I was really looking forward to this one after enjoying The Girl On The Platform.

When I saw it was a 'missing child' plot I was a little hesitant, as there's been so many of them...

A small Devonshire town, a close-knit community suspicious of outsiders. The main characters are connected through their children's friendships at the village primary school.

Two of the main characters are outsiders, Aleema, the Muslim mother of Mia "the only brown-skinned child in fifty miles", and Kelly, mother of Joe, relocated due to a family involvement in a serious crime.

The characterisation is simply superb, rich and full of depth and detail, not least in their relationships with family members, friends and with the community.

The plot develops brilliantly, with growing suspicions, desperation and deterioration in various character's wellbeing and ability to think clearly. The tensions are very real and maintained and increased throughout the book.

This is one of the very best 'missing child' books I've ever read, and as a deeply emotionally involving character-driven novel I would put this on a level with some of my favourite authors in this style including Gillian McAllister, Lesley Kara and Belinda Bauer, which is about the very highest praise I can give.

Bryony Pearce is now firmly on my must read asap authors list.


Thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books UK

Avon Book
I can't Thank You enough for this eARC

Little Rumours by Bryony Pearce

Mini Review:
I truly enjoyed the heck outta this story!
The writing and plotting was phenomenal in every way possible.
A gripping, chilling, intense, thrilling and absorbing story that I didn’t want to put down!
Finishing the novel was exciting and surprising.
I was not expecting the contents of the Epilogue and this reflects the plot in its entirety.
The twists and turns added to the mystery that we are all trying to find answers to.
Enjoyable, twists filled story, amazing characters! What more can I ask for? Perfect!
Finished in a matter of hours!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank You again Publisher, NetGalley and Author for this ebook copy!

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

I loved this one. Very fast paced, had me turning pages as I tore through it – I had to see how it would end. The characters were well rounded and the narrative felt believable. Gave me chills. Solid five

𝓛𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓵𝓮 𝓡𝓾𝓶𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓼
by Bryony Pearce
Release Date 03/18/2022

This book starts with young Joe at the age of 6 seeing his dad commit a murder. Cut to 6 years later, Kelly and Joe are now under new identities. She has no friends. And no interest in trying to. She monitors a hate site about her x husband's murder victims to make sure they can’t find her and at night she drinks herself to sleep.
Aleema lives up the road with her daughter Mia who joe plays with sometimes, she’s drop-dead gorgeous, try’s to befriend Kelly and that girl ain’t having it. Aleema thinks she’s a bitch. She may be, but who would trust anyone after being married to a serial killer and hiding behind a new identity.
Naomi is Leon’s mother and those 3 kids have formed a fast friendship, and one night one of them goes missing and the world goes sideways. The adults turn against one another, rumors fly, accusations are being tossed out like bad fruit. Meanwhile, Kelly on the inside is cracking, she thinks her son could be like his father and may have something to do with Mia’s disappearance. While fiercely defending him on the outside she’s questioning him on her insides.
I pinky promise you’ve never read a kidnapping child book like this. Ev. Er
It’s a fast-paced thriller, trapped with twists and turns. You will not guess it. I was shook. 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 I wrote my guess down just to see if i had it. ❌❌❌NOPE
5 S҉҉T҉҉A҉҉R҉҉S҉҉ ҉

#booklover #bookworm #instabook #bibliophile #booknerd #bookstagrammer #bookaddict #booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookblogger #booklovers #goodreads #bookrecommendations #bookblog #bookstagrammers #bookblogging #bryonypearce #netgalley #arcbooks #avonbooksuk

I absolutely was enthralled with this book! What a breath of fresh dramatic angsty air and I sucked it all in! This book is about abuse and recovery and strength and bullying. It was told so perfectly and you get attached to these characters and their minds and you feel for some of them and hate others! This book was such a win and can be defined by one word- captivating!

Kelly. Aleema. Naomi. Three absolutely different women living in a village and their children are all best friends. Three women who suffer completely differently but all under the same umbrella. It is told in each persons point of view and so fascinating seeing how different and wrong perceptions can be on the same situation. One of their children goes missing and the chaos begins. Fingers start being pointed and secrets start being spilled but who is guilty and what demons will pop up?

Such a wonderfully written book and one I highly recommend! Worth the ride and so glad I got my hands on this one!

