Publication Date: March 30, 2026
Six friends. One storm. A secret to die for…
We arrived at the beautiful, sprawling Spanish villa ready to celebrate – over twenty years of friendship, and of course, Alexis’s big birthday. It’s paradise. Alexis has pulled out all the stops, and like always, I know we’re meant to be grateful…
But the tensions begin on the very first night.
The workaholic slipping off to take mysterious calls. The people pleaser afraid to speak out. The quiet observer snidely analysing every move we make. The former life of the party knocking back wine to forget it all. Even I, the peacekeeper, have secrets…
And of course, Alexis, the Queen Bee – furious that, as a summer storm descends, her perfect trip isn’t working out like she planned… Her fury makes it feel like she’s hiding something. Like her schemes are unravelling…
I thought our secrets finally emerging might be the biggest threat on this trip. But on the last night, I wake up on the cold floor of the locked wine cellar, a knife clutched in my hand and Alexis’s body unmoving beside me.
I want to scream, to cry, to run, but with the floodwater rising, we’re trapped. My friends all think I killed her. But I know I didn’t, which means someone else here did…
An addictive, deliciously juicy and twisty psychological thriller that will have you turning the pages late into the night. Perfect for fans of The Wives, The Holiday and One of the Girls.
Six friends head to a gorgeous villa in Spain for a birthday celebration, only to face a dreadful tragedy when one is found murdered.
Trapped by the storm of a lifetime and cut off from help, the remaining friends question each other’s motives. Author Barbara Copperthwaite delivers a thriller focused on a “whodunit” mystery in Just Between Us.
While the women have been friends for almost three decades, their relationships are full of secrets and deception. The author offers plausible motives for each friend as the level of suspicion increases.
The natural conclusion is that if two people are found in a room locked from the inside and one of them is dead, then the person still alive must be the suspect. However, what if there are other factors in play?
Told through various perspectives, the story provides background information for each person, along with revealing long-hidden secrets that will change everything.
Just Between Us slices through the intricately woven bonds of friendship during a luxury getaway.
Barbara Copperthwaite is an international bestselling author. She has hit the number one spot on both Amazon and Kobo and she is also a USA Today bestseller. Her writing career started in journalism. For over twenty years Barbara worked for national magazines and newspapers, talking to the real victims of crime – and also to those who carried out crimes. Her fiction reflects this: she creates realistic, complex characters and explores the emotional impact of difficult situations. She is currently writing her seventh psychological thriller for Bookouture. When not writing feverishly at her home in Birmingham, UK, Barbara loves walking her two dogs, Scamp and Buddy, or taking wildlife photographs, which she then uses as inspiration for drawings.
