Claire McGowan Books

Annie has been trapped in sadness for so long that she has forgotten how to be happy. Enter Polly, a vibrant and joyful force who believes that life is too short to waste. With just one hundred days to help Annie rediscover happiness, Polly embarks on a mission that challenges Annie’s beliefs about herself and the world around her. Initially skeptical, Annie finds herself drawn into Polly's colorful perspective and begins to see glimpses of joy in her life. However, as their friendship deepens, it becomes clear that Polly may need Annie's support more than she anticipated. This bittersweet journey explores themes of love, friendship, and the importance of making every day count. Readers will find themselves reflecting on the impact of small moments and the courage it takes to let others in. With praise from bestselling authors for its humor, wisdom, and emotional depth, this story promises to resonate long after the last page is turned. If you enjoyed works like Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine or The Keeper of Lost Things, this book will surely captivate you with its blend of joy and poignancy.

In this tense thriller from the bestselling author of What You Did and The Other Wife, a woman finds a dead body. Will she make the same mistake as last time?When Rachel stumbles upon a body in the woods, she knows what she has to do: run. Get away. Do not be found at the scene. Last time, she didn’t know, and she ended up accused of murder. But when this victim is identified as her boyfriend’s estranged wife, Rachel realises she’s already the prime suspect.With mounting evidence against her, Rachel’s only hope is to keep the truth about herself well hidden. Because twenty years ago she was someone else—Casey, a young nanny trying to make it as an actress in Los Angeles. When the family she worked for were brutally murdered, all the evidence pointed to her and she went to prison. Back then, she narrowly escaped the death penalty and managed to free herself on appeal. Now she’s fighting to save the life she’s spent years piecing back together.But with her behaviour raising suspicion and the police closing in, Rachel can’t help wondering: Was her discovery in the woods really just an awful coincidence, or is someone framing her for murder? Someone who knows who she is, and wants revenge…

From the bestselling author of What You Did comes a true-crime investigation that cast a dark shadow over the Ireland of her childhood.Ireland in the 1990s seemed a safe place for women. With the news dominated by the Troubles, it was easy to ignore non-political murders and sexual violence, to trust that you weren’t going to be dragged into the shadows and killed. But beneath the surface, a far darker reality had taken hold.In this candid investigation into the society and circumstances that allowed eight young women to vanish without a trace—no conclusion or conviction, no resolution for their loved ones—bestselling crime novelist Claire McGowan delivers a righteous polemic against the culture of secrecy, victim-blaming and shame that left these women’s bodies unfound, their fates unknown, their assailants unpunished.McGowan reveals an Ireland not of leprechauns and craic but of outdated social and sexual mores, where women and their bodies were of secondary importance to perceived propriety and misguided politics—a place of well-buttoned lips and stony silence, inadequate police and paramilitary threat.Was an unknown serial killer at large or was there something even more insidious at work? In this insightful, sensitively drawn account, McGowan exposes a system that failed these eight women—and continues to fail women to this day.

The new heart-warming novel by bestselling women's fiction author Eva Woods, in the tradition of Sliding Doors and In Five Years, this novel explores what could have been while also reminding us to have a little faith in what's about to happen.

Forensic psychologist Paula Maguire returns in THE KILLING HOUSE, the sixth novel in Claire McGowan's highly acclaimed series. When a puzzling missing persons' case opens up in her hometown, forensic psychologist Paula Maguire can't help but return once more. For fans of Sharon Bolton's DAISY IN CHAINS and Elly Griffiths' THE WOMAN IN BLUE.

The second novel in the highly acclaimed Paula Maguire series and the gripping follow up to The Lost by Claire McGowan, who Lee Child proclaims as 'a knockout new talent'. The Dead Ground sees forensic psychologist Paula Maguire working in the missing persons unit in Northern Ireland, where there are many deadly secrets to dig up...

Victim: Female. Twenty-two years of age. Reason for investigation: Missing person. ID: Alice Morgan. Student. Last seen at a remote religious shrine in Ballyterrin. Alice Morgan's disappearance raises immediate questions for forensic psychologist Paula Maguire. Alice, the daughter of a life peer in the Home Office, has vanished along with a holy relic - the bones of a saint - and the only trace is the bloodstains on the altar. With no body to confirm death, the pressure in this high-profile case is all-consuming, and Paula knows that she will have to put her own life, including her imminent marriage, on hold, if they are to find the truth. A connection to a decades-old murder immediately indicates that all may not be as it seems; as the summer heat rises and tempers fray, can Alice be found or will they learn that those that are hungry for vengeance may be the most savage of all?