Thank you Avon Books UK and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

A gripping, chilling, intense, thrilling and absorbing story that I didn’t want to put down!
Finishing the novel was exciting and surprising.
I was not expecting the contents of the Epilogue and this reflects the plot in its entirety.
The twists and turns added to the mystery that we are all trying to find answers to.

The only thing that Aleema, Naomi and Kelly have in common is that their three children, Mia, Leon and Joe, are best friends. Aleema and her husband Noah have moved to Exton Cross to help his mother after a stroke. Aleema and Mia are the only Muslims in the village. Kelly is a single mother with a dark past that she protects by avoiding even the smallest attempts at friendship. Naomi has lived in Exton Cross her whole life and knows too well the rumour driven gossip that fuels small town life.

When Mia doesn’t come home from the park one day and the townspeople frantically search for the missing eleven year old girl, all secrets will be revealed. And some people have been lying for so long that no one will believe the truth.

In an author’s note, Bryony Pearce explains her characters. All the women are dealing with loss. Other themes in Little Rumours are bullying and abuse. Pearce deals with all of these in a small town setting. This psychological thriller is well written and fast paced with realistic characters and a plot that keeps you turning the pages until the surprising epilogue. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and Bryony Pearce for this ARC.

I actually enjoyed "Little Rumours" the twisting story focusing on 3 mothers.

Whilst reading it in places it reminded me of Big Little Lies, but that maybe because I had been watching it recently.

Bryony Pearce has impressed and this was my first one of her books, so I will definitely check out future titles.

Thanks to Harper Collins, Bryony Pearce and the Team at #Netgalley for this ARC

I liked this one!

This story is set in a very small village where newcomers are not always welcome. The narrative is set by three different moms who each have there own struggles. Their children are the best of friends, though the mothers are not. When one of the children go missing, rumors start swirling around quickly about the newcomer family. I felt for the mother of this missing child as well as for the mother of the accused. The book does have a twist ending and I liked it.

This is my first novel by author Bryony Pearce and I was really impressed. We meet the three characters Naomi, Aleema and Kelly - all very different women with their own secrets and darkness and all mothers. Unfortunately, one of their children goes missing and this is when the story telling really takes a new direction and kick starts the novel.

I really enjoyed the characters, especially Naomi seemed to resonate with myself the most. The characters are brilliantly drawn out and the story is easy to understand and really thrilling. I did find it quite slow to begin with but it does soon quicken up the pace and I was hooked.

I am not overly keen on reading about missing children, as a mother myself it is a hard topic to swallow but nevertheless I did enjoy this novel and the writing style was great.

Thanks to NetGalley, Bryone Pearce and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Loved it! Rich, broken characters drive the tale of a young girl that goes missing after playing with friends at the park. The theme of loss; a child, a mother, an identity weave through the story. This would make a marvelous Netflix series! A quick read, perfect for fans of Tana French.

This is one of the best books I’ve read this year and is such a brilliant and beautifully-written novel. I never repeat the story in a review, but as we know from the description it concerns a missing child. It’s about so much more though – intolerance, abuse, bullying, friendship, loss, controlling behaviour, gruesome murders, secrets, lies, being judgemental … the list goes on. I love the way each chapter represents the perspective of one of the three main characters, and the way they were portrayed so well that you felt you knew everything about them. I experienced so many deep emotions while reading this story, and by the end I was mentally drained. Breathtaking, absolutely breathtaking, and deserving of more than 5 stars.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this exceptional and gripping novel in return for an honest review.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. When a child goes missing, everyone is a suspect. Someone has secrets that they are hiding. This book captured my attention from beginning.

A small town, a close-knit community suspicious of outsiders. The main characters; Aleema, Naomi and Kelly are totally different and connected only through their children's friendships at the village primary school. Mia, Leon and Joe are best friends. One day Mia is missing and all hidden and dark secrets come to the surface.

Desperate search for Mia begins.

The parents may find someone or something that they didn’t even know that they had lost.

This book is about intolerances in many forms, recrimination, bullying, convenient scapegoats, but above all about strength and power of friendship. The reader feels and understands the characters. The story is told in each persons point of view and is fascinating to see how different and wrong perceptions affect on the same situation. The tensions are very real and maintained and increased throughout the book.

Deeply emotional and character-driven novel.

“Little Rumors” written by Bryony Pearce is a fast paced and very engaging thriller surrounding three mothers. Due to the tragic event of a child going missing, these women are brought together. Secrets, lies and hidden agendas emerge. As a mother myself, this story does touch upon some of my greatest fears, and I found myself emotional and empathic to the mother searching for her child. There were so many twists and turns, I didn’t know who to suspect. This was a very well written suspense story! Thank you so much NetGalley and publisher for the ARC!

