Based on a True Story

By Sarah Vaughn

Narrator: Juliet Stevenson ISBN: 9780063457706

Publisher: HarperAudio Adult | Harper

Publication Date: 06/09/2026

Format: Audio

My Rating: 4 Stars

JUN 2026 MUST-READ BOOKS

“Vaughan is simply a genius at immersing you in simmering tensions and turning up the heat."—Ellery Lloyd

“A stunning novel."—Gilly Macmillan

"A flawlessly constructed thriller, perfectly paced and filled with smart reveals. This is a read-in-one-sitting delight of a novel!"—Lucy Clarke

A compelling thriller about power, money and lies from the author of Anatomy of a Scandal, grippingly narrated in audio by BAFTA-nominated actress Juliet Stevenson.

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?

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Praise

“[An] enthralling thriller… Vaughan elegantly toys with readers’ expectations as she parcels out details about Eleanor’s family and relationships and explores themes of class, power, and the magpie-like nature of authorship. The result is a canny, suspenseful tale with more on its mind than entertainment.” — Publisher's Weekly (starred review)

"Vaughan, who has centered top-notch thrillers on the dark sides of fame (e.g., Anatomy of a Scandal, 2018) cleverly weaves elements of King Lear and Golden Age mysteries into this dysfunctional family exposé.” — Booklist

“This is a character-driven, carefully paced thriller that engages readers with the why of things more than the who. For fans of Sophie Hannah and Jane Casey.” — Library Journal

"Expertly plotted and crackling with tension, this is dysfunctional family psychodrama at its unputdownable best." — The Guardian

"This is talented Vaughan's sixth novel and cements her place as one of our finest thriller writers." — Daily Mail

"This twisty thriller has so much I like: a grand house on a windswept Cornish cliff, an enigmatic writer celebrating her 70th birthday in style, a secret blackmailer and three daughters duking it out to be the favorite. Superbly plotted and engrossing from start to finish." — Good Housekeeping (UK)

"Packed with twists and oozing with menace, this sharp-edged tale is a taut triumph." — Crime Monthly

"The gap between public image and private life is the theme of this clever novel. . . Intriguing." — The Times

"From the author of international bestseller Anatomy of a Scandal comes a gripping read about a much-loved storyteller whose perfect life starts to unravel when family secrets finally come to life." — My Weekly

"I loved the Agatha Christie-style nature of this entertaining mystery, which has twists and turns aplenty." — Red

"Sarah Vaughan is queen of the smart thriller (she’s the brains behind the delicious Anatomy Of A Scandal) and this story of a household name children’s author facing up to her hidden secrets is a masterpiece of plotting and tension. With a windswept coastal retreat (complete with covetable herb garden), bickering grown-up children and blackmail in the inbox, it’s one to settle down with in happy solitude." — Stylist

"Vaughan's novels are not just screenplay drafts: her cool, careful prose is a pleasure to read." — Telegraph

"Tense and unsettling." — Fabulous Magazine

"A thoroughly gripping thriller." — Heat

"What's not to love? A matriarch with buried secrets, an explosive party at a clifftop house and a family rapidly unravelling—a deliciously twisty page-turner that also packs a real emotional punch. Vaughan is simply a genius at immersing you in simmering tensions and turning up the heat." - Ellery Lloyd, New York Times bestselling author of The Club and The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby

"In Based on a True Story, Vaughan sets in motion the final, tragic act of a decades-long family drama. She writes beautifully and incisively; her evocative prose is spiked with sharp observations and insights that spare nobody. Sibling rivalries are stretched to breaking point, secrets leak, and loyalties quiver. When lucrative fame is a member of the family and storytelling is part of your DNA, nothing is predictable. A stunning novel." - Gilly Macmillan, New York Times bestselling author of The Burning Library and The Manor House

"Elegant, absorbing and almost unbearably tense, Based on a True Story tormented me whenever I didn't have it in my hands. A standout psychological thriller of depth and weight with a cast of beautifully-drawn characters. Superb." — Rosie Walsh, New York Times bestselling author of The Love of My Life and Ghosted

"A flawlessly constructed thriller, perfectly paced and filled with smart reveals. This is a read-in-one-sitting delight of a novel!"

