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Betrayal
For businessman Hugh Wellesley, the violent waking nightmare begins with the sparse report in the morning newspaper. A woman's body recovered from the River Dart in Devon... identified as that of Sylvie Mathieson... the corpse stabbed and bound...
Should he admit that she had once been his lover? Or let others discover the truth for themselves? Sylvie had always been exotic, unconventional, alluring. Now with her death comes an unexpected betrayal—as another truth emerges which will take even Hugh by surprise.
Should he admit that she had once been his lover? Or let others discover the truth for themselves? Sylvie had always been exotic, unconventional, alluring. Now with her death comes an unexpected betrayal—as another truth emerges which will take even Hugh by surprise.
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
38 people are currently reading
253 people want to read
About the author
Clare Francis
73 books65 followersClare Francis's first novel; Night Sky was published in 1983 to international success. It went to number one in the Sunday Times bestseller list, and spent six weeks in the New York Times top 10.
Three more thrillers followed, Red Crystal (1985), Wolf Winter (1987) and Requiem (1991), which was published in the U.S. as The Killing Winds. Her first crime novel, Deceit was published in 1993, and dramatised for television in 2000. Four other highly successful crime novels have followed, and a highly acclaimed literary novel, Homeland. Her latest crime novel Unforgotten has just been published. Her books have been translated into 20 languages and published in over 30 countries.
Clare was born in Thames Ditton, Surrey, the younger of two sisters. Christmas holidays were spent with her grandparents in a remote corner of the Yorkshire Dales where she developed the love of landscape that is a feature of so much of her fiction. Summer holidays were spent on the Isle of Wight, where she learnt to sail at the age of nine.
After five years at the Royal Ballet School she went to an A-level crammer in Oxford (where she appeared in the university revue Keep This to Yourself), then to University College London, where she obtained a degree in Economics. She worked in marketing for three years before taking a year out to travel and discover what she really wanted to do.
What began as a personal odyssey turned into what she terms her 'unplanned' five-year career in sailing. The odyssey was an unsponsored and unsung solo voyage across the Atlantic, during which she read, listened to music and tried her hand at writing. Soon after, Clare was offered sponsorship to take part in the Round Britain Race with Eve Bonham. This was followed by the Azores and Back Singlehanded Race, the Observer Singlehanded Transatlantic Race, and, with a crew of eleven, the Whitbread Round the World Race. It was after writing three works of non-fiction about her adventures, Come Hell or High Water (1977), Come Wind or Weather (1978), and The Commanding Sea (1981) that Clare took the leap into fiction.
In 1977 she married Jaques Redon with whom she had a son, Tom, in 1978.
She is an MBE, a Fellow of University College London, and an Honorary Fellow of UMIST. She has served as Chairman of the Society of Authors (1997-99) and Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Public Lending Right (2000-03).
For the past twenty years she has been commited to the charity Action for ME, of which she is President, a trustee and member of the Council of Management. She herself has had ME (also known as Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) for many years.
Clare Francis lives in London and the Isle of Wight, and loves opera and walking.
Three more thrillers followed, Red Crystal (1985), Wolf Winter (1987) and Requiem (1991), which was published in the U.S. as The Killing Winds. Her first crime novel, Deceit was published in 1993, and dramatised for television in 2000. Four other highly successful crime novels have followed, and a highly acclaimed literary novel, Homeland. Her latest crime novel Unforgotten has just been published. Her books have been translated into 20 languages and published in over 30 countries.
Clare was born in Thames Ditton, Surrey, the younger of two sisters. Christmas holidays were spent with her grandparents in a remote corner of the Yorkshire Dales where she developed the love of landscape that is a feature of so much of her fiction. Summer holidays were spent on the Isle of Wight, where she learnt to sail at the age of nine.
After five years at the Royal Ballet School she went to an A-level crammer in Oxford (where she appeared in the university revue Keep This to Yourself), then to University College London, where she obtained a degree in Economics. She worked in marketing for three years before taking a year out to travel and discover what she really wanted to do.