I completely agree with the comparison to Big Little Lies - this novel has all of the makings of a runaround bestseller, what with the scheming school mothers and their shenanigans. Highly recommended!

It was a good story with a twist at the end which I enjoyed. However I didn’t enjoy each chapter changing the story teller

A totally different type of book to what I usually read and I wasn’t sure I’d like it but I did. The suspense and waiting to find out what happens was really good. Well done.

This book was about Three women called Naomi, Aleema and Kelly
They all have a secret
But on the day that one-off the child went missing and no one says anything
I had an ARC

This story is about a group of school mums who live in a small village that do not welcome newcomers. There are two recent newcomers, there is Kelly who unbeknown to the locals moved down with her son as part of a witness protection scheme. Aleema who is Muslim moved there to help care for her mother-in-law. Aleema is quite lonely and begrudges having to leave her friends behind. One day Aleema’s daughter Mia goes missing whilst playing in the park with friends. The village comes together to try and find Mia refusing to believe that this could have been done by one of their own.

This is a fast paced thriller told from multiple prospectives. We slowly learn the secrets being kept by the mum’s and there are several red herrings before we get to the end. I have to say that I wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending and I am convinced that there is a couple of plot holes but I still enjoyed the book overall

“Little Rumours” by Bryony Pearce is a bone-chilling thriller that is highly emotional and full of anxiety-inducing tension. Full of unexpected twists and turns, gruesome murders, dark pasts, and shared experiences of loss create a gripping tale that readers won’t be able to put down.

This story centers around three women who live in the same village and are unwillingly brought together in light of a tragic circumstance. As they try to restore peace to the village, dark secrets are uncovered and soon, it’s impossible to know who can be trusted and who is responsible for the horrors that descend on the tiny community.

“Little Rumours” is frightening, emotional, and intense. Pearce doesn’t hold back from revealing the extent people will go to uncover what they’ve lost and to reveal the secrets of those who are believed to be suspects. Readers will be drawn in by the three main characters who struggle with the tragedy that takes place in their community and the effects it has on their personal lives.

Pearce does a brilliant job creating believable characters while presenting a variety of characters to reflect a multicultural society. It’s clear a lot of research went into these characters to keep them as realistic as possible and to be honest in their depiction.

Aleema’s voice radiates the strongest in this novel: her fear, her uncertainty, her grief, the guilt. She goes through a range of emotions that echoes across the pages and is felt deeply as a reader. The tragedy she experiences shakes up her faith and relationships, leaving her distraught and hollow. Still, her strength to carry on and not lose hope is admirable and reflects her character.

Kelly is an intriguing character. She has a dark past she can’t run from because her mind won’t let her forget, nor the people who are aware of her history. Kelly’s perspective offers an insight into what families face when someone they know has committed unspeakable crimes. People don’t consider too often what a person must go through in those kinds of circumstances, so it was fascinating to see Kelly leave one kind of tragedy behind only to be thrown into another in which she’s at the center.

Naomi’s the hardest character to connect with. She’s someone who experiences the effects of the tragedy that takes place in this story and isn't directly impacted by it. Though, arguably, she went through the biggest change as she no longer sees the town she grew up in (and the people within it) the same way.

“Little Rumours” is a tough book that is emotionally heavy but worth the read. Those who love suspenseful, character-driven mysteries with lots of unexpected twists and turns will enjoy this novel. Look for Bryony Pearce’s book on its expected publication date of March 31st, 2022.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK (Avon) for inviting me to read another brilliant story by Bryony Pearce and giving me the opportunity to share my honest opinion in this review.

Loved this domestic thriller!
Byrony Pearce does a fabulous job of creating three families for us to follow and root for. The story is told from the perspective of three mothers: Naomi, born and bred from the area, Kelly a mysterious single mother outsider and Aleema, a muslim woman who feels like an outcast after moving from a city to this small town.

When one of their children disappears after school hours, all three women are impacted. As the story continues you learn more and more about their lives and their secrets. A great twisty tale with an ending that I did not guess!
Additionally, I loved learning more about Aleema and reading some of her arabic in the story. Another added feature was the addition of "Devon Dictionary" to familiarize yourself with the small town phrases.

