The Surf House by Lucy Clarke

                                                           

Ebook:  392 pages                                                                                                

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Thriller, Mystery

Publisher: February 27th 2025, Harper Collins 

Source: NetGalley

First Sentence: In the sweltering, diesel-filmed heat, we drove down the clanking ramp of the car ferry, tyres hitting Moroccan concrete.

Review Quote: 'Escapist, thrilling, unforgettable’ GILLIAN McALLISTER

My Opinion:   

Lucy Clarke was inspired to write 'The Surf House' after falling in love with surfing in her thirties. Combining her passion with a wild surf filled destination in Morocco she had the setting for her ninth destination thriller.

'The Surf House' has a large cast of characters, many of them not particularly pleasant, which becomes more and more obvious throughout the novel. The main protagonist is Bea from whose perspective the story is mainly revealed. Bea finds herself in a difficult situation in Marrakech and a stranger Marnie steps in to help her. Marnie then offers her a place to stay whilst she recovers from the shock she has experienced. She soon discovers that whilst staying at the same place last year a young girl, Savannah had disappeared without trace. Being of a similar age and staying in the same room Bea takes it upon herself to investigate her disappearance. What a web of intrigue and corruption she finds herself mixed up in.

The wonderful descriptions of Morocco transport the reader to this magical sounding place as the tense storyline becomes evermore dramatic. A perfect choice for thriller fans and maybe surfers, certainly a great holiday read.

With thanks to NetGalley, Harper Collins and the author for the opportunity to read and review.

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

WISH YOU WERE HERE? THINK AGAIN…

High on the wave-pounded cliffs, far from the bustling souks of Marrakech, sits The Surf House.

A hidden gem on Morocco’s shores, the house is a sanctuary for the surfers, travellers and dreamers who wash in.

But the idyll is built on something rotten.

And when Bea arrives, relieved to find refuge after a dangerous encounter in a Marrakech alleyway, she soon gets caught in the swell of a deep, dark mystery.

Because another young woman went missing one year ago – and the last place she was sighted was The Surf House.

Previous Reviews: One of the Girls.   Last Seen   The Hike

Author Profile

          

Lucy Clarke, novelist, traveller and fresh air enthusiast is the author of eight destination thrillers. They include Waterstones Thriller of the Month, The Castaways, Richard and Judy Book Club pick, One of the Girls, and most recently, The Hike. Lucy's novels have sold over a million copies and are published in more than 25 territories worldwide.

Lucy's thriller, No Escape (also published as The Blue) has been released as a major international show for Paramount+. Set in the Philippines, the seven-part series is directed by Hans Herbot (The Serpent) and stars Abigail Lawrie and Rhianne Barreto as best friends Lana and Kitty.

The Castaways has also been adapted for screen and was The Guardian Pick of the Week. BAFTA award-winner Sheridan Smith stars as Lori, and Celine Buckens plays her sister, Erin. The five-part thriller is available to stream on Paramount+.

When Lucy isn't away on research trips (the real reason she loves being an author!), she can be found writing from a beach hut on the south coast of England. She lives with her husband and their two children.

Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites.

Goodreads Author Page   Facebook - Lucy Clarke    Instagram - Lucy Clarke Author

Official Author Website    Amazon Author Page

The Hike by Lucy Clarke

                                            

Hardback:  376 pages                                                                                                

Genre: Contemporary Fiction and Thriller

Publisher: Harper Collins 2023

Source: Tywyn Public Library

First Sentence: Prologue: Her body lies broken on the mountainside.

Review Quote: ‘Lucy Clarke brilliantly transports readers. The chilling environment and the tense, unpredictable plot both sent shivers down my spine’ ADELE PARKS

Main Characters: Liz Wallace, Joni Gold, Helena Hall and Maggie Padden

Setting: Blafjell Mountain Region in Norway

My Opinion:   Blafjell Mountain and Svelte Trail in Norway.

Lucy Clarke is an author whose writing has grown on me, the more I read of writing, the more I seem to enjoy her novels. She writes destination thrillers and this time the setting is Norway.