Forensic psychologist Paula Maguire returns in The Silent Dead, the third in Claire McGowan's hard-hitting crime series. Peter James calls it 'astonishing, powerful and immensely satisfying'. When a group of suspected bombers start turning up dead, Paula is faced with a challenging case with blurred moral boundaries between victim and perpetrator.

Everyone here has killed someone.There is no way off this island.You will all either kill or be killed here.One of these statements is a lie. But which one?Amira’s less than thrilled to be spending the weekend with her husband’s university friends. Two of them are hosting a joint fortieth on a private Scottish island, with vintage champagne, expensive gifts, and soaks in the wood-fired hot tub. Despite the luxury, Amira knows she’s going to feel left out, not to mention freezing cold and cut off.When they decide to play ‘two truths and a lie’, anonymously posting three statements about themselves into a box, years of resentment start bubbling to the surface. And then an extra slip of paper emerges, scrawled with three chilling threats. Who wrote it? And are two of the statements really true—have they all been responsible for someone’s death?With no phone reception and no way off the island, the group are trapped here until the end of the weekend. And as tension rises and secrets are spilled, they can’t shake the feeling that they’re not the only ones here. Is someone watching them? Someone who wants them dead? Or is it one of them who has murder in mind?

Forensic psychologist Paula Maguire returns in BLOOD TIDE, the fifth novel in Claire McGowan's series. Paula is sent to investigate the disappearance of a couple from a remote island off the Irish coast. For fans of Sharon Bolton's LITTLE BLACK LIES and Elly Griffiths' THE WOMAN IN BLUE.

From the bestselling author of What You Did comes the story of a young couple who are about to discover that in a house full of secrets there's nowhere to hide... For Helen and George, the remote fixer-upper in Cornwall was supposed to be a dream home, and a way to leave behind the problems they're both running from. But something about the place feels wrong from day one. And why does Helen have a creeping feeling she's seen this house before? Her unease only deepens after renovations begin, when the builders find sinister dolls hidden in the walls. As Helen digs into the house's past, she discovers that the previous owner was not only rumoured to be a witch; she was also imprisoned for a brutal triple murder thirty years earlier. When a horrific accident almost ends in tragedy, Helen worries that the house's secrets are to blame, and as events spiral out of control she discovers George has been lying to her. As the past returns to haunt them, the couple realise they are in terrible danger, and they can't trust anyone--not even each other. Because Helen hasn't been entirely honest with him either...

She's a total stranger. But she knows who you are... Suzi did a bad thing. She's paying for it now, pregnant, scared, and living in an isolated cottage with her jealous husband, Nick. When Nora moves into the only house nearby, Suzi is delighted to have a friend. So much so that she's almost tempted to tell Nora her terrible secret. But there's more to Nora than meets the eye. It's impossible--does she already know what Suzi did? Meanwhile, Elle spends her days in her perfect home, fixated on keeping up appearances. But when her husband betrays her, it unravels a secret going all the way back to her childhood. She'll do whatever it takes to hold on to him, even if that means murder. After all, she's done it before... Caught up in their own secrets and lies, these strangers will soon realise they have more in common than they could ever have imagined. When a shocking event brings them together, their lives will never be the same again.

Not everyone who's missing is lost Hard-hitting and unputdownable, THE LOST follows Forensic psychologist Maguire back to her hometown in the search for two missing girls. This exhilarating introduction to the Paula Maguire series by Claire McGowan is sure to grip fans of Elly Griffiths and LJ Ross. 'Claire McGowan is a knockout new talent' - Lee Child When two teenage girls go missing along the Irish border, forensic psychologist Paula Maguire has to return to the hometown she left years before. Swirling with rumour and secrets, the town is gripped by fear of a serial killer. But the truth could be even darker. Not everyone who's lost wants to be found Surrounded by people and places she tried to forget, Paula digs into the cases as the truth twists further away. What's the link with two other disappearances from 1985? And why does everything lead back to the town's dark past- including the reasons her own mother went missing years before? Nothing is what it seems As the shocking truth is revealed, Paula learns that sometimes, it's better not to find what you've lost... What readers are saying about The Lost: 'Well written and keeps you guessing. The best book I have read this year' 'Fantastic read. Had me gripped from start to finish - I just couldn't put it down. Highly recommended' 'Compelling and thrilling. Claire McGowan has a clever ease of storytelling that draws you in and leaves you wanting more'

From the author of ebook bestseller How to be Happy comes a warm-hearted and hopeful look at grief and loss. Sometimes, you meet the right person at exactly the right time - let The Heartbreak Club mend your broken heart.

