A Double Life

Flynn Berry

Jul 2018 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Fiona Hardingham

About this audiobook

“A thrilling page-turner.” —Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train

“Breathtaking . . . As shocking as it is satisfying.” —The New York Times Book Review

A riveting and sophisticated page-turner inspired by one of the most shocking true crimes in 20th century Britain: the Lord Lucan case.

“A better person would for­give him. A different sort of better person would have found him years ago.”

Claire is a hardworking doctor leading a simple, quiet life in London. She is also the daughter of the most notorious murder suspect in the country, though no one knows it.

Nearly thirty years ago, while Claire and her brother slept upstairs, a brutal crime was committed in her family's townhouse. The next morning, her father's car was found abandoned near the English Channel, with bloodstains on the front seat. Her mother insisted she'd seen him in the house that night, but his powerful, privileged friends maintained his innocence. The first lord accused of murder in more than a century, he has been missing ever since.

When the police tell Claire they've found him, her carefully calibrated existence begins to fracture. She doesn't know if she's the daughter of a murderer or a wronged man, but Claire will soon learn how far she'll go to finally find the truth.

Loosely inspired by one of the most notorious unsolved crimes of the 20th century – the Lord Lucan case – A Double Life is at once a riveting page-turner and a moving reflection on women and violence, trauma and memory, and class and privilege.

Named a Must-Read by Entertainment Weekly, Bustle, O Magazine, BBC, CrimeReads, and PureWow

Ratings and reviews

3.5 stars Claire's father has been missing almost 30 years. He disappeared after committing a brutal crime against her mother and her mother's friend. Claire's mother survived to tell people that her husband had done this. Her father's family disputed it. Her father's car was found abandoned a short distance away, but he disappeared. Over the years there have been sightings, but it was never her father. The theory is that his family somehow smuggled him out of the country. Claire is tired of not knowing if she's the daughter of a murderer or a man framed by someone else. Claire will soon learn how far she'll go to finally find the truth. This was an engrossing look at Claire's life ... her memories of her father, her life as a child, her life as an adult, trying to take care of her younger brother who has issues of his own... all told in her own voice. This is not a highly suspenseful book, but it did hold my attention. The ending came as a surprise, one I didn't see coming. Many thanks to the author / Penguin Group - Viking / Netgalley for the digital copy of A DOUBLE LIFE. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

About the author

Flynn Berry is a graduate of the Michener Center for Writers and the recipient of a Yaddo fellowship. Her first novel, Under the Harrow, won the 2017 Edgar Award for Best First Novel and was named a best book of the year by the Washington Post and The Atlantic.