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Our Beautiful Mess

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Our Beautiful Mess

By: Adele Parks
Narrated by: Kristin Atherton, Gary Turner
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About this listen

'Adele Parks consistently writes banger after banger, and Our Beautiful Mess might just be her best yet. Addictive and brilliant’ Lisa Jewell

'Had me gripped from beginning to end. Masterfully written with gut-punching twists and brimming with tension this is Adele Parks’ best book yet. Absolutely outstanding’ Claire Douglas

*****

Connie is determined to bring her family together, but explosive revelations and long-held secrets are set to destroy everything important in her world …

Connie can’t wait to have her daughters back home for the holidays. Fran is bringing a new boyfriend to stay, and the empty nest will once again be full of friends, family and young love.

Yet from the moment she sees Zac, Connie knows trouble is coming. Zac reminds her of the worst mistake she has ever made: a man whose charm and good looks nearly destroyed her marriage. She doesn’t want him in Fran’s world, but then Fran announces she’s pregnant.

Connie is terrified that her past is going to threaten her family’s future, but there’s a greater menace looming. She’s not the only one who has something to hide. Someone in the house has another devastating secret. A deception which will put everyone Connie loves in shocking danger, and one of them will pay the ultimate price.

Number One bestseller Adele Parks returns with an explosive and deeply emotional family drama which explores the lengths a parent will go to protect a child; for there’s nothing stronger than a woman whose family is under threat.

*****

‘Adele Parks has done it again. Grabbed me from page one and kept me there on the edge of my seat. Superb writing as ever. She simply gets better and better and better. You have to read this book!’ Ruth Jones

An Observer Thriller of the Month ‘A great read’

'A barnstorming novel' The Times

‘My favourite Adele Parks novel yet! So brilliant, so compelling, so tense! The suspense builds and builds until the breathless conclusion. Utterly thrilling from start to finish Lucy Clarke

‘Our Beautiful Mess leaps straight to the top of my Adele Parks rankings – wise, intelligent, compassionate, with a masterful pulse of menace throughout. Utterly immersive’ Louise Candlish

‘Breathe while you can. Adele Parks is back with a heart-in-mouth thriller that will have you frantically turning the pages’ C L Taylor

‘An addictive tale of family dynamics with layers of tension that grip relentlessly. A superbly crafted, thrilling ride’ K L Slater

‘No-one does ‘family noir’ quite like Adele Parks and Our Beautiful Mess is an absolute masterclass – as one terrible mistake leaves a woman’s perfect life hanging by a thread’ T. M. Logan

'Our Beautiful Mess grabs you from page one and keeps you glued to the edge of your seat until the final sentence. Deliciously dark and addictive' Crime Monthly

'This well-plotted explosive family drama, with superb characterisation, is layered with tension and its pulse-raising dilemmas will have you on the edge of your seat' Sunday Times

©2025 Adele Parks (P)2025 HarperCollins Publishers
Domestic Thrillers Family Life Genre Fiction Psychological Suspense Thriller & Suspense Women's Fiction Exciting

Critic reviews

Praise for Our Beautiful Mess

‘This is Adele’s most epic book yet. Such a thrilling and emotional read' Georgina Moore

‘Brilliantly observed, action packed, intriguing mystery where small mistakes turn into life threatening situations on the flip of a coin’ Liz Nugent

'Few writers leave us stunned by the brightest twists and darkest turns of life quite like Adele Parks. Through the shocks of this tale runs, as ever, a rich seam of human frailty and love. Irresistible' Rachel Edwards

‘Thrillingly tense and kept me guessing…addictive, beautifully written family drama’ Carmel Harrington

‘This book has it all: an engrossing and emotional plot and characters you truly believe exist beyond its pages. Unforgettable’ Gillian McAllister

'A wild ride with a huge heart. Nobody combines domestic dilemmas with edge-of-your-seat plotting like Adele Parks' Abigail Dean

‘Thrilling, riveting and engrossing’ Milly Johnson

‘A wickedly twisty story about dangerous family secrets and lies. A fire-cracker.’ Louise Minchin

‘A truly brilliant and shocking family drama, tense, explosive and tender. I think this might be Adele’s best yet’ Elly Griffiths

‘25 years of this and Adele is still as brilliant, skilled and warm as ever. Her work has inspired me so much – as a young woman trying to make sense of the world, a woman trying to escape it and then one who wants to celebrate life and all of its complexities’ Giovanna Fletcher

'Parks’ 25th book in as many years reminds us why she is the reigning queen of domestic suspense’ iPaper

All stars
Most relevant
I usually really enjoy an Adele Parks book, however, due to the dreadful narration I am struggling to finish the book.
The narration by Kristin Atherton is fine when she is reading the voices of a female but she then does a horrendous male voice and it is just dreadful. The same with the male narrator. He is fine when doing the male voice narration but then does a dreadful female voice.
The story was "OK". A lot going on but nothing to get my attention.

Sorry Adele but this is a no from me.

Maybe the book is better rather than audio.

Hard to listen to .... bad narration

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I have read all the other books and loved them. I had not grasped the connections to the other books until I heard the writer at the end. I struggled to connect with the characters or like any of them except John as he seemed the most honest. Connie and Fran were so irritating to me and it did not feel a good relationship despite what they were saying. The ending all seemed too convenient.
I hope the book does well as I love this author and the original story of Connie’s affair was so alive.

Sorry this did not do it for me

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loved the story. loved the individual characters and how they blended. I wavered a few of Adele Parks books but found it very interesting when at the end she explained the characters and how they came about. I dont like reading series as I find them too "samey" and was enlightened by how Adele had been conscious of not doing a series but revisited characters from previous books which it didn't matter if the reader hadn't read any previous books with the earlier characters in them. that was my first encounter with these characters and i didn't feel the need to look for earlier books with these characters and what brought them to this point in their lives. well written and well read. highly recommend.

Excellent!

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Adele manages to captivate me on every read. Our beautiful Mess did not disappoint,thoroughly a wonderful read.

stunning 😍

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everything. Amazing story line and characters - I am now looking for another of Adele's

could not stop listening

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