This is a really good and very well written book focusing on a single mum and her young son Charlie. At times, it was a difficult read following Jenn's struggles with anxiety, baby blues and depression.
Jenn tries to hold everything together and maintains an organised and seemingly normal facade to her colleagues but this all starts to unravel .

Excellent book, sensitively tackling mental health issues.

This story is about an estate agent that finds one of her tenants dead in her flat, after a while she discovers that she had met the dead woman through work in the past, as she delves into the woman's past she starts to find out that things aren't as they seem. Unfortunately I didn't love this book, I'm not saying it was bad it just didn't really get me excited.

Wow. What a book. I actually had to process what happened as it completely through me, and turned out to be a completely different ending than what I expected.

I loved Jenn, there was times I did doubt her character but overall I just wanted the best for her. She was clearly struggling and it was hard to know why. But when it explained, oh my heart hurt. Something I can’t personally relate to but that is very touched in my family and wow, it hit. But it was beautifully written.

I loved the Back Then chapters, and I did figure out who they were about halfway through but I didn’t expect the story that came with it. My heart once again hurt!

What a beautiful story. It kept me hooked and I wanted to know everyone’s motive and who they were, and I was expecting a lot of a darker story but this was beautiful and I honestly can’t rate this book anymore! I really feel like everyone needs to read this point at some point!!

‘Safe And Sound’ is the latest book by Philippa East.

In a small London bedsit, a radio is playing. A small dining table is set for three, and curled up on the sofa is a body. Jenn is the one who discovers the woman, along with the bailiffs. All indications suggest that the tenant – Sarah Jones – was pretty, charismatic and full of life. So how is it possible that her body has lain undiscovered for ten whole months?

This is a creepy novel that really pulled me in from the first unsettling page. The story is primarily seen through the narrative Jenn, who’s job is in charge of tenant management. When one of the tenant hasn’t paid their rent for 3 months, it’s her job to investigate what is happening. But Jenn gets the shock of her life when she discovers that the tenant has been dead for a number of months. And sadly Jenn can’t get the image of the dead woman sitting on the sofa with a place setting for 2 other people knowing no one place turned up and wondered if she was ok.

The woman is known as Sarah Jones but no one comes forward as her next of kin. Jenn develops an obsession with Sarah, wanting to know all about her and how one person can have no one, particularly as Jenn knew Sarah briefly and she was a warm and kind personality.

As the story develops, we join Jenn as she slowly unravels, dealing with anxiety, fear and uncertainty as her job is in jeopardy and her fear for her little boy’s health is constantly on her mind. Even though Charlie is a healthy little boy, she monitors him religiously looking for any sign of sickness.

The story is not only seen from Jenn’s perspective but there’s also an additional narrative from a little girl called Prin who’s used to having her parents and toys to herself but has to adjust to a new way of living when her cousin Jane comes to stay. Where Prin is spoilt and boisterous, Jane is meek and quiet and hiding from something.

The story is actually based on a true of a young woman, who died in 2003 but her body wasn’t discovered until 2006 and it does make for genuinely sad reading that these women weren’t discovered nor was anyone looking for them. Right from the offset, this book is a suspenseful story, Jenn is an anxious character and sometimes it’s hard to decipher what is real and what is fake and this really does keep the reader on their toes.

An atmospheric and taunt thriller from the very start, ‘Safe And Sound’ is a claustrophobic story focusing on isolation and the fragility of mental health with plenty of twists and shocks that keeps the reader engaged.

You can buy ‘Safe And Sound’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.

I really enjoyed this. It was a well thought out and executed thriller. The characters were likeable, and I was rooting for them throughout. Brilliant book!

The idea behind this book was a good one, but I'm afraid I just found it rather boring. I found the main character rather off-putting, and I felt that reading this book was a bit of a chore. I was interested in the mental health issues raised but on the whole I wouldn't recommend this book.

I'm sure the idea for this book comes from a tragic, true story that I remember watching a documentary about. That made this book so much more vivd for me as a reader.

The author does a really good job of translating what anxiety looks and feels like - at some points I found my breath speeding and my thoughts racing much like Jennifer's (the central character).

I thought the twist at the end was good - I was convinced it was going another way so that caught me by suprise.

The one thing I did find slightly unrealistic was the way that Jennifer's mental health was addressed at the end. Jennifer has a lot of problems she had to deal with, and it's somewhat frustrating that her mental health appeared to miraculously get better without any specialist help, as soon as she discovered the truth and addressed her own demons. I actually think that, more now than ever, that is a damaging narrative. This book would not have suffered if Jennifer got the specialist help she so clearly needed at the end, if anything I think it would have helped to normalise this even more.

That's why I can only give four stars - but I thought the book overall was very gripping and good.

Jennifer Arden is a Housing Manager in London, one for her tenants is in arrears and she has to visit with the bailiffs. They can hear a radio on but not answer. Jennifer uses her key to gain access and they discovery the decomposing body of the tenant. With no relatives to contact, Jennifer can’t let go of the tenant having no one in her life and starts her own investigation.
There is also the narrative of a young girl in flash back telling us her story growing up and the events of when her cousin comes to stay.
The two stories interweave and create great suspense. Are all the characters as they seem, or is there something dark in their past?
Really enjoyable and easy to read in one sitting.

Safe and Sound by Philippa East is a beautifully written and totally captivating story and I was transfixed from the outset.

Housing Association manager Jennifer Arden, along with two bailiffs, is on her way to evict a tenant, Sarah Jones from a bedsit in Brixton, south London. Sarah hasn't been paying her rent, but when they arrive at the property, they can't gain access, even though they believe Sarah is inside as a radio is playing. The police are called and Jenn makes a shocking discovery, one which sets off her anxiety, forcing her to look into how an apparently popular and cheerful woman can lay dead in a flat, undiscovered for ten months.