Following a fractured family over a period of twenty years, This Could Be Us is an extraordinarily moving story from bestselling author Claire McGowan.

From the bestselling author of What You Did comes a chilling story about a missing girl and two potential witnesses. They both think they saw her. But can they trust their own eyes?Mary hasn’t slept in what feels like years. Her two young children never let her rest, and so one exhausting night, in the middle of a London heatwave, she escapes to a nearby park for some air.Tim can’t sleep. It doesn’t feel safe after the terrible thing that happened to him. Seeking solace outside, he encounters a sleepless Mary in the park. There, the two strangers witness what looks like a violent attack in the window of a neighbouring house.Shocked at what they’ve seen, Tim and Mary form an unlikely bond, desperate to find clues. When they see news reports of a missing woman, who was last seen walking alone not far from them, the pair are convinced it’s her they saw being attacked. The police don’t believe them, but when they hear of a potential link to an old murder and a string of disappearances from the area, pressure mounts to find her before it’s too late.But with her marriage under strain and the police on their tail, Mary begins to doubt her own mind…and Tim’s. How reliable is a man who doesn’t sleep?As the pair are drawn into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse, the culprit appears to be even closer to home than they thought. Have they got it all wrong, or is something even more sinister going on?

From the bestselling author of What You Did comes a stunning psychological thriller. One party. Thirteen people. By 3.02 p.m., one of them will be dead. The party should have been six couples from the same baby group, six newborns, a luxurious house. But not everything has gone to plan, and while some are here to celebrate, others have sorrows to drown. When someone falls from the balcony of the house, the secrets and conflicts within the group begin to spill out … DS Alison Hegarty, herself struggling with infertility, is called in to investigate. She’s convinced the fall was not an accident, and finds the new parents have a lot to hide. Wealthy Ed and Monica show off their newborn while their teenage daughter is kept under virtual house arrest. Hazel and Cathy conceived their longed-for baby via an anonymous sperm donor―or so Hazel thinks. Anita and Jeremy planned to adopt from America, but there’s no sign of the child. Kelly, whose violent boyfriend disrupted previous group sessions, came to the party even though she lost her baby. And then there’s Jax, who’s been experiencing strange incidents for months―almost like someone’s out to get her. Is it just a difficult pregnancy? Or could it be payback for something she did in the past? It’s a nightmare of a case, and as events get even darker it begins to look impossible. Only one thing is they all have something to hide. And for one of them, it’s murder.

"A brilliant, breathless thriller that kept me guessing to the last shocking page." --Erin Kelly, Sunday Times bestselling author of He Said/She Said An Amazon Charts and Washington Post bestseller. It was supposed to be the perfect reunion: six university friends together again after twenty years. Host Ali finally has the life she always wanted, a career she can be proud of and a wonderful family with her college boyfriend, now husband. But that night her best friend makes an accusation so shocking that nothing will ever be the same again. When Karen staggers in from the garden, bleeding and traumatised, she claims that she has been assaulted--by Ali's husband, Mike. Ali must make a split-second decision: who should she believe? Her horrified husband, or her best friend? With Mike offering a very different version of events, Ali knows one of them is lying--but which? And why? When the ensuing chaos forces her to re-examine the golden era the group shared at university, Ali realises there are darker memories too. Memories that have lain dormant for decades. Memories someone would kill to protect.

Locatie: Noord-Ierland Slachtoffer: man, halverwege de dertig. Doodsoorzaak: ophanging, vermoedelijk moord. De politie kent de identiteit van het slachtoffer: Mickey Doyle. Hij was een van de vijf verdachten van een bomaanslag waarbij zestien mensen overleden. De vier andere verdachten zijn spoorloos verdwenen en wanneer een tweede lichaam wordt gevonden - onthoofd - is het duidelijk dat iemand het op de vijf heeft gemunt. Forensisch psycholoog Paula Maguire wordt op de zaak gezet. Het is een race tegen de klok, want waar worden de drie anderen vastgehouden?

