Cover Image: The Girl at My Door

The Girl at My Door

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Member Reviews

I really enjoyed this Audio book.
The story is set in the late 1940's and focus's on the friendship of Queenie Osbourne a budding night club singer who is moving on to better things after getting a recording contract in America and her best friend from childhood Joy .

Throw into the mix Rillington Place killer John Reginald Christie and you have a real thriller , I loved how the author portrayed Christie and how he fitted into the whole story line
The narrator was really good and portrayed him so well I took an instant dislike to him
I don't want to give any spoilers so will say if you like a good thriller here it is

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First off, the book cover for this one is very deceiving - and the title for that matter.

It’s nothing about a girl at my door and it was not a thriller at all. It was more of a historical drama with a killer thrown in.

It was average-ly okay for a historical drama, terrible cover/title for the book (misleading) so wouldn’t highly recommend this at all.

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I feel the cover didn’t match the book with this one, I expected a typical thriller but I didn’t feel like it was that. I liked that it was set in the past and how the story flowed, it just wasn’t what I was expecting.

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*I had technical difficulties downloading my ebook from NetGalley. This is a review of an ebook version purchased elsewhere."

Queenie, a big-personality singer with big dreams, and her friend sensitive friend Joy find themselves entangled in some serious drama. Their friendship is stretched thin, and all the while, a killer watches.

This is a s-l-o-w burn. I didn't feel that hook, that need to find out what happened because, well, nothing did happen for the longest time. There was so much surrounding Queenie, Joy, and Terrence's friendship/drama that when I got to the John Christie chapters, I thought, "Oh yeah. Forgot about that." It felt more like a mashup than one fluid story. I just couldn't get into it. I wanted to, but I couldn't.

If you want a fast-paced thriller or a true crime story that'll make you bite your nails to the quick, give this one a pass. If you like dark historical drama with an element of danger, though, The Girl at My Door is for you.

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The Girl at My Door by Rebecca Griffiths is a chilling thriller set in post war London. This book follows two friends and a man who stalks around town.

This one is dark and scary! If that’s not for you skip, but if you love a surprising thriller then this is your next read or listen!

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Based on a real post-WWII serial killer in London, this book opens in 1949. In addition to the killer's perspective, the author offers a few other voices in the jazz nightclub scene - from Queenie, a singer, her friend, Joy, and Terence, a drummer with a secret life of his own. The relationships between them adds to the overall drama, as their lives brush against that of the killer.

Well-performed, this is an engaging listen - although it's overall rather depressing. The added characters more thoroughly depict the historical setting which feels well-researched. The conclusion comes a bit off-sides, making this overall not quite as satisfying as I had hoped. I was unfamiliar with the real case, so I do wonder how it will be received who are more familiar with the real details. I just wish that the ending had been a bit more showing and less of a summary. The characters do come to life, though they are certainly not all likable. The performance particularly from the killer's voice is genuinely creepy and the knowledge that these crimes are rooted in truth only adds to that. It's a good listen to usher in the spooky season!

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The Girl at My Door by Rebecca Griffiths is a thriller dating back to 1949. Queenie is a singer and has worked hard her entire life. Is she putting her trust in the wrong man?

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The Girl At My Door is my first book by Rebecca Griffiths. I was captivated by the true story of John Christie, a famous serial killer in London. This story surrounds Queenie an aspiring singer soon to start her own life adventure in America with hopes of Broadway. All is well when her best friend is engaged and they begin to make wedding plans - but Queenie has an affair with the fiancé and soon Queenie needs to choose an unplanned baby and admit to the betrayal of her dear friend, or give up her career. This brings Queenie to the doorstep of John Reginald Christie who locates his victims by stalking, lurking in the background nearly invisible on city streets or he finds ways to insert himself in their lives as patrolmen or doctors. In Queenie's case he is posing as a physician who can take care of her unwanted pregnancy. I enjoyed the story as put forth by Griffiths, but I struggled with the voices of the audiobook. I have spent some time determining my advice on this one and feel I can confidently still suggest true crime fans pick up this book - preferably in printed format. I received an ARC of this book, all opinions are my own.

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I have a huge fascination for true crime as well as historical fiction so this sounded right up my street!
The book starts with an intriguing opening and certainly gave me creepy vibes.
This soon gave way to a slow burn (I definitely struggle with these type of thrillers) but hoped the intrigue would support it along the way.
Sadly, this didn't really happen and I did struggle with staying interested. It wasn't the book I was expecting or hoping for.

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Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for allowing me to listen to this audiobook.

