Trust Her by Flynn Berry

Trust Her

“Flynn Berry is a must-read for me. Trust Her delivers her trademark blend of riveting suspense and beautiful emotional depth. You will love this novel.” —Laura Dave, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me

“I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. Berry effortlessly combines suspense with prose packed full of emotional depth.” —Sarah Pearse, New York Times bestselling author of The Retreat and The Sanatorium

“The author continues to interrogate the lasting, and live, impact of centuries of colonialism and violence on contemporary lives . . . A meditation on generational trauma—along with well-scripted action and suspense.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred)

“By so delicately humanizing the complex scope of Ireland’s troubled history, Berry masterfully balances the lightning pace of a sweat-inducing thriller with the contemplative satisfaction of a cerebral analysis of uncertain family dynamics. With empathetic characters seen believably navigating unforeseen circumstances, the Edgar Award-winning Berry solidifies her burgeoning reputation as a stellar suspense writer.” —Booklist (starred)

Northern Spy

Northern Spy

“Tense, terrifying, and briskly paced, Flynn Berry’s Northern Spy is not only a thrilling tale of espionage and conflicting loyalties in a deeply divided Northern Ireland, it is also a tender and honest portrayal of those fierce, all-consuming early days of motherhood and the complicated bonds between sisters, mothers, and daughters. A stunning story, beautifully told. I couldn’t put it down.” —Elizabeth Wetmore, New York Times bestselling author of Valentine

“A taut and compassionate thriller . . . A reflection on personal choice and consequence . . . A poignant and lyrical novel that asks what is worth sacrificing for peace.” —Kirkus, starred review

“A twisting . . . emotional thriller . . . Berry’s portrayal of Irish life is uncannily accurate . . . dropping readers headfirst into the emotions of living in conflict.” —Booklist, starred review

“A moving contemporary thriller . . . It’s a measure of the author’s skill that she never loses sight of the humanity of her characters. Berry remains a writer to watch.” —Publishers Weekly

Under the Harrow

A Double Life

“Rich and moody…As shocking as it is satisfying.” — The New York Times Book Review, Editors’ Choice

“Thrilling.” — O Magazine

“Exquisite.” — The Seattle Times

“Engrossing.” — Good Housekeeping

“Suspense at its very best.” — CrimeReads

“Shattering.” — Publishers Weekly

“Thrilling…Compassionate and angry.” — Paula Hawkins

“A beautifully written page-turner.” — The Bookseller (London)

Under the Harrow

Under the Harrow

“Striking, original.” — The New York Times Book Review, Editor’s Choice

“Exquisitely taut and intense.” —The Washington Post

“Psychologically intense and darkly atmospheric.” — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“Brisk and chilling.” — The Atlantic, “The Best Books We Read in 2016”

“Hitchcockian.” — Booklist

“Surprise-filled.” — The Wall Street Journal

“Mesmerizing.” — The Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Wickedly chilling.” — The Cleveland Plain Dealer

Winner of the 2017 Edgar Award for Best First Novel

Named one of the “10 Best Mystery Books and Thrillers of the Year” by The Washington Post

Named one of the best books of the year by The Atlantic

“Once I started reading Under the Harrow, I couldn’t stop. It’s like Broadchurch written by Elena Ferrante. I’ve been telling all my friends to read it—the highest compliment. Flynn Berry is a deeply interesting writer.”

- Claire Messud, author of The Woman Upstairs

“Flynn Berry’s writing is clear and spare yet textured and instantly immersive. You know from the get-go that something is not quite right, and this sense of unease and mystery grows and grows as you discover more about Nora’s complex relationship with her sister. I read Under the Harrow very quickly and when I wasn’t reading it I was thinking about it.”

- Harriet Lane, author of Her

When Nora takes the train from London to visit her sister in the countryside, she expects to find her waiting at the station, or at home cooking dinner. But when she walks into Rachel’s familiar house, she finds her sister has been the victim of a brutal murder.

Stunned and adrift, Nora finds she can’t return to her former life. An unsolved assault in the past has shaken her faith in the police, and she can’t trust them to find her sister’s killer. Haunted by the murder and the secrets that surround it, Nora is under the harrow: distressed and in danger. As Nora’s fear turns to obsession, she becomes as unrecognizable as the sister her investigation uncovers.

A riveting psychological thriller and a haunting exploration of the fierce love between two sisters, the distortions of grief, and the terrifying power of the past, Under the Harrow marks the debut of an extraordinary new writer.

