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A Lesson in Cruelty
On sale
11th April 2024
Price: £16.99
Genre
WHAT PRICE WOULD YOU PAY FOR THE PERFECT LIFE?
**The jaw-dropping new thriller from Sunday Times and Kindle #1 bestseller Harriet Tyce**
‘Completely unpredictable. The shocks kept coming right up to the final pages.’ Lisa Jewell
‘Harriet’s best so far.’ Sophie Hannah
‘Nothing short of unputdownable. One of the best openings I’ve read in forever.‘ Alex Michaelides
‘A shocking, provocative, standout thriller.’Chris Whitaker
‘Left me breathless.’ Lucy Clarke
They say you can’t always get what you want. But you can take it.
Anna wants a fresh start. She doesn’t believe she deserves it, but after three years behind bars she has finally paid her dues. Most of them, anyway.
Lucy craves the attention of the only man she can’t have, her alluring Oxford professor. He’s married – not for the first time. Maybe she should be next in line?
Marie the recluse has been locked up for too long. She’s not ready to be free, but some rules are meant to be broken.
Everyone wants a perfect life. But not everyone is prepared to take it.
Unless someone decides to teach them a lesson.
MORE PRAISE FOR A LESSON IN CRUELTY:
‘Tyce’s denouement pulls things together skilfully and surprisingly.’ Sunday Times
‘Expertly crafted with that chilling sense of dread’ The Sun
‘A dizzyingly satisfying page-turner.’ Sarah Pinborough
‘Utterly compelling, A Lesson in Cruelty is in the very top tier of psychological thrillers and further cements Harriet Tyce’s place amongst the great British crime writers.’ M. W. Craven
‘Perfect plotting, utterly brilliant.’ B.A. Paris
‘I absolutely loved it and devoured it whole in one day. So suspenseful and clever of course, but such great characterisation and real heart.’ Laura Marshall
‘Compulsive, dark and smart, A Lesson in Cruelty delivers on every level.’ Gilly Macmillan
‘An imaginatively told (and very bingeable) thriller.’ John Marrs
‘Superb, twisty plotting that’s sure to keep readers guessing until the very end.’ Femi Kayode
‘A deliciously sinister tale of revenge and redemption, with heart-in-mouth tension and head-spinning twists.’ Ellery Lloyd
**The jaw-dropping new thriller from Sunday Times and Kindle #1 bestseller Harriet Tyce**
‘Completely unpredictable. The shocks kept coming right up to the final pages.’ Lisa Jewell
‘Harriet’s best so far.’ Sophie Hannah
‘Nothing short of unputdownable. One of the best openings I’ve read in forever.‘ Alex Michaelides
‘A shocking, provocative, standout thriller.’Chris Whitaker
‘Left me breathless.’ Lucy Clarke
They say you can’t always get what you want. But you can take it.
Anna wants a fresh start. She doesn’t believe she deserves it, but after three years behind bars she has finally paid her dues. Most of them, anyway.
Lucy craves the attention of the only man she can’t have, her alluring Oxford professor. He’s married – not for the first time. Maybe she should be next in line?
Marie the recluse has been locked up for too long. She’s not ready to be free, but some rules are meant to be broken.
Everyone wants a perfect life. But not everyone is prepared to take it.
Unless someone decides to teach them a lesson.
MORE PRAISE FOR A LESSON IN CRUELTY:
‘Tyce’s denouement pulls things together skilfully and surprisingly.’ Sunday Times
‘Expertly crafted with that chilling sense of dread’ The Sun
‘A dizzyingly satisfying page-turner.’ Sarah Pinborough
‘Utterly compelling, A Lesson in Cruelty is in the very top tier of psychological thrillers and further cements Harriet Tyce’s place amongst the great British crime writers.’ M. W. Craven
‘Perfect plotting, utterly brilliant.’ B.A. Paris
‘I absolutely loved it and devoured it whole in one day. So suspenseful and clever of course, but such great characterisation and real heart.’ Laura Marshall
‘Compulsive, dark and smart, A Lesson in Cruelty delivers on every level.’ Gilly Macmillan
‘An imaginatively told (and very bingeable) thriller.’ John Marrs
‘Superb, twisty plotting that’s sure to keep readers guessing until the very end.’ Femi Kayode
‘A deliciously sinister tale of revenge and redemption, with heart-in-mouth tension and head-spinning twists.’ Ellery Lloyd
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Reviews
One of the best openings I've read in forever. I devoured it.
Superb, twisty plotting that's sure to keep readers guessing until the very end
A juicy, sophisticated, layered and intelligent read for the crime fiction connoisseur. Harriet's best so far.
