Why Haven’t Sophie Hannah’s ‘Perfect Little Children’ Ever Grown Up? [REVIEW]

She was just fulfilling her typical soccer mom duties the day she came across her former BFF. She didn’t intend to snoop. But what she saw stopped her in her tracks. After all, it had been more than a decade since they’d seen each other. How was it possible that absolutely nothing had changed? Follow Sophie Hannah down the rabbit hole to find out in her newest mystery, Perfect Little Children.

Twelve years is a long time to go without talking to your best friend. But for Beth Leeson and her pal Flora Braid, that’s exactly how long the silence has stretched on between them. So one day before Beth picks her son up from soccer, she swings by the Braid home and is shocked to see that although Flora has matured physically, her children, Thomas and Emily, haven’t aged at all. And where is Flora’s third child, Georgina? She was only two months old last time they saw one another, right?

As Beth questions everything she thought she knew about the Braid family, she senses a dark, ominous feeling deep in her soul. Flora and her children are in danger. Tenacious and determined, Beth is compelled to help her friend, despite the passage of time. But how does one suddenly interject themselves into someone else’s life after so many years have passed? And how do you even begin to ask questions that sound crazy in your own head?

With Perfect Little Children, Sophie Hannah has once again delivered an intricately plotted mystery that has more twists and turns than the Pacific Coast Highway. True to form, this is a novel that packs a punch and hits us right where it counts.

As readers devour this novel, I’m sure many will recall that one friend we all have, the one who is always there for us, and with whom time has no meaning. When we get together, years melt away. And yet, Hannah doesn’t stop there. She delves into the human psyche and examines how someone we think so well can vanish before our eyes and how someone’s words and actions can visibly and quite effectively erode their spirit until nothing is left but the shell of the person they once were.

With a gift for dialogue and character development, Hannah puts her heart and soul on the line and breathes life into each member of this ensemble cast. The result is a finely tuned novel that is totally on point and tugs at all the right heartstrings, proving once again what a remarkable storyteller she truly is. So if you love whodunnits, pick up Perfect Little Children, a novel rife with enough psychological suspense it may very well keep you up all night long.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sophie Hannah is a Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author of crime fiction, published in 49 languages and 51 territories. Her books have sold millions of copies worldwide.

In 2014, with the blessing of Agatha Christie’s family and estate, Sophie published a new Poirot novel, The Monogram Murders, which became a bestseller in more than 15 countries. She has since published two more Poirot novels, Closed Casket and The Mystery of Three Quarters, both of which were instant Sunday Times Top Ten bestsellers.

In 2013, Sophie’s novel The Carrier won the Crime Thriller of the Year Award at the Specsavers National Book Awards. She has also published two short story collections and five collections of poetry—the fifth of which, Pessimism for Beginners, was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Award.

Her poetry is studied at GSCE, A Level and degree level across the U.K. Most recently, she has published a self-help book called How to Hold a Grudge: From Resentment to Contentment—The Power of Grudges to Transform Your Life.

Sophie has recently helped to create a Master’s Degree in Crime and Thriller Writing at the University of Cambridge, for which she is the main teacher and Course Director. She is also the founder of the Dream Author coaching program for writers. She lives with her husband, children and dog in Cambridge, where she is an Honorary Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College.

To learn more, visit SophieHannah.com, like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

PERFECT LITTLE CHILDREN
By Sophie Hannah
336 pp. William Morrow. $27.99

Purchase Perfect Little Children direct from Jathan & Heather’s Beach Reads Book Shop or from one of these other fine online retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Half Price Books, IndieBound, or Powell’s.