The Tenants by M.A. Hunter is a fast-paced closed room mystery as told by an agoraphobic and unreliable narrator. What more could you possibly want?

Eve thinks of her tenants as family and keeps a close eye over her flock, crossing the line in her extreme involvement in their lives. When one of the tenants is found dead, Eve finds herself in the role of amateur sleuth, wondering just how well she really knows the people who dwell under her roof.

I loved the very unique perspective of an agoraphobic protagonist relating the events of a closed room whodunit. This was compelling, propulsive, and kept me on my toes until the very end. 4.5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an ARC.

Eve is an agoraphobic landlord who really likes to spy on her tenants (they obviously don't know she does), she thinks of the people in her building as one big happy family, so when one of the tenant is found dead under suspicious circumstances, she starts unravelling.
Eve is the ultimate unreliable narrator, she tells us only what we need to know. We learn at pretty early on that something bad happened when she was at boarding school, we only learn the truth about that particular even by the end of the book. Something really bad happened to her five years ago (which might explain the agoraphobia), but again we only hear the details by the end of the book. We also learn that the building was the scene of brutal murders 50 years ago when it was a hotel, by a serial killer that technically had the same position that Eve now has. Her father was also a person of interest and one of her tenants a cop who worked the case. Lots of coincidence if you ask me, I did see a few things coming but I’m pretty sure I was meant to.
Now I loved the atmosphere and the way you could see Eve slowly descend into madness as weird things keep happening around her ; the resolution was a bit disappointing though because I found it a bit too over the top. Do people in real life actually hold grudges for so long? Make plans like that to get revenge on something that happened so long ago? I sure hope not. The bad guys were a little to cartoon villains for my taste, I did enjoy the final reveal though, I love morally great characters.

One ridiculous detail that should have been picked up by the editor, in one chapter she makes her bed and starts doing laundry, a couple chapters later she does it again. My annoying attention to details hated that.

The Tenants by M A Hunter was great thriller that keep me guessing to the end of the book.We meet Eve she's a landlady that didn't left the building she own's because of her agoraphobia.Going out and beyond to keep her tenant's happy,fighting her own demons,questoning herself,finding one of her tenants dead,what could go wrong?
So who kill James?Do all tenants telling the truth?Who is trying to make Eve look quilty?Is it new killer or someone from her past?
Lot's of secrets,mystery,questions this book will keep you turning pages to the end.Great and fast read.
Thanks the publisher,author and netgalley for the book.

The Tenants follows Eve, a landlady of an apartment block she inherited. She is overly keen on making sure her tenants are happy, which annoys some of the residents. One day, she finds one of the tenant's body... can Even proof her innocence as she takes the investigation into her own hands?

This was such a page-turner! A book that I read in one sitting. I was hooked on the story, it was so captivating, full of suspense and with lots of great twists. The author has a unique style of prose and the characters were somehow endearing (what's wrong with me?!). I loved every moment of it, the ending left me speechless!

I’m not sure if was intended to be a bit farcical but that’s what I got from this novel. If you’re a fan of Richard Osman novels you’ll love this one.

Eve Pennington is the landlady of a small apartment block. Left to her by her father, she has tried to make the flats as welcoming for her tenants as possible, going above and beyond the norm to keep everyone happy. Sadly Eve doesn’t appreciate that her overwhelming kindness doesn’t please all the residents and there is more than a little backbiting here and there. When she discovers the body of one of her tenants, Eve’s strange behaviour soon brings her to the notice of the investigating officers. In this case, walls really do have ears!

A well travelled format with a few nicely added touches. An easy read, though some of the timelines/ages appeared a bit ‘off’. Nothing exceptional to make the plot stand out from other similar stories.

An ok read, but not a complete attention grabber, though as a positive it is a short enough book to get to the end.

2.5*

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books.

I flew through this book! There were so many twists and turns, and a variety of ways this story could have gone - I loved it. It felt like we were joining the FMC in her slow descent into insanity and we were kept wondering if she was going insane or things were actually happening to her! Fast-paced, well written and really enjoyable. I finished it in less than 24 hours and would read this author again for sure!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC :)

I really really enjoyed this !!
What a crazy ride
I loved the characters the lies the secrets
I found Eve to be such an interesting character I don’t think I would want her as my landlord though she was a little creepy but then I did feel sorry for her at some points
This had so much going on by the end I was literally on the edge of my bed! Love it

I received a free copy of, The Tenants, by M A Hunter, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Eve Pennington inherited her fathers building and its tenants, everything was going fine until one of her tenants was murdered. Now Eve has a murder to solve, is she too trusting of the tenants? This book was a little to violent for me, but an intense read none the less.

You often hear stories about landlords who only care about collecting the rent and don’t pay much attention to their tenants. Ideally, they want to have as little to do with them as possible because that means less work and easier money for them.
Fortunately, there are still people like Eve, who do care about the tenants and seem to have a sixth sense for fulfilling their wishes even before they’ve been spoken. That’s wonderful, of course, and she would do anything to make them happy. But the question is: can the way she gathers all that information really be justified?

If walls could talk, a lot would come to light, and you’d often be unpleasantly surprised by the way people talk about you. You often think you know someone, but you can be so very wrong.
I found that this rental house housed a colorful collection of interesting characters. People who had strong bonds, but also people who didn’t get along so well. People who kept things hidden, and others who didn’t hesitate to speak their minds.

