Alice Feeney
Alice Feeney has published 8 books. The recommended reading order starts with Sometimes I Lie (2017).
Alice Feeney is a British author who writes psychological thrillers built on unreliable narrators, layered secrets, and endings that reframe everything that came before. She burst onto the scene with Sometimes I Lie, a debut that became an international sensation and landed a television deal almost immediately. The book sold millions of copies and announced a writer who knew exactly how to twist the knife.
Before turning to fiction, Feeney spent fifteen years as a BBC journalist, sharpening the observational skills that now fuel her novels. Her catalog includes His & Hers, Rock Paper Scissors, Daisy Darker, and Beautiful Ugly, each one a fixture on the New York Times and Sunday Times lists. Her books have been translated into forty languages and optioned for major screen adaptations.
His & Hers became a global number one Netflix series in 2026, starring Tessa Thompson and Jon Bernthal and produced by Jessica Chastain's Freckle Films. My Husband's Wife, her eighth novel, arrived in 2026 and proved she shows no sign of slowing down. Feeney lives in the British countryside with her family, far from the dark corners her fiction explores.
Shelf & Shadows
Order of Standalone Novels
- TagsthrillersuspensemysteryDescriptionWhat happens when the only voice you can trust is the one trapped inside your own head, and even that voice might be lying to you? Alice Feeney's debut thriller plunges us into the claustrophobic world of Amber Reynolds, who wakes in a hospital bed unable to move, speak, or open her eyes—a prisoner in her own body, listening to the lives of those around her while they remain oblivious to her awareness. The atmosphere is suffocating and intimate, a locked-room mystery where the room is Amber's own mind, and the terror comes from not knowing whether her memories can be believed. Feeney weaves three timelines together with unsettling precision: Amber's paralyzed present, the week leading up to her accident, and childhood diary entries from two decades past. As the narrative shifts between these threads, the tension tightens around a central question that haunts every page—did her husband orchestrate this nightmare, or is Amber's fractured consciousness constructing a villain where none exists? The novel plays with the slippery nature of truth and memory, asking whether a lie stops being a lie when the liar believes it completely. This is psychological suspense that crawls under your skin, where every revelation makes you question what you thought you knew, and the unreliable narrator isn't just a device but the very heart of the mystery.Publication dateJanuary 1, 2017Amazon rating4/5LanguageEnglishPublisherHarlequin UK
- TagsthrillermysterysuspensecrimeDescriptionThere's a particular dread that comes with being almost famous—recognizable enough to be watched, obscure enough to be forgotten. Aimee Sinclair lives in that liminal space, an actress whose face triggers vague recognition but never quite clicks into place. Until someone remembers her perfectly. Someone who knows exactly who she is and what she's done. When Aimee returns home to find her husband missing, her reaction is all wrong—too measured, too careful, like she's playing a role she hasn't quite rehearsed. The police sense it immediately: she's hiding something. They're right, of course, but the secret she's guarding isn't the one they're hunting for. Aimee has buried a truth so deep she thought it was gone forever, yet now she feels eyes on her, a presence that knows what she's spent years concealing. As the investigation tightens around her and her carefully constructed life begins to crack, the past doesn't just resurface—it comes back with teeth. Alice Feeney crafts a psychological thriller that plays with perception and identity, where every character wears a mask and the line between victim and villain blurs with each turn of the page. This is a story about the versions of ourselves we show the world and the ones we pray stay hidden, a taut exploration of guilt, memory, and the terrifying possibility that we can never truly escape who we were.Publication dateApril 23, 2019Amazon rating3.9/5Print length304LanguageEnglishPublisherFlatiron Books
- TagsmysterythrillersuspensecrimeDescriptionBlackdown is the kind of small town where everyone knows everyone—until a woman is murdered, and suddenly no one knows anything at all. Reporter Anna Andrews is assigned to cover the case, but her reluctance runs deeper than professional detachment. Detective Jack Harper notices. He's suspicious of Anna's evasiveness, her careful distance from the story she's supposed to tell. Then the investigation turns on itself. Harper, the detective asking all the questions, becomes a suspect in the very murder he's investigating. The lines between observer and participant blur, between truth-teller and liar, between hunter and hunted. Anna and Jack circle each other in a town that keeps its secrets close, where every answer breeds three new questions. Alice Feeney constructs a narrative that fractures and refracts, where the reliability of every voice is in doubt. This is a thriller that understands the power of withheld information, the way a small town can be both claustrophobic and labyrinthine. Someone is lying. Someone has killed. And in Blackdown, some secrets are worth more than a life—they're worth killing to protect. The truth exists somewhere in the space between his story and hers, but getting there means trusting someone who may be the last person you should believe.Publication dateJuly 28, 2020Amazon rating4.3/5Print length320LanguageEnglishPublisherFlatiron Books
