Publication Date: June 9, 2026
A compelling novel about power, money and lies from the author of Anatomy of a Scandal.
All families have secrets. But it’s the lies that can kill.
A lavish seventieth birthday party. A body found on a storm-lashed beach. And a secret that someone is dying to tell. . . .
Famed children’s author Dame Eleanor Kingman has summoned her family and friends to her exquisite manor house on the cliffs. They’re celebrating her birthday—and her latest number one bestseller in her series of books based on a mother fox and her cubs.
But the night before the party, Eleanor receives an email that threatens to expose the lie she’s kept up for over half a century.
Someone knows her secret. Is it her estranged literary agent? Is it her ex-husband, to whom she no longer speaks? Is it the nanny she fired all those years ago, who always did have a knack for storytelling? Or is it one of her three daughters, all of whom have a stake in the publishing empire she has built…
With a television crew arriving to film a documentary of her life, Eleanor needs to find out who sent the email—and preserve her legacy and multimillion-pound career.
But when push comes to shove, and it’s time to tell the truth will anyone actually believe her?
Dame Eleanor Kingman, celebrated children’s author, plans a lavish party for her 70th birthday with a hidden motive to unveil her stalker.
Author Sarah Vaughan serves up a multi-layered psychological thriller in Based on a True Story. As a character, Eleanor proves to be quite secretive. While there are clues dropped along the way regarding secrets from her past, each message she receives from the stalker unravels another layer.
Adding to the drama is the relationship between Eleanor’s adult daughters. The two older girls remember life before Eleanor’s writing took off, well before the multiple properties and trappings of wealth. The youngest, however, knows only fame and fortune, as evidenced by her choice of career as a social media influencer.
Mix in a series of interviews for a BBC retrospective featuring interviews with those who know her, and the likelihood is high that something negative will emerge.
By the time the party ends, someone will be dead. Will it be one of the guests, or did the stalker succeed? As each chapter closes, the pieces from the past start to take shape.
Based on a True Story delivers a well-constructed thriller centered on fame, fortune, and past secrets that threaten to destroy everything.
Sarah Vaughan read English at Oxford and spent eleven years at the Guardian as a news reporter and political correspondent, before leaving to write fiction. Her first two novels were followed by her first psychological thriller, Anatomy of a Scandal: a Sunday Times top five bestseller, Richard & Judy pick of the decade, and global number one Netflix adaptation starring Sienna Miller, Michelle Dockery and Rupert Friend. Her fourth novel, Little Disasters, was a Waterstones thriller of the month and developed as a number one Paramount Plus show. Her fifth novel, Reputation, was a Sunday Times thriller of the month and is currently in development by the team who made Anatomy of a Scanda. Based on a True Story is her sixth novel.
A million-copy international bestselling author, her books have been published in twenty-seven countries.
