3.5 rounded down

I enjoyed Allan's latest novel, which is quite aptly described in the blurb a 'domestic noir' - but with (this part being my own description) added fairies!

Cath, a photographer living in Glasgow returns to the Isle of Bute as part of her new project photographing so-called 'murder houses'. The one that obsesses her most is that of her childhood friend, Shirley, who was murdered with her mother and younger brother in her teens. Cath left the island soon after and hasn't returned since. She befriends Alice, the new owner of the property, and begins trying to get to the bottom of what really happened to Shirley and her family, and whether Shirley's dad (the longtime suspect) was actually the perpetrator.

My rating is rounded down because I wanted something *more* from the novel - the resolution of Cath and Alice's relationship felt hurried and like something was missing, and given the focus that was put on this earlier in the novel this left me a tiny bit dissatisfied. I should also stress that the fairy content is minimal and mostly confined to one section in the middle of the novel (in case that isn't your thing!). I'd be keen to check out more of Allan's writing in the future.

The Good Neighbours is a masterful work of speculative literary fiction about a mysterious murder on a Scottish island and the nefarious influence of the fairy people known as 'the good neighbours’. The facts of the case were straightforward, or at least they appeared to be. Cath works in a record shop in Glasgow and has an unorthodox hobby: in her spare time she photographs ‘murder houses’. The root of her fascination with buildings in which sinister deaths have occurred can be traced back to her teenage years on a Scottish island, when her best friend Shirley Craigie was murdered in August 2001, along with her mother and her three-year-old brother, in their family home. They died from gunshot wounds, and the fact that Shirley was found in the garden, with scratches on her limbs, suggested she had tried desperately to escape. The obvious suspect, at the time, was Shirley’s father – a belligerent, strange and controlling man who was found dead in his pickup truck having crashed into a stone wall on the A844 on the island’s west coast.

It was this discovery that led the police to the other bodies. It seemed to be an open and shut case: John Eamon Craigie, a violent eccentric who believed in kelpies, redcaps, fairies and elves, murdered his wife and children in cold blood; but Cath never quite bought this version of events and wonders, too, if the distraction caused by the events of 9/11 meant the police failed to look elsewhere. Over ten years later, seeking closure and still reeling from the end of an affair with a married photography tutor, Cath takes a three-month break from work and returns to the island. She takes her camera and rents an apartment on the island. She goes to Shirley’s house, intending to photograph it and befriends its current resident – a woman named Alice, who guesses that Cath’s interest in the place is linked to the murders. Alice doesn’t believe in ghosts and isn’t bothered by the history of the house, but she is troubled in other ways.

Cath begins to re-investigate alternatives to the accepted story of the Craigie deaths and starts to seriously doubt that John Eamon Craigie was a murderer. But if he didn’t kill his family, who did? This is a compulsive and captivating crime novel and as with of Allan’s books she manages to do a little genre-bending as this is a mystery-thriller but still featuring her trademark speculative/fantasy elements such as fairie mythology and of course with all of the philosophical wisdom and asides and attention to detail throughout you get much more substance than included in your bog-standard crime thriller. The mystery at its heart is superbly plotted, emotionally resonant and intriguing so much so that I was torn between racing through it and savouring the Nina Allan experience. A beguiling, richly atmospheric read with a stunning sense of time and place and a genuine mystical element to it. Highly recommended.

The Good Neighbours is a novel about a photographer, Cath, returning to her childhood home of the Isle of Bute to explore her own past and undertake an investigation of the murder of her best friend and her best friend’s family twenty years previously. Cath meets up with and befriends Alice, the Londoner who has bought the murder house.

The present day storyline is interwoven with scenes from the past and influenced (maybe malignly) by the fairy folk - the eponymous Good Neighbours of the title. The story is well written, with well drawn characters, a great sense of place and just a hint of the magical. I enjoyed the read, although the pace was a little slow for me.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

Very good book, I liked the plot which is full of secrets that become clear by the end and keep you entertained throughout the whole story.
The characters also are well developed and the setting is greatly described. This was my first Nina Allan book, but I certainly will look out for more.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

The book is intriguing by it's setting (a small Scottish island), by its main character and its story. I really enjoyed the book and, strangely, its warmth. The way the main main character handles her old friend's killing and the search for the truth isn't forced or over the top and at each page she is questioning why she cares so much and us with her. I did find the end of a bit rushed but prefer this one to the first book by the author. I cannot wait to read what she is going to write next.

I read this so quickly that by the time I’d finished it I wanted there to be more!

This isn’t quite a thriller, not quite a mystery, not quite speculative fiction and not quite a character study. But is also all of these.

Cath is a photographer working part time in a record shop, still thinking about her best friend’s Murder which happened when they were teenagers and was blamed on her best friend’s father, John. But John died after the murders were committed in an assumed suicide and the case was closed.

Cath goes back to visit the island where she grew up and meets Alice, who lives in her old best friend’s house. Cath starts to have feelings for Alice but doesn’t trust her husband Saheed. Cath photograph the old house while her and Alice try to unravel the mystery of the murder.

