready for more.

Description:
Nancy North is ready to put her life back together. After suffering a psychotic break that ruined friendships, stalled her fledgling restaurant, and forced her to move out of her comfortable flat, she’ll do anything to get back to normal. She and her partner Felix—who has been a saint through her recent troubles—move into a new flat for a fresh start.

Nancy is taking her pills, seeing her therapist, and avoiding unnecessary stress. She’s doing absolutely everything right, but something is still very, very wrong. On the first day in the new flat, she hears them again; the mysterious voices that triggered her first episode. It could just be the unfamiliar sounds of water in the pipes, or the screaming baby across the hall, but deep down she knows something more sinister is going on. Her fears are confirmed when the young woman in the downstairs flat, Kira, is found dead. Felix, her neighbors, and even the police insist it’s a tragic suicide, but the pieces aren’t adding up for Nancy. Can she trust her own instincts, or is it all in her head?

Meanwhile, Detective Inspector Maud O’Connor has misgivings about her colleagues’ investigation of Kira’s death. The boys club at the top seems intent on closing the case as quickly as possible, especially since the only person who thinks it could be anything other than suicide is known to be unreliable. But Maud knows what it’s like to be dismissed as an overemotional woman and isn’t so quick to discount Nancy’s claims. As tensions reach an explosive breaking point, the line between fact and delusion becomes dangerously blurred, but Maud will stop at nothing to ensure that the truth comes to light.

My Thoughts:
I disliked Felix so much! It had to be horribly smothering the way he was treating Nancy and the things he ended up doing were unforgivable. With her mental condition, Nancy feels unsure of herself and yet, when Kira Mullen dies, something tells her it is not suicide. That something is very wrong. Only no one will believe her, including the police. The investigation was nonexistent as the police decided it was suicide. How could Nancy get them to investigate and did she even trust herself to believe what she was feeling? Maud O'Connor finally gets involved. I like her so much as she is a strong female character with good instincts. She is smart and observant and is willing to listen to other women. She doesn't mind delving into the details that others may have ignored. This is a really good psychological thriller and anyone who enjoys that genre will like it.

Thanks to William Morrow | William Morrow Paperbacks through Netgalley for an advance copy.

In THE LAST DAYS OF KIRA MULLEN, written by Nicci French, Nancy North and Felix (Nancy’s significant other) move from their house in London to a flat in another part of town for financial reasons. It is quite an adjustment for both of them, but especially for Nancy. She is a restaurateur with a restaurant where she worked before spending time in a psychiatric ward. I wonder what will happen and read on.

When I start reading this novel, I am often confused with the plot jumps. I read along at a good pace once I am enmeshed in the plot. The story picks up and a thriller/mystery ensues. There is a point where I must keep reading. I like that. I think having short chapters aid in moving the plot forward. I look forward to reading other books written by Nicci French. Thank you, William Morrow and NetGalley, for the chance to read and review an advance reader copy of THE LAST DAYS OF KIRA MULLEN.

The Last Days of Kira Mullan is the second book in the Maud O’Connor series but worked very well as a stand-alone novel for me. In this book Nancy North has suffered a psychotic break and is trying to put her life back together. She hears noises at night and is convinced that something is very wrong. When Kira, a young woman in the downstairs flat is found dead, her boyfriend and neighbors believe the young woman committed suicide, but Nancy believes she was murdered. Detective Inspector Maude O'Connor is now on the case and is not too willing to dismiss Nancy or her concerns. Maude is determined to get to the truth and is relentless in her pursuit of justice.

There were times in the beginning of this book where I wasn't quite sure how I felt about it. I went in stages of enjoying it, then not enjoying it, but then around the 30% mark, I was all in and wanted answers myself. I am a big fan of tension in books, and I enjoyed how the tension flowed throughout this book from those who doubted Nancy, from those who wanted Maude to hurry her investigation along, from the suspects being interrogated, from the boy's club and how they treated Maude, and from the circumstances of the victim's death.

I also appreciated how the author showed how dismissive people can be to individuals who have mental illness. How what they share can be swept under the rug or shrugged off as symptoms of their mental illness and not the truth of what they experienced or saw. I appreciated how Maude listened to Nancy and took what she said seriously.

This was a nice police procedural/thriller which kept me guessing and won me over despite my initial misgivings. The Last Days of Kira Mullan turned into a gripping, tense, and thrilling book. I enjoyed Maude and look forward to reading more books in this series.

The Last Days of Kira Mullan is a dark and complex psychological suspense. The story is told from two points of view: Detective Inspector Maud O’Connor, from "Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter?" and Nancy North, a young woman who is putting her life back together after experiencing a psychotic break that resulted in her losing her job and many friends. With Nancy losing her job, she and her devoted partner, Felix, have had to move to a new apartment in a shared house in a different part of London. On their first day in the new flat, Nancy's voices briefly, but she recovers quickly, visits her doctor to up her meds and her psychologist to try to understand what triggered the event. During the episode, Nancy meets one of her neighbors, Kira Mullan, who is found dead soon after. Everyone thinks Kira committed suicide, but Nancy doesn't buy it and her resistance to the idea is seen as a symptom of her condition. The story is driven by the characters and their psychology, and the authors do a fabulous job of building tension and keeping the reader guessing: what is real? What is only in Nancy's mind?

Many thanks to NetGalley, HarperCollins William Morrow for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest book by the husband and wife writing duo known as Nicci French, and the second in the Maud O'Connor series. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars rounded up!

