I loved this book and it ticked all my boxes. I found it very readable and a book I was always wanting to get back to. For me a perfect read. Why not five stars I found one small part confusing. I actually feel mean about that. To explain would be a spoiler. It doesn't matter because the story settles down again and gets clearer. Perhaps it is good to have something to ponder on and question otherwise I might as well have written the story! The plot has been very well thought out. Reading each page I was alerted to danger, yet it all seemed proportional, the suggestion just kept me gripped. Would this all work out well?
This is definitely a book I would recommend to my friends.

Wow! This book is soooo clever, sooo engrossing, and totally brilliant.

You immediately connect with the characters, feel all the emotions being thrown at you and wrenched to the core as the plot unfolds, especially when you make the connection of who Lorna´s mother is.

It´s really cleverly written, full of twists, tugging you one way and then another.

I will certainly be reading more from this author from now on.

Highly recommended!

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for allowing me the opportunity to read an advanced copy in return for giving an honest review.

A book that pulls you in from the start. The different POV's and intertwining of the story really makes it an enticing read which I happened to read in one sitting. The twists, turns love and betrayal is all I expected and more and I could not recommend this as a read more strongly!

Brilliant story! This is the story of a couple who move into a cottage and find they have 2 bodies buried in their garden. The story unfolds to find out who the bodies are, how they got there and the story behind them. The book draws you in from the start. It’s full of twists and turns and surprises with an unexpected ending. There’s quite a few characters in the story, which I usually find off putting but not in this case. All the characters are relevant and all add important content in making you understand what has happened. The story flows and I found myself wanting to read on and on, a bit annoying when my lunch break was over! I have one niggle though- some of the lines weren’t justified and in parts there was only a couple of words on a line, this interrupted the flow of reading for me.

The couple at number 9 are Saffy and Tom.

Number 9 belonged to Rose, Saffy's beloved grandma. Saffy and her mum, Lorna knew nothing of the cottage until Rose had to go into a home when her Dementia became too much. That's when they found out that Rose had left the cottage to Lorna, but living in Spain, Lorna had no need for the cottage and transferred it to Saffy.

Still with me?

Saffy and Tom are expecting a baby and are renovating the cottage. This includes having an extension built but it is during the digging for foundations that a grisly discovery is made. A discovery that looks like a body.

The police are called and the garden of Number 9 is declared a crime scene.
The police need to speak to everyone who has ever lived at number 9. Including Rose, the gran with dementia. But surely she won't know anything about the body - didn't she rent the cottage out?

Lorna's mum flies back to England to support Saffy during this stressful time and they both begin to piece together some facts that Lorna had forgotten.

This is a book full of secrets, surprises and twists. At times, I struggled due to the sheer amount of names being used (Theo, Victor, Jean etc) and the fact that we're seeing this from the POV of Rose in the past and Saffy and Lorna in the present. But if you take your time, to get the characters set in your mind, you are rewarded with a very satisfying book.

This is the story of Saffy and Tom. They inherit a small cottage from Saffy’s grandmother who has recently been admitted into a care home after being diagnosed with dementia. Saffy and Tom start doing renovations to the cottage. In the process the builders find two bodies in the garden. Who do the bodies belong to and does Saffy’s grandmother know anything about them and how they ended up there?

I really enjoyed this book. There was several mysteries that needed to be solved within this story. It is told from several points of view both past and present. I thought that it was very cleverly written and I always enjoy a book when I am surprised by the ending.

Quite a different read this was, more mystery to begin with, which quietly raised the tension and danger across the scenes, making it a thrilling dark suspense.

A young couple Saffy and Tom moved into her grandmother's old home, and the renovations revealed two bodies, a man and a woman, in the garden. That was just the beginning of their woes. They couldn't ask the grandma who had dementia and was in nursing care.

As Saffy and her mother Lorna started joining some of the pieces together new threats and seemingly unrelated characters made their way into the story, adding to the intensity of suspense.

With multiple POVs, the author did a fabulous job of linking them well seamlessly. I could easily follow everyone's train of thoughts and reveals. The author sure gave me crumbs to whet my appetite and invested in the plotline.

As some of the events of the past unfirles, I could easily guess the ending, though a couple of twists were quite a surprise.

Quite a delicious read overall.

A fantastic, chilling, thrilling read by the fantastic Ms Douglas. Young couple Saffy and Tom have moved into a cottage they have been gifted by Saffy’s mother, who is currently residing in Spain with her toyboy lover. They are renovating the cottage when the builders find bodies in their back garden.

The story is told from the point of view of Saffy, Lorna (her mother), Rose (her grandmother) and Theo. The story flits between 1980 and the present day. Although not fast paced it is by no means a slow burner and kept my attention throughout as the author drip feeds information to you. In fact, I was feeling rather pleased with myself on more than one occasion when I thought I had sussed out the parts of the story only for the author to reveal the same on the next page!

A highly recommended read. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced read copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Another great book by Claire Douglas. This one did not disappoint! The story shifts from present day to the 1980's which keeps you on your toes, but it's fairly easy to keep up with each character's story.
I loved the twists and turns in this book. It made me want to keep reading to the very end.