If you like kidnapping thriller or thrillers about secrets among neighbors this is a great book for you! #NetGalley @LittleRumors

It's probably a parent's worst nightmare - your child goes missing and suddenly everyone is a suspect. This story is about 3 mothers who live in the same town, but it seems that each has a secret. When one child goes missing some of those secrets are revealed. This book has a bit of everything and quite a good surprise ending.
I thank the author, publisher and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Three women. Three children who are friends. Secrets and loss abound. A child who goes missing. Bryony Pearce weaves other then the stories of Aleema, Naomi, and Kelly as the search for one of their children occupies their town and their minds.

Kelly moved with her son Joe after tragedy struck their household six years prior. She builds a wall around herself to keep others from prying into their life. While her son has questions about his previous life and the person he is, Kelly finds herself sinking into a black hole of doubt and trauma.

Aleema has moved with her husband, Noah, and daughter, Mia, to help her mother in law after suffering a stroke. While suspecting her mother in law has recovered enough to move back to Manchester, Noah is hesitant to return to the big city. Aleema also struggles to form friendships in a town not known for opening their arms to outsiders.

Naomi is raising her son, Leon, while her husband works in another city half of the week. While wondering if her husband intends to uproot them from the only home they’ve known, she realizes she’ll do whatever it takes to protect her family, even if her husband doesn’t agree.

After an accident at school sends one of the children home, Mia, Leon, and Joe are closed lipped about what really happened. Then one of the children goes missing, causing the town to be on edge about what happened. Will secrets be revealed? Will the root of the school accident come to light? Will the missing child be found?

As I was reading this book, I was taking the pieces and putting them together to try to figure out what happened. Who took the child -I suspected about 2/3 of the way through the book. The reason why came to me at about the 90% mark. I read the book in a day and felt the pace of it was quick but still able to follow. Reading through the trauma and abuse that happened to different characters at different times in their life was a driving force in the story. To me, the character that was a hidden gem was Joe, Kelly’s son. As you read the story and his layers reveal themselves, you want to reach into the pages and give him a big hug for what he has dealt with in his short life. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#netgalley #arc #littlerumours #avonbooksuk #bryonypearce

I was swept right into this book,Strong characters that came alive tense kept me turning the pages not wanting to put it down Iread the last page.Will be recommending the book ad the author#netgalley #avonbooksuk

I was completely gripped by this book right from the very start, from the writing, to the characters, to the storyline and setting everything just works. There was suspense, mystery and some levels of unpredictablility although some parts were easy to work out, when it was unpredictable it was really unpredictable.
I loved the chracters and what they brought to the storyline. I really enjoyed it.

#LittleRumours #NetGalley
A good thrilling read.
Kelly arrived at Exton Cross with her son, Joe and started living there. She wanted a fresh start. She wanted to forget all about William.
It's been three years but Aleema Evans didn't make a single friend and is living with her husband, Noah and daughter, Mia.
Naomi lived here all her life and knows everything about everyone. Soon these womens' life collides with each other and after that Mia went missing.
What happened to her?
Characters and narration of the story is good. I really enjoyed it until 89% of the book was over. After that I wasn't really interested to know what happened to Mia. I just wanted to complete this book. It became less intresting for me after that twist.
Overall it's a good read and I think anyone can read it one time.
Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for giving me an advanced copy of this psychological thriller.

This book fits perfectly the description as a thriller. Three women whose children are best friends. When one of the children goes missing, the secrets start to come out . Great story and many thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC

Wow! This book took me by surprise! I totally loved it. Such a great host of mostly lovable characters with a couple that actually made me mad to read about. I was super invested in this tale. Very well written with great POVs that let this story unfold beautifully.
Highly recommend
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

4.5⭐️
Described as a dark twisty psychological thriller.
Three mothers, three secrets one missing child in a small village Exton Cross
Kelly has a son Joe, an incomer with a dark secret.
Naomi is a local and knows everything there is to know about everyone.
Aleema is an incomer who is married to a local, and desperately lonely.
I love the easy going writing style, I enjoyed the Devon dialect.
The characters are really well created, they feel ordinary, but fully fleshed so that you get to know them well. I engaged with the 3 main characters each having their own problems.
The emotion and angst at the missing child is very palpable, and feels very real. The tension really ramps up as the book progresses.
I was desperately trying to do my Miss Marple to see if I could find the culprit. I was right in my suspicion of who but not why.

Fav quote ‘she’s the only brown-skinned child in 50 miles’

I like the inclusion of the Devon dictionary.

