*Note: This book was an advanced reader’s copy from Net Galley. It will be published on October 18, 2022, and is available for order on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Favor-Novel-Nicci-French-ebook/dp/B09QMGRD8F
****4-stars
What would you do if someone you dated in high school turned up out of the blue ten years later and asked you to do them a favor? That’s the premise of The Favor by Nicci French.
Jude was in love with Liam as a teenager. He was her first lover. But when they are involved in a car accident together with some friends, their relationship comes to an end. Liam disappears from Jude’s life. She goes on to medical school and becomes a doctor. One day, Liam visits the hospital and tells her he needs her help with a favor but won’t tell her what the favor entails except that she needs to meet him at a secluded cabin that weekend. He requests that she not tell anyone including her fiancee.
While Jude is hesitant to help, she feels bad for Liam because her life seems to have gone more smoothly than his has. But the truth is that she’s kept a lie from her family and fiancee for a decade. The lie involves the accident in which Liam was blamed for drunk driving.
When Jude arrives at the cabin, she waits for Liam who is scheduled to meet her there by train. He never shows up. She later discovers the reason for his absence. Liam was murdered miles away, and the police question Jude’s story about the favor she was asked by a man she hadn’t seen in ten years.
Jude’s life then falls apart as she is mentioned in the news, and her fiancee leaves her because he believes she was still seeing Liam. As the story progresses, we learn some things about Liam and his family when Jude meets his wife, young son, brother, and other occupants of the house where he lived.
The mystery of Liam’s murder is eventually solved with a twist. If you like psychological thrillers, you will enjoy this book.
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