I liked this a lot but ended up feeling a bit lost and confused and incomplete. There was a lot going on and for me it didn’t quite all come together at the end, but I had a great time reading it.

The Good Neighbours is a compelling read about a young woman Cath whose best friend was murdered as a teenager. Shirley's dad, John Craigie was an unlikeable man, grumpy and controlling but no one expected him to murder his wife and two children and then kill himself. Now, twenty or so years later, Cath is not convinced and she returns to the Isle of Bute ostensibly to photograph the house where her friend died but she soon becomes obsessed not just with finding out what really happened but also with the new owner of the house, Alice.

I really enjoyed this book with its references to faerie folk, the Victorian painter Richard Dadd and writer Angela Carter. Bute is an island I know well as most of my childhood summer holidays were spent there and the author portrays the island beautifully. The relationship between Cath and her childhood friend is shown well both through flashbacks and through imaginary conversations Cath has with her. But it is the parts which are shown from John Craigie's point of view that really showcase the writer's skill, giving the tortured boy and man a very distinctive voice. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

"The Good Neighbours" is a sort of book of two halves. It starts out as a study of teenage friendship and island life. I loved the setting on the Isle of Bute. Cath is a quirky character, trying to find her place in the world. Weaved into the fabric of the novel are some interesting references to art, literature and mathematical theory. In particular, Nina Allan focuses on the work of Richard Dadd. I enjoyed the folklore and traditional music. The occasional Scots language sometimes didn't feel authentic to me and I found some parts jarring. I particularly liked the inclusion of an older woman in Iris and enjoyed her assertion that she never found a man that was worth the trouble! Overall, an enjoyable and intriguing read.

Nina Allan, the critically acclaimed author of The Dollmaker, skilfully weaves a haunting domestic noir about memory, obsession and trauma. It will delight both crime fans and lovers of literary fiction. This book was right down my alley! The beginning started off a bit slow for me! But like many others it quickly picked up the pace and before I knew it I was done with this great thriller!
Really enjoyed this book! Thanks NetGalley Publishers and author for this great advanced readers copy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Good Neighbours centres on Cath, who works in a record shop while pursuing her real passion, photography, on the side. When she was a teenager, her family spent a few years living on the Isle of Bute, and during that time something happened that marked her for life: the murder of her best friend Shirley by Shirley’s father, John Craigie. He also killed his wife and and Shirley’s brother Sonny, shortly before dying himself in a car crash – an act commonly believed to be suicide. When Cath returns to the island, she strikes up an uneasily intimate friendship with the woman who now lives in the Craigies’ former home. She also becomes increasingly certain he was not, in fact, the killer, and while trying to investigate the case she uncovers an incongruous fact: John Craigie believed in fairies.

Despite that, it’s arguably the least genre-inflected of Allan’s major works to date, making it a good gateway for those leery of the type of speculative literary fiction that leans heavily towards the speculative (a category that would include Allan’s first two novels). There’s a deliberate ambiguity in what Cath discovers, and what Allan shows us, about John Craigie’s beliefs. There are lots of references to the Victorian artist John Dadd, famous for his intricate paintings of fairies; his painting ‘The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke’ forms part of the gorgeous cover design. Dadd is also infamous for having murdered his father, whom he believed to be the devil. The paralells with Dadd tell us something about The Good Neighbours; it is, more than it might first appear, a story about the fragile and capricious nature of the human mind.

Meanwhile, parallels to John’s hold over his family emerge throughout the narrative – in Alice’s seemingly precarious relationship with her husband Saheed, and in the case of Mary Chant, whom Cath finds out about while photographing a different ‘murder house’. She is another murder victim and, like Shirley’s mother, another woman assumed to have been killed by her partner. When the truth is revealed, it’s both unexpected and depressingly predictable: a ‘twist’ that highlights the dangers of making assumptions, without undermining the facts of comparable real-life cases. When Cath thinks about Shirley, her lost friend comes to life; the character reads as a celebration of a vibrant young person rather than a morose portrait of a life cut short.

The few chapters in which another character’s perspective intrude are startling. Written loosely, colloquially, in part-dialect, they’re so good they’re thrilling, the kind of writing that makes the imagination run away with itself. And they illuminate this character in exactly the right way, without losing their essential enigma, that sense of an unsolvable conundrum that is the heart of this story.

I read The Good Neighbours very quickly, gulping it down as though I’d been deprived of good fiction for months (which isn’t true at all, I’ve read plenty of great books this year so far, but I have been starved of new work from Allan). I’ve been cursing the miserable weather lately, yet I was glad of a gloomy day on which to curl up with this book. I do want, and need, to read it again, though, to properly get under the skin of the story and discover the nuances I may have missed.

🔔 New Review 🔔
🧚‍♀️ Due for release 10th June 🧚‍♀️

The Good Neighbours by Nina Allan published by @riverrun_books

Cath is a photographer who works in a record store and photographs Murder Houses. Cath also grew up on a remote island off the coast of Scotland, and dreamt of leaving the island along with her best friend Shirley Cragie as soon as she was able.

