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The Good Listener
- Author
- Holly Watt
- Narrator
- Nicola Burgess
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Publish Date
- 7 May 2026
- Run Time
- 10 hours 55 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
'INGENIOUS... PROPULSIVE' Sarah Vaughan
'TRULY ORIGINAL' Ellery Lloyd
'ELECTRIFYING' Fiona Cummins
An anonymous call. A mother desperate for justice.
The Good Listeners are there for anyone who needs to talk.
When the phone rings, a Good Listener has no idea who could be at the other end. The woman cheating on her husband, the man who has lost yet another job, the teenager struggling at school...
And Clara is prepared for every kind of caller. Except this one.
Because the woman on the other end of the line has just told her ‘my husband killed a little girl.’
And two years ago, Clara’s own daughter was murdered and her killer never caught.
The police have no leads. This is Clara's only chance of justice. But when the caller is anonymous, what chance does she have of finding them?
---
Readers give The Good Listener FIVE STARS:
'Read in one sitting ... I was glued to my seat'
'Smart, exciting, emotional, dark and everything you want to read in a book'
'I stayed up until nearly 2am to finish this book as it was impossible to put down'
'Edge-of-your-seat suspense from start to finish'
Critics Review
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Brilliant from start to finish
Woman's Own
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Its missing-child scenario proves that Watt’s standalones are every bit as adroitly constructed and absorbing as her series novels
Financial Times
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An emotional, electrifying thriller that will have you hooked
Psychologies
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Heart-stopping ... a deeply felt, superb novel about female vulnerability, motherhood and the way man hands on inhumanity to man
Literary Review
See more reviews See fewer reviews
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An ingenious hook, expertly developed and carried through in a typically propulsive, intelligent read. Watt manages to take the most disturbing of subjects and avoid making it feel exploitative or mawkish. Her love of Dartmoor - wild and secretive - shines through, even as we understand its danger, but it was the sense of past traumas impacting on the present that struck me in this cat-and-mouse read
Sarah Vaughan, author of Anatomy of a Scandal and Reputation
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In Holly Watt's electrifying new novel, The Good Listener, she manages the near-impossible feat of balancing a heartbreaking and original premise with edge-of-the-seat suspense. Bold in style and beautifully written, grieving mother Clara Brennan is a protagonist to root for, and this rare gem of a thriller deserves to rocket to the top of your reading list
Fiona Cummins, author of The Neighbour and Into the Dark
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That rarest of things: a brilliant book, perfectly executed. The Good Listener drew me in with pace, intrigue and emotional weight and just would not let me go. A terrific read from an author who never disappoints
Gytha Lodge, bestselling author of the Jonah Sheens Detective Agency and Dead to Me
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A cut above. A poignant, intelligent and genuinely gripping thriller woven from a mother's worst nightmare and her search for the truth. Holly Watt is a brilliant writer
Anna Mazzola, winner of the 2025 CWA Gold Dagger for The Book of Secrets
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The Good Listener is a taut, elegant thriller that grips from the first page and won’t let you look away. Holly Watt balances heart-pounding suspense with nuanced characterisation, giving the main character, Clara, depth beyond her tragedy. Tense, assured, and heartbreakingly human
Paula Daly
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A fabulous premise and a thrilling, complex mystery. I was hooked from the first page
S. E. Lynes, bestselling author of The Housewarming and Every Mother's Nightmare
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I adore Holly Watt’s storytelling. The Good Listener is an intelligent, involving novel with the pace of the most propulsive thriller, and a story that sweeps you into its emotional heart
Charlotte Philby, author of The End of Summer
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It's so rare to read a truly original thriller plot, but this is one. Watt's plotting is so clever that this is a book that you immediately want to reread to collect all the clever clues and misdirections. The interactions between the two women are more than a game of cat and mouse - they're almost a dance. This is the perfect book club book -- there is so much to think about that you're left dying to talk to someone about it!
Ellery Lloyd
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A fabulous thriller with a premise that had me hooked right from the start. In Clara, Holly has created a protagonist who is broken after facing a mother's worst nightmare but who is then given a chance to find the answer she so desperately seeks. A truly emotional, utterly gripping read - this is perfect book club material. I loved it
Nikki Smith
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Tense, heartfelt and profoundly moving. Even murderers need Good Listeners
Sarah Sultoon
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PRAISE FOR THE LAST TRUTHS WE TOLD: 'Seriously good. Ingenious plotting and the sort of writing that makes you pause and wish you'd penned that'
Sarah Vaughan
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PRAISE FOR THE LAST TRUTHS WE TOLD: 'Absolute book-club dynamite. A must-read!'
Ellery Lloyd
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PRAISE FOR THE LAST TRUTHS WE TOLD: 'Very well written and genuinely creepy '
The Times
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Holly Watt
- Narrator
- Nicola Burgess
- Duration
- 10 hours 55 minutes
- Release Date
- 7 May 2026
- ISBN
- 9781526697172
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Genre
- Thriller / suspense fiction, Crime and mystery: private investigator / amateur detectives, Crime and mystery: women sleuths / detectives, Family life fiction / Stories about family, Narrative theme: love / relationships, Whistleblowing
Synopsis
Bloomsbury presents The Good Listener by Holly Watt, read by Nicola Burgess.'INGENIOUS... PROPULSIVE' Sarah Vaughan'TRULY ORIGINAL' Ellery Lloyd'ELECTRIFYING' Fiona Cummins An anonymous call. A mother desperate for justice.The Good Listeners are there for anyone who needs to talk.When the phone rings, a Good Listener has no idea who could be at the other end. The woman cheating on her husband, the man who has lost yet another job, the teenager struggling at school... And Clara is prepared for every kind of caller. Except this one.Because the woman on the other end of the line has just told her ‘my husband killed a little girl.’And two years ago, Clara’s own daughter was murdered and her killer never caught.The police have no leads. This is Clara's only chance of justice. But when the caller is anonymous, what chance does she have of finding them?---Readers give The Good Listener FIVE STARS:'Read in one sitting ... I was glued to my seat' 'Smart, exciting, emotional, dark and everything you want to read in a book''I stayed up until nearly 2am to finish this book as it was impossible to put down' 'Edge-of-your-seat suspense from start to finish'
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