We’re introduced to Cath, who hopes to be a freelance photographer. Her new photography project is of murder houses, and it just so happens that her childhood friend Shirley was murdered (not a spoiler it’s on the blurb!) and so she returns home to the Isle of Bute. We follow Cath as she befriends the new property owner and tries to work out whether Shirley’s father is truly guilty of his family’s murder.

I’ll be honest and say I found this book difficult to get on with. There was a lot of detail and vivid description, but the dialogue and movement between scenes felt clunky/disjointed to me, while the pacing often felt rushed. I didn’t particularly like or connect with Cath but I can see others enjoying this story.

Cath, a photographer is involved in a project to photograph 'murder houses'. Returning to the Isle of Bute, where she grew up, she finds herself once again embroiled in the story of her childhood friend Shirley Craigie and the devastating familicide of her family by the father, John Craigie. This is a fascinating exploration of the pull of the past, the need to answers and the unknowable nature of the human spyche.

This book was a bit disappointing to me. It found it difficult to follow and I couldn’t warm to the characters. The pacing felt off too.

Really enjoyed this - will definitely be recommending and looking forward to the next one by this author!

I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

This was my first read by this author and it took me a while to get into it but it worked and I am glad that I read it.

I was given a free copy by netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely my own.

My first book by this author and why didn't I read sooner?!
Very well written, atmospheric and at times weird - in a good way- with some folklore weaved in.
Definitely recommend.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read.

On paper, a woman returning to the scene of her childhood best friend's murder is right up my street. However, the story occurred in a very disjointed way to me. I'm also not sure quite why the fairy / supernatural theme came through, but thought it a poor representation of the manifestation of mental illness.

'Nina Allan's books are likely to become..my favourite reads of recent years. This is the first book of hers that I’ve read and I’m a firm fan now. I loved this book and highly recommend it.

We first meet the main character Cathy,, getting ready, with her friend Shirley Craigie, for a Saturday trip to the Big Town.. There's a warm and strong relationship between the two young women which comes over strongly in the book. There’s lots of good detail about the girls, their families and the island with some great descriptions which bring the story to life.

This book is well worth reading and I’m looking forward to the next Nina creation.

I'd never heard of this author before being drawn to the synopsis of The Good Neighbours. I found this to be a very well written,atmospheric and multi layered novel that's difficult to categorise. There is great characterisation, a real atmospheric sense of place with some folklore weaved in to the narrative. Recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

The Good Neighbours is a deal weirder and more interesting than it appears at first. Cath has never gotten over the death of her best friend Shirley. Shirley did all the things Cath didn't dare to do, and it feels like Cath is stuck. Cath makes friends with Alice, the woman living in the house where Shirley was murdered. They form a doomed relationship and try to investigate the murder. I loved the folk horror aspects of the book and the exploration of how fairies aren't always benign and innocent..

This book starts with Cath returning to the island she grew up on and revisiting her past where her best friend and entire family were murdered. She makes friends with the new home owner Alice.
This book was not one of my favourites and whilst the story line had potential I found it drifted a lot. I also struggled with understanding the faerie tales. It wasn’t a bad book. Just not the book for me.

This is the first novel I have read by Nina Allan. This book is not the sort of book I would choose although a murder mystery it has a mystical feel about it. Do I like that or not. I think I could read more of this type of story. The story is about a lady called Cath and we see her growing up although the main premise of the story is set when she is older. Cath had a drama in her life which stopped her from going to University and instead works in a record shop and follows her photography passion on the side. When she was a teenager, her family spent a few years living on a small Scottish Island. The drama in her life was when her best friend, Shirley was murdered as was Shirley’s mother and brother. It was thought that John Craigie, Shirley’s father was the murderer. He himself was killed on the same day in a road traffic accident. The Police, after investigating these tragedies decided that John has committed suicide due to him killing his family. John was not liked on the island and people thought that this was something he was capable of. Cath decides to return to the island and begins photographing her childhood home after revisiting paper cuttings of the murders 20 years ago. She meet the lady (Alice) who has brought the Craigie house and becomes very friendly with her and would like more. When visiting the house she has a feeling that maybe John Craigie was innocent. It comes to light that he actually believed in fairies and perhaps his mind was a bit off kelter. Alice, who has problems of her own, helps Cath but Alice’s husband, Saheed, is not keen on the relationship. He lives in London and the commute is difficult at weekends. He eventually gets his own way and Alice returns to London as she is pregnant and he feels she will be safer in London. Cath is not happy about this but has to accept it. The story becomes more and more interesting as Cath “talks” to Shirley and they formulate a plan to discover who the murderer really is. Eventually the story winds on until Cath is happy with the outcome of her search and research to find the killer. Enough from me as I will give away the story but a good read

Now I do have Nina Allan's other book Dollhouse on my TBR but haven't read it yet - I will definitely be moving it further up the list as I was hooked with this book. My first read from Nina and wow, I can't believe it's taken me so long to read her books.

Cath grew up in Scotland and has always dreamed of leaving the place she lives in. She has a very interesting hobby/job which is photographing murder houses. This book took me to places I didn't see coming and the shockers that Nina threw in definitely had me on the edge of my seat and wanting to read more.

Definitely not my last read from Nina. Thank you to both Nina and Netgalley for allowing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Up the airy mountain, down the rushy glen, we dare not go a-hunting, for fear of little men. Wee folk, good folk, trooping all together; green jacket, red cap, and white owl’s feather!” - from ‘The Fairies’ by William Allingham, 1850.