Twist after Twist! Wow this book had me totally gripped from the start and I didn't want to put it down.
The mystery of the bodies under the patio was intriguing enough with the added drama of the intertwined relationships of Saffy & Lorna's family & the people they discovered along the way making the book compelling reading.
Thus is the first book that I have read by this author but I will definitely read more now as it is one of the best books that I have read in a long time.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the Publisher for allowing me to read in exchange for an honest review.

Saffron and Tom.

That’s the couple.

This book is so well thought out, so fantastically structured with never ending anxiety leading me away from my every day life into The Couple At No.9. I literally (in my head) was living in that house!

I was anxious, I was scared, and I was worried. Yes worried. Saffron is pregnant and going through all these stressful times.

Skelton Place was an inheritance to Saffy. Saffy and her Mother knew nothing of this cottage until Rose, Saffys grandmother was moved into a home. She now has Alzheimer’s so she’s in and out of reality on her remembering things. Saffy adores her Grandmother.

Imagine this, there you are pruning roses with Tom, her husband, undertaking renovations and making No.9 their own little family dream cottage. Who wouldn’t be happy.

But bodies have been found in the depths of the garden. Of course, they report it.
Investigations take place, but it’s ok isn’t it? They’ve been there for 30 years or more! Oh my god, no, not ok. I’d be having the eebie geebies for sure! I probably wouldn’t sleep.

Hang on. Would Rose her Grandmother know anything about this? Was she living or renting out the cottage at that time?

Rose has Alzheimer’s.


My honest thoughts with this?
I read this on ebook I NEED this book physically on my shelf. I need to own this book.
It’s definitely a top 5 for me. It ticked all my boxes.

I couldn’t think of nothing else whilst reading this.
I stayed up later than I should have to try to finish this.
I didn’t see all the revelations in this story.
The plot was so well crafted.
The characters were so realistic.
Loved the way the follow on characters were introduced.

I can’t praise this enough.

If you love a good plot. Not exceptionally fast paced but definitely not boring or dipping in any way throughout. Have characters where some you love and some you shouldn’t but do because in a weird way you understand them, but you then wonder WHATS WRONG WITH ME, I should be angry, cross, not like this person at all!

That’s what made me understand Saffy. Yet I also understood Saffys Mom.

You need to read this.

A compelling mystery which is highly relatable. A young couple are gifted a cottage which used to belong to the wife’s grandmother, now in a care home and suffering from dementia. Excavations to build an extension reveal two bodies buried in the garden. The story is seen from the viewpoint of the young woman, her mother and her confused grandmother, with plenty of twists and turns along the way towards the reveal of the identity of the two bodies, what happened to them and the links to the three generations of women. With thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow what a fantastic read. When Lorna inherits a cottage she gifts it to her daughter and her partner. It is in a lovely village and Saffron and Tom start to renovate the property and when the builder's discover human remains buried in the garden they are both shocked and devastated. Dont want to spoil the story but there are many twists and so much more to uncover that will make you both shocked and saddened by the outcome. A real page Turner that doesn't disappoint and its packed with brilliant characters and is very well written. a story that grips you from the beginning. A great 5⭐read I loved it and highly recommend it

This multiple character viewpoint novel spans several decades and has a couple of well delivered surprises. On the whole it is a good novel but there was a disappointing aspect which could easily have been avoided - all maternity care in the UK is provided by midwives and obstetricians, not nurses.

I enjoyed the majority of the book, although I did feel it tailed off a bit towards the end. However, I did think it was well written, and would recommend it to others.

I really enjoyed this book! I read it fairly quickly, it was a definite page turner. I found saffy a little annoying in the beginning but I loved lorna’s character. I definitely was surprised at the ending, did not see it coming!
Really nice thriller by Douglas!

This book certainly did not not disappoint, well written and thoroughly enjoyable, Claire Douglas has done it again! A story full of intrigue, twists and plots. The characters were well rounded and gave the plot depth. Although I guessed the big twist quite early on, it did not detract from the superb storyline at all, and there were plenty of other little twists to intrigue and surprise. One or two questions I would ask the author, but don’t want to spoil the story for new readers. One thing, why no. 9, didn’t this all happen at no. 10? Did I miss something? Nevertheless, excellent book, thank you NetGalley.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Claire Douglas is one of my favourite authors. I have all of her books and I always know I’m guaranteed a fab read. This one is no exception. This book has all the usual trademarks that I love from Claire. Intricate characters, attention to detail and of course an absorbing mystery/thriller full of twists and turns and I literally did t want to put it down. I will be buying a physical copy of this for my bookshelf as soon as it becomes available. Would highly recommend.

Extremely cleverly plotted thriller that kept my interest throughout. Initially, I was a bit apprehensive - an easy read, certainly, I thought, as we opened with sweet Saffron pruning the roses in her new home, looking forward to the arrival of her baby with her (obviously) lovely partner Tom, when - surprise surprise - the builders working on the extension find a body in her yard. But, as the story progressed and more, arguably more interesting, characters were introduced, I found myself hooked. Dementia, family secrets, illicit love and identity - all are smartly dealt with in a story that might occasionally flirt with tweeness, but never fails to deliver in page-turner pleasure.

Tqlk about a killer ending! This boom has a final twist that will have you amazed you never saw it coming.... and yet it completely blindside you. A very well written and realistic thriller that really could happen to anyone, which is what makes it so scary. It gets under you skin and you won't be able to stop until you've finished the book and gotten to the bottom of the mystery. There are twists and turns a plenty and it's definitely worth a read