This delightfully compelling story alternates between past and present and is told entirely from Jenn's perspective. The reader is provided with the opportunity to get right inside Jenn's head as she interprets events while running from her own past. As her thoughts churn around and around, my own contemplations and attention are kept focused with Philippa East's soupçons of information dropped into the narrative, hither and thither. The author has written this cleverly constructed tale complete with realistic and believable characters, and a winsome plot. Anxiety-sufferer Jenn has an eight-year-old son Charlie and they live an insular life. Philippa East's portrayal of Jenn made for a claustrophobic, tense but engrossing read.

Safe and Sound is a cracking novel and the author continues to wow me with her tremendous talent. I'm tickled pink that I had an opportunity to read this book, and I will certainly be keeping an eye out for future releases from Philippa East. I recommend this family-drama-style, emotional thriller with confidence.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from HQ via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

This is different from other thrillers in that it gets the entirety of its impetus from the MC's own fears; her interpretation of events as she desperately runs from her own past. It's a compelling read, and despite not really liking the MC most of the time, I did want to follow her and find out what was going to happen next. Jennifer Arden suffers from anxiety. Her life is closed, self contained and excludes everyone except her eight-year-old son, Charlie. The portrayal of severe anxiety is very accurate, however it made for an extremely claustrophobic read. We're pretty much locked in Jen's head with her for the entire book and her head is not a happy place to be. I felt sorry for her - most of us will experience clinical anxiety and/ or depression at some point, and it's not logical; you have to make logical choices when it's happening even if you can no longer make sense of why. That said, I also chafed in her pov - perhaps that was the point? I will advise that if you suffer from anxiety you proceed with care in reading this because the portrayal is so realistic it may be triggering to some people.



Anyway, Jennifer works as a building manager for an agency that lets out flats. When a tenant fails to pay rent for months and does not respond to notices for payments, Jen is forced to attend the sight as bailiffs break in. The tenant has died and as Jen finds out more about her life, she realises how much it parallels her own. Something has finally broken through Jen's bubble and she's determined to find out how and why the tenant died in the circumstances she did.



It's clever how the thriller aspect of the book is driven by Jen's anxiety - it really is a different psychological thriller in that respect. But as previously mentioned, it makes for uncomfortable reading at times. I don't want to spoilify anyone so I'll stop there. Suffice to say that this was well plotted, fast paced and very internal in its character journey. I enjoyed it. Recommend if you want to try a different sort of thriller.

This is not a bad read, however I just never felt gripped by it...the story felt at times like it was 'at sea', which can be a good thing in a thriller, but reading through I found the ending below par too. Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

A slow burning thriller.
The main character makes you feel like you are going around and around, which may put some people off.

Classic whodunnit but with a focus on the character's mental health

Huge fan of this author and this is another absolutely superb read. I have nothing negative I can say about this book. It has been a great read filled with interesting characters and a unique plot.

I have previously read Little White Lies by Philippa East and loved it so as soon as I saw a new thriller from her I knew I HAD to read it. Safe and Sound. Jenn is a rental property manager in London who heads to a flat to evict the tenant for non payment of rent. What should be a not so nice but fairly normal part of her job ends up shaking her entire life as she finds the tenant dead on the sofa. And she has been lay there dead for around 10 months! The police report that there are no relatives or friends to clear the flat nor to hold a funeral for the deceased tenant. But things don't quite add up for Jenn based on what she saw in the flat that day and she decides to do her own investigation to try and figure out what happened and why no one seems to care the woman is dead.
The author did a great job of throwing in enough hints of a sinister past and of Jenn's mental health issues to make me feel she is an unreliable narrator. The same was done with a couple of the other characters that Jenn meets during her 'investigation' and so I was enjoying playing the 'whodunnit' guessing game. I also really liked the flashbacks to another timeline and trying to work out how it connected to the current incident.
The overall sense of deteriorating mental illness and loneliness throughout the book was excellently written, chilling, and made me feel so sorry for Jenn.
I know that some readers have said in their reviews that they couldn't connect to Jenn or particularly like her and I'm not sure that we are supposed to. I think with this story we are supposed to feel like helpless observers watching someone's life gradually crumble.
As far as I'm concerned, this is another fantastic thriller from an author who I am so happy to have discovered.

This novel is dark and unsettling. The premise plays on a fear that will resonate with many - dying completely alone. The author sets a good pace and keeps the reader very much on edge as the writing grapples with the silent epidemics of loneliness, trauma, and maternal mental health. Enjoyable, thrilling and yet profoundly sad.

I enjoyed the mystery around this book the ambiguity around who is actually who and what's actually happened. Very good writing, enjoyable

I tried to engage with this book and the main character but I’m sorry I just couldn’t get on with either and after over 50% of the book I found myself dreading picking it up. Therefore I’ve decided to not finish it, which is extremely unusual for me. I failed to connect with Jenn and felt her obsession with the body in the flat was unjustified and her relationship with her son was verging on abusive.

I thought this was a good thriller, dark and packed with suspense it had me turning the pages at warp speed 😂 wasn’t sure about the ending but really enjoyed the book in all 😃

This book drew me straight in from the start, the storyline was interesting and I felt the emotions of the main character as the story progressed, it was very well written, and I enjoyed how the storyline alternated between the two timelines.

This dark and twisty book was brilliantly written and at times I gasped at what I was reading as I couldn’t believe it. I just couldn’t put it down until I reached the end of the book. It was so so good I throughly enjoyed it and recommend it to everyone who enjoyed a thrilling read. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.