Our main character is Eve. My heart broke for her because of what she goes through and the lack of understanding she’s met with. To many people it might seem silly, but I can imagine how terrible it must feel to be in her situation. I understand that she wanted to make everyone happy and create a strong bond between the residents, but her methods were borderline stalkerish.
The author did a fantastic job of making me doubt everything I believed at the start and shaking my trust.

I had one person in mind as the main suspect — but of course, I was completely wrong.
The twists were all brilliant, but the final one was truly jaw-dropping.
For me, this was a fantastic book that I thoroughly enjoyed. It had me hooked from beginning to end. 5 stars.

Thank you

Just wow! Another great read by MA Hunter. The characters in this book were out of this world great. So many secrets and lies, it was impossible to know who to trust. Loved all the red herrings and.twisty reveals.
Thank you NetGalley, MA Hunter and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is an okay book. It fits a formula well which is good for what it's doing. The author can write. It's just the plot felt like I'd read it before. Granted there were other plot points that are original. It just didn't grab me in its originality.

Looking after and tending to the needs of my tenants is what gives me purpose. Every day I go out of my way to watch over them and keep them safe. They're more than just paying guests, they're my neighbors, and I will do whatever it takes to ensure they're happy. But when one of them is found dead in their apartment, everything I thought I knew is thrown into chaos. I always thought that danger only lived in the outside world, it’s why I’ve not stepped foot outside this building for 5 years. But I’m quickly realising that there is more to fear inside these walls! Good book! Wow some wild characters in this one! It also had chilling suspense, murder, mystery, intrigue, and a few shocking moments! The story was interesting! I definitely recommend reading this book! Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood books for sharing this book with me!

addictive as heck. i loved this so much. fast paced and always wanted more. i love the plot, nothing like ive ever read before. fantastic thriller!

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review. I really enjoyed this fast paced, edge of your seat thriller that kept me guessing until the end. A wide variety of characters but I found they all gelled together really well. At the end my main question was did George make it?? I really wanted to know lol. An interesting story that I would recommend.

A haunting and cleverly plotted psychologically mysterious tale. “The Tenants” followed Eve, the property manager of Blackbird House. It was an apartment building she inherited from her father and has watched over for it for the last five years. She’s protected everything worth protecting inside the walls of Blackbird House. Until one tenant was found dead in their flat. Eve’s controlled world shattered and the police started to ask questions. Meanwhile the other tenants began meeting behind closed doors and not long after the long-buried secrets from the building’s past started to emerge.

M A Hunter delivered an intriguingly eerie psychological thriller that was clever and compelling. Prior to reading “The Tenants”, I hadn’t read a book by him. I am so glad to have been given an advance copy since it was my first read by Hunter. Hunter’s writing style was taut and suspense driven with an unreliable narrator. I like how he used a gradual revelation of secrets by withholding key information and revealed the twists methodically. He used theme integrated pacing that aligned with the psychological unraveling of the plot. Even more, the rising action escalated alongside the character’s mental deterioration. It was fantastic. On top of all that, the short, snappy chapters created a sense of urgency and added to the overall suspense.

Altogether, I enjoyed this gripping and disturbingly engaging narrative. So much that I am interested in reading more by M A Hunter in the future. I’d recommend this haunting and engaging read for readers that like sharp, twisty plots, unreliable narrators, atmospheric settings and psychological tension. This is also a great read for those who relish in books by Daniel Hurst & B A Paris.

Thank you Net Galley and Boldwood Books for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Do you need a well-paced, perfectly executed thriller to keep you engrossed? This one is phenomenal.

Let me emphasize how impeccable the pacing is because I feel like a lot of thrillers are slow burns and then everything happens at once 70% in. This had things happen from the beginning and the author utilized these events to further the plot. The character development is also phenomenal.

I didn’t see the ending. I’m not ashamed to admit my jaw might have been on the floor. I need to get this one and I need to check out this author’s other books. I loved this one! The cover is also gorgeous. I’m a bit picky when it comes to thriller book covers I won’t lie. I’m obsessed with this one.

Thank you for the ARC. I appreciate the opportunity to leave honest feedback voluntarily.

Good but not great. I have read similar and this didn;t stand out. sorry!
I don't know what else to say but I need to leave 100 characters apparently so here you go.

Review of ‘The Tenants’ by M. A. Hunter, due to be published on 18 August 2025 by Boldwood Books.

Eve does everything she can to look out for the residents of the flats she presides over, but things take a dark turn when one of the occupants turns up dead in their flat, in suspicious circumstances.

Eve is terrified to leave the apartment block due to her agoraphobia and is struggling to remember things she has seen and heard, and begins to suspect someone is framing her for murder when unexplained occurrences keep happening that nobody else is taking seriously.

When the truth finally emerges, its someone you would least expect, and wonderfully twisted.

A dark psychological thriller that makes your head spin with possibilities.

Really loved the premise and the cast of characters! Sadly, I felt like it lost the plot around the 75% mark and just got ridiculous and made no sense. Really loved the rest of the book though and felt the characters were super interesting. The agoraphobia of the main character was fascinating.