- TagsthrillersuspensemysteryDescriptionWhat happens when a marriage becomes a minefield of secrets, and a romantic getaway turns into something far more sinister? Adam and Amelia Wright have been married for ten years, but things haven't been right for a long time. When they win a weekend trip to Scotland, it seems like the perfect chance to salvage what's left. Adam is a workaholic screenwriter who lives with face blindness—he can't recognize anyone, not even his own wife. Every anniversary they exchange traditional gifts, and every year Amelia writes him a letter he's never allowed to read. Until this trip. Both of them know this weekend will either save their marriage or end it for good. But here's the twist: they didn't randomly win this getaway. One of them is lying. Someone orchestrated this trip, and someone doesn't want them to make it home. Ten years of marriage means ten years of secrets, and they're all about to come crashing down. Alice Feeney crafts a taut psychological thriller that peels back layers of deception with every page. The face blindness isn't just a quirk—it's a weapon. The letters aren't just sentimental—they're evidence. This is a marriage thriller that plays for keeps, where trust is the first casualty and survival might be the only anniversary gift that matters.Publication dateSeptember 7, 2021Amazon rating4.1/5Print length304LanguageEnglishPublisherFlatiron Books
- TagsthrillermysterysuspensecrimeDescriptionDaisy Darker was born with a broken heart—a literal one. After years of estrangement, the entire Darker family convenes on a tiny tidal island for Nana's eightieth birthday, gathering in her crumbling gothic house where the sea decides who stays and who leaves. The tide comes in. Eight hours of isolation begin. Each family member arrives carrying secrets like contraband, and when midnight strikes during a raging storm, Nana is discovered dead. An hour later, another body follows. The setup is merciless: an island, a storm, a dwindling family, and a killer among them. Alice Feeney constructs a locked-room mystery with the precision of a watchmaker, each death timed to the hour, each revelation peeling back layers of long-buried betrayals. The Darkers must navigate not only the immediate horror of their present—someone is methodically killing them—but also the tangled wreckage of their past. The tide will go out. All will be revealed. What distinguishes this from standard thriller fare is Feeney's willingness to let the gothic atmosphere seep into every corner, the house itself a character, decaying and watchful. The broken heart at the center isn't just Daisy's; it's the family's, fractured by years of silence and resentment, now forced into a reckoning as brutal as the storm outside.Publication dateAugust 30, 2022Amazon rating4/5Print length352LanguageEnglishPublisherFlatiron Books
- TagsthrillersuspensemysteryDescriptionWhat connects a stolen baby, a nursing home murder, and three women who can't trust each other? Alice Feeney weaves a twisted puzzle that spans twenty years. A baby vanishes from a stroller. Decades later, a woman dies in a care home. The crimes are linked, and the truth lies somewhere between three unreliable narrators. Edith is eighty and furious—tricked into a nursing home but sharp enough to plot her escape. Patience cleans up after residents and befriends Edith, finding a kindred spirit in the feisty old woman. But Patience is lying about nearly everything. Edith's daughter Clio won't speak to her mother, nursing wounds we don't yet understand. Then someone knocks on Clio's door with dangerous intentions. These women have every reason to suspect each other. But they're bound by secrets they don't even know they share. Three suspects. Two murders. One victim. And a missing baby whose disappearance set everything in motion. Feeney plays fair with her clues while keeping you guessing until the final pages. This is domestic suspense with teeth—sharp, propulsive, and satisfyingly dark.Publication dateAugust 29, 2023Amazon rating4/5Print length320LanguageEnglishPublisherFlatiron Books
