There are two sides to every story: yours and mine, ours and theirs, His & Hers. Which means someone is always lying.

Anna Andrews finally has what she wants. Almost. She’s worked hard to become the main TV presenter of the BBC’s lunchtime news, putting work before friends, family, and her now ex-husband. So, when someone threatens to take her dream job away, she’ll do almost anything to keep it.

When asked to cover a murder in Blackdown―the sleepy countryside village where she grew up―Anna is reluctant to go. But when the victim turns out to be one of her childhood friends, she can’t leave. It soon becomes clear that Anna isn’t just covering the story, she’s at the heart of it.

DCI Jack Harper left London for a reason, but never thought he’d end up working in a place like Blackdown. When the body of a young woman is discovered, Jack decides not to tell anyone that he knew the victim, until he begins to realise he is a suspect in his own murder investigation.

One of them knows more than they are letting on. Someone isn’t telling the truth. Alternating between Anna’s and Jack’s points of view, His & Hers is a fast-paced, complex, and dark puzzle that will keep readers guessing until the very end.

This book is dark and twisted.  Enough said. I have not read Feeney’s previous books so I didn’t know what to expect but the novel has gotten rave reviews so far. The unreliable narrator has become a predominant technique in thriller novels meant to increase the plot’s traction often leading to a surprising twist.  The title alone is a giveaway. In “His and Hers”, the book’s strength lies in its dual structure and cliff-hangers keeping the readers immensely hooked with an ending, not every suspense reader could have seen coming. 

What’s great about this book is how Feeney has reduced our suspicions between Anna Andrews, a BBC news anchor, who was tasked to cover a murder in Blackdown, and DCI Jack Harper who investigates the murder as the book’s main protagonists. His and hers. Your lies versus my truths.  The author has not only created one but two unreliable narrators that we can either love or hate given that both characters are evasive about the truth.  

Feeney has astounded me despite the fact that my speculations have been correct based on its predictability.  Be that as it may, the building of tension was smoothly transitioned ending each chapter on a cliff hanger.  Oh, and fair caution:  Tread lightly for this book comes with trigger warnings: rape, gruesome murders, and sexual acts.  Albeit, I find some circumstances absurd and somewhat ridiculous, such flaws did not hinder me from finishing the book.  I also felt that some characters were unnecessary to the entire plot serving no purpose at all.  But overall, “His and Hers” is a compelling thriller that comes highly recommended to break anyone out of a reading slump. 

Author: Alice Feeney

Genre: Mystery Thriller / Crime Fiction / Suspense

Length: 308 pages

Publisher: Flatiron Books (July 28, 2020)

ISBN-10: 1250266076