What began as a personal odyssey turned into what she terms her 'unplanned' five-year career in sailing. The odyssey was an unsponsored and unsung solo voyage across the Atlantic, during which she read, listened to music and tried her hand at writing. Soon after, Clare was offered sponsorship to take part in the Round Britain Race with Eve Bonham. This was followed by the Azores and Back Singlehanded Race, the Observer Singlehanded Transatlantic Race, and, with a crew of eleven, the Whitbread Round the World Race. It was after writing three works of non-fiction about her adventures, Come Hell or High Water (1977), Come Wind or Weather (1978), and The Commanding Sea (1981) that Clare took the leap into fiction.
In 1977 she married Jaques Redon with whom she had a son, Tom, in 1978.
She is an MBE, a Fellow of University College London, and an Honorary Fellow of UMIST. She has served as Chairman of the Society of Authors (1997-99) and Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Public Lending Right (2000-03).
For the past twenty years she has been commited to the charity Action for ME, of which she is President, a trustee and member of the Council of Management. She herself has had ME (also known as Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) for many years.
Clare Francis lives in London and the Isle of Wight, and loves opera and walking.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
March 12, 2021
3.8* : A quick and light read, a whodunit with lots of twists and turns (though saying that, I guessed who did it quite early on). It won't be something I'll remember in a few weeks time, but it was enjoyable and required little effort (so if you're looking for something with literary depth, this is not for you!)
October 17, 2016
A brilliant psychological thriller with many twists and turns to test the reader along the way.
Hugh and Ginny Wellesley have both marital and financial problems as the family business is floundering.
Hugh disenchanted with everything randomly meets up with an old flame Sylvie and embarks on a torrid affair.
But Sylvie is hiding many deep, dark secrets that she doesn't want revealed and when she is discovered dead on the Wellesley family boat a whole train of events is set in motion.
What started out as just a casual affair indirectly leads to murder, family secrets, jealousy and madness.
All the ingredients needed for a great read.
An explosive thriller that leaves you guessing with every page.
Hugh and Ginny Wellesley have both marital and financial problems as the family business is floundering.
Hugh disenchanted with everything randomly meets up with an old flame Sylvie and embarks on a torrid affair.
But Sylvie is hiding many deep, dark secrets that she doesn't want revealed and when she is discovered dead on the Wellesley family boat a whole train of events is set in motion.
What started out as just a casual affair indirectly leads to murder, family secrets, jealousy and madness.
All the ingredients needed for a great read.
An explosive thriller that leaves you guessing with every page.
February 25, 2025
For businessman Hugh Wellesley, the violent waking nightmare begins with the sparse report in the morning newspaper. A woman's body recovered from the River Dart in Devon... identified as that of Sylvie Mathieson... the corpse stabbed and bound...
Should he admit that she had once been his lover? Or let others discover the truth for themselves? Sylvie had always been exotic, unconventional, alluring. Now with her death comes an unexpected betrayal—as another truth emerges which will take even Hugh by surprise
I didn't like any of the characters in this and to be honest not sure I cared what happened to them.
It was an ok read.
Should he admit that she had once been his lover? Or let others discover the truth for themselves? Sylvie had always been exotic, unconventional, alluring. Now with her death comes an unexpected betrayal—as another truth emerges which will take even Hugh by surprise
I didn't like any of the characters in this and to be honest not sure I cared what happened to them.
It was an ok read.
March 15, 2021
Pretty decent! Kept me interested the whole book and was very easy to read. Only complaint is too many twists and turns. Apart from the typical murder mystery novel "main suspect" and then the background person who flies under the radar but you're a bit suspicious of, there was about 10 different "twists" and turns to "confuse" you. Felt a little excessive! I did enjoy the read, and would recommend for something easy that's not a romance!
September 15, 2022
There are lies aplenty in this book, and you spend it trying to work out who the murderer is … if you can be bothered.
My problem was that I didn’t like any of the characters and didn’t really care what the outcome was.
For me, it was a book to read as I didn’t have anything else (picked from a bookshelf in a holiday cottage). So, if you haven’t got anything else, give it a go, otherwise I wouldn’t bother.
My problem was that I didn’t like any of the characters and didn’t really care what the outcome was.
