As Joanna unravels the secrets at the heart of this close-knit community, her own dark past begins to resurface. Because she thinks she knows what really happened to Lily - and if the truth gets out, it might be her undoing... It's only when you reach the next stop that you truly begin to panic. Because there aren't two children waiting for you on the platform. There's only one. Close your eyes. Count to ten. And when you open them, your child is gone... A top ten bestselling, twisty and compelling thriller about a little girl who goes missing during a game of hide and seek. Years later, Joanna moves into a new house. It seems perfect in every way, until she learns that this was once Lily Murphy's home. From that moment onwards, a sense of dread seems to follow her from room to room.

Set in a leafy suburb in Dublin, Lily Murphy disappears in 1985 while playing the age-old favourite children’s game of hide and seek. Many years later, a new family has moved the house once occupied by the Murphy family. When Joanna realises that Lily once lived there, she is immediately overcome with an awful sense of dread that she just can’t shift. She thinks she knows that happened to the little girl and if the truth comes out, her world will also be turned upside down. When Joanna sees a photograph of Lily, her own past resurfaces, and in an attempt to uncover the sense of familiarity and the link between her own past and Lily's, Joanna begins to pull at the threads of the close-knit community. What she discovers makes for a twisty, thrilling and riveting read! Alongside the tension you could cut with a knife and those whiplash inducing plot twists the book is full of characters that are relatable. Some you will see in yourself, others are that annoying neighbour a few doors over that never smiles, remember that family down the road that seem to have it all or even that cluster of snotty Mummies at the school gates. We all know these characters, whether we love or hate them, it becomes ridiculously hard not to become invested in them. Joanna has just moved into a beautiful home in the Dublin suburbs with her husband and kids. All is well until she finds out from her next door neighbour that her new house was also the former home of Lily Murphy; a three year old who disappeared following a game of hide and seek nearby in 1985. I love a dual timeline; the 80’s irish suburb along with the attitudes of the time felt very familiar to me, but equally the modern day setting felt realistic too.

Andrea Mara's tight plotting and convincing characterisation make her books both compelling and intriguing.' Liz Nugent I think Andrea's talent in creating such an extreme reaction in her readers is in one part due to how she writes so fluidly and realistically. While there may be layers upon layers of twists imbedded within the plotline at no point do her words feel over written, the story always feels far too real and plausible. There are so many relatable snippets that you are immersed into a world you recognise and feel comfortable in, until those stark, jarring moments when you're not. Andrea Mara is an amazing storyteller and weaves a thoroughly enjoyable tale where you think you know what’s happening and then BAM! a plot twist throws everything you thought you knew out of the window! The characters in Hide and Seek are hiding so many secrets from each other that I learned to trust no one. And Joanna also has a past she doesn’t want to reveal, not even to her family, and is much closer to the truth about what happened to Lily than she wants to admit! But the whole community needs to look within and Joanna may be the catalyst needed to solve the mystery once and for all.

As usual a brilliantly conceived and tautly plotted thriller from an author at the top of her game. Wow, I absolutely bloody loved this extremely well-written, cleverly plotted mystery/thriller that had me hooked in and captivated from the spine-chilling opening sentence right through to the satisfying concluding dash of poetic justice.' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Thanks so much to the author Andrea Mara, publishers Bookouture and Netgalley.co.uk for the opportunity to read it prior to it's publication on August 4th 2022.When Johanna and her family move into her new home, she's sure they've found her forever home. Until she learns about it's dark past: thirty years ago, it was home to three year old Lily Murph, who disappeared during a game of hide-and-seek, and never seen again. Joanna is determined to find out all she can about the little girls disappearance and the inhabitants of the close-knit neighbourhood are all eager to speculate. But the more she learns, the closer she's drawn towards her own dark family secrets - secrets she's spent years trying to hide. This is very hard to put down, it’s very smart and keeps you guessing to the end, the characterisation is masterful although there are a bunch of them to get your head around. Overall, an unpredictable, riveting read from start to finish. The story revolves around the disappearance of 3 year old Lily Murphy and the connection it has to Joanna Stedman who now lives in her house. Lily was never found and Joanna believes she knows more about this case than most because Joanna has a whole closet full of secrets herself. June 2018: Joanna Murphy (mother of 3) moves into a new house in the SoCoDu suburbs, only to learn that it was the home of Lily Murphy before she disappeared. The game of hide and seek is over, everyone has gone home, but little Lily Murphy hasn't been found. Her parents search the woods and tell themselves that the worst hasn't happened - but deep down they know this peaceful Dublin suburb will never be the same again.