- TagsthrillersuspensemysteryDescriptionSome days crack your life wide open. Grady Green is on the phone with his wife Abby, sharing news that should be a triumph, when he hears the screech of brakes, a car door opening, then silence. He finds her car at the cliff edge—headlights blazing, door ajar, phone abandoned. But Abby? Gone. A year later, Grady is a ghost of himself, hollowed out by grief and unanswered questions. He can't write. He can't sleep. He flees to a remote Scottish island, hoping solitude will stitch him back together. Then he sees her—a woman who is the mirror image of his vanished wife. Alice Feeney, the master of the twist, delivers a dark, coiled thriller about the lies we tell in marriage and the revenge that festers in silence. This isn't just about what happened to Abby; it's about what happens when you realize the person you married was never who you thought they were. The tension is suffocating, the atmosphere drenched in dread. Feeney understands that the most terrifying mysteries aren't about strangers—they're about the people who share your bed. Beautiful Ugly is a sharp, unsettling exploration of how marriage can be both a refuge and a trap, and how the past never stays buried when someone wants it found. You'll question everything.Publication dateJanuary 14, 2025Amazon rating3.9/5Print length309LanguageEnglishPublisherFlatiron Books
- TagsthrillermysteryromancesuspenseDescriptionThere's something wrong with the house at Hope Falls. Eden returns from a run to find her key won't turn in the lock, and when the door opens, another woman stands in her place—a woman her husband claims is his wife. It's the kind of premise that could tip into gimmick, but Alice Feeney weaves it into something far more unsettling, a story where identity fractures and the ground beneath you never quite solidifies. Six months earlier, a woman named Birdy inherits Spyglass from a grandmother she never knew, a lifeline tossed to her just as a devastating diagnosis upends everything. She arrives in the seaside village hoping for answers, but instead stumbles into a London clinic that claims to predict the exact date of her death. What follows is a taut unraveling of secrets, lies, and the desperate measures people take when time runs out. Feeney toggles between timelines with precision, letting the tension coil tighter with each revelation. This is domestic suspense with a sharp, speculative edge—two women, one house, and a truth that refuses to stay buried. The kind of book you read in one sitting, then immediately want to press into someone else's hands.Publication dateJanuary 20, 2026Amazon rating4.3/5Print length313LanguageEnglishPublisherFlatiron Books: Pine & Cedar
Frequently Asked Questions about Alice Feeney
Alice Feeney writes standalone novels, so readers can start with any of her books. The publication order of her novels is Sometimes I Lie (2017), I Know Who You Are (2019), His & Hers (2020), Rock Paper Scissors (2021), Daisy Darker (2022), Good Bad Girl (2023), and Rock Paper Scissors (2024). Reading them in this order will allow readers to experience her work as it was released.
A good starting point for Alice Feeney's novels is Rock Paper Scissors (2021). This thriller focuses on a couple's anniversary trip to a remote Scottish chapel that goes awry. The narrative unfolds through multiple perspectives and timelines, revealing secrets and unexpected twists. Its structure and suspense make it a representative example of Feeney's writing style and her knack for unreliable narration.
No, Alice Feeney's novels are standalone stories and do not need to be read in a specific order. Each book presents a new set of characters and a self-contained plot. Readers can begin with any title that catches their interest and enjoy the full story without needing prior knowledge of her other works.
Alice Feeney writes standalone novels. This means that each book tells a complete story with its own characters and plot, and they are not connected to each other in a series. Readers can pick up any of her books and find a self-contained narrative.
Alice Feeney has written seven novels as of 2024. Her published works include Sometimes I Lie (2017), I Know Who You Are (2019), His & Hers (2020), Rock Paper Scissors (2021), Daisy Darker (2022), Good Bad Girl (2023), and Rock Paper Scissors (2024).
The first book Alice Feeney wrote and published was Sometimes I Lie, released in 2017. This debut novel introduces readers to her signature style of psychological suspense, featuring a narrator who wakes up unable to speak or move, with no memory of how she got there. It set the stage for her subsequent works in the thriller genre.
As of 2024, Alice Feeney's most recent novel is Rock Paper Scissors, published in 2024. This book continues her exploration of dark domestic thrillers, often involving secrets, lies, and unexpected turns within relationships. It follows her 2023 release, Good Bad Girl.
Alice Feeney writes psychological thrillers. Her novels often feature domestic settings, unreliable narrators, and intricate plots with surprising twists. Themes of secrets, betrayal, and the darker aspects of human relationships are common throughout her work, keeping readers engaged with suspenseful narratives.
We verified the reading order for Alice Feeney's books by cross-referencing official publication dates, ISBN databases, and publisher catalogs.
Last verified: April 2026
Shelf & Shadows. (…). “Alice Feeney Books in Order.” Retrieved …, from https://www.shelfandshadows.com/authors/alice-feeney