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Louise Mangos
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Five Fatal Flaws: A Psychological Whodunnit with a #MeToo Thread (International Psychological Suspense) Kindle Edition

by Louise Mangos (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 out of 5 stars 40 ratings

A missing baby. A dead politician. Five suspects

When psychotherapist Trudy’s baby disappears one afternoon, the individual motives of four members of her post-trauma therapy group are gradually revealed. But when the police begin investigating baby Benny’s disappearance, the seemingly unrelated death of a town councillor brings each member of the group under firm suspicion, along with Trudy herself.

Five Fatal Flaws is a whodunnit psychological suspense with a #MeToo thread, for fans of Liane Moriarty and Lucy Foley.

Shortlisted for the Page Turner awards

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  1. Part of series
    International Psychological Suspense
  2. Print length
    337 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publication date
    July 23, 2024
  5. File size
    3.0 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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From the Publisher

a self-help group for post-trauma therapy

A missing baby

A dead councilman

Five suspects

A psychological whodunnit

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Meticulously plotted, neatly woven, clever and suspenseful. The pages of this whodunnit practically turn themselves."
- Diane Jeffrey, USA Today bestselling author of The Guilty Mother

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0D54J13WF
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mana Publishing
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 23, 2024
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3.0 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 337 pages
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Part of series ‏ : ‎ International Psychological Suspense
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 out of 5 stars 40 ratings

About the author

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Louise Mangos

Louise Mangos

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Louise Mangos grew up in the UK but has spent more than half her life in Switzerland. Her debut psychological thriller "Strangers on a Bridge" was a finalist in the Exeter Novel Prize and long listed for the Bath Novel Award. The psychological thriller "The Beaten Track" and her historical mystery "The Secrets of Morgarten" were both finalists in the Page Turner Awards, while her latest novel, the psychological whodunnit "Five Fatal Flaws" reached the shortlist. She also writes short stories and flash fiction which have won prizes and been published in various anthologies. She holds an MA in crime writing at UEA. Louise lives on an Alp with her Kiwi husband and two sons, and when she's not writing you can find her on the cross-country ski trails or wild swimming in the lake, depending on the season.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
40 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • fornat
    5.0 out of 5 stars Psychological thriller that will keep you guessing!
    Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2024
    Another exciting page turner by Louise Mangos. Excellent character and plot development. Loved it!
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Jacob Collins
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Fatal Flaws kept me on the edge of my seat!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 31, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Louise Mangos definitely knows how to write a pacy, gripping read, and I raced through her latest book, Five Fatal Flaws. We meet Trudy, a new mother, who is caring for her baby son, Benny, when she unintentionally falls asleep in the garden, while she is supposed to be watching him. When Trudy wakes up, she discovers that her son has disappeared, and Trudy is plunged into a horrific nightmare. But who could’ve taken her son and for what purpose? Could this have anything to do with the secrets Trudy is hiding?

    I could really feel the anguish and pain Trudy was going through when she realised her son wasn’t in the house. She is frustrated when the police don’t, to her, seem to be making enough progress, and I could feel her fear, when it is first suggested that something more sinister might’ve happened to Benny. And soon Trudy finds herself under suspicion. It is clear to see, that although her husband is supportive, deep down, he blames her for Benny going missing, and this is soul destroying for Trudy.

    As we get to know Trudy, and as Louise Mangos takes us back in time, to the weeks and months before Benny’s disappearance, we learn that Trudy is a group therapist. I found this part of the story really intriguing. In these scenes we meet a group of people who all have interesting backgrounds, and as we get to know them, it made me wonder if any of them were responsible for Benny going missing, and what reason they would have to do this.

    Louise Mangos has done a brilliant job of creating a complex mystery and I really had no idea what was really going on. Louise creates some very real, mysterious characters, and we begin to see their personalities come to life during the therapist scenes. They all have their own unique voice and I liked how Louise flicked between them in different chapters. I thought that the added intrigue of what happened to the local councillor, who dies in a house fire, was also done really well, and ups the tension as we get to know the characters. Louise Mangos weaves this expertly into the plot and it kept me on the edge of my seat.

    The final reveals, when they came, were definitely not what I expected, and Louise Mangos wrapped everything up in a satisfying way. Five Fatal Flaws is an excellent psychological thriller and I really enjoyed it.
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  • Linda
    5.0 out of 5 stars A cleverly constructed page turner
    Reviewed in Germany on July 30, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Rachel, Olive, Alain and Daniel. Four damaged people start group therapy with exhausted psychologist Trudy, whose colicky baby son is causing her many sleepless nights and soul-searching about her ability and also her wish to be a mother. Husband Harry is supportive, but it’s complicated… The group sessions are part of a research project, and Trudy values them not only as respite from the demands of motherhood, but also as a chance to reconnect with her four ex-patients and help them further in their journey to better mental health.
    Then baby Benny is taken from the garden, and Trudy descends into a swirl of grief, guilt and uncertainty. Surely her patients have nothing to do with the abduction? As information trickles out, Trudy and Harry come under as much scrutiny as the four patients.
    Chapters switch between past and present, telling the stories of the four and also Trudy’s handling of the group sessions. When the local councilman who is also funder of Trudy’s project dies in a house fire, shock waves ripple through the community, and Trudy is horrified to realise that someone in her group of four may be more involved than it seems.
    Five Fatal Flaws is beautifully written and fully deserves five stars.
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  • JenMedBookLover
    4.0 out of 5 stars A twisted tale that has be completely gripped
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 14, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Well this is quite an addictive and thrilling read. From the very beginning of the book Louise Mangos had me drawn into the story, not just because of the tension and shock factor relating to the disappearance of little Benny, but because she has done such a great job of creating a pool of suspicion around around so many of her characters, not least of which is Benny’s mother, Trudy.