Four young women Liz, Joni, Helena and Maggie have holidayed together for many years and this time the choice is Norway. The trip is to the Blafjell region of mountains where they plan to hike a circular trail from the Hiking Lodge/Hotel that will take them a few days so they will camp in the wild. As well as a physical journey for the four of them it will also be a personal journey testing their relationships. An adventure in the wilderness surrounded by the natural beauty of the Norwegian countryside, that turns into a nightmare as things start to go horribly wrong. 

Loved this and raced through it as I was hooked from page one. Recommended to mystery fans looking for a gripping plot with atmospheric descriptions of the surroundings.

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

Wish you were here?
Think again . . .

Maggie, Liz, Helena & Joni. Old friends bound by history, adventures, old secrets.

And now, bound by murder.

They lace up their hiking boots for the adventure of a lifetime in the Norwegian wilderness: a place of towering mountains, glass-like lakes, log cabins and forests stolen from a fairytale.

It’s the perfect place to lose yourself – until a broken body is found at the bottom of a ravine.

Somewhere out there, someone knows exactly why a woman has died. And in this deep, dark wilderness, there’s a killer on the trail . . .

Previous Reviews: One of the Girls.   Last Seen

Author Profile

          

Lucy Clarke, novelist, traveller and fresh air enthusiast is the author of eight destination thrillers. They include Waterstones Thriller of the Month, The Castaways, Richard and Judy Book Club pick, One of the Girls, and most recently, The Hike. Lucy's novels have sold over a million copies and are published in more than 25 territories worldwide.

Lucy's thriller, No Escape (also published as The Blue) has been released as a major international show for Paramount+. Set in the Philippines, the seven-part series is directed by Hans Herbot (The Serpent) and stars Abigail Lawrie and Rhianne Barreto as best friends Lana and Kitty.

The Castaways has also been adapted for screen and was The Guardian Pick of the Week. BAFTA award-winner Sheridan Smith stars as Lori, and Celine Buckens plays her sister, Erin. The five-part thriller is available to stream on Paramount+.

When Lucy isn't away on research trips (the real reason she loves being an author!), she can be found writing from a beach hut on the south coast of England. She lives with her husband and their two children.

Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites.

Goodreads Author Page   Facebook - Lucy Clarke    Instagram - Lucy Clarke Author

Official Author Website    Amazon Author Page

One of the Girls by Lucy Clarke

 

                                              

Hardback:  434 pages                                                                                                

Genre: Contemporary Fiction and Thriller

Publisher: Harper Collins 2022

Source: Tywyn Public Library

First Sentence: Later, we would all remember the hen weekend for one reason: because of what happened the night of the beach fire.

Review Quote: ‘An addictive sun-soaked thriller’MARIE CLAIRE

Main Characters: Lexi, Robyn, Fen, Bella, Ana and Eleanor

Setting: The fictional island of Legos in Greece.

My Opinion:  

Lucy Clarke writes destination thrillers and this time the setting is the fictional Greek island of Aegos. Right from the very first page the reader is made aware that there is going to be a murder. This keeps the tension utmost throughout the novel and definitely kept me guessing!

A hen party is taking place and each of the six protagonists, Lexi, Robyn, Fen, Bella, Ana and Eleanor take turns in narrating. Everyone is on edge and hiding secrets which are gradually revealed as events escalate over the weekend.

Transport yourself to Greece, with sunshine, secrets and complex relationships plus a murder with this engrossing read.

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

A twisty psychological thriller from internationally-bestselling author Lucy Clarke, One of the Girls is the delicious story of a bachelorette trip on a stunning Greek island... that ends in murder.

It was supposed to be the perfect weekend away. Six very different women travel to a sun-soaked Greek island for a bachelorette trip, to celebrate Lexi’s upcoming wedding. From the glorious ocean views to the quaint tavernas and whitewashed streets, the vacation seems too good to be true. But dangerous undercurrents run beneath the sunset swims and midnight cocktails – because each of the women is hiding a secret. Someone is determined to make sure that Lexi’s marriage never happens – and that one of them doesn’t leave the island alive.

