Thank you Harper Audio, #partner, for the ALC of The Couple at Number 9 in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Harper Audio
Published: August 2, 2022
Summary:
The internationally best-selling author of Do Not Disturb and Just Like the Other Girls delivers a heart-pounding psychological thriller about a couple who inherit what seems to be their dream home, until they make a horrifying discovery – and the danger begins.
The victims….
When pregnant Saffron Cutler moves into 9 Skelton Place with boyfriend Tom and sets about renovations, the last thing she expects is builders uncovering human remains. The remains of two bodies, in fact.
The investigation….
Forensics indicate the bodies have been buried at least 30 years. Saffy has nothing to worry about – until the police launch a murder inquiry and ask to speak to the cottage’s former owner. Her grandmother, Rose.
The witness….
Rose is in a nursing home and Alzheimer’s means her memory is increasingly confused. She can’t help the police, but it’s clear she remembers something.
The killer….
As Rose’s fragmented memories resurface, and the police dig ever deeper, Saffy fears she and the cottage are being watched.
The truth….
What happened 30 years ago? Why did no one miss the victims? What part did her grandmother play? And is Saffy now in danger?
My thoughts:
This is the second book I’ve read by Claire Douglas and I enjoyed it very much. I thought I had read more of her books but I guess I have her confused with another author – good news for me is that she has quite an extensive backlist and I will definitely be adding all the books I haven’t read to my tbr!
This domestic thriller is a bit of a slow-burn and I’m all for that. I love the way it was told, moving to the past at just the right moments to fill in what happened. This story is full of lies and deceit, yet it is also a bit of an emotional story, too and really kept me quite invested in what was going on. I especially loved the relationships that were explored between the characters – I loved how the author explored these, digging into the backstory of these characters and how they all fit together.
The first half of this book is slow and the middle seems to drag just a bit, but then things pick up and once it got to that point, I found I could not put the book down. And while there were some twists that I did predict, I will say I was still surprised by the majority of them.
Overall, this was an enjoyable book, if just a bit on the long side. The creepy house with the dead bodies definitely kept me interested for sure and I loved the way things played out in the end. I can’t wait to pick up another book by this author while waiting to see what she writes next.
Audio thoughts:
As I mentioned, this is the second book I’ve read by this author and the second one I’ve listened to. Her books just seem to translate well onto audio and this one was no exception. The narrator, Kenton Thomas, did a great job bringing the story to life and I loved the special effects they used for the phone calls – little things like that really make an audiobook stand out.