I loved this book, and highly recommend it.

An Abundance Of Rumour…
Behind seemingly perfect facades, in this small town, secrets and rumours lie in abundance and perhaps the truth will out in this emotionally driven, character based suspense with a sharp edge. A cast of credible characters lead a twisting and turning plot with an underlying feeling of menace and tension. A solid and suspenseful read.

Little Rumours is a can't-put-down thriller. I read it in one sitting. The story focuses on three main characters (the three POVs) and their families, particularly their children. Unlike other recent thrillers, the main characters don't get along and rarely socialize. However, their children are best friends, and one of these children goes missing. All three of the women have experienced recent loss and are struggling with coping with that loss. The characters are well-developed and by getting to know their pasts, the reader is better able to understand their actions throughout the book. There are quite a few graphic/violent parts that could be triggering for readers (references to rape, murder, and animal cruelty). Also, while there are plenty of unexpected twists and reveals, I did think the end was a bit predictable. Overall, I would recommend Little Rumours.

This is an extremely fast paced thriller. I enjoyed the setting and characters. However the best part of this book is the compelling story. I highly recommend reading this one.

This book was sent to me electronically by Netgalley for review. Quirky characters...mystery and intrigue...a quick read.

Little Rumours by Bryony Pearce


Three mothers. Three secrets. One missing child.
In a small town, three mothers wave goodbye to their children at the school gates.
Wow a great , read .
Three women , two fairly new to the area , begin to get to know each other via the school gate , awaiting their children.
Are we really like how we portray ourselves to the outer world ? What secrets lie beneath our facade ?
These women are about to find out in the most terrifying way.
I loved the storyline to this and the characters of Naomi ,Aleema , and Kelly , all complex in their own way.
This book gives you twists and turns in every chapter and has a great ending.

I couldn't stop reading this book, I found the small Devon village setting gripping as were the characters, despite me taking a strong dislike to a few of them. This story tackles some important social subjects.

A wonderful thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat all night until you’re finished. The author creates suspense so flawless with characters you thought you could trust, it really takes you for a loop. Who can be trusted, who’s hiding something? Excellent read!

This is definitely my type of book, damaged characters and family trauma!
I felt so sorry for Kelly and poor wee Joe, the things that boy has been through in his short life! Naomi was one of these women trying to keep the facade of the perfect family and community alive, however, she really was a bit of a bitch and the way everyone called her Nomes really got on my nerves.
The story had plenty of twists and the agony and terror of a missing child was very well written. I did feel there were a couple of loose ends that could have been tied up and I wasn't keen on the overuse of the local dialect but that is purely a personal thing.
Very enjoyable and I would read more from this author.

Kelly and her son Joe have been living under an assumed identify since Joe discovered his father was a psychopathic serial killer. Mia’s family are the only Muslim family in the area. Leon is Joe and Mia’s best friend. Together the friends try to navigate their somewhat difficult lives, until the day Moa goes missing. Now the whole town needs to pull together, but the devastating situation brings out the worst in too many people.

Little Rumours was an addictive mystery thriller that packed a lot of themes and information into one book. Kelly and Joe’s struggles with hiding their identity, Joes post traumatic stress from what he witnessed his father doing, abusive relationships, social media mob mentality, difficulties fitting in due to religious beliefs, parent heartbreak when a child goes missing and more. The sheer terror felt my Mia’s parents could be felt coming off the page and I was absolutely riveted for most of the story.  Watching the secrets and gossip unravel was incredibly interesting and although I guessed the ‘who’ part way through (but not the motive), it was still very enjoyable getting there!

If you love dark twisty thrillers, I’d recommend checking this one out!

What an absolute belter of a story, I was hooked from the start.

Bryony has absolutely knocked it out of the park with this one, I was invited to read Little Rumours after reviewing Raising Hell (an also amazing YA Comedy Horror) earlier this year, and I am not at all disappointed. Suspense, Mystery, Intrigue and also plenty of red herrings.

Little Rumours revolves around the lives of three women, Aleema, Naomi and Kelly. Three parents living in a small Devon Village, everyone knows everyone, and outsiders (Grockles) are not welcome, they are seen as invaders. Naomi has lived there her entire life and never left, she is the queen bee of the PTA and she decides who stays and who goes. We do not like Naomi much, think mean girls, but the adult version. Aleema moved to the Village to help care for her husbands mother following a stroke, she is a practicing Muslim and feels extremely isolated as a person of colour. Kelly is a newcomer and no one really knows anything about her or Joe her son, they are very mysterious. The thing that ties these women together are their families, their Children Mia, Joe and Leon are all best friends at school.