My thanks to Quercus Books/riverrun for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Good Neighbours’ by Nina Allan in exchange for an honest review.

The Isle of Bute is embedded deep in Cath Naylor’s psyche. She had left when she was eighteen but has recently returned. She has hopes to become a freelance photographer and has plans to photograph ‘murder houses’. Central to the project is the draughty house overlooking the bay where in August 2001 carpenter John Craigie had murdered his entire family, including Cath’s best friend, Shirley, and then died in a single vehicle accident.

The house is now occupied by Alice Rahman, a financial analyst, who has come up from London to live on the remote island. Cath and Alice become friends and begin to look into certain inconsistencies about the Craigie case.

They discover that John Craigie was secretly obsessed with the Victorian fairy painter, Richard Dadd. In addition, when he was a boy John’s grandmother had told him tales of Queen Mab and the Faerie folk, the Good Neighbours of local folklore. These stories had left a powerful impression upon John. Yet how do these factors relate to the murders, if indeed he was the murderer? The case had been closed with his death.

Throughout the novel Cath has many memories of her former life on the island. She also has an inner dialogue with the deceased Shirley, who always has a snappy comeback and is quite philosophical about her non-corporeal status.

My first glance at the cover design incorporating elements of Richard Dadd’s iconic painting, ‘The Fairy Feller’s Master Stroke’ drew me strongly to this novel. I had enjoyed Nina Allan’s 2019 novel, ‘The Dollmaker’ and was interested in reading more of her writing.

Overall, I found this an unusual and intriguing mystery, quite low-key and focused on its characters as well as the evocative setting of the Scottish island as much as the original murders. I adored the way in which folklore was skilfully woven into the narrative as well as its down-to-earth appreciation of the Unseen.

Highly recommended.

Wow! What a read. I will definitely be reading more books by Nina Allan. I loved the opening where we see Cathy and Shirley as teens getting ready to go out, doing normal teenage things. We then see Cathy as an adult embarking on a project which takes her back to her childhood island home and the scene of a horrific crime. The characters in this are so interesting and have so many layers- I loved this book and raced to the end.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest, independent review.

Cath works in a record shop, but hopes to become a freelance photographer. Her new project is photographing murder houses. She returns to the Scottish island where she grew up for the first time since she left at age 18, where she photographs the home of her childhood friend, Shirley, who was murdered alongside her mother and younger brother when she was a teenager.

Befriending Alice, the new owner of the property, Cath tries to get to the bottom of what really happened to Shirley, and if Shirley's father was really the true murderer.

This book was well written and the descriptions of the scenes were particularly strong - I felt like I was on a Scottish isle myself and could really picture it.

However, I found the novel disjointed and hard to follow. It felt a little rushed at times, particularly the speed at which Cath and Alice's friendship developed. I didn't connect with any of the characters, so didn't really feel invested in the outcome. I was left feeling dissatisfied with the ending.

I did like the folklore weaved in with crime.

Others might enjoy it, but it was sadly not for me.

Cath spent her teenage years on the Scottish island of Bute where her best friend was murdered along with her family. The girl's father died in a car crash and was subsequently assumed guilty of the multiple murder. Now in her mid 30s and attempting to make a career in photography Cath returns to Bute and gets caught up in trying to find out what really happened twenty years ago.
The author describes the island (which I know personally) really well both in terms of the sense of place and of what it is like to live on the island. Cath is a well crafted character with her own flaws and insecurities. The central plot line around the unfolding of what happened is a good read. I particularly liked Cath's 'conversations' with her dead friend, imagining what she would have said in particular circumstances. This technique was also used effectively to imagine what other friends and family would say.
I was less convinced by the friendship which Cath forms on the island with the woman who now lives in her friend's house and felt this was an unnecessary complication. The title of the book refers to the phrase used by some people to refer to fairies. Belief in fairies was a theme in the novel but I did not find it particularly strong or adding to the plot.
Overall this was an enjoyable read which I would rate as 3.5 and will round up to 4 for the purpose of the starring system. My thanks to the publisher for sending me a complimentary ARC of this book via Net Galleyn return for an honest review.

This book was an ok read but really I found it a little disjointed and hard to follow. It’s a shame really as I’d hoped for better which is why I only gave it two stars. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Starting work on her new project - photographing murder houses - she returns to the island where she grew up for the first time since she left for Glasgow when she was just eighteen. The Isle of Bute is embedded in her identity, the draughty house that overlooked the bay, the feeling of being nowhere, the memory of her childhood friend Shirley Craigie and the devastating familicide of her family by the father, John Craigie. Arriving at the Craigie house, Cath finds that it's occupied by Financial Analyst Alice Rahman. Her bid to escape the city lifestyle, the anxiety she felt in that world, led her to leave London and settle on the island. The strangeness of the situation brings them closer, leading them to reinvestigate the Craigie murder. Now, within the walls of the Craigie house, Cath can uncover the nefarious truths and curious nature of John Craigie: his hidden obsession with the work of Richard Dadd and the local myths of the fairy folk.

I think the cover firstly needs to be discussed on this one. Never have I seen such an intricate cover. The detail on the cover makes me speechless. If I had not been sent a copy of this book, I would have instantly have bought it based on cover alone.

The synopsis on this book reads as a crime novel and whilst it does have the making of a crime novel, it is so much more than that!

The book is so original and centred around mythology.

I was absolutely memorised by this book and have to be careful in my review so not to spoil it for future readers

The book is full of secrets and well plotted

I do have reservations that this book probably won’t be for anyone, but anyone who is a fan of domestic noir and fantasy will probably fall in love with this book as I did