2024 Authors' Club Best First Novel Award (nominee)
2023 Bloody Scotland Debut Prize (nominee)
2023 McIlvanney Prize (nominee)
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • She’s an outsider desperate to belong, but the cost of entry might be her deepest secret in this intoxicating debut about a clique of dangerously ambitious students, “perfect for fans of dark academia stories like The Secret History and If We Were Villains” (Cosmopolitan).
“One of the best suspense debuts I’ve read in years . . . Heather Darwent delivers one artful tease after another until you are completely lost in this labyrinth of clever women and obsessive friendship.”—Julia Heaberlin, bestselling author of We Are All the Same in the Dark
Edinburgh, Scotland: a moody city of labyrinthine alleyways, oppressive fog, and buried history; the ultimate destination for someone with something to hide. Perfect for Clare, then, who arrives utterly alone and yearning to reinvent herself. And what better place to conceal the secrets of her past than at the university in the heart of the fabled, cobblestoned Old Town?
When Clare meets Tabitha, a charismatic, beautiful, and intimidatingly rich girl from her art history class, she knows she’s destined to become friends with her and her exclusive circle: raffish Samuel, shrewd Ava, and pragmatic Imogen. Clare is immediately drawn into their libertine world of sophisticated dinner parties and summers in France. The new life she always envisioned for herself has seemingly begun.
Then Tabitha reveals a little project she’s been working on, one that she needs Clare’s help with. Even though it goes against everything Clare has tried to repent for. Even though their intimacy begins to darken into codependence. But as Clare starts to realize just what her friends are capable of, it’s already too late. Because they’ve taken the plunge. They’re so close to attaining everything they want. And there’s no going back.
Reimagining the classic themes of obsession and ambition with an original and sinister edge, The Things We Do to Our Friends is a seductive thriller about the toxic battle between those who have and those who covet—between the desire to truly belong and the danger of being truly known.
Genre: Mystery
“One of the best suspense debuts I’ve read in years . . . Heather Darwent delivers one artful tease after another until you are completely lost in this labyrinth of clever women and obsessive friendship.”—Julia Heaberlin, bestselling author of We Are All the Same in the Dark
Edinburgh, Scotland: a moody city of labyrinthine alleyways, oppressive fog, and buried history; the ultimate destination for someone with something to hide. Perfect for Clare, then, who arrives utterly alone and yearning to reinvent herself. And what better place to conceal the secrets of her past than at the university in the heart of the fabled, cobblestoned Old Town?
When Clare meets Tabitha, a charismatic, beautiful, and intimidatingly rich girl from her art history class, she knows she’s destined to become friends with her and her exclusive circle: raffish Samuel, shrewd Ava, and pragmatic Imogen. Clare is immediately drawn into their libertine world of sophisticated dinner parties and summers in France. The new life she always envisioned for herself has seemingly begun.
Then Tabitha reveals a little project she’s been working on, one that she needs Clare’s help with. Even though it goes against everything Clare has tried to repent for. Even though their intimacy begins to darken into codependence. But as Clare starts to realize just what her friends are capable of, it’s already too late. Because they’ve taken the plunge. They’re so close to attaining everything they want. And there’s no going back.
Reimagining the classic themes of obsession and ambition with an original and sinister edge, The Things We Do to Our Friends is a seductive thriller about the toxic battle between those who have and those who covet—between the desire to truly belong and the danger of being truly known.
Genre: Mystery
Praise for this book
"The Things We Do To Our Friends is such an immersive, surprising, impressive debut from Heather Darwent. Draw the curtains on the dark wet nights of January, put on a bit of Lana Del Rey or similar, and sink into the creepy-delicate-deliciousness of this novel." - Niamh Hargan
"One of the best suspense debuts I've read in years . . . Heather Darwent delivers one artful tease after another until you are completely lost in this labyrinth of clever women and obsessive friendship." - Julia Heaberlin
"What a book. Power, privilege and the most toxic of friendships. All set against the stunning backdrop of Edinburgh. Stunningly written. Thriller fans, run don't walk to get this when it comes out in January. It's a must read." - Carys Jones
"What a debut! Sinister, compelling, utterly spellbinding. I couldn't put it down!" - Vikki Patis
"A stunning debut. A deliciously dark story of toxic friendship that made me gasp." - Nikki Smith
"A heady, tense, intoxicating tale that lurches between the miseries of obsession and the thrills of revenge." - Elisabeth Thomas
"Compelling, twisty and surprising, with an intriguing and complex heroine." - Phoebe Wynne
"One of the best suspense debuts I've read in years . . . Heather Darwent delivers one artful tease after another until you are completely lost in this labyrinth of clever women and obsessive friendship." - Julia Heaberlin
"What a book. Power, privilege and the most toxic of friendships. All set against the stunning backdrop of Edinburgh. Stunningly written. Thriller fans, run don't walk to get this when it comes out in January. It's a must read." - Carys Jones
"What a debut! Sinister, compelling, utterly spellbinding. I couldn't put it down!" - Vikki Patis
"A stunning debut. A deliciously dark story of toxic friendship that made me gasp." - Nikki Smith
"A heady, tense, intoxicating tale that lurches between the miseries of obsession and the thrills of revenge." - Elisabeth Thomas
"Compelling, twisty and surprising, with an intriguing and complex heroine." - Phoebe Wynne
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