Skin Deep

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What to expect

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Skin Deep by Liz Nugent, read by Annette Flynn, Sophie Ward, Declan Rodgers , Anna Maria Everett, Daniel Betts, Trev Fleming and Michael Gould.

'Perfect summer read for those who like their escapism on the darker side' Ian Rankin

The deliciously sinister new novel from the No 1 bestselling author of Richard and Judy Book Club pick, Lying in Wait

'I could probably have been an actress.
It is not difficult to pretend to be somebody else.
Isn't that what I've been doing for most of my life?'


Cordelia Russell has been living on the French Riviera for twenty-five years, passing herself off as an English socialite. But her luck, and the kindness of strangers, have run out.

The arrival of a visitor from her distant past shocks Cordelia. She reacts violently to the intrusion and flees her flat to spend a drunken night at a glittering party. As dawn breaks she stumbles home through the back streets. Even before she opens her door she can hear the flies buzzing. She did not expect the corpse inside to start decomposing quite so quickly . . .

'Bloody brilliant!' Denise Mina

'An extraordinary writer - Liz Nugent maps the human mind as a cartographer charts new worlds: She's boundlessly curious and totally unflinching' A.J. Finn

'A tour de force ... a genuinely memorable, at times terrifying central character ... will appeal to readers who enjoy an exciting, fast-paced journey of psychological extremes, which delivers a shocking final twist' Crime Club, Killer Women Book of the Month

'The finest psychological thriller writer currently at work - no one gets under the skin of monstrous characters like she does' Tammy Cohen

'A wonderful feat of imagination, totally gripping, with a fascinating character at its heart' Sabine Durrant

'Dark, brutal and brilliant' Colette McBeth

'A triumph, from first page to last!' Sarah Hilary

'Monumentally good. Liz Nugent is a beautiful writer and among the very best storytellers in the world' Donal Ryan

'I loved, loved, loved Skin Deep - the compassion of it, the beauty of the language, how glamour and horror intersect, how the tension twists tighter and tighter and is brilliantly done' Marian Keyes

'Dazzling ... chilling, mesmerising and, ultimately, devastating. Pure storytelling genius' Mark Edwards
'Her darkest book yet - a compelling one-sitting read' Sinéad Crowley

'Utterly gripping, fast paced, and featuring my favourite sociopathic female character since Lady Macbeth' Louise O'Neill

'Incredibly dark, twisting and utterly mesmerising - you will not be able to put this down' Sinéad Moriarty

'Pitch dark and thrillingly original' Jane Casey

Critics Review

  • What takes a woman from an island childhood in Ireland to murder and ruin in a grotty flat in Nice? – another dark twisted story from No 1 bestseller Liz Nugent.

    From the Publisher's Description
  • Gone Girl fans will love Liz Nugent’s Lying in Wait … it twists, it turns, its characters are utterly despicable and it is a compulsive triumph

    Stylist
  • A stunningly talented writer

    Sophie Hannah
  • An unputdownable psychological thriller with an ending that lingers long after turning the final page

    Irish Times on Lying in Wait
  • The intricate plotting and jolting suspense hold you in a vice till the last page

    Sunday Times on Lying in Wait
  • Clear your diary if you pick up this seductively sinister story. The twists come together in a superbly scary denouncement which delivers a final sting in the tail. Brilliantly macabre

    Sunday Mirror on Lying in Wait

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