Shirley didn't make it though. Her entire family was gunned down in their home in the early 00s. The main suspect was her father John, who is believed to have committed suicide shortly after.

Cath decides to head back to the island after almost 20 years to photograph the Cragie house. Queue and try to find some closure.

Did you know The Good Neighbours is another term for Faerie Folk. Legend has it that Johnny Cragie knew Queen Mab.

I give this book a sure fire 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ it is extremely well written, clever and has a lot of mystery and intrigue.

My first Nina Allan - and it won’t be my last! I’ll have to go back and read her others now. I requested this after hearing that Richard Dadd and Angela Carter both feature. They do, and it was well worth requesting!

Nina Allan's books are among my favourite reads of recent years so I was VERY excited to that The Good Neighbours was coming - and indeed, it's classic Allan, an apparently simply story but which proves to have many depths and currents to it.

We first meet Cath, whose story this (mainly) is, getting ready, with her friend Shirley Craigie, for a Saturday trip to the Big Town. Shirley's doing her makeup, Cath, less daring, just her nails. There's a warm teenage friendship between the two young women which comes over strongly in this first scene and to which Allan returns again and again. The detail is goods: as the two leave they hear Shirley's mum Susan singing 'like Lizzie Dreams on Playdays' and this moves on to a memory of her (jealous, overprotective?) dad, John.

Cath and Shirley live on an island, not hopelessly remote but a ferry ride away from the mainland, and then a bus trip into town, which as it happens is Glasgow. That gives the day a bit of a frisson - if you miss the ferry, you're stranded - as does the girls' sneaking into a bar for vodka and Shirley's nicking a camisole from a shop. Looming behind that, though, is John's attitude of control and general disapproval. (Cath's parents don't like her spending time at Shirley's house).

Fast forward a few years and Cath is working in a Glasgow record shop and trying to establish herself as a photographer. She's in a dead-end affair with a married man, and Shirley is nowhere on the scene. Cath is working on a photograph project to document "murder houses" - places where killings have taken place. We see her examine a house in Glasgow, delving into the case - the victim and her background, and the presumed murderer. Then she decides to return to the island - where the house she's interested in is that one we saw at start of the book, Shirley's, house, where she, her mother, and her little brother were murdered by John Craigie.

I loved the way that, in this story, Allan shows us Cath essentially being stuck. What happened back on the island derailed her life, turning her from a straightford path - school high flier, good university, good job - to... something else. The delicacy of the way Allan does this is impossible to explain without oversimplifying. It's not "my childhood friend was murdered and I never came to terms with that" (though that is true). It's more about understanding, knowing, seeing. Part of that is learning what actually happened to Shirley and her family - there is an official account but it doesn't satisfy Cath - but part is also about appreciating her, Caths's, own place in everything. Was what happened, at some level, her fault? Cath decides to find out - not only by viewing the house where everything happened (now owned by Alice, a financial analyst seeking refuge from London) but also by looking into the background (which proves surprisingly shifty).

That makes the story sound like a crime novel and if you want to see it that way, it is a fine crime novel. But there is much more to it. Allan's novels often come with hidden wiring - they may allude to nested fictional worlds either overtly (such as through stories-within-stories) or implicitly through themes of craft or artistic accomplishment, skills which create their own worlds or make gateways to others. The Good Neighbours is apparently more straightforward but it still has at its centre a whiff of strangeness.

There is a man - Craigie - who cannot read, but seems to have had a rare talent for working in wood ('wood was warmer than stone and wood was kind') and who has encoded his life in some sense in a doll's house (but the dolls themselves are missing). Similarly, Alice has formidable talent for maths - her breakdown is connected with her (mis?)using this in finance. Dovetailing with that are speculations about "many worlds" quantum mechanics and its possible links to fairy, supported by the parallel careers of (real) Victorian painter Richard Dadd and (fictitious) linguist and mathematician Mabel Konig, both of who returned from trips to the Near East with changed perspectives on art, nature and reality.

All of this creates a sense of something strange which remains tantalisingly close, yet impossible to grasp. So, again, you could focus on those aspects of the novel and see it as fantasy/ SF. But while that background, and the theme of the "Good Neighbours" themselves, in folklore, in Craigie's early life and in Alice's family stories, are always present here, like a river flowing nearby - stop and listen for a moment and you can hear it running - they are not "all" the story. In reality I think this book is a wonderful dance of all those themes, and more, for example Craigie's violence and controlling behaviour (both their origins and the failure of an apparently close-knit community - in fact, more than one - to confront that). This in turn has echoes I think in Alice's relationship with her partner, something we only see in glimpses.

There are some secrets here, which emerge in their own good time, so, yes, in some sense what actually happened is clear by the time the book closes, but the joy of this chewy, intricately textured novel is the journey to that point, rather than any satisfaction at having a mystery solved. It is a book to be read slowly and savoured and indeed, re-read. I would strongly recommend and I think (while it is still early days!) this will be one of my favourites of 2021.