This book was so good, I could not put it down! I had an idea of what really happened, but there were so many twists and turns, I genuinely wasn’t sure. That’s pretty rare for me. I did end up being mostly right, but it was a wild ride getting there! Every page it was something new, but not in the bloated over-action of some thrillers. I’d be really interested to see what the author’s method is. If she’s a pantser, bravo because there was no mushy middle at all! Fantastic pacing, tone, and characterization. And honestly, there wasn’t a single character I didn’t like. Even the unlikeable ones grew on me. I’ll definitely be reading more from this author from now on!

Huge thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for sending me this ARC for review! All of my reviews are given honestly!

I really liked this book and wasn't sure if Karen was an unreliable narrator or not. That is to say -- this book kept me guessing about what really happened in the past and also how the book would end. I was surprised in a good way. It was thrilling but not over the top. This reminded me a bit of the Archie Sheridan and Gretchen Lowell series so if you like that series, definitely this a try!

The First Girl comes out next week on Febuary 18, 2025, and you can purchase HERE!

The first time I ever laid eyes on Aaron Hughes, I had a sense that he would change the course of my life. A shiver along the spine, a hint of the horror to come, as rain ran down the windows of the prefab classroom on a wet Tuesday in September. I knew at once things would never be the same again. I just didn't know how.

These are the first lines of the book I wrote about you, your crimes, and how I helped to send you to prison for them. It's a good enough opening, if a little cheesy, but it isn't true. Of course I didn't think anything like that. Does it ever happen in real life, that sort of premonition, such a foreshadowing of doom? It didn't for me. The first time I saw you, you walked into double maths in my school in a small town near Doncaster, in the north of England, and I thought very little of it.

3⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advanced copy of The First Girl.

Karen helped put Aaron the man that she loved behind bars for multiple murders. She decides to write a book about her time with him and the crimes. When another woman goes missing with the same MO as Aaron she starts to question if he is actually guilty. She returns home to help the police and she eventually goes to see Aaron in prison and he alludes to the fact he may know where the missing woman is. He also alludes to the fact that Karen has not been totally truthful with what happened in the past.

I am really conflicted about this book. It had me intrigued but then it got really redundant and drug on. Then the ending was kind of anti climactic. I also did not like the female main character at all. Overall it was just okay for me.

Claire McGowan delivers a chilling, fast-paced thriller in The First Girl, blending psychological suspense with true crime elements in a way that feels both gripping and disturbingly real.

The story follows forensic psychologist Karen, who is drawn into a harrowing case involving a string of murders and a convicted killer whose guilt is suddenly in question. As the bodies pile up, Karen is forced to determine whether the real murderer is already behind bars—or still lurking in the shadows. The inclusion of a true crime podcast adds a modern and highly relevant layer to the narrative, reflecting society’s obsession with real-life mysteries and unsolved crimes.

McGowan masterfully keeps readers on edge with her intricate plotting and relentless twists. Every revelation peels back another disturbing layer, making it impossible to put the book down. The tension builds steadily, creating an atmosphere of paranoia and urgency that mirrors Karen’s own descent into the case.

What makes The First Girl so compelling is not just its well-crafted mystery, but also its exploration of justice, truth, and the power of perception. McGowan’s writing is sharp, immersive, and emotionally charged, ensuring that readers are invested in every dark turn.

For fans of psychological thrillers and true crime fiction, The First Girl is an absolute must-read—twisted, timely, and utterly unputdownable.

Karen’s best friend Aaron is currently in prison, locked away after killing multiple women. After getting her life back on track, Karen is forced to face the past again ten years later, when a copycat killer strikes. Is Aaron involved from the inside? Returning to her hometown, Karen is determined to get to the bottom of it.

This was a fantastic book! The author kept me wanting to read “just one more chapter” and I soon found myself fully devouring the book, much to my buddy reader‘s dismay, I’m sure 🤣 If you pick this one up, you’ll see what I mean though! I wasn’t able to fully guess the end and found myself shocked at the big reveal. Thriller fans will love this one - make sure you have it on your to read list!