Gripping, twisty, and full of sun-soaked suspense, this timely thriller examines the joys of female friendship…as well as the deadly consequences when a relationship goes wrong.


Author Profile

          

Lucy Clarke, novelist, traveller and fresh air enthusiast is the author of eight destination thrillers. They include Waterstones Thriller of the Month, The Castaways, Richard and Judy Book Club pick, One of the Girls, and most recently, The Hike. Lucy's novels have sold over a million copies and are published in more than 25 territories worldwide.

Lucy's thriller, No Escape (also published as The Blue) has been released as a major international show for Paramount+. Set in the Philippines, the seven-part series is directed by Hans Herbot (The Serpent) and stars Abigail Lawrie and Rhianne Barreto as best friends Lana and Kitty.

The Castaways has also been adapted for screen and was The Guardian Pick of the Week. BAFTA award-winner Sheridan Smith stars as Lori, and Celine Buckens plays her sister, Erin. The five-part thriller is available to stream on Paramount+.

When Lucy isn't away on research trips (the real reason she loves being an author!), she can be found writing from a beach hut on the south coast of England. She lives with her husband and their two children.

Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites.

Goodreads Author Page   Facebook - Lucy Clarke    Instagram - Lucy Clarke Author

Official Author Website    Amazon Author Page

Last Seen by Lucy Clarke

Paperback:  433 pages                                                                                                
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Harper Collins 2017
Source: Tywyn Public Library
First Sentence: Prologue: Salt water burns the back of my throat as I surface, coughing.
Review Quote: ‘With twists, turns, secrets and lies aplenty, you’ll have no choice but to devour it in one’ HEAT
Main Characters: Sarah,( mother of Jacob) Isla, (mother of Marley)
Setting: Beach huts on a stretch of the south coast of England.
My Opinion: Keeping secrets is destructive and although this novel was not the tense thriller I expected from the blurb, it is definitely worth reading.  The setting alone a beach hut on the south coast made it the sort of book to read whilst enjoying the lovely weather we have had recently! The female protagonists have been friends for many years and despite disaster striking when one of their sons goes missing, the friendship survives. Or does it because when disaster strikes again seven years later all sorts of betrayals surface, some of them I guessed correctly but there were also surprises right to the end.


Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

In a small seaside community, there’s always somebody watching…

Twisty, pacy, and superbly plotted, Last Seen is the perfect psychological page-turner for fans of Clare Mackintosh and Sabine Durrant.

Seven years ago, two boys went missing at sea – and only one was brought to shore. The Sandbank, a remote stretch of coast dotted with beach huts, was scarred forever.

Sarah’s son survived, but on the anniversary of the accident, he disappears without trace. As new secrets begin to surface, The Sandbank hums with tension and unanswered questions. Sarah’s search grows more desperate and she starts to mistrust everyone she knows – and she’s right to.

Someone saw everything on that fateful day seven years ago. And they’ll do anything to keep the truth buried.


Author Profile

Photo courtesy of  James Bowden

ABOUT LUCY FROM HER WEBSITE:
Novelist, traveller, and fresh air enthusiast, Lucy Clarke is the author of four novels.

Lucy graduated from university with a first class degree in English Literature, but it wasn't until she was on a six month road trip across the US and Canada, that she decided she'd love to be a novelist.

Many twists and turns later, Lucy's debut novel, The Sea Sisters, was published (HarperCollins, 2013). It was a Richard & Judy Book Club choice, and has been published in over ten countries.

Since then she has released three more novels, A Single Breath (HarperCollins, 2014), The Blue (HarperCollins, 2015), and most recently Last Seen (HarperCollins, 2017).

Lucy is married to a professional windsurfer, and together with their young children they spend their winters travelling, and their summers at home on the south coast of England. Lucy writes from a beach hut.



Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites.

Goodreads Author Page   Facebook - Lucy Clarke    Instagram - Lucy Clarke Author

Official Author Website    Lucy Clarke - Twitter    Amazon Author Page