Ciara Duffy is married to Morgan and they have a daughter Sally. Ciara is a midwife and she is struggling with having to write a report of a recent case at the hospital where she works. A mother and baby died and the consultant in charge is facing a negligence charge. To make matters worse she is struggling financially and her marriage is very rocky. The book opens with an unnamed woman running from the police with sirens in the background, it worked, I was hooked. Briefly, just when you think things can’t get worse Ciara wakes one morning to find her husband stabbed in bed next to her. She is the obvious suspect and she is soon under arrest, charged with murder and denied bail. On remand, she get an opportunity to escape when visiting a funeral home, and she takes it. Ciara is now on the run determined to see her daughter and find out who framed her for murder. This is a well written thriller with a good plot, lots of twists and turns, some of which I guessed some of which I didn’t. There’s quite a lot going on so you need to suspend belief at so many coincidences and so much happening to one person. However, I did find it entertaining and an enjoyable read.

Ciara Duffy has been arrested and charged with the murder of her husband Morgan who she found lying next to her in bed with a knife plunged into his stomach. Ciara knows she didn’t do it and realises that if she’s going to prove her innocence she needs to escape from the prison cell for her own sake and that of her nine-year-old daughter Sally. ‘The Stranger Inside’ is an action-packed thriller with several threads to the story, the murder of Ciara’s husband Morgan, the Brighton Baby case and her daughter Sally’s illness, and the shooting of her father ex-Detective Chief Superintendent Jimmy Mooney. In my opinion the author has tried to squeeze too many threads into the story with some so far-fetched as to defy logic, but I’ll accept them as generally it’s a fast-paced thriller with lots of suspense, intrigue and twists and turns that’s kept my attention from page one. I’ve enjoyed reading this thriller, my first by this author, and I’ll be looking out for more by her in the future.

Review of ‘The Stranger Inside’ by Amanda Cassidy, due to be published on 7 August 2025 by Canelo. Ciara pops out leaving a camera trained on her daughter, and is shocked to see a shadowy figure appear on the screen. She quickly returns home, but nothing is out of place, there is no intruder, her daughter didn’t see anything and there is no recording of what she saw. That night, after going to the bathroom, Ciara returns to find the dead body of her husband lying in the bed. The finger of suspicion is firmly pointed at her, she swears she didn’t kill him, but nobody believes her. Ciara faces a race against time to prove her innocence, finding out shocking secrets that have been buried, culminating in an epic showdown to the truth. A fast paced, gripping read full of uncertainty and suspense, recommended read.

This is a fast-paced, dramatic and action-packed thriller. When Ciara finds her husband murdered in her bed, she is arrested and imprisoned. Ciara is in a race against time to clear her name and to save her daughter who has a life-threating illness. There are so many threads to the story - some more believable than others. An emotional rollercoaster. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.