About the Author

Samantha Downing was born in the Bay Area, and currently lives in New Orleans. Her debut novel, My Lovely Wife, was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick and a Sunday Times bestseller, and has been published in thirty languages. It won a Dead Good Reader Award, and was shortlisted for four other major awards- The CWA John Creasey Dagger, The Edgar Award for Best First Novel, The ITW Thriller Award for Best First Novel and The Macavity Award for Best First Mystery. Amazon Studios and Nicole Kidman's Blossom Films have partnered to produce a feature film based on the novel.

Her second novel, He Started It, was also a Sunday Times bestseller and her third novel, For Your Own Good, will soon be adapted for HBO Max by Robert Downey Jr. and Greg Berlanti.

Reviews

Samantha Downing is totally the real deal. Wry and dark and witty and clever. I didn't think she could outdo My Lovely Wife but I think this one tops it.
*Sarah Pinborough*

An irresistibly dark tale of parents, pupils and poison: the American dream turned suburban nightmare
*TM Logan, author of Trust Me and The Holiday*

Dark, sly and delicious...totally original - and totally compelling
*JP Delaney*

Wonderfully dark and twisty. I raced through it, desperate to know how it would end
*BA Paris*

Fans of Gone Girl and Big Little Lies will love this fast-paced thriller
*Sunday Express*

I raced through this, and loved every twist and turn. Brilliant characterisation and ingenious plotting make it an absolute winner.
*Jill Mansell*

I have loved all of the books by Samantha Downing, and this classroom thriller deserves an A+. Original, dark and highly addictive
*Alice Feeney*

A brilliant psychological black comedy with a really fresh feel, packed with sly observation and outrageous twists. But creepy Crutcher is the standout character who is truly awful and equally compelling
*Daily Mail*

I'm a huge fan of Samantha Downing, who is masterful at creating diabolical characters and deliciously chilling plots. An absolutely terrific book!
*Sarah Pekkanen*

Samantha Downing has achieved something so special in For Your Own Good. A story that is dark as night, sinister as hell, clever, twisting and downright fun
*Chris Whitaker*

Samantha Downing serves up another cast of deliciously mendacious characters in an exclusive private school setting, where the deadly action drives a brilliantly tense, taut and twisty plot. I may never look at my coffee in the same way again
*Gilly Macmillan*

Entertaining as hell, with trademark Downing twistedness. I loved it.
*Sam Lloyd, bestselling author of The Memory Wood*

A slick and chilling thriller, leading readers on a dark, sinuous journey through the halls of Belmont Academy-the type of place where you're never sure who to trust, or who to fear.
*Megan Miranda*

Dark, twisty, fun, and so original
*Alafair Burke*

Twistier than a corkscrew and utterly original, For Your Own Good hooked me from the first page with its dark humour and no-let-up suspense
*Victoria Selman*

Wow! Samantha Downing has done it again. For Your Own Good is utterly compelling, deliciously dark, and with perfect pacing that will have you racing to find out how it ends. I absolutely loved it
*Sarah Bonner*

A deliciously dark, fast-paced delight of a novel with a maybe-maybe-not villain you'll secretly be rooting for. Highly recommended
*A.J. Park*

A dark and twisty plot you'll race to finish
*Yours Magazine*

A brilliant psychological thriller
*Bella*

Downing's spare prose packs a wallop as she deftly ratchets up the suspense with every hairpin turn of this lean, mean, surprising, and utterly propulsive thriller
*Lisa Unger*

So dark and twisted, so deliciously evil, it'll not only make you frantically turn those pages to find out who's targeting whom, but the wry sense of humor will have you laughing out loud, too. Another phenomenal wild-ride of a read from one of the crime-writing community's most talent authors. Bet you'll never look at high school the same way again
*Hannah Mary McKinnon*

For Your Own Good is a fresh take on the elite school thriller and the perfect page turner
*Laure Van Rensburg*

Witty and macabre with a psycho teacher who is so real to me
*Caroline Kepnes*

Well-orchestrated
*Sunday Times*

Praise for Samantha Downing
*-*

We're calling it: My Lovely Wife is the most gripping psychological thriller of 2019... this book will keep you reading late into the night
*Stylist*

One of my favourite thrillers of the year - I couldn't stop reading but didn't want it to end. Dark, chilling and compelling
*TM Logan, bestselling author of The Holiday*

Wow! My Lovely Wife is a stunner - full of twists, well-drawn characters, and riveting suspense
*Harlan Coben*

One of the best thrillers I've ever read
*Judy Finnigan*

So beautifully and elegantly written . . . A great twist - I loved it
*Sophie Hannah*