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A Simple Favour

The Gripping Thriller Behind the Sizzling Summer 2025 Film Hit Starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively, Another Simple Favour

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A Simple Favour

By: Darcey Bell
Narrated by: Andi Arndt, Matthew Waterson, Xe Sands
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About this listen

Now a major film starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively as a pair of mismatched best friends, each with something to hide . . .

'Packed with betrayal, secrets and plenty of twists and turns' - Telegraph

What happened to Emily?

When her best friend, Emily, asks Stephanie to pick up her son from school she agrees happily.

Their children are classmates and best friends. And five-year-olds love being together – just like she and Emily. As a widow and stay-at-home blogger mum living in suburban Connecticut, Stephanie was lonely until she met Emily, a glamorous and successful PR executive.

The trouble is that Emily doesn't come back. No matter what the police say, Stephanie knows that she would never leave her son. Terrified, she reaches out to her fellow mummy bloggers.

And she also reaches out to Emily's husband – just to offer her support.

What Stephanie hasn't shared are the secrets buried in a murky past.

For fans of Gone Girl and Big Little Lies, A Simple Favour by Darcey Bell ratchets up the tension in a taut, unsettling, and completely absorbing thriller that holds you in its grip until the final page.

 Amateur Sleuths Genre Fiction Mystery Psychological Suspense Thriller & Suspense Women Sleuths

Critic Reviews

Sly, satirical, subversive: a deliciously poisoned cupcake of a story
A psychological thriller that is as hip and relevant as it is gripping. . . . I couldn't stop reading about these two truly terrifying moms! (Plum Sykes, author of Bergdorf Blondes)
Riveting and brilliantly structured, A Simple Favor is an edge-of-your seat domestic thriller about a missing wife and mother that relies on a rotating cast of unreliable narrators to ingeniously examine the cost of competitive mom-friends, the toll of ordinary marital discontent and the fallacy of the picture-perfect, suburban family (Kimberly McCreight, author of international bestseller Reconstructing Amelia)
A compellingly creepy female protagonist who kept me guessing right up to the end
Darcey Bell tackles a nightmare scenario brilliantly in A Simple Favour
Fast-moving, readable and packed with betrayal, secrets and plenty of twists and turns
An intense, captivating, and astonishing thriller ending in an unforeseen and surprise ending; the premise: Be careful who you trust
Bell’s edgy first novel is chock-full of dirty little secrets, lies, and manipulations. Gone Girl devotees should reserve an advance copy and carve out uninterrupted time for this juicy read
Debut-novelist Bell ramps up suspense with authority in this domestic thriller, in which actions seem as inevitable as they are chilling. The audience that made Gone Girl a publishing sensation is likely to take to this one, too
All stars
Most relevant
I often read stories in Narrator style (third person) but this was told in first person from three people’s perspectives. I was sad for Stephanie and hoped that we’d get closure for the characters but we didn’t. Lots of twists to keep you listening.

Interesting storyline

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full of suspense. surprising twists. a bit of a strange ending... maybe a sequel coming

better than the movie

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The two ladies performed wonderfully but I f ound the male actor's voice annoying. The characters are terrible people going terrible things and for the most part I enjoyed the book.

Bad things happen to bad people

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started great. really drew me in. but found the ending neither here nor there. bit of a let down. I did enjoy it for the most part. was a shame that the end kind of fizzled out...

wouldn't listen again. but will see the movie!

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Loved the storyline, characters and where it was going. I really thought there was a big climax coming at the end but apparently not.

Bit of a let down

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