Karen is about to publish (and a bit from the book starts each chapter of this one) a book about the Bagman, the man she identified as a serial killer despite their relationship, Big problem - a woman has been taken in the same way. She's on a quest for the truth and there are lots of red herrings, enough to make her question herself. To be honest this is a familiar plot but McGown has done a good job with the details and the tension. Thanks to Netgalley for the arc. A good read.

This story wasn't quite what I expected. The characters are interesting. I enjoyed the way the voice was directed. It kept me guessing and questioning everyone. The end was perfect.

When a serial killer nicknamed The Bagman is killing girls in the north of England, Karen begins to have suspicions about her boyfriend. After she passes on this information to the police, they convict him of all of the murders. Years later, another girl goes missing from the area in similar circumstances leaving Karen wondering if she could have made a mistake. On the verge of the publication of her True Crime memoir about her experiences, Karen knows that she has to find out the truth, but involving herself in the investigation not only puts herself in danger but also opens up lots of questions about her own involvement in the murders ten years earlier.

After reading the blurb for The First Girl, I thought I could roughly predict the way the story would unfold - A serial killer is in prison but the disappearance of another girl leads to questions about his innocence. Is there a copycat killer on the loose or was Karen wrong about her boyfriend all along? However, it was actually so much more than this. The story opened up so many questions about the role of the police in murder investigations and the pressure they come under to find a killer. It asks questions about the validity of witness statements and evidence in murder cases. It explores the popularity of True Crime and how this has led to an increase in 'amateur sleuths' attempting to solve crimes, and it opens up arguments about the ethics of True Crime and the affect of podcasts, documentaries and True Crime memoirs on the families of the victims.

This was the most interesting part for me - looking at the boundaries involved in True Crime, the rights of the victims when a documentary or podcast decides to. focus on their trauma. The issues around how accurate a person's memory of a situation would need to be before it's appropriate to use what they've witnessed in a True Crime account, or even to use it as evidence in a police investigation.

At times I questioned how much free rein Karen received in the investigation from the police, but overall I thought that The First Girl was a really compelling thriller.

I've been a fan of Clair McGowan ever since I read The Push in almost one complete sitting the day it came out. So to be granted an ARC of her newest book shot me straight through the moon! I don't know what this country is doing to it's women but the list of my top ten thrillers of all time is completely run by Irish women and oh my goodness do they always seem to deliver!

The First Girl is the story of Karen Walker, whose childhood best friend went on to become a vicious serial killer nicknamed The Bagman, and she played an instrumental role in his conviction. Fast forward a decade later and another woman has gone missing, and present at the scene is the same symbol of the Bagman, which sends Karen and the community reeling wondering if they really sent the right person to prison all those years ago.

This was a solid offering by Claire McGowan that I would be happy to recommend to any thriller lover. Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

I really enjoyed this story although there were some slow parts. I definitely didn’t expect who was involved at the end. It was a quick and easy read and definitely worth digging in to.

Karen is lured back to England by a girl's disappearance that mimcs kidnappings in her past. She feels that she may be able to help the girl when she had been unable to help the girls that were previosuly kidnapped and killed before.
It is a little slow in places but has some really sweet moments in it where Karen reunites with her mum and even begins to build a relationship with her that she had never had before.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer, Clair McGowan and Netgalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Claire McGowan is a skilled writer and an auto read for me. This latest book is no exception when it comes to her ability to come up with a harrowing scenario and deliver a satisfying twist at the end.

Karen Walker is a writer who is on the verge of bringing out her account of her relationship with the serial killer known as the Bagman. But Karen has always had some niggling doubts as to whether he committed the crime that he was accused of. That's why she took so long to deliver him to the police in the first place, all those years ago.

Now at the last minute, an eerily similar crime throws doubt on her ex's guilt. But if he didn't do it, who did?

This one is well worth a read. It gets 4.5 stars.

Claire McGowan sure knows how to write a story that grips you from the start. Throughout The First Girl there is an eerie sense of mystery and it doesn’t let up until the very end. Yes, it’s over the top. Yes, parts are unrealistic. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy myself. The middle gets a tad redundant but I believe it was worth the payoff in the end. Talk about complex and complicated human relationships, whew.

