Today I’m delighted to revisit my Five on Friday interview with Harriet Tyce which was first posted in Feb 2019. Harriet writes addictive, compelling thrillers and this feature has been brought up to date to include her latest books.

Harriet was born and grew up in Edinburgh. She graduated in 1994 with a degree in English Literature before working as a criminal barrister for nearly a decade.

Having escaped law and early motherhood, she started writing, and completed the MA in Creative Writing – Crime Fiction at the University of East Anglia. She has written three novels to date, the Sunday Times bestsellers Blood Orange and The Lies You Told. It Ends At Midnight was published in April 2022 to critical acclaim.

Harriet lives in north London with her husband and children, and two very nice dogs.

Over to Harriet:

Which five pieces of music/songs would you include in the soundtrack to your life and why?

Summer Nights from Grease – my brother and I were obsessed with this song when we were little.

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Just Like Heaven by The Cure – takes me back immediately to being 14 and going through all the ups and downs of being a teenager.

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Lost Weekend by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions – drinking my way through my early twenties. There were some lost weekends.

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Can’t Take My Eyes Off You by Frankie Valli – our wedding song to which we danced incredibly badly.

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Bohemian Like You by The Dandy Warhols – when my son was little he was obsessed with the film Flushed Away, and this song from its soundtrack became his favourite. I could practically sing it backwards even now…

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What five things (apart from family and friends) would you find it hard to live without.

Coffee

Cheese

Twitter

Internet delivery services

Sleep

Give five pieces of advice to your younger self?

Don’t attempt a Princess Diana haircut – it’ll look terrible.

Get up earlier.

You don’t always have to finish the bottle.

Just because he looks like Robert Redford does not make him a good thing.

You don’t have to be the last to leave the party.

Tell us five things that most people don’t know about you

I’ve trained as a chef.

I don’t like crowds.

I cry at adverts.

I’m allergic to cats although I love them.

I can play the flute and the piano at Grade 8 standard.

Tell us five things you’d still like to do or achieve.

See the Northern Lights.

Dive with manta rays in the Pacific Ocean.

See the cherry blossom and autumn leaves in Japan.

Follow the course of Odysseus across the Greek islands.

Eat cheese fondue in the Alps.

Harriet’s Books

(NB This post features Affiliate links from which I earn a small commission on qualifying purchases)

It Ends at Midnight

It’s New Year’s Eve and the stage is set for a lavish party in one of Edinburgh’s best postcodes. It’s a moment for old friends to set the past to rights – and move on.

The night sky is alive with fireworks and the champagne is flowing. But the celebration fails to materialise.

Because someone at this party is going to die tonight.

Midnight approaches and the countdown begins – but it seems one of the guests doesn’t want a resolution.

They want revenge.

The Lies You Told

Sadie loves her daughter and will do anything to keep her safe.

She can’t tell her why they had to leave home so quickly – or why Robin’s father won’t be coming with them to London.

She can’t tell her why she hates being back in her dead mother’s house, with its ivy-covered walls and its poisonous memories.

And she can’t tell her the truth about the school Robin’s set to start at – a school that doesn’t welcome newcomers.

Sadie just wants to get their lives back on track.

But even lies with the best intentions can have deadly consequences…

Blood Orange

Alison has it all. A doting husband, adorable daughter, and a career on the rise – she’s just been given her first murder case to defend. But all is never as it seems…

Just one more night. Then I’ll end it.

Alison drinks too much. She’s neglecting her family. And she’s having an affair with a colleague whose taste for pushing boundaries may be more than she can handle.

I did it. I killed him. I should be locked up.

Alison’s client doesn’t deny that she stabbed her husband – she wants to plead guilty. And yet something about her story is deeply amiss. Saving this woman may be the first step to Alison saving herself.

I’m watching you. I know what you’re doing.

But someone knows Alison’s secrets. Someone who wants to make her pay for what she’s done, and who won’t stop until she’s lost everything….