My honest opinion was that I struggled to get into this audiobook. I had a lot of moments where it seemed to drag out and I couldn't particularly get into it as much as I would have liked.

I loved the idea and the overall story - but didn't love the execution for this audiobook which seemed to fall flat for me.

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I listened to the audiobook of The Girl at My Door. This book was inspired by a true crime story of the Rillington Place Killer although the characters in this book are fictional. The story takes place in London in 1949. It tells the story of two friends that are very beautiful. Queenie dreams of becoming a singer in America and Joy is engaged to a wealthy man. Queenie and Joy's fiance are attracted top each other and ultimately betray Joy. The two girls are unaware that there is a man that had followed them from the park and is now stalking them. There have been a number of young woman killed and the girls need to take safety precautions. I had a little trouble getting into this book.

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I was expecting a true crime ‘faction’ novel based on the life of real life criminal John Reginald Christie, filling out the characters of his unfortunate victims.
However, this book used the character of Christie as a sinister background character, a prop on which to hang a rather ordinary post-war historical romance.

The story is told from several points of view and revolves around the actions of two girls living in London. The writing is quite good at portraying the atmosphere of the bomb-damaged city and its seedy night life but the girls are standard characters with little depth. The narrative is quite repetitive with plenty of hand-wringing anxiety but not much true insight.
The character I liked best was Queenie’s friend Terry but just as his story- arc seems to be culminating in a peak of tension the author suddenly seems to remember that the story is supposed be about a real criminal.
And then we have moved on a few years to the epilogue and everything seems to have sorted itself out.

I am not really a fan of true crime and the parts of this book told from John Reginald Christie’s point of view were just a bit too creepy for me.
This was for the most part due to the excellent narration by Jonathan Keeble.
I was less impressed with narration by Daphne Kouma. She did very well with the accents and voices of the two main female characters, Joy and Queenie, but there was not a lot of differentiation between the other female characters and towards the end distinct voice of Terry seemed to get a lost. Also there was an occasional mispronunciation or strange emphasis that muddled the understanding of a sentence.

3 stars for both the story and the narration.

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The story was about two friends, a homosexual, and a killer in London, 1949. Fictional characters in the true crime story of the Rillington Place killer John Reginald Christie.

This was the story of
Queenie and her best friend Joy, but Queenie didn't act like that. She was extremely jealous of Joy and slept with her fiance then got regret! Queenie was the biggest unpleasant part of this book to me.

The hard time for living as a homosexual. Terence, Queenie's friend, was under pressure and had to suffer. His tension was beautifully described.

Reg Christie is obsessed with Joy. His voice was creepy and chillish. I wish he and his act was the main of the story.

This audiobook and Narrators were great, I really enjoyed listening to them. I just couldn't find it really a thriller, presence of the killer was clear and short, the story mostly was about other characters. Overall this wasn't about the life of a serial killer. Which wasn't bad, I like the historical elements in any kind of book. Also, there was suspense and creepy moments.

Many thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me a chance of listening to The Girl at My Door by Rebecca Griffiths Narrated by Jonathan Keeble, Daphne Kouma, I have given my honest review.

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I have to say, this may have been my favourite read of 2021! I loved everything about this story - Queenie was brilliant! One minute I liked her, the next I didn't but I also felt quite sorry for her. I was never sure whether she was just a lost/unloved soul or a narcissist ha ha -- I love those types of characters. And the audio version of this book is INCREDIBLE!! Having the dual narrators just brought this story alive and Christie was read perfectly - I got chills! A deliciously dark, twisty and absolutely addictive read, I can't wait to read more from this author. #FanGirlMoment!!

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Inspired by the true crime story of the Rillington Place killer John Reginald Christie, this is a chilling mystery based on a fictional cast of characters. 

If you enjoyed “The Devil In the White City” by Erik Larson, then you must read this book!
I wish I could give it more than 5 stars. It's been a while since I’ve found a mystery story that kept me up all night, racing to the ending even while I didn’t want it to end. It was everything a good mystery should be. Each character; a full, breathing human, who you cared about.
John Reginald Christie was more horrid than history can ever paint him. Hearing his plans, his deeds, were enough for the reader to want him killed before he hurt anyone we’ve become so attached to.

The writing was superb. I felt like I was in the dark streets of London in the 60’s while this all went on around me.

I listened to this as an audiobook, and that just made it more compelling with the marvelous job done by the narrators, Daphne Kouma and Jonathan Keeble.