This was a great story that kept me absolutely hooked throughout. I really liked the main character Karen and her fight for the truth and her bravery for returning to a town full of dark memories. Great story

I could swear I've read loads of Claire's books before, but apparently I've only read one, and it wasn't even a crime one - This Could Be Us; it was very good though.

This one sounded right up my street, in a similar vein to Lisa Jewell and Gillian McAllister, who I both love.

It has come to my attention that I read a scarily large quantity of books involving serial killers...maybe I need to get that looked at.

Each chapter of this starts with a segment from the main character's (Karen) memoir, which I thought was an interesting way to look at what had happened in the past, without it keep flicking backwards and forwards. Having said that, I would have liked a bit more of what happened in the past, be it through more snippets of her book or interviews or flashbacks etc. Things are mentioned in passing, but the time of the crimes and in the decade since seemed a bit....glossed over, and I would have liked more there.

Karen was a difficult character to like, I struggled to figure her out. She's a victim of many things, but is she to be trusted? There are lots of characters, goodies and baddies and those in between; victims and attackers. No-one is perfect, no-one is fully good and fully bad. There's a lot of grey areas morally, which made for interesting reading. They're all real, 3D character with enough to get your teeth into.

It's written in first person from the POV of Karen, but it's clearly written for someone, as it's all "You did this, and then we did that". Was it a diary? A letter? Was it to the imprisoned man?

It is quite simple, no massive twists and turns (at least for the most part), and normally in a thriller I would say it needs those twists and turns to hold my attention. But I didn't feel the need in this. Claire has such a way with words that the thrill is in the things unsaid. The silence between the words and actions. And I think if she was throwing in shock after shock, we'd have missed most of that subtlety.

There are a few bits that are unbelievable. I mean, I know it's a fictional book, a fun thriller, and so it doesn't necessarily have to be 100% accurate to real life. But things still need to make sense within the context of the story, and I don't believe anyone would allow a civilian - especially one so linked to the previous crimes - to try and help solve the recent crime. It didn't spoil the reading of it. I still enjoyed it, but those kind of things just stuck out as a bit weird.

It's not my absolute favourite of thrillers, but it is still very good. I enjoyed it and read it in less than a day and will definitely be keeping my eye out for her other thrillers.

This was a great book about a serial killer and the ' was the wrong man jailed?' Conundrum when he appears to strike again 20 years layer even though he's in prison.
The story is told by Karen, the killer's best friend from school and is full of her regret for betraying her friend. A few factual inaccuracies about Lancaster uni just took the edge off for me, it would have been easy research to do.
I will definitely be reading other books by Claire mcgowan after this.

This one was just meh for me. Normally this author is an auto-read, but this one just did not do it for me. As other reviewers have noted, it felt more like an outline or a first draft than an actual finished product. There were many, many details that I felt should have been expanded upon that just... weren't. The ending was too trapdoor-ish for me.
I probably would not recommend this to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC!

I found this book to be a mixed bag. The storyline itself is solid, and the characters are interesting enough to keep the plot moving. However, the first-person thoughts from the main character felt more like commentary than actual backstory. This constant toggling between past and present, without a clear distinction, was pretty distracting—and sometimes downright irritating.

Karen, as the sole survivor, stood out and was engaging in her role, but the rest of the characters felt very basic. I couldn’t connect with any of them, which left the overall story feeling a bit underwhelming.

While the plot had potential, the execution didn’t quite meet my expectations. If you enjoy a good survivor story and don’t mind disjointed narration, it might still be worth a read. For me, it was just okay.

I would like to express my deep gratitude to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for their generosity in allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Karen has returned to England when a woman is kidnapped and signs at the scene indicate it could be connected to the Bagman, her old boyfriend. It can’t be the Bagman because he is in prison, but he indicates he might know something that could help. This book is filled with suspense and intrigue. There is a twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. This is the first book I have read by this author and I would read her again. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

Writer Karen Walker is getting ready to publish a book about her serial killer boyfriend when another woman is taken. All signs point to the Bagman but he is locked up in prison. This book is partly from the book she has written and partly what’s going on now. It wasn’t confusing but a bit wordy. But I had to keep reading to find out what really happened.