Sarah Clutton

Alfie Bains is a loveable character, a small, dishevelled boy with ocean-blue eyes and a face dotted with freckles.
He’s at the centre of a tangle of family mysteries, in Beggars Rock in north-west Tasmania where faces flow from the past, blowing into the tiny town like clouds gathering before a storm.
Alfie – real name Alfred Edward Deegan Bains – has arrived in Beggars Rock from Ireland with his mum, Emilia. When she was rushed to hospital after her appendix exploded like a jelly show more bomb, Emilia knew she had to take Alfie back to Australia to connect with his family.
But as Alfie begins a search for his dad and meets cousins and great-aunts, he quickly discovers that the truth is much harder to find than he expected.
Author Sarah Clutton has crafted an atmospheric gem of a tale, with a delicate balance between Alfie and the other, heavier characters.
It’s blossoming with humor and tenderness and Alfie gives the story a life of its own. show less

Emma's marriage has just fallen apart and she finds herself and her daughter moving into the headmaster's former cottage on the grounds of the school she attended long ago. It's in this cottage she finds an explicit photograph of Tessa - a former student who fell to her death twenty-five years ago. Emma had long suspected that Dr. Brownley, now headmaster, had been involved with Tessa. When Emma starts to question what really happened all those years ago, all involved must deal with the show more consequences of their actions.

I thought this would be more of a mystery than a chick-lit, but I was wrong. With that being said, I enjoyed the book a whole lot more than I thought I would. Everyone has their own story, something they remember differently from everyone else and each story is tied into the whole big picture nicely. I liked the characters. There's lots of drama and secrets. A very solid and entertaining read for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for an ARC. show less

Let's just plan a reunion. Attend it. And have a good time. That should have worked for Emma. But, even after twenty-five years, the death of her friend Tessa still haunts her. Not only is the loss still devastating, Emma kept a secret that just might have to finally be revealed.

For starters, Emma is now staying in the very cottage the school headmaster used to live in. In this cottage Emma found an explicit picture of Tessa all of those years ago. This picture, coupled with the secret Emma show more as kept, makes her worry that Dr. Jon Brownley might have been responsible for Tessa's death.

Meanwhile, Emma is trying to catch up with old friends Marlee and Clementine. All three women are at crossroads in their life, and this reunion is bringing about bad memories and difficult feelings. This story fluctuates between the drama in each woman's life now, while at the same time snippets of the past are revealed. As this is done, secrets are slowly revealed.

Good Little Liars is a mix of family drama, angst, lies and secrets. This was a captivating story that was set in Tasmania, and that made it even more interesting to read. I love the way the author described the area and this led to a nice feeling while reading a very well-written story.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion. show less

Loveable characters, plot good, Tassie flavour all the way through