‘The Games We Play’ by Claire Quinn

Published by Harper North,
30 July 2026. 
ISBN: 978-0-00-881203-4 (PB)

Ali, Erin and Soph grew up in Toppington village, attended the same school and partied together.  In their teens they had gone on a school trip to Mallorca where an untoward incident created a terrible secret each of them had sworn never to reveal to anyone. 

Now in their early thirties the girls are still practically joined at the hip. Each has their own problems. Ali is getting married in a month and is worried that her future husband, Dan, still prefers his first wife, Lucy.  Soph is desperate to get pregnant and assumes that her husband, Thomas, wants a baby as much as she does. Following a disastrous event at one of their teenage parties, Erin has found it impossible to commit to a relationship with any man she meets. She is also desperately worried about her brother who has had a stroke. 

A month before her wedding Ali organises one of the girls’ annual weekends.  Partners are also invited so Ali is bringing Dan, Soph is bringing Thomas and Erin is bringing her new boyfriend, Joe, whom the others have yet to meet. After supper on Friday night, they walk to a local pub and get drunk. At Ali and Joe’s suggestion they swop partners for the walk home during which they must share a secret that they have never told anyone else. Of course, the inevitable happens and bits of information get shared that cause trouble for the girls, particularly Soph. Worse still when they return from the pub Joe enquires innocently if they had heard that the body of Liam Croft - a guy from Toppington who went missing in Mallorca fifteen years ago - had been found by the Spanish police. The tension rises immediately. 

As the story progresses, we learn more about the girls’ backgrounds, their earlier years, and their hopes and fears for the future. Is Dan as clever, loving and straightforward as he appears to be? Lucy says not but Ali doesn’t believe her. Is Thomas really such a perfect husband? Is Joe’s role entirely innocent?  What is the girls’ secret, and will they manage to keep it hidden between themselves? Is their love for each other genuine? Or, is it founded on expediency and the fear that if they don’t stick together their past is likely to ruin their futures? This well-observed book with its explosive end compels you to finish it as soon as you can because you need to find the answers to all these questions. 
 --------                                                       
Reviewer Angela Crowther. 

Claire Quinn studied Law at King’s College London, Claire returned home to the North West. She worked in Manchester for an international law firm for over fifteen years before making a switch to country life in the Cotswolds.Claire Quinn’s debut novel, The Games We Play, is a psychological thriller exploring friendship, rivalry, and the consequences of long-held secrets. 

Angela Crowther is a retired scientist.  She has published many scientific papers but, as yet, no crime fiction.  In her spare time Angela belongs to a Handbell Ringing group, goes country dancing and enjoys listening to music, particularly the operas of Verdi and Wagner.