<b>Tender, creepy and gripping</b>

Sunday Times

With <b>graceful </b>writing, <b>sharply observed</b> characters including the city itself, and <b>a withering look at the hidebound ways of dusty-gowned academia</b>, this <b>wonderfully atmospheric tale is, at its core, about the true meaning of family</b>

Guardian

<b>A creepy, suspenseful thriller set against the dreaming spires of Oxford</b>

Independent

<b>Deliciously enjoyable</b>

Sunday Mirror

I fell hard for the <b>beautiful writing and ghostly mood</b> of<i> Magpie Lane</i>. Dee, a <b>riveting </b>Russian doll of a character, had me in her thrall from start to finish. <b>Highly recommended</b>

Louise Candlish

<b>Clever and creepy, twisty yet tender</b>: <i>Magpie Lane </i>will have you hearing footsteps overhead in an empty house. I loved it

Erin Kelly

'Full of <b>hidden chambers</b>, and some of them are <b>haunted</b> . . . <b>part thriller, part love story, wholly beguiling</b>. I was glued to every page'

Mick Herron

'Lucy Atkins excels at creating highly intelligent, slightly eccentric outsiders. I was completely <b>immersed</b> . . . and <b>preoccupied, and appalled, by such credible characters</b>. I loved it!'

Sarah Vaughan

'<b>The most sublime book I've read since <i>Apple Tree Yard</i></b> . . . <b>masterful writing</b> from an experienced hand. I'll be gushing about this for a while'

Jo Spain

<b>One of the most intriguing narrators since <i>Notes on a Scandal</i> - I loved it!</b>

Sara Collins

<b>Darkly atmospheric</b>, <i>Magpie Lane</i> will grip you from the first page and refuse to let you go

Jane Fallon, author of QUEEN BEE

'So <b>clever and different</b>. I raced through for the reveal but also the spookiness, the characters and the wonderful love story'

Sabine Durrant

'A <b>brilliant</b> feat - a <b>creepy, chilling, page-turning tale </b>that also <b>made me laugh out loud. I can think of no other writer who pulls that off' </b>

Kate Hamer

<b>'Intricate, intelligent, and immensely satisfying</b>, and with a<b> deliciously spooky edge</b>. It really is first-class Oxford intrigue'

Cara Hunter

'That rare thing:<b> a thriller that warms your heart even as it chills your spine</b>. I adored it on so many levels - the <b>page-turning tension, the emotional depth of the central relationship. Simply brilliant!</b>'

JP Delaney

<b>Beguiling</b>, <b>brilliantly creepy</b>, and <b>an utterly compelling read</b>. Lucy Atkins has created such a complex character in Dee: I rooted for her, and yet was suspicious of her; swept along by her love story, but worried for her. A wonderful story

Claire Fuller

<b>A sinewy, supple and gorgeously satisfying triumph</b>

Lucy Mangan

'<b>Dark, twisted, </b>and <b>gloriously rich</b>, and I loved every word'

Amanda Jennings

'The most <b>deliciously unreliable narrator</b>, <b>dysfunctional relationships</b>, <b>spooky goings-on</b>, and <b>a missing child</b> - all set against the rarefied world of Oxford academia. So <b>clever and compelling</b>'

Hannah Beckerman

<b>Spellbindingly brilliant</b>. I was engrossed from start to finish, and fell in love with the wonderful cast. Lucy Atkins is an extraordinary writer, who draws us into her world and keeps us there; I shall be thinking about this story for a long time. <b>A contender for my Book of the Year</b>

Sarah Hilary

<i>Magpie Lane </i>is <b>stunning</b>, with an <b>unforgettable narrative voice</b>, <b>brilliant evocation of the setting</b> and a <b>chilling</b>, totally <b>gripping </b>story. It is everything I love in a novel and <b>utterly compelling</b> - you will not want to put it down

Jane Casey

<b>Immersive</b>,<b> unsettling</b> and <b>hugely addictive</b>. I loved all the Oxford detail. Superb

Will Dean

The investigation at the heart of Lucy Atkins's <b>clever thriller</b> is 'what makes a family unhappy?' The <b>suspense builds inexorably</b> until <i>Magpie Lane</i> has you by your throat

Susie Steiner

As <b>nuanced a study of loneliness and longing</b> as you could hope to meet in contemporary fiction

Sarah Franklin

I couldn't have loved this book more. <b>Creepy, dark, compelling so clever</b>. Every time you scratch off one layer to get to the truth, there is another one underneath. <b>Lucy Atkins is a quiet genius</b>

Tammy Cohen

<b>Wow</b>. <b>I put my life on hold whilst I read this novel</b>. An eerie and compelling story, beautifully crafted and <b>darkly atmospheric</b> with characters who infiltrate your every thought. I couldn't put it down and <b>I'm buying it for everyone I know</b>

Freya North

<i>Magpie Lane</i> is <b>deliciously dark</b> and<b> keeps flipping your certainties on their head from start to finish</b>

Alexandra Shulman

It's taken many false starts to find a book to properly carry me away during this lockdown and this was it.<b> Gripping as well as beautifully written. Thank you, Lucy Atkins,</b> <b>it was such a relief to be lost in your pages</b>

Polly Samson

<b>It's been a while since I've been as sucked in by a thriller as I was with this one</b>

Good Housekeeping

Lucy Atkins <b>brilliantly ratchets up the tension</b>, leaving a few red herrings in her wake

Sussex Express

<b>Clever, tense and as twisty as an Oxford backstreet</b>

Amanda Craig, author of THE LIE OF THE LAND

This <b>chilling and twisty tale</b> will have you hooked

Living North