The Night Visitor

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What to expect

'Horribly, horribly compulsive. Brilliant' Fiona Barton

How far would you go to save your reputation? The stunning new noir thriller from the author of the bestselling The Missing One and The Other Child. Perfect for fans of I Let You Go and Lie With Me.

Professor Olivia Sweetman has worked hard to achieve the life she loves, with a high-flying career as a TV presenter and historian, three children and a talented husband. But as she stands before a crowd at the launch of her new bestseller she can barely pretend to smile. Her life has spiralled into deceit and if the truth comes out, she will lose everything.

Only one person knows what Olivia has done. Vivian Tester is the socially awkward sixty-year-old housekeeper of a Sussex manor who found the Victorian diary on which Olivia's book is based. She has now become Olivia's unofficial research assistant. And Vivian has secrets of her own.

As events move between London, Sussex and the idyllic South of France, the relationship between these two women grows more entangled and complex. Then a bizarre act of violence changes everything.

The Night Visitor is a compelling exploration of ambition, morality and deception that asks the question: how far would you go to save your reputation?

'Such a sophisticated, layered read, I absolutely revelled in it' Clare Mackintosh

(P)2017 WF Howes Ltd.

Critics Review

The rich characterisation makes for an alarmingly plausible riches-to-rags tale
Sunday Times
This atmospheric, propulsive novel creeps up on you like footsteps in the dead of night... a tingling layer of gothic suspense
Metro
Fabulously dark
Woman & Home
A complex, creepy and insidious novel
The Guardian
Sinister, utterly compulsive...will keep your pulse racing until its dramatic denouement
Red Magazine
An absolute cracker...Fantastic!
Sunday Mirror
Enjoyably creepy
Sunday Express
Utterly gripping
The Literary Review
Brilliantly believable...you will relish every page
The People
This is an enthralling, creepy and endlessly twisty story about secrets, lies and the destructive power of ambition. We galloped to the climax. Five stars
Heat
I read this book in one sitting. A tense psychological thriller which explores authenticity, fame, and lies and the depths you might sink to in order to protect your reputation. A page-turner that keeps you gripped from the very first page
Psychologies
Bone-chillingly good
Boundless Magazine
Such a sophisticated, layered read, I absolutely revelled in it. A wonderful, wonderful book. The plotting is superb but the real triumph is the characterisation. The moment I finished, I wanted to read it all over again
Clare Mackintosh, author of I Let You Go
Horribly, horribly compulsive. Brilliant
Fiona Barton, author of The Widow
Elegant, clever, beautifully written. Lucy Atkins is, quite frankly, a genius
Joanna Cannon, author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep
Thrillingly creepy and darkly funny, The Night Visitor set me racing through the chapters with its brilliant plotting and characters that crackle off the page. A cannot tear yourself away novel
Kate Hamer, author of The Girl in the Red Coat
It's wonderfully creepy, in that clever way that is tied in with character, as much as plot and setting. And the beetle metaphor is just ingenious
Sabine Durrant, author of Lie With Me
It put me in mind of Misery, and Rebecca. Splendidly tense, creepy and enjoyable
Sarah Hilary, author of Quieter Than Killing
One of the most vivid, memorable and menacing characters I've ever read...Dark, tense and menacing, I was quickly drawn into the story and couldn't put it down. Readers who enjoyed Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller will adore it
CL Taylor, author of The Lie
Characters so real you could reach out and touch them. Absorbing, exciting and full of rich detail - snap this one up!
Lucie Whitehouse, author of Keep You Close
Wonderfully dark and intriguing. In Vivian, Atkins has created a fascinating and sinister character who will stay with you long after you've finished the book. Highly recommended
Linda Green, author of While My Eyes Were Closed
The tension is immediate and unrelenting; the sense of unease palpable. Deceptive on every level, this is a gripping, Rendellesque read
Mick Herron, author of Spook Street
Beautifully crafted, unsettling and utterly unputdownable, The Night Visitor explores what happens when we take someone else's story and make it our own
Nuala Ellwood, author of My Sister's Bones
Crackles with undercurrents of mistrust and menace. Tense, atmospheric and beautifully written, this unnerving tale of ambition and revenge held me captive until the last page. Brilliant
Amanda Jennings, author of In Her Wake
Clever, multilayered and morally murky. I read it with a delicious sense of dread
Tammy Cohen, author of When She Was Bad
Elegantly written with a rollercoaster of twists and turns, The Night Visitor has creepy echoes of Zoe Heller's Notes on a Scandal. I read it in two sittings
Elizabeth Heathcote, author of Undertow
The Night Visitor is an addictive and intricately plotted page-turner. I devoured it and I loved it
Hannah Beckermann, author and journalist
Thrilling...the sort of book you think about even when not reading, and stay up far later than you should to finish. Atkins is a master of suspense; she creates characters that you feel like you've met, and situations you never want to be in. Completely wonderful
Dr Suzannah Lipscomb, historian, author and TV presenter
It's clever, complex and compelling and grips right up to that completely unexpected twist. A chilling psychological thriller with beetles!
Fanny Blake, author of House of Dreams
A fascinating, brilliant, creepy, intelligent novel
Good Housekeeping

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