That is until Mia goes missing and Joe becomes prime suspect number one, due to his past history and the fact he was the last person to see Mia alive. Cue the PTA brigade casting aspersions and pointing the finger, without a shred of evidence.

This is a story of unfair assumptions, unconscious and conscious bias and also abuse, emotional and physical abuse, racial abuse and isolation.

I read this book cover to cover in 24 hours.

Gripping from the very start I couldn’t read this book fast enough. Fast paced and with no idea where it was going it kept me reading. A great unexpected twist.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

I absolutely loved this! What a fantastic plot, beautifully written, intertwining the relationships between the characters in such an ingenious and realistic way.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The story of three moms and three POVs in a small town — one with a deep dark secret (and worried about a “limb of Satan”), one a deeply entrenched local (you’re still an “incomer” after 30 odd years here), and one a religious outsider (with a mother-in-law from hell treating her like a servant). We meet all three and then realize that one of their children, who are eleven year old best friends, is missing.

I really enjoyed how this twisty, fast-paced tale unfolded — totally unlike most missing child plots, which are usually told from the perspective of the police. The mothers of the children slowly reveal their own faults (drinking, pettiness, unfounded suspicion), but there’s no obvious suspect, no obvious reason why the child is missing initially, and there’s ensuing the frustration that would be expected from a real missing children’s case. I was enthralled until the end. Much appreciation for the inclusion of the Devon slang — crowfart? 4 stars. Thanks to AvonBooks and NetGalley for the ARC.

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES Nathan and Noah, brothers, have the green eyes in this book.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO it’s spring and spring things (Christmas roses, snowdrops, crocus) are blooming; the author did actually know that the pollen from lilies stains. But a garden/“mysterious wood” in this narrative was once filled with dead bodies.

Little Rumours
by Bryony Pearce
Description
Three mothers. Three secrets. One missing child.
In a small town, three mothers wave goodbye to their children at the school gates.

Naomi has lived Exton Cross since she was born, and she knows everything there is to know about everyone.

Aleema hates it here. It’s been three years and she’s yet to make a single friend. And she’s sure the other mums whisper about her behind her back.

Kelly is an outsider. New to the town, she arrives with nothing but her son – and a dark secret.

By the end of the school day, one of their children will be missing. And rumours will swirl that one of them knows why…


This book was amazing in suspense. I just could not in a year figure out who did this. Rumors can cause insanity.I read this book without a stop.GREAT writing. The ending just made me feel it all. Shocking.

Little Rumours by Bryony Pearce is a thriller set in a small town. Kelly and her son move to town to escape their past, her husband being the infamous serial killer. Trying to lay low and keep their distance in town, they are shot into the spotlight when a local girl goes missing and Kelly's past is revealed. But what really happened?

I really enjoyed this book, the small town prejudices and racism and the willingness to believe the worst of everyone. I enjoyed the insight into Aleema's life and how her religion was difficult in this town and also how people in the village are so quick to blame, ostracize and judge those different from them.

Recommended for anyone who loves thrillers.

OMG how great. This Author can do no wrong. This book is beyond incredible and totally unputdownable! Just go in blind and you will read for hours. It's that great.
Thanks to Netgalley.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of this book for my honest review and opinions. I found this to be a quick enjoyable read. It was full of lots of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the end. I will for sure be adding Bryony Pearce to my list of must read authors going forward.

A fresh take on the missing child genre of book. Well written with some good twists and turns. Kept me reading until the end.

I really enjoyed this book. It was really fast paced. You're dealing with three mothers each dealing with their own conflict. Their children attend the say school. I wouldn't say that the mothers get along with one another, that is until one of the school kids goes missing. One of the mother's secrets comes to light and that's how the rumors start. The village of people start to blame her and her child for the other child going missing. I also like how the story touches on the bullying kids face, parents not believing them. It also touches on racism and we view others that are different than us. Like I said, this is a really good, fast paced story. I would recommend this to anyone who loves a page turner.

Would really recommend this book , a very unstoppable read, could not leave this book down, it was so will written that you connected with each and every character and really felt you were living with them in there life’s. This was such an intriguing story with lots of twists and turns not knowing the truth while the story unfolds.