Nancy North is trying to get back to normal after suffering a psychotic break that blew up her life. She and her partner, Felix, have moved into a new flat and are anxious for a fresh start. She's doing everything right, but things still seem wrong. She hears mysterious voices that triggered her first episode, but she tries to justify it as the sounds of a new flat. But when the young woman in the downstairs flat is found dead, everyone says it's a suicide. But Nancy feels differently, and no one will listen except for DI Maud O'Connor.

I love this series, but you don't need to read the first book to enjoy this one. I enjoy how in both books, Maud doesn't make an important appearance until the story is well developed, but she is a great character. This is part police procedural, but it's also a great story about mental health. That aspect is done really well, and you can feel Nancy's frustration at being labeled, gaslit, and trapped. It's a good mystery as Maud tries to figure out exactly what happened to Kira. Told from both Nancy's and Maud's POV, this is the perfect combination of genres and I couldn't put it down. Hope there are more books to come in this series!

The Last Days of Kira Mullan by Nicci French is a riveting thriller!
French's writing is both atmospheric and thought-provoking, drawing readers into the heart of the mystery.
This duo writes the best suspenseful stories!
The characters are vivid and believable.
The writing is compelling.
This atmospheric psychological thriller has everything you want. It was compelling, captivating, twisty, gripping, unpredictable, and kept you on the edge of your seat. In French typical fashion, the plot was built in twisty layers enriching the unpredictability.

Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Nancy North is finally on the path back to her life as she knew it prior to her psychotic break that destroyed her life, her restaurant and friendships. Despite taking her meds, going to therapy and doing everything she is supposed to, her first day in her new flat she hears the mysterious voices again that triggered her first episodes. Is it just the strange, unfamiliar noises that are tricking her or is something more sinister going on? When her downstairs neighbor, Kira, is found dead by suicide, the police insist its just a tragic accident, but is it? Detective Maud O'Connor believes that all is not as simple as originally thought by the boys club at the top and investigates.

This is a well written psychological thriller full of suspense and murder! Nancy's anxiety is palpable. The characters are very relatable and likable. This is a wonderful twisty read full of surprises!!!

Highly recommend!!

3.5 stars
I was so happy to see the detective from Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter? return in this book. DI Maud O'Connor is just as wonderful in this book - smart, caring, and determined to get to the truth behind Kira Mullan's death. Everyone except Nancy North, a brand new neighbor of Kira, assumes the young woman's death was suicide. However, Nancy is considered an unreliable witness because of her past mental health issues. Maud is the only one willing to hear what Nancy is saying.

It would have been great if the whole book could have been just Nancy and Maud, but unfortunately almost everyone in Nancy's life is horrid. Nancy did have some mental health issues, but now she is healing. I don't want to give anything away about the plot, but gaslighting plays a large role and is taken to extremes by her partner, Felix. I had a very hard time getting through those portions of the book. I know not everyone will have this issue, but it affected how much I could enjoy the book. There are also some pacing issues, but the ending was fantastic and satisfying. I hope this isn't the last we see of Maud.

I received an advance copy of this ebook from NetGalley and William Morrow books for review consideration, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.

Nancy North and her boyfriend Felix move into a new flat after a psychotic break, only to find new neighbor Kira Mullen hanging from a girder in her own flat two days later. This triggers another psychotic break for Nancy, who is convinced Kira was murdered and did not commit suicide. But the problem is no one believes her. I was worried when I received the ARC of this book and found out it’s part of a series about detective Maud that I would be lost, but it easily read as a stand alone book. I’m not sure what I expected from this book but I assumed that Kira Mullen would be the main character and she turned out to be a plot line instead where you never really learn anything about her other than her death. Overall it was a decent book but not what I expected.

Based on the quantity and quality of the suspense, this novel achieves a 5 star rating. There are a good number of characters but, as the story gets underway, it is easy to keep them straight. As a murder mystery, the authors have provided lots of viable candidates for the guilty party with great character development for them. It is also a strong feminine novel as the “good guys” are the strong, honest, and dedicated ones.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for the ARC to read and review.

I became a fan of the husband & wife writing team, Nicci French, through their Doctor Feida Klein series. Those books are amongst my favorite thrillers so having the opportunity read an ARC of their soon to be released book, The Last Days of Kira Mullan, was very exciting. I enjoyed the book, and understand it is the second book in their Detective Inspector Maud O'Connor series. After a failed entrepreneur endeavor and an emotional breakdown Nancy North and her long-suffering boyfriend Felix Lindberg must downsize by moving into a drab multi-unit apartment, recently vacated by a friend of Felix. Felix knew the residents and didn't hesitate to share Nancy's business disappointment and mental health issues with them. When a young woman is found hung in her apartment everyone assumes Kira Mullan committed suicide- everyone except Nancy. When Nancy shares her concerns they are essentially ignored, even by the police, as the ravings of an unbalanced woman. She doesn't give up; despite being again committed under false pretenses, being threatened, ostracized and belittled. However, when she meets DI O'Connor she is not perceived as a lunatic rather a reasonable person. There are many potential suspects, and while I might have had a slim suspicion at one point I was surprised with the ending and O' Connor's sleuthing. I found the first part of the
book tedious, however it definitely gained steam and held my interest. It is not my favorite Nicci French book, however it is quite a satisfactory read; I intend to read the first DI Maud O'Connor book soon. Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins Publishers and the authors for the opportunity to read The Last Days of Kira Mullan, and to provide my honest feedback. 4 stars