Out Of Her Depth: A Thrilling Richard & Judy Book Club Pick

I wanted to like this book much more than I did. Firstly, some good points - some of the descriptions of Italy were well done and the simmering heat of an Italian summer did come across.The negatives for me were that I didn’t feel the novel was rooted in time, it seemed to float around and could have been set in any decade from the 1950s onwards, this was partly to do with language (at times ridiculously old fashioned, people being called cads), partly due to the story which was also quite old fashioned and not that believable for the the noughties, more likely in the 1950s, and also there was little to tie it to the recent past except rather jarring references to music, which came from nowhere and served little purpose. I feel the book would have been more successful if it had been set in the middle of the last century.I also didn’t feel the toxic friendship was successfully described, Rachel just seemed a bit wet, every so often Diana did something bordering on nasty but in the ‘now’ sections Rachel describes being under Diana’s spell, I don’t think this came across at all.All in all I felt the plot lacked originality and umph, the characters were not outstanding or that credible and the whole thing fizzled out rather. Shame, I wanted to like it more.

And easy book to engage with from the very first page - always reassuring- and then I couldn’t put it down.

Beautifully written, and a ‘second’ summer holiday through Florence and Tuscany. I couldn’t put it down

A compulsive and thrilling story that you can't put down. You may not like all these characters - and that includes the narrator herself -but you do care about what happens to them! Also, loved being whisked off to the Italian Riviera! Looks like Lizzy Barber has got a summer blockbuster on her hands...

Enjoyed the story easy read ideal summer read

This is the latest of a long line of novels where the perpetrator gets away with the crime...scot free. What am I learning from these new incredibly well written novels is that crime does indeed pay. Its like I've fallen into another paradigm where the moral compass has shifted dramatically. Anything goes, murder, lies, cruelty, theft and it is compelling. But leaves one with a very sour taste in the mouth that justice is never done. I guess this is the post pandemic era of our very inverted world of lies and corruption. No one is held accountable or responsible for the devastation.

Tense page turner. Couldn’t pit it down

Very disappointing. A nasty plot, clumsily written, with not one sympathetic character in the whole novel. I skip read to end and that ending was unsatisfactory.