The Lover: A twisty scandi thriller about a woman caught in her own web of lies

Description

How Many Lies Can She Get Away With? A gripping domestic thriller of secrets, lies, extramarital affairs and murder. "A wonderful storyteller" Chris Whitaker Is it worse to lie to your husband or the police? Rikke is deceiving them both. When their upstairs neighbour Jorgen is found dead, she's questioned alongside her husband Asmund. How can Rikke admit in front of Asmund that Jorgen and she were having an affair? Or explain to the police the complexity of her feelings for Jorgen? The hint of relief that he's dead. And, as the investigation closes in on the neighbourhood, how long can she conceal the affair from her neighbours, her husband and her teenage daughter? Rikke knows she can't hide the phone calls, emails and messages from the police. So she cuts herself a deal. In return for a few days' grace to tell Asmund before anyone else does, she'll share everything about the affair. But before she can summon the courage to confess, Rikke is struck by a chilling revelation. Jorgen can only have been killed by someone living in their small apartment building. Praise for The Therapist "Creepy, compelling and very well written" Harriet Tyce "Wonderfully creepy, twisty and compelling" Karen Hamilton "Masterfully paced and hauntingly written" Anna Bailey "Gets under your skin" Jo Spain "I couldn't put it down" Sarah Ward "A marvellously assured debut thriller" Irish Times. "A striking debut" Spectator Translated from the Norwegian by Alison McCullough

Helene Flood is a psychologist who obtained her doctoral degree on violence, revictimization and trauma-related shame and guilt in 2016. She now works as a psychologist and researcher at the National Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress. She lives in Oslo with her husband and two children. The Therapist is her first adult novel; it has now been bought for film by Anonymous Content, and rights have been sold to 28 countries.

An absolutely prime slice of Scandicrime . . . the writer channels her professional expertise into a noteworthy domestic thriller -- Barry Forshaw * FT * Having hit a bull's-eye with . . . The Therapist . . . Helene Flood repeats the trick with another twisty tale of domestic goings-on . . . teasing and pleasing the reader till the very last page * Sunday Times Crime Club * The joy of the book is the vivid variety of characters, and the cynicism with which Flood dissects the sad illusions of married life -- A.N. Wilson