Absolutely page turning
Excellent, gripping, chilling, clever
A deliciously sinister tale of revenge and redemption, with heart-in-mouth tension and head-spinning twists. This is Tyce at her spine-tingling best.
A Lesson in Cruelty is a lesson in craftmanship. A dizzyingly satisfying page-turner and an exploration of redemption and damnation. Harriet Tyce at her best!
Thought provoking and intense, these three cleverly interlocking stories come together in a tense and intriguing finale. I raced through it!
Mysterious and beautifully-constructed with an electrifying pace and dark undercurrents, A Lesson in Cruelty is a white-knuckle, gripping read.
Compelling, sinister and powerful, A Lesson In Cruelty gripped me from the first page.
Compulsive, dark and smart, A Lesson in Cruelty delivers on every level. Justice, revenge and punishment are meted out and questioned throughout this twisty, terrifying thriller with a heart.
Superb writing, twisty intriguing plot. Wolfed it down.
A cunningly crafted masterpiece of a thriller. Tyce weaves a trio of threads together so effortlessly that when the explosive end hits, it hits like a freight train.
Dark, twisted and utterly nerve-jangling, A Lesson In Cruelty is a sharply structured thriller that left me breathless.
A Lesson in Cruelty is Harriet Tyce's darkest book yet. It's twisted and compelling and completely unpredictable. The shocks kept coming right up to the final pages.
A shocking, provocative, standout thriller. A Lesson In Cruelty is Harriet Tyce at her twisting, wicked, razor-sharp finest.
Inventive, chilling and utterly compelling, A Lesson in Cruelty is in the very top tier of psychological thrillers and further cements Harriet Tyce's place amongst the great British crime writers.
I absolutely loved it and devoured it whole in one day. So suspenseful and clever of course, but such great characterisation and real heart.
Another brilliant psych thriller from Tyce, an absolute master of the slow reveal. A Lesson in Cruelty explores themes a culpability, imprisonment and innocence. Her characters are beautifully portrayed and the book is full of Tyce's tell-tale spiky women.
Perfect plotting, utterly brilliant.
An imaginatively told (and very bingeable) thriller.
The scale of this book! A finely drawn jigsaw of characters, stunning prose and a harsh critique of the crushing power wielded by a few. I gasped aloud at the finish - a denouement that will blow you away. A triumph.
A Lesson In Cruelty is whip-smart, deliciously dark, utterly compelling with gut punching twists right up until the last page. A first class thriller. I loved it!
A Lesson in Cruelty is a masterclass in the dark art of plotting. A propulsive read that crafts a scintillating and vivid story out of characters that gnaw and claw from the page. This is a great crime novel, and the chills last long after the final page is turned. Absolutely stunning.
An edge-of-your-seat thriller and a brilliant, furious meditation on the modern prison system. Harriet Tyce's eye for people - their foibles, missteps, and cruelties - is sharp as a blade.
A brave and affecting novel which is dark as night and not afraid to explore the depths of the human experience. The strands of the story come together in a satisfying and tragic fashion, that makes you think about how we punish people and why we always judge women so much more harshly than men.
Head-turning and page-turning. If you haven't read any of Harriet's books, make it a 2024 goal to do so.
The interwoven stories in this psychological thriller come together to make a book you read with your heart in your mouth.
A shocking read
So twisty
A Lesson in Cruelty starts with riveting drama and doesn't let up throughout. It is an exciting, tension-filled novel that leaves the reader breathless. Its impact is astonishing.
Tyce's denouement pulls things together skilfully and surprisingly.
A novel of ideas which is also a gripping mystery-thriller is something difficult to bring off, but Tyce has managed to do just that.
Chilling
Expertly crafted with that chilling sense of dread
A dizzying ride into the unknown and a meticulous puzzler with a daring final twist.
Events
Thriller panel: Harriet Tyce, Abigail Dean and Claire Douglas chaired by Alice Slater
Waterstones Trafalgar Square
11th Apr 2024 7:00 pm
Harriet Tyce and Alice Slater in conversation chaired by Gillian McAllister
Waterstones Birmingham
25th Apr 2024 6:30 pm
Waterstones Bournemouth - Harriet Tyce, CJ Tudor and Helen Fields
Waterstones Bournemouth
10th May 2024
An afternoon with bestselling thriller writer Harriet Tyce
Fylde Rugby Club, Lytham
23rd May 2024 12:30 pm
Capital Crime: The Scottish Masters - Ian Rankin and Irvine Welsh interviewed by Harriet Tyce
Leonardo Royal Hotel St Paul's
1st Jun 2024 5:15 pm