Author: Parks, Adele

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

Published on 28 August 2025 by HarperCollins Publishers (HQ) in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 448 pages
241 x 162 x 40 | 670g

'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

‘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

*****

Connie can’t wait to have all her daughters back home for the holidays. It’s not just the excitement of the girls being together under one roof; uni student Fran is bringing a new boyfriend to stay. The empty nest will once again be full of friends, family and young love.

Yet from the moment she sees Zac, Connie feels a deep unease. Zac reminds her of the worst mistake she has ever made: a man whose charm and good looks nearly destroyed her marriage. Then, Fran announces she’s pregnant.

Reeling from Fran’s news and terrified that her past might threaten her family’s future, Connie desperately tries to navigate a path forward. But there’s a much greater menace looming, because 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.

*****

‘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