The Family Upstairs

By Lisa Jewell,

Book cover of The Family Upstairs

Book description

'I swear I didn't breathe the whole time I was reading it. Gripping, pacy, brilliantly twisty.' CLARE MACKINTOSH

'Creepy, intricate and utterly immersive: an excellent holiday read.' GUARDIAN

'A twisty and engrossing story of betrayal and redemption.' IAN RANKIN
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FROM THE #1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THEN SHE WAS GONE…

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Why read it?

4 authors picked The Family Upstairs as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Right from the very first page this book is enthralling. It was creepy and intriguing and enthralling – the characters are all fascinating and the plot is a stew of content from misplaced love, a bit of madness, actually quite a bit of madness, murder, redemption and hope, and a dog! There’s not much more you could want. I have read the sequel.

I heard that Lisa Jewell had the idea for this book after seeing a woman sleeping on the beach in France with her children and wondering what her story was. If that’s true, it shows what an incredible imagination she must have to build such an original and intriguing plot from that one image! The story centres on a house in Chelsea, but is really the tale of a mix of extreme characters living together, causing a terrible event, and the one truly innocent person in it all unravelling the truth 25 years later. Told via two timelines, this is…

A con man, his wife, and two teenage kids move in with a wealthy family in their ominous mansion on the banks of the Thames. The con man takes over their lives, holding them hostage in their own home, until the kids plot a diabolical escape. No one portrays the corruption and dissipation of the British upper classes better than Lisa Jewell!

From S.W.'s list on mysteries with creepy houses.

The Blue Prussian

By Eve Penrose,

Book cover of The Blue Prussian

Eve Penrose

New book alert!

What is my book about?

The Blue Prussian is a spellbinding story told by Blake O’Brien, a beautiful, young executive with a globetrotting career. Blake returns to her native Manhattan from San Francisco after escaping—or so she thinks—her marriage to a dashing man who turned out to be a prince of darkness. She had been hoping for a fresh start but learns that she has been poisoned with thallium—a deadly neurotoxin referred to as the poisoner’s poison.

Blake is treated with the only known antidote—Prussian blue—the same synthetic pigment with the deeply saturated hue used in dazzling masterpieces like The Starry Night and The Great Wave. Almost unfathomably, the alchemist who invented Prussian blue was the rumored inspiration for Mary Shelley’s character, Dr. Frankenstein. The similarities to Blake’s financier ex are striking as his true nature is revealed—including the discovery of a secret room in the brooding Victorian home where they lived their married life together.

The stylish enclaves of Beekman Place in New York City, Nob Hill in San Francisco, and the Mayfair neighborhood in London provide the backdrop as this chilling tale of treachery and betrayal unfolds. Blake’s resolve triumphs, and the camaraderie of her loyal and charismatic friends fortifies her as she takes the reader on a tantalizing international pursuit to try to catch her poisoner, who is known to the FBI as The Blue Prussian.

The Blue Prussian

By Eve Penrose,

What is this book about?

"A modern-day Gaslight"

The Blue Prussian is a spellbinding story told by Blake O'Brien, a beautiful, young executive with a globetrotting career. Blake returns to her native Manhattan from San Francisco after escaping—or so she thinks—her marriage to a dashing man who turned out to be a prince of darkness. She had been hoping for a fresh start but learns that she has been poisoned with thallium—a deadly neurotoxin referred to as the poisoner's poison.

Blake is treated with the only known antidote—Prussian blue—the same synthetic pigment with the deeply saturated hue used in dazzling masterpieces like The Starry Night…


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A young woman inherits a multi-million-pound house where three people were found dead and four children missing. This was a really easy, smooth read and I couldn’t wait to untangle the past, which includes a toxic friendship and unrequited love, and see if my guesses were correct.

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