Skin Deep by Liz Nugent (2018)

Publisher's Information

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

'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

REVIEW       

An absolute cracker of a book. 

This is definitely my favourite of Liz Nugent's books. After reading Lying in Wait I was a little worried that her books were too dark for me but I was blown away by how much I enjoyed Skin Deep.

Cordelia/Delia is a unique, crazy and sometimes evil character but I liked her nonetheless.....I don't know if that makes me crazy too or maybe Liz Nugent is just a literary genius who can inspire sympathy and empathy for a truly awful, train wreck of a person/character. At times I felt like giving Cordelia a good kick whilst simultaneously hoping and wishing my hardest that she wouldn't ruin the next bit of good luck to come her way. 

There is a great range of side characters, some of whom were as equally crazy as Cordelia but maybe just not quite as destructive. I did feel sorry for Harry but by the end of the book I was more disappointed in how weak he proved to be. I was equally surprised at Peter and how emotionally strong and loving he was. I liked him a lot.

This was a brilliant, brilliant book. One I'll be raving about to all and sundry for a long to come.

Skin Deep is out now in all good book shops. 

You can also buy online at Kennys.ie with FREE world wide delivery.

Also available on Amazon