A Lesson In Cruelty by Harriet Tyce is a superb contemporary psychological suspense that I just could not put down.

The author has created a marvellous plotline that is extremely well executed. We witness lives that intersect. People in the wrong places at the wrong time become embroiled in a story that is not of their own making.

We witness a broken criminal justice system. A character, guilty of hubris, believes he knows better.

Like moths to the flame, women are drawn to a weak-willed man who ultimately loves no one but himself.

A character is drowning in guilt. She does not believe that she deserves kindness. “She remembers his words in the cell, that’s tough, a kinder judge than she’s ever been to herself.” It is hard for her to trust anyone, especially those who are kind.

Guilt is the bed fellow of loss. “The past is a different country… All those hours spent in pursuit of her career, time robbed from her family, from everything that really mattered.” Only when everything is gone, does a character realise what was really important.

We join a community of women who live on the street. “It’s a small, tight-knit community… these women brought together by poverty and addiction, falling through the same cracks.” Life has dealt some a poor hand. Others have made poor choices. A helping hand is offered in the hostels.

All the characters were well drawn and believable. We follow three main protagonists who appear to be living separate lives that quickly become living nightmares.

Harriet Tyce is a new author to me (I discovered her due to watching Traitors season 4) – I intend to read more books by her. I was engrossed and entertained from the start.

A Lesson In Cruelty was psychological suspense out of the top drawer.

I was absolutely loving this book and totally engaged with the 3 protagonists' stories. Every time I came to the end of Anna, Lucy or Marie's sections, I was itching to know what happened next but having to wait until it all came together - certainly kept me reading late into the night. It was all going great until the ending which was so unnecessarily complicated and way too full of coincidences to be credible. So often I find the ending of a book lets down the rest of it. We never really did find out what happened to poor Kelly. So 90% fabulous, 10% let down.

Overall fairly average, glad I only paid 99p... The characters never really felt real, and the plot was just silly.

Another excellent book.

The story cleverly weaves together three interconnected narratives, gradually revealing how each character is linked to a shocking crime. I loved piecing the puzzle together and the mystery kept me guessing.

One of the book’s biggest strengths is its morally grey characters. No one is entirely innocent, making it impossible to know who to trust.

The plot is complex and requires your full attention, but the payoff is worth it. Tyce builds tension steadily, with plenty of twists that kept me turning the pages. While I occasionally found it challenging to keep track of all the connections, everything came together in a satisfying way.

Really good story, hooks you in but the ending is just rushed too abrupt and unbelievable. Disappointing

Cleverly written but I found it too disjointed for my liking. It is a novel of 3 parts which eventually all come together but while reading I became bored so it took me longer than my usual 1.5 days to read it.

A very clever, compulsive thriller.

I didn’t find this an easy read, as it got near the middle I found it quite confusing. It did all come together near the end though.

This book is a mess. Unrelatable characters with a random plot. In the end it all gets stitched together (within very few rushed pages) in the most unplausible way. Avoid at all costs.