— Lucy Clarke, internationally bestselling author of The Surf House and The Hike

"Wholly absorbing and utterly addictive, with that perfect blend of twisty plot and stunning prose that readers have come to expect from Sarah Vaughan. One of my favorite books of the year." — Andrea Mara, internationally bestselling author of It Should Have Been You and All Her Fault

"A rollicking, thrilling read, Based on a True Story snares from the first page with its deliciously dysfunctional, glamorous family, bristling with characters to love or loathe, and a seductive Cornish setting. Another Sarah Vaughan cracker. I loved it."

— Eve Chase, internationally bestselling author of The Midnight Hour

"Sarah’s elegant prose, stunning descriptions and nuanced characters are all wrapped up in a cracking plot with a ticking clock – the ultimate literary thriller! Secrets, lies, subterfuge, scandal and sibling rivalry – the perfect recipe for a page-turner. I devoured it!"

— Veronica Henry, internationally bestselling author of The Secret Beach and Thirty Days in Paris

"A timely and compelling study of family guilt. Sarah Vaughan's finest novel yet." — Mick Herron, internationally bestselling author of Clown Town and The Secret Hours

"It’s a hugely addictive story with a dark undercurrent, a cast of compelling characters with their own agendas, and breathless twists that make it almost impossible to put down." — Cressida McLaughlin, internationally bestselling author of A Cornish Love Story and The Secret Mistletoe Promise

"A deliciously juicy and highly addictive thriller with a vivid sense of place. Sarah Vaughan never fails to deliver." — S.E. Lynes, bestselling author of The Perfect Boyfriend and Every Mother's Nightmare

"Are there better words than "there's a new Sarah Vaughan coming out?" Vaughan's books race along so thrillingly—you can never put them down. I zoomed through Based on a True Story, but the characters have really stayed with me. Vaughan had created a delightfully suspicious group of party-goers, all with their own questionable ambitions and motives. I particularly adored the Cornish setting—Vaughan captures the light and magic of that coastline so beautifully."

— Holly Watt, author of The Last Truths We Told and The End of the Game

"Glorious Cornish clifftops, a glittering party and a swirling vortex of family secrets. . . . Sarah Vaughan lobs an explosive cocktail into Golden Age Crime to create something wholly new and deeply satisfying. I drank it up." - Sarah Hilary, author of Fragile and Never Be Broken

"Sarah Vaughan is one of my go-to writers and a modern, female re-telling of King Lear is exactly the sort of brilliance I have come to expect from her. This is a compelling story, with deep roots, which asks us to think about the stories we tell not just publicly, but also privately, to make up a life. It manages that rare trick of being both addictive and thoughtful." - Araminta Hall, author of One of the Good Guys and Hidden Depths

"Three sisters gather to celebrate with their narcissistic mother. I could literally feel the tension and frustration simmering between the lines. Wonderful storytelling." - Emma Curtis, author of The Commuter and The Babysitter

"Utterly addictive, surprising and full of characters you’ll love to hate."

— Louise Beech, author of Eighteen Seconds and Nothing Else

"There’s a dangerous sense of reckoning in the air as the eminent Kingman family gather at their Cornish clifftop house to celebrate matriarch Eleanor's success – and just possibly to kill each other in the process. A rich, intoxicating brew, I loved it."

— Louise Candlish, author of A Neighbour's Guide to Murder and Our Holiday

"Based on a True Story is a real pressure cooker of a novel – tense, immersive, and brilliantly told. I genuinely couldn't put it down. And the Cornish clifftop setting leapt from the page, with all of its drama and dangerous beauty."