Hide and Seek will be published by Transworld - an imprint of @penguinbooksireland - on 2 August 2022. I received an advance digital copy courtesy of the publishers. Fast forward to 2018 and Joanna Stedman and her family move into their forever home. It seems perfect - until Joanna discovers that it was once the home of Lily Murphy. As Joanna delves further into the child’s disappearance, revelations and secrets emerge - including Joanna’s own. Does she play a part in this long forgotten mystery? Very highly recommended to anyone who loves thrillers and who has or hasn't read Andrea's previous books.Shortly after Joanna, her husband and three children move into a new house in a mature, middle class estate in Dublin, Joanna discovers that the house was the former home of Lily Murphy. Lily disappeared when she was three years old during a neighbourhood game of Hide and Seek and was never found. Reading this book you are dropped into the tangled lives of the people in this community. You join Joanna on her hunt for the truth and see how rumours destroyed lives. Everyone claims to know their neighbours, but the truth is buried somewhere among the rumours and suspicion. You often wonder if the truth will ever surface. The only problem now is I’ll have to wait for Mara’s next release but the good news is she’s signed a deal with Transworld for two more books!

year-old Joanna forfeits her career to become a SAHM (girl, 11; boy, 9; girl, 3) when she and her husband, 49, move into a house in a closed community where he grew up outside of Dublin. I found myself on the edge of my seat with Joanna’s anxiety and her fear about being responsible for Lily’s death. She appears to be a good person, but as her lies surface, I found myself curious about what she was hiding. This poor woman had such a bad start in life I understand why she chose to rather lie about her past – I might have done the same. She gained my respect when she decided not to destroy lives with a truth best left unknown. May 1985: Lily Murphy (age 3) goes missing playing hide and seek in the woods near her home in South County Dublin (‘SoCoDu’) As a reader, I love twists and surprising reveals, so as a writer, my instinct is to surprise the reader. If there are three suspects, I want the reveal to show it was someone else entirely, but someone that makes perfect sense, an ‘aha’ moment where everything falls into place, and suddenly it’s so obvious. It might be one big twist or a series of smaller twists or a reveal that’s unexpected but satisfying. The twist has to fit the story – I don’t want to add something just for the sake of having a big twist if it doesn’t actually make sense. Joanna is horrified by this and starts to look into it; her in laws knew Lily’s parents and a lot of the neighbours remember the Murphy family also, so Joanna is not short of people to chat to about it, but what really spurs her on to uncover the decades-old mystery is her realisation that the photos of three year old Lily look very familiar to her indeed.

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I raced through this at high speed, enjoying the ride through Andrea's twists and turns.' * Observer * Next-level domestic suspense - even the twists have twists. I loved it - Andrea Mara is a star.' Lee Child Joanna is determined to find out all she can about the little girl's disappearance, and the inhabitants of this close-knit neighbourhood are all too eager to speculate. But the more she learns, the closer she's drawn towards her own dark family secrets - secrets she's spent years trying to hide. Joanna soon realises her own memories are key to uncovering the truth about what happened to Lily Murphy. But someone will go to any lengths to stop her from remembering . . . Another confession is that Andrea's books sometimes give me the creeps. I'm easily disturbed and the most annoying part about a great thriller like this that you don't want to stop reading is that I have to when night falls. I admit it. If this was on the telly I'd be behind the sofa with my eyes shut. Andrea's latest book, Hide and Seek, was published by Bantam Press in August 2022. You can find Hide and Seek and all Andrea's books on our catalogue.