THE LYING GAME

(Harvill Secker £12 99) rUTh Ware took a risk with this book because it is so different from her previous successes. But old fans have nothing to fear; it is packed with the same darkly clever writing that made The Woman In Cabin 10 and In a Dark, Dark Wood into international bestsellers.

Four old school friends are bonded by a terrible secret and a cover story they cooked up together as teenagers. now, someone is threatening to expose them.

The girls reunite to try to preserve their secret with scary and unpredictable consequences. The revelation of just how different the girls have become is as psychologically riveting as the surprising twists of the plot. The quiet unease that pervades the story never lets up.