— Emylia Hall, author of The High Tide Murder and The Death at the Vineyard

"This is certainly one party no one will forget. With a cast of characters I loved to hate and secrets galore, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. Smart, propulsive and so much fun...I loved it."

— Nikki Smith, author of They Had It Coming and The Beach Party

"What a delight to be back with Sarah Vaughan's writing, and in particular to back in Cornwall. A sparkling, clever and compelling tale of power, money, lies and the stories we tell ourselves to survive."

— Anna Mazzola, author of The Book of Secrets and The House of Whispers

"An immersive, vivid, escapist story told from multiple perspectives by a fraught cast of characters, most of whom are nursing awful secrets—this is Sarah Vaughan at the height of her powers." — Lucy Atkins, author of Windmill Hill and Magpie Lane

"A juicy, atmospheric and unpredictable family thriller which employs both schadenfreude and empathy to have the reader switching sides with every chapter." — Erin Kelly, author of The House of Mirrors and Watch Her Fall

"Smartly plotted and wickedly fun; the secrets and revelations just keep coming." — Claire Fuller, author of The Memory of Animals and Unsettled Ground

"A predictably gripping read by one of the masters of the genre. A skillfully executed and addictive story with characters that jump off the page. I was hooked all the way to the thrilling end." — Imran Mehmood, author of Finding Sophie and You Don't Know Me

"Based on a True Story is a proper page-turner: a compelling cast of troubled characters in a glamorous setting with twists aplenty. Vaughan ratchets up the tension beautifully in an addictive novel about fame, family and identity." — Hannah Beckerman, author of Three Mothers and The Forgetting

"A glamorous party on a Cornish clifftop, a family simmering with dark secrets and a wild storm brewing on the horizon are the delicious ingredients of this wonderfully suspenseful novel about ambition, money and lies. No other writer gets beneath the scandalous layers of a family quite like Sarah Vaughan. Absolutely brilliant. I struggled to put it down!" — Hannah Richell, author of The Search Party and The River Home

"An extravagant birthday party along the coast, a body on the beach, and the compelling protagonist, author, Dame Eleanor Kingman make Based on a True Story an addictive read that will have thriller readers turning pages into the night to see how it all plays out." — Olivia Kiernan, author of The End of Us and The Murder Box

"A deliciously twisty, compulsively entertaining read." — Claire Powell, author of At the Table

"A tense story of family secrets, simmering resentments, with a mysterious matriarch at the center of it. Based on a True Story is a smart exploration of social class and asks the question: is anybody really who they say they are? Vaughan at her best." — Jo Murray, author of Dissection of a Murder

"As atmospheric, twisty and unpredictable as the Cornish coastline itself, Sarah Vaughan's latest has it all: cliff-top mansion, dysfunctional family, long held secrets bubbling to the surface. Bliss in book form!" — Tammy Cohen, author of Murder Under the Tuscan Sun and The Wedding Party

"Sarah Vaughan is the queen of psychological thrillers. Based on a True Story is another twisty, breathtaking banger that held me captive until the dying moments, at which point I needed a stiff drink and a lie down to compose myself again! If you think your family is dysfunctional, meet the Kingmans." — Steph McGovern

#BasedOnATrueStory

My Reveiw

A masterfully constructed, slow-burn psychological drama of power, legacy, and toxic family secrets.

In Sarah Vaughan’s razor-sharp thriller Based on a True Story, famed children's author Dame Eleanor Kingman gathers her family at her cliffside manor to celebrate her 70th birthday. But on the eve of the party, a threatening email arrives, promising to unearth a lethal lie she has hidden for over half a century. As a documentary crew rolls and tension peaks, a body is discovered on the storm-lashed beach below—proving that someone in Eleanor's inner circle will kill to ensure the truth stays buried.

The Family Dynamics

The Legend Is Built On Lies.

Three fractured sisters, one toxic legacy, and a body on the beach.

"Vaughan expertly peels back the layers of an affluent family's history, revealing the devastating price of childhood trauma and parental favoritism."

