It Could Have Been Her – Lisa Jewell

Published By: Century
Pages: 432
Released On: 02/07/2026

It was the night she almost died.

Jane Trevally, newly divorced and feeling a little lost, agrees to accompany a man she doesn’t know to his house in the darkest corner of Hampstead Heath. She’s offered a drink, goes in, and then – a scream and the sound of something falling upstairs – Jane senses she’s in a bad place. She runs.

Twenty five years later, Jane finds herself outside the same house, this time to return a small white dog who’s been found near her home in the country; a dog whose owner has just been reported missing.

A fleeting glimpse of a haunted looking woman through the window sends Jane on a mission to uncover the house’s secrets – secrets more terrifying than she could have ever imagined, especially when she realises it could have been her…

*****

Thanks to NetGalley and Century for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.

Any day with a new Lisa Jewell book is a good day. This is my 7th of her books and I will always immediately want to read her next one.

I read hundreds of thrillers a year, some better than others. But there can be a tendency for them to get a bit samey because really there’s only so many plots and twists available. But this had me hooked instantly. It felt fresh and original and exciting, but it also had the familiar aspects I’ve come to expect from Lisa’s books.

It’s mainly set in the present, but we get regular flashback chapters from 10 years ago. I wasn’t sure at first how they matched up with this story but they were so good it was almost like two stories in one and I was looking forward to seeing how they merged. She gives us all the clues and lays the ground work and then you have to piece it all together. And it wasn’t always easy to do but it was very enjoyable nonetheless.

I would say a good 75% of the characters are unlikeable. And that’s fine. It actually helps in this situation I think. It makes you question everyone and everything which adds to the tension.

There are also chapters now and again from the POV of mysterious and sometimes unknown characters which kept me on my toes. I had to keep my wits about me because I am terrible at remembering names.

What I love about Lisa’s books is that they’re very clever. They’re entertaining and thrilling yes, but they’ve got so much intelligence about them. All the characters, time periods, substories, and the emotions and thoughts of everyone, it’s all wormed so well together and it makes you think. It becomes more than just an entertaining way to spend a few hours.

Is the plot a little farfetched? In parts maybe, but again she has handled it so well that it all just feels right. You’re never overwhelmed but nor are you short-changed.

I’ll be honest and say her last book, Don’t Let Him In, whilst I enjoyed it, it wasn’t my favourite of hers (but we can’t all like all the books). But this one took me right back to her earlier works which were so masterful.

It’s not a short book but I read it in less than 24 hours it was so addictive.

All thrillers have difficult topics obviously. And there are some really unsavoury things in this plot. I won’t say what because it’ll spoil things but it does ask a lot and at times it’s really hard to swallow. But again, she has somehow handled it so well that whilst it’s disturbing, you never feel like you can’t continue.

I’m so glad I found her books and she will be a writer whom I always buy, regardless of what the book is actually about. It’s an instant buy.