More Reviews

“A thrilling novel of psychological suspense…Under the Harrow contains similarities [to The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl] that will undoubtedly attract readers – but underneath its hard-driving, page-turning, compulsively readable narrative is a striking, original voice all Berry’s own…[Her] precise sentences call to mind Hitchcock’s meticulous storyboards and enrich the work with a cinematic scope.”

-Elizabeth Brundage, The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ choice)

“Exquisitely taut and intense. . . There’s a subtle strain of Daphne Du Maurier’s classic, Rebecca, in Under the Harrow. . . . [But] Under the Harrow is such a superbly crafted psychological thriller, it deserves to be celebrated for its own singular excellence.”

-Maureen Corrigan,The Washington Post

“A brisk and chilling psychological study about grief, paranoia, and memory; a smart portrait of a complex sibling relationship; and, more than anything, an effective murder mystery…Berry takes some of the big social struggles that have animated the feminist movement and makes them specific and personal, exploring the rippling effects of power imbalances across individual lives. There’s nothing pedantic about the taut, tricky narrative, though. Like solving the whodunit, finding the bigger meaning is simply a matter of paying attention.”

-The Atlantic “The Best Books We Read in 2016”

“Flynn Berry is engaged here with the linked subjects of women, violence, and memory, in a fashion reminiscent of A.S.A. Harrison or Paula Hawkins…A slender tale full of polished, watchful prose, with an interesting kind of icy desperation in its bones.”

-USA Today

“Surprise-filled . . . [Flynn Berry] has written a psychological-suspense work fit to hold its own with many recent best-sellers. And she’s done it with a narrator whose possible unreliability is not arbitrary but consistent with this well-wrought book’s conception, thereby heightening the considerable suspense.”

-The Wall Street Journal

“Flynn Berry’s debut novel imbues the classic murder mystery with rich emotional depth, describing Nora’s anguish and grief so acutely that the reader feels the emotional impact of her loss as deeply as the desire to know who did it. The result is an investigation not just of the crime but also of the fierce, complicated love that exists between sisters.”

-Oprah.com, “Page-Turners You’ll Devour in One Sitting”

“Hitchcockian . . . A moody psychological thriller that explores sisterhood’s complex mix of love and resentment.”

-Booklist

“[Under the Harrow] envelops you in its suspenseful plot from the first page. . . . It’s not solely a plot-fueled thriller, though: Berry’s sentences are spare and biting.”

-Huffington Post, 22 Summer 2016 Books You Won't Want To Miss

“[A] keenly wrought debut . . . Berry accomplishes the rare feat of making the victim come alive on the page without ever sacrificing the deep, all-e ncompassing loss felt by those left behind.”

-Kirkus Reviews

“Berry’s cool voice and the world it invokes are the stuff of classic crime fiction, but this is deeper than a caper—it is the story of a woman working through her stages of grief.”

- RT Book Reviews

“A page-turner . . . that will have readers yearning to see what the mind of Flynn Berry has up next.”

- Suspense Magazine

“I read Under the Harrow through the night – I couldn’t put it down. Berry’s deft touch with atmosphere and emotion are sure to make this one-sitting read a standout among the year’s debuts. I suspect we will be hearing much more of her in the future.”

- Alex Marwood
author of The Wicked Girls

“What grabbed me by the bones and hurled me through this read-in-one-sitting novel wasn’t the plot, as compelling and tenacious and suspenseful as it is. Rather, it was Flynn Berry’s perfect, unrelenting prose. This is flawless storytelling.”

- Jill Alexander Essbaum, author of Hausfrau

“Under the Harrow is a compulsively readable and atmospheric novel that I consumed almost in one sitting. The portrayal of the two sisters is subtle, original and compelling.”

- Rosamund Lupton, author of Sister

“Under the Harrow offers exactly the kind of voracious, absorbing, one-sitting read that readers love. Taut with suspense, it is also full of insight and suffused with emotions that will move you. The central relationship between two adult sisters is a heartbreaker, the tenderness, the loyalty, and the sorrow all ringing so true.”

- Robin Black
author of Life Drawing

“A nail-biter that fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train will no doubt love . . . I couldn’t put it down.”

- Suzanne Rindell
author of The Other Typist

“Under the Harrow airdrops the reader into the unsettling aftermath of trauma, where shifting memories collide with obsession in a propulsive story of love, grief, and murder. Gripping and nuanced, this stylish thriller is not to be missed.”

- Koethi Zan, author of The Never List

“Readers will enjoy trying to ferret out the clues along with Nora, but those who think they have the mystery figured out may be caught off guard. . . . [A] tight debut.”

- Publishers Weekly