Elevator Pitch

A lavish clifftop birthday party turns into a crime scene when a legendary author's 50-year-old lie is threatened with exposure, forcing her three fractured daughters and bitter ex-associates into a pressure cooker of suspicion.

Intro

Dame Eleanor Kingman built a multi-million-pound publishing empire on her beloved children's books. Yet, her greatest story is the falsehood she has lived for fifty years. When an anonymous blackmailer threatens her legacy right as a television crew arrives to film her life, a dark, multigenerational web of resentment, greed, and sibling rivalry unravels.

Setting

The dramatic, isolated coastal beauty of a magnificent manor house perched on the windswept cliffs of Cornwall, England.

Vibe

Intoxicating, tense, and deeply atmospheric. It carries the elite family-dynasty dread of Succession blended with the classic, claustrophobic mystery of an Agatha Christie whodunit.

Genre

Psychological Drama / Suspense Thriller.

Themes

~The danger of the narratives we tell ourselves to survive

~The heavy burden of childhood trauma

~Parental favoritism

~How the pursuit of public adulation can destroy private lives.

Standout Characters

Eleanor, a fierce, intensely flawed matriarch desperately trying to protect her legacy, and her daughter Delia, the tragic real-life inspiration for her mother's famous fictional child sleuth, who feels perpetually trapped by her mother’s shadow.

Author Writing Standout

Sarah Vaughan (author of Anatomy of a Scandal) is an absolute genius at building simmering, slow-burn tension, expertly weaving intricate timelines together while delivering beautifully evocative descriptions of the Cornish coastline.

Takeaway

All families keep secrets, but it is the stories built entirely on structural lies that eventually collapse and kill.

Title Significance

Based on a True Story plays brilliantly on multiple levels. It highlights Eleanor's career of taking real life and commercializing it into fiction, while pointing to the terrifying reality that the darkest "fiction" in her life is actually the truth.

Metaphor

The storm-lashed beach below the cliffside manor symbolizes the inevitability of the past—no matter how high you build your fortress, the tide will eventually wash up what you tried to bury.

Why You Should Read

A brilliantly sophisticated and character-driven mystery that values deep psychological nuance, complicated sisterly dynamics, and ethical dilemmas just as much as it values a shocking plot twist.

My Thoughts

The pacing is a brilliant, gradual turn of the screw. Watching this deeply dysfunctional family circle each other under the glare of documentary cameras is deliciously addictive. Vaughan peels back the layers of Eleanor's past so deliberately that when the ultimate reveal crashes over you, it hits with the force of a tidal wave.

Verdict: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)

A masterclass in domestic suspense that will make you look at family memoirs and biographies in a whole new light.

Recs

Read this if you devoured The Club by Ellery Lloyd, Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney, The Guest List by Lucy Foley, or Sarah Vaughan’s previous masterpiece, Anatomy of a Scandal.

@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks

Pub Date: June 9, 2026

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June 2026 Must-Read Books

About the Author

Sarah Vaughan is the Sunday Times and international bestselling author of Anatomy of a Scandal, Little Disasters and Reputation, plus two earlier novels. Translated into 26 languages, Anatomy of a Scandal became a worldwide number one Netflix limited series, watched for 200 million hours in its first month alone, and starring Sienna Miller, Michelle Dockery and Rupert Friend. Little Disasters dropped on Paramount Plus in May 2025, and stars Diane Kruger, Jo Joyner and a “powerhouse cast” including JJ Feild, Shelley Conn, Emily Taaffe and Stephen Campbell Moore. Reputation has been optioned by Made Up Stories and 3dot productions, the team behind Anatomy of a Scandal.

Before writing fiction, Sarah spent 15 years as a journalist, including 11 at the Guardian as a political correspondent and news reporter: great preparation for thrillers exploring power, privilege and misogyny, and incorporating police investigations and criminal trials. Brought up in Devon, she lives near Cambridge, England with her family and dog. WEBSITE