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What to expect

SOMEONE IS WATCHING

SOMEONE SHE THOUGHT SHE COULD TRUST

SOMEONE DETERMINED TO MAKE HER PAY

On the surface, Anna Witherall has the perfect life. Married to her university boyfriend David, she has an enviable job, beautiful home, and gorgeous three-year-old twin daughters, Stella and Rose. Their competent and capable nanny, Maria, is practically part of the family.

But beneath the veneer of success and happiness, Anna is hiding a dark secret, one that threatens to unravel everything she has worked so hard to create. Only one thing is certain: to protect her children, she must betray them.

Compelling and complex – a compulsive read’ Harriet Tyce, author of Blood Orange

‘Everyone has an agenda in this intriguing exploration of deceit and duplicity, as Philby ratchets up the paranoia to Highsmithian levels’ Guardian

‘An enigmatic and slippery beast, a cool new generation of spy novel. Just as the characters play cat and mouse with one another, so does the author with her readers – it’s a guessing game right to the end and I turned the last page with my heart pounding. Recommended’ LOUISE CANDLISH

‘I devoured this beautifully written, intricately wrought and unique blend of spy thriller and domestic suspense. The twists keep coming, right down to that chilling last line’ ERIN KELLY

Critics Review

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‘[An] intriguing exploration of deceit and duplicity’ Guardian

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‘I devoured this beautifully written, intricately wrought and unique blend of spy thriller and domestic suspense … The twists keep coming, right down to that chilling last line’ Erin Kelly

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‘A compelling and emotionally resonant mixture of spy thriller and domestic suspense’ Daily Telegraph

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‘An enigmatic and slippery beast, a cool new generation of spy novel. Just as the characters play cat and mouse with one another, so does the author with her readers – it’s a guessing game right to the end and I turned the last page with my heart pounding. Recommended’ Louise Candlish

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‘A genre-busting spy novel that amps up the tension and will leave you trusting no one’ Red

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‘Dark and addictive and magnificent’ Joanna Cannon, author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep and Three Things About Elsie

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‘A writer of promise’ Financial Times

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‘An espionage/domestic noir crossover in which betrayal is as inevitable as it is compulsive’ i Paper

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‘Compulsive and chilling’ Good Housekeeping

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‘A page-turning thriller’ BBC Radio 4 Open Book

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‘Like The Night Manager rewritten by Patricia Highsmith, this is a distinctively female take on spying’ Mail on Sunday EVENT Magazine

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‘Compelling and complex – a compulsive read’ Harriet Tyce, author of Blood Orange

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‘Spying has been her inheritance and this brilliant, beautifully crafted debut novel uses it to the full – and so much more besides’ Jon Snow, Channel 4 News

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‘Philby clearly understands something about deceit and betrayal, making this a page-turner with several cliffhanger moments, including the ending’ Daily Express

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‘A compelling debut’Daily Mirror

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User Reviews

Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
5.0
5.0
Really really good. Layers upon layers in this book. Lots of twists. And the first person view means that you're never sure exactly how to see it. Very well written and read.
These books are in a new category of their own and certainly to look forward to.
hallwiton 09/11/2025

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