“There are at least two sides to every story: Yours and mine. Ours and theirs. His and hers. Which means someone is always lying.”

HIS – Detective Inspector Jack Harper is head of the ‘Major Crime Team’ in a rural area of Surrey. He moved here from London, back to the village where he grew up, when his marriage ended after the death of his infant daughter.  He suffers from insomnia. Jack is keeping many secrets, one of which is that he drinks to excess.

When put in charge of a murder, he immediately recognizes the victim as a woman he had slept with the night before. Hiding his relationship with the victim, he soldiers on. But then he realizes that SOMEONE is trying to frame him for the murder when he finds the victims muddied shoes in the back of his car.  Is someone trying to frame him? OR, has he forgotten what he did????

Jack’s situation is made more difficult by the fact that his second in command, Detective Sergeant Priya Patel follows his every move and seems to have developed a crush on him.

HERS – Thirty-six year old Anna Andrews is a TV news anchor for the BBC. Her work is EVERYTHING TO HER since her marriage ended after the death of her infant daughter.  When the former news presenter comes back to work and takes back her job, Anna feels adrift. She turns to alcohol to ease her troubles, like she always does… Then, there is a murder in the village in Surrey where she was raised – and she is sent to cover the breaking story.  This will be the second time in two days that she traveled to Blackdown. Anna too, harbors many secrets of her own.

THE KILLER – We don’t know who this narrator is, but get the impression that revenge is at the heart of the killings. This narrator’s part of the narrative is written in italics.

One thing is for sure… I’ll never see another handmade friendship bracelet again without thinking of this book!

Ever since reading Alice Feeney’s debut novel a few years ago, I have been an ardent fan of her writing. “His & Hers” is without a doubt, my favourite of hers so far. It is the twistiest crime thriller I’ve read in recent memory.

A fast-paced read with an atmospheric setting, this one will have you feverishly turning pages. Written from three different points of view, HIS, HERS, and the KILLERS, the reader is continuously suspecting both him and her of being the killer, then you read on and suspect someone else, then a little later… someone else, etc. etc…

While reading this novel, I at no time knew who the killer was. Though… I have to admit that at one point or other I suspected each and every main character in the book. AND.. the author managed to surprise me when the killer was finally revealed. To surprise a jaded old thriller reader like me deserves kudos. Well done Alice Feeney!

I highly recommend this crime thriller to fans who appreciate books which are full of labyrinthine twists, endless red herrings, and, at the end of the day, an ending which both surprises and makes perfect sense.

I’ve read that they are making this novel into a television crime series starring Jessica Costain.  I sure hope that it is available where I live.

This review was written voluntarily and my rating was in no way influenced by the fact that I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel from Flatiron Books via NetGalley.

ISBN: 9781250266071  – ASIN:  B07RYGHRTS – 320 pages

Here are some of my favourite quotes from “His & Hers” and I want to share them with you:

“Patience is the answer to so many of life’s questions”

“Anxiety often screams louder than logic, and when you spend too long imagining the worst you can make it come true.”

“The only people with no regrets are liars.”

“Youth fools us into thinking there are infinite paths to choose from in life; maturity tricks us into thinking there is only one”.

“Popularity can spoil a place just like it can spoil a person.”

“People rarely see themselves the way others do; we all carry broken mirrors.”

“I think when we finally get what we think we want, it loses its value. It’s the secret nobody ever shares, because if they did, we would all stop trying.”

“Things can get a little dark when the blind lead the blind.”

“When we are young, we think we know more than we do. When we are old, we think we know less.”

Alice Feeney is a writer and journalist. She spent 15 years at the BBC, where she worked as a Reporter, News Editor, Arts and Entertainment Producer and One O’clock News Producer.

​Alice is has lived in London and Sydney and has now settled in the Surrey countryside, where she lives with her husband.  She writes in her shed with her dog; a giant black Labrador who is scared of feathers.

​Her debut novel, Sometimes I Lie, was a New York Times and international bestseller. It has been translated into over twenty languages, and is being made into a TV series by Ellen DeGeneres and Warner Bros. starring Sarah Michelle Gellar. Her second novel, I Know Who You Are, was published in 2019. His & Hers is her third novel which is soon to be made into a TV series starring Jessica Chastain.

You can connect with Alice @alicewriterland on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.