Highly recommended! Rebecca Griffiths deserved to be the next big mystery writer. I, for one, plan to read whatever I can find under her name.

Thanks to @NetGalley, Hachette UK – Bookouture, and Rebecca Griffiths for this eArc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

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I got about 30% in on this as an audiobook and just couldn’t get into it. The plot sounded very intriguing but it just took too long to develop and hook me. The narrators were both great and I appreciated having a male and female for both parts.

Thank you NetGalley for the copy in exchange of an honest review.

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I jumped at the opportunity to listen to this audio as Johnathan Keeble is one of my favourite narrators.
This story gave me the chills in places as the narration was excellent and the story was written well.
Well written and some very good research done.

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It wasn’t spooky season yet although it definitely was spooky!

Very strong characters, female leads as well! The two voices gave an extra layer of intimacy into the mind of the murderer!

The French accents were also really well done!

It was actually really hard to have only one way about the pregnancy. It was for sure very heavy on feeling angry, sad, frustrated.

I definitely had to stop listening to it in the morning while walking through the park, that’s how good the spookiness of it was painted!

#netgalley #netgalleyaudiobooks #audiobook #bookstagram #audiobookstagram #spooky #murderer #frenchwomen #rebeccagriffiths

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This book was a bit difficult to get into., I have a really hard time with the trope of women getting pregnant and then being punished by society. I was hoping for a bit more, but the book just didn't pull me in the way I wanted i tto.

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I really enjoyed listening to the Audiobook version of The Girl at My Door.

The story is an adaptation from the real life true crime story of the Rillington Place murders. The story is set in 1949 and follows the life of Queenie, a beautiful young singer who is set on moving to the big city. Much to her surprise, her best friend Joy announces her engagement to Charles, a wealthy bachelor. As preparations for the wedding are underway, Joy is beyond happy and could not have asked for a better life. However, there is a spark between Charles and Queenie, which leads to a night where the ultimate act of betrayal occurs. Following this, Queenie finds herself pregnant with Charles' baby, and with no one to turn to, ends up right outside the door of John Christie. He was known, through various pipelines, to help women that were in Queenie's predicament. However, standing outside his door, Queenie feels instantly threatened. Little does she know, John Christie has long awaited a day where she would show up at his door, for one reason or another.

This was such an incredible book! So happy I had the chance to listen to it and follow the story. Rebecca Griffiths really brought out the story through allowing the reader to become attached to the characters of Joy, Queenie and Terence. Through their lens, the threat and danger that John Christie posed was much more apparent and made me as a reader feel such unease whenever his lurking presence entered the scene. I also liked how Griffiths explored the mind of a killer, through allowing the reader to glimpse inside Christie's head and see how he perceived the women that ultimately became his victims. The narration within the audiobook was spot on and really made me feel that I was part of the story myself and made me want to scream at some of the characters and reach out and hug others! What was particularly striking and truly broke my heart listening was the fate that Joy suffered in the end, and how her storyline ended. She was one of my favourite characters, albeit a tiny bit naive, but my favourite none the less. I was also very fond of Terence, and his loyalty to Queenie and how he always supported and had her back no matter what, which led him to come face to face with Christie, and caused a domino effect in his life.

Queenie, on the other hand, was a character that I really loved at first, but I then later grew to dislike, and at the very end of the book, I liked her again. She really took me through mixed feelings that woman!!! I found her quite selfish in nature, and there was a jealousy she felt towards Joy which really did not correspond with the fact that she was Joy's best friend. Queenie and Charles made a terrible mistake towards Joy and what irked me a lot was that in those times a woman was shamed and the questions of 'How could you?' or 'What were you thinking?' were always splashed around. The secret about the affair was to protect Charles and his reputation, but nothing was done to protect Queenie's, and even landed her to the desperation of going to Christie of all individuals. Yet, there was a selfishness in Queenie's character that led her to act the way he she did, in the (perhaps) jealousy over the life that Joy would have, which was odd as it seemed Queenie was set on her dreams of reaching the United States and having a life of performing! So it seems she wanted to prove it would be her that was chosen by Charles and that she had the power to overcome Joy in this - yet what transpired was that this backfired.

I could go on, but I feel you'd be reading until Christmas! I really enjoyed this listen and I truly recommend this book to all, especially thriller and historical fiction lovers as it does combine aspects of historical events in the sense of the true crime story, but also is a thriller. I really enjoy books based on or that draw inspiration from real life occurrences or that re-tell a real life event in a fictional manner. Thank you Rebecca Griffiths for this amazing book! I cannot wait to read more of her work!

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