Eleanor has travelled to London from Australia to stay with an aunt and uncle. Whilst out for a Christmas party a colleague Arabella is found dead in the Thames. Eleanor may have been one of the last to see Arabella alive but cannot remember about the events leading up to her death.

This is the first time reading a book by this author. I found the book to be an easy read. Overall for me it was an OK read.

The storyline about memory loss has been done many times and for me nothing new. Also a family with secrets, again nothing new here. Although I did enjoy the book there was nothing to wow me and some of the plot was predictable. The story also goes back to Eleanor's childhood and what happened in Australia. This I found interesting but felt it padded the story out.

I enjoyed the book for what it was, and think any longer in length would have been too much. I probably would read more by this author in the future. ( )

A chilling thriller of memory loss and secret lies by best-selling author Sara Foster who, with five novels under her belt, is proving to be a modern-day master of psychological suspense. Shrouded in the moody, drippy weather of London in winter, this gripper sucks you into the story faster than green grass through a goose!

*Firstly, though, let’s pause for a big thank you to Sara Foster, Blackstone Publishing, and NetGalley for providing a free Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for this honest review.* Now, back to our main event…

Young, 21-year-old Eleanor is looking for a fresh start. She packs up her belongings, scantly more than a suitcase a few articles of clothing, and heads off to London for a new life. She’ll be living with her mother’s only sibling – an uncle Eleanor barely knows – in Uncle Ian’s tony home on Notting Hill, along with his wife and two young daughters. What’s more, Aunt Susan’s publishing firm has an opening for an admin assistant that should be perfect for Eleanor.

But things start to go terribly wrong on a rainy evening at the company Christmas party. Eleanor has only been in the UK and at the firm a few weeks and so hasn’t yet made any friends. Determined to be merry and hopefully find some companionable souls, Eleanor is flattered when the beautiful, social butterfly Arabella, the belle of the publishing house, singles Arabella out for drinks and conversation. But then the next day, Arabella is dead. And Eleanor has no recollection of what happened after the party or even how she got home that night.

Frightened of The Hidden Hours in her consciousness, and how she may have been involved in Arabella’s death, Eleanor frantically attempts to recreate the tragic events of that night and salvage her future… while simultaneously outrunning the past that lives inside her mind as it were only yesterday.

Not to be out done by the main murder-mystery plot is the fable-like, cautionary tale embedded in the immensely layered and deftly woven flashbacks to Eleanor’s childhood in Australia. These are all the more powerful, as well, due to the contrast between the hot, dry landscape of the southern continent and the damp and dark bustle of the U.K. metroplis.

Originally released in paperback and for Kindle in 2017, in an unusual move, this is the debut release of the hardcover edition for 2020. If you’re a fan of chills and thrills, and things that go bump in the night, then you won’t be able to put this one down! This reader really enjoyed the read and gives it a praise-worthy, four stars.

Support your indie books stores and pick up your copy of The Hidden Hours, releasing Nov 3rd, at www.bookshop.org – the online bookstore that gives away 75% of its profit to support local indie bookstores. (Note: Desiree does receive a small commission should you purchase through this link, however, she shares this out of love and care for her local, corner bookstores everywhere.)

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I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

This was an OK read, I suppose, although most of the stars I am giving it are for the sections dealing with Eleanor's childhood. I found these compelling and tragic, but the sections set in the present day were extremely repetitive and dragged for me. Eleanor spent ages wishing she could remember 'that night', telling people she wished she could remember 'that night', wondering what to do with the ring she found in her bag, hiding it under her mattress, retrieving it, hiding it again, losing it, giving it to her uncle, receiving it back from her uncle, and so on and so forth. Eleanor read very young, which is not entirely a criticism, as she was meant to be 21 I think, but she was quite a YA heroine in my opinion, and I grew tired of her going round and round in circles. The ending of the story was underwhelming, and I was glad to have got to the end. ( )

I am really enjoying Sara Foster’s work. I only recently discovered her books and I’m plowing through them quickly. THH was a thought provoking mystery which held me in its grip to the last page. I vacillated between protagonists a number of times, thinking I had figured out ‘who dunnit’ right to the last moment. A good weekend read. ( )

I loved Sara Foster’s All That is Lost Between Us, a mystery novel centred around relationships. The Hidden Hours has once again highlighted Foster’s incredible talent for mystery however this has a psychological thriller slant.

The reader is privy from the beginning that Eleanor was under psychiatric care as a teenager but why this was the case is slowly unfolded throughout the story as it is told in two time frames; then and now.
Now- 21 year old Eleanor is living with her Uncle, Aunt and 2 cousins in London. Her paranoia never seems to leave her but when a colleague is found dead the morning after the work Christmas party Eleanor cannot remember a single thing about the night and her paranoia spirals out of control.

This is a gripping story as the two mysteries, what happened to Eleanor in her younger years to make her so anxious and withdrawn and who killed Arabella, slowly unravel and the tension builds like a tightening spring to come to an unexpected explosive climax.

I am now a fully fledged Foster fan and would be happy to read any novel written by her.

With my thanks to Simon & Schuster via Netgalley for my ERC. ( )