It’s the 1980s in a small Welsh village and Debbie is in trouble again. In her mind all she is doing is telling the truth as she records it in her kajagoogoo notebook, but to the rest of the village she is just a trouble maker. This time she is in so much trouble that all she can do is run away. However that leads her to be the sole witness to a murder, but no one is going to believe her. As she tries to do the right thing, the secrets of the village threaten to spill out and people will do whatever it takes to keep them hidden. Even murder…

Tell Tale was a fabulously quirky novel that I really enjoyed. It was a dark yet funny story of village life, albeit a village with a potential serial killer in the middle of it. Think Agatha Raisen meets Ava (Deadly Animals) and you are not far off. 

I loved the setting of village life, set against the back drop of the miners strike. Two villages at each others throats as the harsh realities of the strikes takes their hold and the split between rich and poor becomes even more pronounced.

There was a big cast in this book which did take a bit of getting used to. Yet I quickly sorted them out and they were a brilliant madcap range of characters. The young Debbie was a great protagonist. Her depictions of what she saw were sharp for her age, yet held a childish naivety that added to the sense of mystery within it. There were parts of her that seemed quite manipulative and unlikeable, yet there was an sense of sadness and neglect around her that meant you really wanted her to come out top. 

Debbie didn’t have many friends her own age. Instead she chose to befriend Barbara, a retired librarian with a sex mad dog, and Rob a local barman still navigating the death of his mother with a mute parrot. Not the most usual friends for a young girl but this just adds to the interest with the story. Despite the quite dark focus, I really enjoyed the comedy within the book. It was a fast paced novel and the interactions between the villagers were sharp and witty. They all bounced off each other and gave a real sense of village life.

Tell Tale is the second novel from Claire Parkin, her debut The Final Hours of Muriel Hinchcliffe MBE was one of my favourite books of 2024, and Tell Tale definitely didn’t disapppoint. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for my copy.