Published by Penguin

Publication date – 10 January 2019

Source – review copy

Best friends Holly and Roz tell each other everything.

So when Holly gets a shot at her dream job after putting everything on hold to raise her daughter, she assumes Roz will be waiting to pop the champagne.

But is she just imagining things or is Roz not quite as happy as she should be?

And now she thinks about it, a few things don’t quite add up…

Perhaps it was a mistake to tell Roz all her secrets.

Because it takes two to tango.

But only one to start a war…

Holly has just been promoted. Everyone is thrilled, especially her best work friend Roz. Then things start to happen at work. One offs that add up to more than just accidents. And then it turns out Roz may not be as happy as she appears…

This is the first book by Jane Fallon I’ve read, and a throughly entertaining one I found it to be.

I loved Holly and found myself identifying with her (in the rather be at home in my pyjamas way rather than the someone at work is out to get me way, thankfully). She is a kind person, perhaps unwittingly led astray and it is her belief in everyone that partly gets her into the situation at work.

Set in an office, this one where people work on a day time TV show, shows a type of microcosm for life. There are always a mix of people, from the gregarious to the shy and retiring. As such, this means it is ripe as a setting for a tale of revenge and misadventures.

Roz is a tad sociopathic. Not enough to go full on killer, but just the right amount to mean trouble for anyone who gets in her way. She manages to attract attention by her outlandish tales of celebrity dining and flash holidays without anyone realising they were really being kept at a distance.

I loved Dee and Gavin. Dee especially is funny, endearingly bossy and madcap, especially in her tall tales and plans to out Holly’s nemesis. Holly’s other colleagues, especially Emma and Juliet are great characters, as are the actors who play the fictional families in the soap Holly works on. Patricia in particular conjures up images of the hard as nails matriarch.

There are many funny moments in the story, as Holly figures out a way to expose what is really happening, from filming the cat to a stake out. I often found myself laughing out loud at Holly, or more likely Dee’s latest escapade or fool-proof plan.

Whilst there are many moments of humour in the book it does also make the reader reflect. We think that we will leave behind bullies and not fitting in behind in the playground but the work environment can be just as bad, perhaps even more so. There is covert bullying, which Holly’s eyes are opened to. She went along with Roz’s attitude towards Juliet without even realising that she hadn’t given Juliet a chance herself. Holly took many things on face value and suddenly she is aware that perhaps the work life she has built isn’t exactly as it seemed.

An entertaining, funny, read. I look forward to reading more of Jane Fallon’s books in the future.

About the author

Jane Fallon is the multi-award-winning television producer behind shows such as This Life, Teachers and 20 Things to Do Before You’re 30. Her Sunday Times bestselling books are Getting Rid of Matthew, Got You Back, Foursome, The Ugly Sister, Skeletons, Strictly Between Us, My Sweet Revenge and Faking Friends. They have sold over a million copies in the UK alone.