On the other side there is a criticism I think is fair and worth repeating, from a university paper review that was brutal about it: that the sequel meanders away from what made the first book work, and that the plot is thin enough to feel trivial once the pleasure of the familiar characters wears off. The reviewer went further, and made the point that matters most to me: Moriarty has said the novel can be read as a standalone, and this reviewer argues the opposite, that without an emotional history with these people the story does not carry much weight on its own. I would not go as far as she does, but I understand the argument, and there is a middle stretch where I was following the gossip rather than the stakes.

Where the book does deliver is in the thing the first one never really got to finish. The original ended in an act of violence, and one of the genuine pleasures here is watching five women who covered something up collectively, ten years later, quietly trying to work out whether they got away with it or are still paying. The police-interview structure from the first book is back too, and while it is a trick that works less well a second time, it still does the job of making an ordinary school year feel like a countdown. The high-school material, with the same mothers now terrified of drugs and phones instead of birthday parties, is written with real comic timing.

On audio, Caroline Lee returning is the best decision the production could have made, and Ella Le Fournour carries the new voices well alongside her. Fifteen hours and twenty-one minutes is a comfort listen rather than a thriller's pace, which suits the material. If you have not read Big Little Lies, start there: this one is built as a return visit, whatever the cover copy says.