    Now the story may seem a touch familiar – mother falls asleep for just a few moments and wakes to find her child missing – and, to a degree, it is. But what adds a new layer of mystery to this story is that Trudy is a therapist, working with a group of individuals who are all experiencing their own elements of loss and trauma. To that end, Trudy could easily be one of their number, struggling as she had been since the birth of Benny. There is perhaps little surprise that she becomes one of the initial suspects in her son’s disappearance, although that is not something I personally found easy to accept or believe, no matter how sleep deprived Trudy may have been. It’s just not the vibe I got from her. Could be that was a deliberate double bluff by the author though, and it was one of the reasons I was so sucked into the story, to find out if I might be wrong.

    With such a variety of characters forming part of Trudy’s special post therapy group sessions, the author has given us plenty of reason to suspect one of them for being the cause of Benny’s disappearance. Louise Mangos takes her time in establishing their personal challenges, and what potential motives they may have for taking such drastic and devastating action. From a victim of sexual assault, another in an abusive relationship, to the grief stricken, and someone who may be just a touch too keen on fire, it is a strange group that we are to spend our time with. I found each of them fascinating in their own right, and the book explores their very different feelings of shame, guilt, anger and indifference when it comes to articulating the scenes from their past that brought them into Trudy’s life in the first place. Louise Mangos has done a fantastic job in bringing them to life, giving them all an air of authenticity as she exposes their motivation and their multi-layered lives.

    This is a deceptively pacy book, built upon the differing perspectives of the five people in the group. In amongst the narrative, told in both the present day, in the patients all too tragic pasts, and in the weeks leading up to Benny’s disappearance when the trauma group first start meeting, we have moments from the point of view of the person who took Benny. Just enough, it happens, to reassure that there is no harm meant to the baby, and plenty to misdirect and have our attention focused on each of the characters in turn. These scenes are written especially well, making sure that we are unable to tell the identity, or even the gender, of the perpetrator. If you pay close attention to some of the sessions and the discussion that takes place during and after, you may get some clues as to which of the people might be guilty. Then again, each one of them has a clear reason for taking Benny too, so it’s not as clear cut as you might believe.

    And in amongst the worry and tension created by Benny’s disappearance, Trudy is faced with the very real prospect that one of her trauma group may well be a murderer. She knows the victim, not personally, but through an unexpected windfall and a shock confession during a group session. But does that make one of the group a potential suspect, or all of them? The author has built up a fragile and uneasy camaraderie between certain characters, with a hint of obsession in some quarters, that had me wondering if any one of them might be motivated to take revenge on another’s behalf.

    For some embarrassing reason, this is the first full length book I have read by the author, but it won’t be the last (have another later this month in fact). If you enjoy a good mystery, with plenty of well fleshed out, very damaged characters who you can simultaneously empathise with and suspect, with an undercurrent of tension and emotion, then I’d definitely recommend this book.
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  • Dee Groocock
    5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing psychological thriller.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 10, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Trudy is a psychotherapist and runs a post trauma group. She has funding for a paper and has four past patients in the group.

    Trudy has a young baby called Benny, and she’s been finding it hard to cope with him lately. When Trudy falls asleep in the garden and wakes up to find Benny missing from his pram, her world turns upside down.

    With the police looking for him, and Trudy having to do a TV appeal, she’s worried that the police think she’s done something to him.

    As the police start to question her about those in her group, Trudy quickly realises that any one of them could have taken him.

    With a local town councillor found dead around the same time as investigating Benny’s disappearance, the police soon realise there is more to the group than they thought.

    My goodness, what a page turner this story is! I hated having to put the book down, I just wanted to learn more.

    The author weaves a difficult and at times, emotional tale by taking us back in time so we understand why the people involved were in therapy, what happened that affected them so much.

    It is a hard story to read, due to the damage each person has from the events in their lives. Each character is written with care and depth, they are all unique.

    I would highly recommend this psychological thriller.
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  • C Knight
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 19, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    I’ve come up for breath – Five Fatal Flaws is a ride, it’s not the “blink and it’s over” Nemesis kind of a ride, it’s a breathtaking, heart wrenching stop and think kind of a ride. One that makes me look one way and then drags my attention an entirely different way before sending me a third direction.

    Trudy’s little boy has disappeared from right next to her. There is no crime in a mum having a snooze next to her sleeping baby. God forbid, I’d have been convicted several times if it had been!! But as the media does, the finger is pointed. My heart broke for Trudy at that point – being a new mum is seriously tiring!

    As the book started to introduce me to the remaining lineup of characters aka the therapy crew, I tried to pick out who would have taken this sweet adolescent. Yes my mind suspected certain individuals but eventually I settled on one perpetrator. Was I right or had I taken the suspect breadcrumbs Mangos had intended me to follow? Only I know!

    I was intrigued by the back / side stories of the therapy group. Without wanting to spoil it, their baggage and group added to the unsettling feeling I got from the whole group. Who could I trust?

    Five Fatal Flaws took me on a journey of five voices that interwove together and took my attention in so many directions. I wasn’t confused and baffled for a while suspecting everyone. Brilliant subterfuge from Mangos to create my mistrust in my quintet. This read spans several different sub-genres of the crime fiction spectrum – the domestic noir feel of the family environment, the police procedural of the hunt for Benny and then the psychological thriller aspect with the mistrust of my narrators – an accomplished crime thriller! Bravo Louise 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Loved it!!
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