Es sind die kleinen Dinge des Lebens, die den größten Unterschied machen ... In Annies Leben läuft es momentan nicht gerade rund, und eigentlich weiß sie gar nicht mehr genau, wie es sich anfühlt, einfach glücklich zu sein. Bis sie Polly kennenlernt, die wie ein bunter Wirbelwind ihr Leben auf den Kopf stellt. Polly ist alles, was Annie nicht ist – optimistisch, voller Freude, eben glücklich. Und sie macht es sich zur Aufgabe, Annie in einhundert Tagen zu helfen, das Glück wiederzufinden. Anfangs skeptisch, spürt Annie doch bald, wie Pollys unwiderstehliche Lebensfreude auf sie abzufärben beginnt. Doch dann wird klar: Auch Polly braucht ihre neue Freundin mehr, als Annie sich hätte vorstellen können … Dieser Roman ist unter dem Titel »Das Glück am Ende des Regenbogens« als Paperback erschienen.

Rachel ist passionierte Listenschreiberin, seit sie denken kann. Nichts liebt sie so sehr, wie das Abhaken von To-Do-Punkten. Doch hilft auch die beste Liste nicht, wenn man sich mitten in einer Scheidung befindet und dringend eine neue Bleibe finden muss. Als sie Patrick kennenlernt, der ein Zimmer zu vergeben hat, zieht sie spontan bei dem attraktiven Singlevater ein. Und auch ihre Freundinnen wollen helfen: mit der ultimativen »zurück-ins- Leben«-Liste. Rachel macht sich ans Werk und kann – mit Patricks Hilfe – bald diverse Häkchen machen. Doch die größte aller Herausforderungen liegt noch vor ihr: Ohne eine Checkliste zu leben – und zu lieben …

Ist das Liebe, oder kann der weg? Dating ist nicht einfach, vor allem, wenn du nur Lügner, komische Käuze, Männer, die Superman-Unterhosen tragen, oder noch bei ihrer Mutter leben, triffst. Warum also nicht mit jemandem ausgehen, der schon »getestet und für ok befunden« wurde? Nur weil der Typ nichts für deine Freundin war, heißt das ja nicht, dass er für dich nicht der Richtige sein kann. Marnies Plan: Zeig mir deinen Ex, ich zeig dir meinen, und sie denkt gleich für ihre drei besten Freundinnen Helen, Rosa und Ani mit, die alle auch auf der Suche nach dem perfekten Mann sind – und schon ist es geboren, das Projekt »Ex-Factor« …

Die forensische Psychologin Paula Maguire ringt mit allerlei persönlichen Problemen. Doch als sie gebeten wird, in einem grausamen Fall in ihrer Heimatstadt in Nordirland zu ermitteln, muss sie ihr eigenes Leben hintanstellen. Ein Neugeborenes wurde aus dem Krankenhaus entführt. Kurz darauf findet man die verstümmelte Leiche einer jungen Frau in einem Steinkreis – sie war schwanger, doch von dem Kind fehlt jede Spur. Das Ermittlungsteam um Maguire steht vor einem schrecklichen Rätsel. Doch niemand kann ahnen, dass die Antworten in Paulas eigener Vergangenheit zu finden sind, und dass sie die Nächste auf der Liste des Killers ist ...

Ein Mord. Drei Geschichten. Eine Wahrheit. Und der schwindelerregende Blick in den Abgrund. Charlotte wird vom Hämmern an der Tür geweckt. Plötzlich stürmt die Londoner Polizei herein und verhaftet ihren Verlobten: Wegen des Mordes an einem Nachtklubbesitzer. Charlotte weiß, dass dies ein schrecklicher Irrtum sein muss. Doch alle Beweise sprechen gegen Dan, der sich unerklärlicher Weise in Schweigen hüllt. Charlottes letzte Hoffnung ruht auf der jungen Kellnerin Keisha. Sie war an jenem Abend auch in dem Klub, doch sie fürchtet, alles zu verlieren, wenn die Wahrheit ans Licht kommt. Zwischen beiden Frauen steht DC Matthew Hegarty, der sich in Charlotte verliebt und schließlich nicht mehr weiß, was er glauben soll …

Je možné recyklovat lásku? Čtyři kamarádky zklamané ze svých vztahů to zkusí. Už jsou unavené ze schůzek přes online seznamky, které jim dohazují samé ztroskotance, lháře, nerdy a chlápky, kteří ve čtyřiceti bydlí se svou matkou. Marnie, Helen, Rosa a Ani mají za sebou vztahy s muži, kteří nebyli zdaleka tak hrozní, jen jim to z různých důvodů nevyšlo. Co je špatného na tom, přehrát svého ex kamarádce a dát jí k němu návod k použití?