Book Synopsis:
Do you trust the couple next door?
When Lena overhears a conversation between her next-door neighbours, she thinks she must have misheard.
After all, the Morgans are a kind, retired couple who have moved to a suburban street in Bristol where nothing ever happens.
But it sounded like they were planning a crime.
Her family and friends tell her she’s made a mistake.
Yet the more Lena looks into the Morgans, the darker things seem.
And the more she fears it might be linked to a secret from her own past.
Because, if her suspicions are true, then someone is in real danger.
And it might just be her…
My Review:
The New Neighbours is another gripping, twisty read from one of my favourite thriller writers. It’s going to be a difficult book to review as I don’t want to give anything away.
The Story is told from the point of view of several different characters and from multiple timelines. As we follow them the reader is slowly drawn into the mystery of what is happening next door but also how it might connect with events from years ago. I really enjoyed following the different timeline and trying to work out how everything fit together. There were lot of twist that kept me guessing and I kept changing my mind as to what was going on. Just when I thought I had figured everything out, something would happen to send the story in another direction which I thought was very clever.
I thought most of the characters in this book were quite unlikeable as most had done some questionable things. I did have a huge soft spot for the main character Lena though, probably because as she’s my age I can really relate to her and her worries for the future. As someone whose life mostly revolves around her kids as well the prospect of a future where they won’t need me as much scares me. Her ‘mother bear’ instincts also made me smile as I’ve been known to do that too with my children.
Overall as you can probably guess I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read more from this author in the future. I was quickly drawn into the story and into the mystery of what the neighbours were up to. The book was very fast paced and there always seemed to be something happening to keep me reading, often long into the night which hasn’t happened for a while. The ending was brilliant, especially that surprising twist at the end and I especially loved that the author includes a bit after everything is resolved so that the reader can see what happens next. It is definitely a book that will make you think twice about spying on your neighbours.
Huge thanks to Michael Joseph publishers for sending me a copy of this book.
About The Author:
Claire Douglas is the Sunday Times number one bestselling author of eight stand alone novels: The Sisters (2015), Local Girl Missing (2016), Last Seen Alive (2017), Do Not Disturb (2018), Then She Vanishes (2019) and Just Like The Other Girls (2020). Her seventh, The Couple At No 9 (2021) was an Amazon number one bestseller, a number three Sunday Times bestseller and most recently hit number one on Germany’s Der Spiegel paperback bestsellers chart. The Girls Who Disappeared was a Richard and Judy book club pick for Autumn 2022 and was an instant number one Sunday Times bestseller. Her books have sold over a million copies in the UK and have been published worldwide.
Her most recent, THE WOMAN WHO LIED will be published on July 6th 2023.
You can find Claire on Twitter at @DougieClaire, Instagram as clairedouglasauthor, or visit her Facebook page clairedouglasauthor.
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