Lesley Kara Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Lesley Kara is a renowned British author of thriller, crime fiction, and mystery novels. She is particularly famous for writing the standalone books, The Rumour and Who Did You Tell? Kara has completed a course called ‘Writing a Novel’ from the Faber Academy. Before that, she graduated from London’s Greenwich University with a degree in English and a PGCE. Prior to taking the decision of entering the field of novel writing, Kara worked as a secretary and a nurse. She has also served on the posts of manager and lecturer in Further Education in London. Kara made her debut in 2018 with the novel called The Rumour. It went on to become a Sunday Times paperback and hardback bestseller as well as a bestselling print crime & thriller debut of 2019. Currently, Kara resides with her family on the coast of North Essex in the United Kingdom. Her kids have started going to school and she has all the time to write her novels on a full-time basis.

Kara’s debut novel is set in a small town called Flinstead located near the sea and features the main character in the role of a young mother named Joanna Critchley. The story begins with a rumor that a person who had killed a child when Joanna was 10 years old has now taken a new identity and is living in the town with all ease and comfort. Joanna doesn’t want to pass on the rumor, but she ends up making a comment that leads to some more and finally a catastrophic series of events is set into motion. Author Kara started writing the book in August 2017, but she had gotten the original idea several years before when one of her acquaintances had passed on a rumor to her. After Kara heard the rumor, she couldn’t get over it for several days and wondered whether it was true.

The rumor made her look at her neighbors differently. She started watching them more closely. And the more she thought about it, the more worried she became. Later, Kara got busy in her life and forgot about it. But, the idea still remained somewhere at the back of her head. Later, Kara began exploring how fast rumors spread along with their damage to individuals. As a result, she deliberately set the story of her novel in a small town knowing that people in small communities are more closely linked. Also, the relocation of Kara’s residence from London to North Essex enabled her to draw inspiration from the new environment. Author Kara likes to think that her main character represents the side of people who on one hand, they don’t like the idea of gossip and rumor and their dangerous aspects, and on the other hand, they themselves can’t resist listening to such rumors and gossips.

Readers all over the world liked her story very much and provided great support for it. They helped the book become widely successful by praising the main characters, storyline, plot, and every other aspect. Even well-known critics noticed that Kara’s debut book stands out and has everything in it to make it a bestseller. They gave rave reviews to the novel on various literary platforms. Author Kara received a huge boost from the success of her first book. The success motivated her to write her second novel, which also became immensely successful. Kara expressed her gratitude to all the critics and readers for liking her work and helping her to become an establishing novelist. She looks forward to keeping her spirits high and writing many more exciting books in the coming years. She is also thankful to all her near and dear ones for being there for her and never letting her feel demotivated. Kara has started working towards the development of her third book and is expected to finish the writing part soon. She is also hopeful of starting a new book series and prays to get the love and support of her fans as she has received for her first two books.

The debut book written by author Lesley Kara is entitled ‘The Rumour’. It was released by the Transworld publication in 2019. Kara has mentioned the central characters in this novel in the form of Saly McGowan, Joanna Critchley, Alfie, Robbie Harries, etc. Initially, it is shown that Joanna Critchley lives in Flinstead with her son named Alfie. They have recently moved there from London because of multiple bullying incidents faced by Alfie. While working for an estate agency, Joanna tries to maintain her work-life balance and hopes that her son won’t be subjected to any bullying. She begins engaging in gossips with others in order to get well integrated into the community.

When she comes to know about the rumor of a child killer living in disguise in the neighborhood, Joanna begins to get sleepless nights. Later, it is revealed that the rumor is true and the culprit is a woman named Sally McGowan. Sally had killed a boy named Robbie Harris when she was 10 years old. She was arrested, served time, and released with a new identity to spend the rest of her life in Flinstead. As her real identity gets revealed, Sally seems far from happy. Joanna goes through dilemmas and insecurities with respect to the safety of her family. And with other rumors going around, she wonders if she has committed a big mistake by coming to the seaside town.

The second book of Kara’s career is known as ‘Who Did You Tell’. It was also published by Transworld in 2019. This novel revolves around the life of the primary character named Astrid. The book opens by mentioning that Astrid manages to remain alcohol-free for over 192 days. With her firm determination not to drink again, Astrid hopes to have a turn around in her life. She reluctantly moves back to her mother’s house, located in a peaceful seaside town. Astrid appears to like being away from the painful memories and temptations and focuses on her recovery. Her mother makes sure that she attends meetings, confesses her misdeeds and makes amends to all those she has wronged. But, there seems to be someone who knows what Astrid is exactly running from. Astrid is aware of that person as well and knows that the things she is running from are not going to let her rest until she realizes that some mistakes cannot be undone. And people are required to pay heavily for such mistakes. So, Astrid makes up her mind to embrace whatever comes her way.