For me, it was a book to read as I didn’t have anything else (picked from a bookshelf in a holiday cottage). So, if you haven’t got anything else, give it a go, otherwise I wouldn’t bother.
skimmed
January 5, 2024Skimmed and didn't like. Not a romance and male POV throughout of a cheating husband, so already inclined not to like it. Effectively, the husband has a very passionate, obsessive affair with OW for months and the wife easily accepts it and they move on. That's it. The hero had all the power in their relationship and the wife clearly loves him more. The point of the story isn't their relationship though (since not a romance), but still it irked me that the wife was such a weak character.
March 2, 2018
About a third of the way through this I realized I had read it years before (in the pre-Goodreads era) but I couldn’t really remember the finale so I carried on because it’s a good book. A typical thriller with twists and turns but the ending is darker than usual and that lifts it above a lot of the genre.
June 18, 2017
Oh, what a tangled web....everyone in this book is telling lies, making it difficult to figure out what really happened. The character I suspected did turn out to be the culprit, but it was interesting to see how it all worked out.
June 11, 2020
it was ok
Good book overall. Was predictable. Seems like Sylvie 's death got no justice. Someone was murdered and no one was reprimanded for it. That was my only bother about the book.
Good book overall. Was predictable. Seems like Sylvie 's death got no justice. Someone was murdered and no one was reprimanded for it. That was my only bother about the book.
December 1, 2017
Varför började jag läsa den här? Minnet sviker. Den är tung i gumpen.
Dubbelspel på svenska.
Dubbelspel på svenska.
February 17, 2018
This books has many twists and turns. Everyone tells lies making it hard to find the truth. It is well written. A good read.
September 3, 2018
Not a bad book by any means. Does the job, has the classic twist at the end. Just not my cup of tea.
May 22, 2019
Was good, well written but for some reason just did not click with me.
October 10, 2019
Excellent, thoroughly enjoyed this read from start to finish. Having a successful business is not the main thing in life, peace of mind and sanity is above all
March 2, 2021
Interesting story, couldn’t quite guess the ending but got close which is the way I like it in a whodunit.
March 10, 2021
Decent book that i have just re-read after 15
Year gap. A good book , not quite as goot as her first Deceit. 7.5/10.
Year gap. A good book , not quite as goot as her first Deceit. 7.5/10.
February 19, 2017
Fabulous, compulsive and well written.
June 13, 2010
From the back of the book:
'For businessman Hugh Wellesley, the violent waking nightmare begins with the spares report in the morning newspaper. A woman's body recovered from the River Dart in Devon.....Should he admit that she had once been his lover?'
This at the same time as trying to arrange a management buyout of his family firm from the company who had taken it over. A confusing and stressful time for Hugh and his family with at least one twist in the story which is built up well and very readable.
I have found this the relaxing read I really needed at the moment
'For businessman Hugh Wellesley, the violent waking nightmare begins with the spares report in the morning newspaper. A woman's body recovered from the River Dart in Devon.....Should he admit that she had once been his lover?'
This at the same time as trying to arrange a management buyout of his family firm from the company who had taken it over. A confusing and stressful time for Hugh and his family with at least one twist in the story which is built up well and very readable.
I have found this the relaxing read I really needed at the moment
May 31, 2014
Whilst it is another good story and well told I do prefer when the author writes as a female main character. Also I think the editor failed this book. There were times when the reader knows what is happening in the plot but the main character remains oblivious for another chapter or so. I found this being out of sync with the main character slightly frustrating. Having said all that I still read every page and enjoyed the story.
March 14, 2009
I enjoyed this one of Clare Francis novels more than some of the others, it was the usual quality of writing - but the trouble i have with her novels is that I never like the people - I would hate to meet them! still, good fun without much effort needed. Hardly a challenge!
April 18, 2009
Pretty good contemporary mystery
August 5, 2010
Interesting that a woman wrote this story in the first person as a man. Well written with a twist at the end. Enjoyed this author and will look for more by her.
January 31, 2011
Decent book.
September 11, 2011
Quite suspenseful. Bit of a yarn.
May 28, 2013
Fun summer read!
July 31, 2013
Really enjoyed. Kept me reading till the end. A murder mystery with a good court case and an insight into business dealings and marital/family relationships.
October 8, 2013
I didn't like how was written & I couldn't figure out the betrayal aspect & found was no real plot to the book
January 12, 2015
Fast paced and packed with intrigue, this was a good read.
dnf
August 23, 2016Didn't care. Not even a little bit.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews