2 confusing stars

I really wanted to love this one as I usually enjoy Sophie Hannah’s work, but this one is not as good as others I’ve read by her. The premise is there, but the execution falls flat.

Of course, there’s a murder in this one, at an exclusive resort for couples. The murdered woman received warning notes and had a bizarre meltdown at dinner. Shortly after, Jane’s body is discovered. Whodunnit? It’s all a bit complicated as Jane is the daughter of Lord Ian, the owner of the resort. She’s supposed to be on her honeymoon, but her husband’s ex-wife is also staying at the resort. Lucy has no good feelings toward Jane, so she is an immediate suspect. Her husband was also there, he’s a suspect too.

We get snippets of what happened that night, but the case is still open six months later. Simon Waterhouse is investigating, plodding through all the details. Maybe that’s where this book falls apart for me. There are so many couples and theories and no way that I could have figured out what really happened. I struggled to keep track of who was who and keep losing the plot.

Alas, this was not the book for me. However, I will gladly read the next Sophie Hannah book in the hopes that it is a great one!

Jane is murdered on her honeymoon. She had received a note telling her to ‘beware the table nearest to you’. But all the tables we’re equidistant. In addition, only her new husband William was in the room when she was murdered and everyone else was outside.

There were 6 couples at the select upmarket resort owned by Jane’s father. As well as William and Jane, they included Lucy (previously married to William)and her new partner and Sophie Hannah’s detective team - DC Simon Waterhouse and his wife Sgt Charlie Zailer.

6 months on and Jane’s murder hasn’t been solved. Waterhouse is obsessed with the crime but his boss seems to have given up. Lucy can’t get it out of her mind either. William accuses Lucy and Lucy thinks it was William. There is no evidence it was either. The start of the book probably reflects the reality of the case. Circular arguments and dead ends. It’s all quite frustrating.

Then Lucy breaks the spell by accusing everyone anonymously. It reinvigorates the investigation, which after very many twists, turns and dead ends concludes in an Agatha Christie style ‘everyone in the room’ announcement. Everything changes when Waterman starts to look at the couples and events through a different lens,

It’s an intriguing premise and an old fashioned murder mystery set in modern times. There’s not much conventional police work and while I had an inkling of the ending I still wasn’t sure until the story was told.

I found the early chapters and Lucy’s monologues slow going but then the pace changed and I raced through to the end and was pleased I had.

Many thanks to NetGalley uk and publishers Hodder and Stoughton for an advance copy in exchange for a fair review.

This was very gripping and there were a number of secrets to keep you on the edge of your seat as you read. It did feel a bit repetitive in places, when they went over evidence against, but I loved the two different timelines of the time of the murder and six months during the investigation still. The ending and the whodunnit I haven’t quite decided yet - I like that it when somewhere a bit unexpected but also felt a bit anticlimactic possibly

Thank you NetGalley and to the publishers for a copy of this book in return for a review

This book started off so strongly but then got a bit bogged down in itself before eventually finishing well. It probably didn't help that I didn't really connect well with any of the characters and so didn't really care much about them. There was also maybe, for me anyway, a little too much included that it all got a bit diluted rather than delivering the required sucked punches that I suspect the author intended.
It features an impossible murder. Jane is killed behind the back of her husband, whose seated position is proven beyond doubt. The rest of the cast are all together for the duration between last sighting and discovery of the body. So... who could have done it? Well... the police are so baffled that even they give up. For a while. Until it is all dragged up again...
And so begins what starts off as a credible re-investigation but which swiftly degenerates into a bit
of a farce as it twists and turns, meandering to a rather too neatly wrapped up conclusion at the end. I did roll my eyes and have to bite my tongue along the way as there were a few things that did make me suspend belief and also made trying to guess along with the cops very much a step too far.
Now, I'm a bit of a fan of bonkers usually but it has its place and in this genre of book it did feel a bit on an edge which jarred me along the way, meaning that as a read, it didn't flow as well as it could have done. Shame really as I usually have a good track record with this author.
All in all, a solid enough read that although didn't wholly satisfy me, it gripped me just enough for me to never contemplate giving up. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

At a luxury resort Jane and William are celebrating their honeymoon. But whilst there Jane has been upsetting the other guests and receives 2 threatening letters. After she is murdered its up to the police to decide which of the other guests was the murderer.
The story is set at the time of the murder and 6 months later, but the police don't appear to have any leads until one of the guests starts sending letters out to the others, this book was a mystery whodunit but sadly for me I really had no interest in the characters. I found some of the writing quite repetitive, I did finish the book but only to see if I had correctly guessed the murderer. The ending reminded me of a Death in Paradise episode but even that felt dragged out.
However I have read Sophies books before so I won't let this one put me off reading another. Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the opportunity to read this advanced copy, I am under no obligation to leave my honest review

‘Dear Whoever Killed Jane Brinkwood,
Dear Jane’s Murderer,
Which do you prefer?’

Is there an award for the most attention grabbing open chapter? (If not there really should be!) Well, the opening paragraphs of 'The Couple at the Table' would be a likely contender for the award.
The story opens with Lucy Dean, one of our murder suspects, penning a letter to another suspect asking that they contact her and explaining why she would like to meet. Not exactly a typical start to a mystery but certainly an attention grabbing one.
Six months earlier, all of our suspects, along with our intrepid detectives Charlie Zailer and Simon Waterhouse are on holiday at the luxurious Tevendon Estate in the Culver Valley. Grouped there we have the following:
(is an exclusive couples only resort)
Jane Brinkwood and William Gleave
Charlie Zailer and Simon Waterhouse
Lucy Dean and Pete Shabani
Polly and Jack McCallion
Caroline and Harriet Moyles-Jones
Mick and Susan Henry
and Anite Khattou (manager)

Jane Brinkwood, a recent bride on her honeymoon. Jane and WIlliam are connected to Lucy and fiancee Pete and relations between the quartet are somewhat strained when they meet. Jane soon receives a series of anonymous messages warning her to 'Beware' and to 'Beware of the couple at the table nearest to yours'. Her holiday is certainly getting off to an unpleasant start and then the murder occurs. But who is murdered and who could possibly be responsible? Especially as all of our potential killers can alibi each other so we have the 'impossible murder' typical of the classic Agatha Christie novel.
The timeline moves between events of six months ago when the murder took place and the current investigation. We are shown the events from the perspective of each group involved. In particular, Lucy and Simon. This does mean that a great deal of attention is required to follow the storyline and the clues (along with the occasional red herring) that are scattered throughout the story. This book is absolutely worth your time. I loved how the 'denouement' took place - it a a typical Poirot scenario and highly enjoyable. Read it!!!
I did not realise that there is a series of novels starring Simon and Charlie but I will be looking out for these now. However, The Couple at the Table works perfectly well as a standalone aswell as part of a series.

I was a huge fun of Sophie Hannah’s early work, with Little Face being one of my all time favourite psychological thrillers. Over the last few years however, her style seems to have changed significantly to such an extent that it reads like it’s written by a different author entirely. The complex plotting and clever twists and foreshadowing remain, and there’s no doubt she is an excellent writer, but I’m sadly not a fan of her more recent books (I enjoyed Haven’t they Grown, but unfortunately that seems to have been an exception!).

As always the idea behind this book was unique, bizarre and completely original, and the plotting was as intricate as ever. What let the book down for me was pace and characterisation. I found the characters by turns dull, self-obsessed and incredibly irritating and I just couldn’t work up the energy to care about any of them.

A lot of the narrative was basically a steam of consciousness and the amount of detail was just unnecessary. Even the opening letter to Jane’s killer was wordy and repetitive. I know Simon in particular is meant to be a somewhat obsessive character but the endless going over the position of the tables, the sketches etc .. it just didn’t hold my interest and I felt like it could have been edited down quite significantly.

I’m reluctant to say I disliked the book because, as I say, I admire Sophie Hannah greatly and I’m sure I will continue to dip into her novels, but this one wasn’t for me unfortunately.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the ARC.

This is the first book I have read from this author and I am still very 50/50 of what I actually thought about.
There were so many characters in this book, it was really hard to keep track who was who. And just to make it worse, the characters were sometimes named by their first names, then sometimes as their surnames. Then a whole bunch of other names were thrown in as well, so it really complicated things.
The chapter that focused on Simon talking about the position of the table In my opinion just went round and round in circles to the point when I almost gave up on the book.
My main positive about this book was the way it was all wrapped up - there was nothing the author didn't think of and it was very cleverly done, and left me feeling satisfied that I had the answers to everything I needed.
This book hasn't left me feeling like I need to rush out read previous books, but I have seen in lots of reviews that the authors earlier books are amazing so I havnt given up on her altogether.

Hannah pays a welcome return to the Culver Valley Crime series which is a pleasant change from her recent Poirot diversions.
A classic locked room mystery albeit set in an exclusive couples-only resort in Culver Valley with one seemingly impossible murder, four suspect couples, countless set-tos and a few red herrings. A solid page-turner, the story keeps you guessing as more information is expertly revealed. A great read.
Many thanks to the publisher for a review copy via NetGalley.

A modern take on a classic whodunnit, 6 couples find themselves at a luxury resort in England. One of the guests, who is on her honeymoon, receives threatening notes. Next thing, she’s dead and it looks likes the perfect murder has been committed.

I love Hannah’s Poirot books but this book left me confused, and irritated. It starts off with an intriguing story with suspense but that seems to dissipate quickly. I tried to like this book but the characters are infuriating and annoying (Lucy absolutely does my head in - obsessive, narcissistic, neurotic & she feels “drawn” to the killer-some sort of creepy infatuation -all very weird!).

It wasn’t obvious that this is in fact a part of a series and the two main characters (Simon & Charlie, the police officers) are so boring which would put me off reading the other books (having said that, some of the back story for these characters might have helped me engage with the story better🤷🏻‍♀️).

Too much dialogue and very repetitive (different characters mull over the same element again & again), the book could have easily been 100 pages shorter. I can appreciate how Hannah is bringing Christie’s style to the modern thriller but the amount of time it takes the detective Simon “deduce” what’s going on is so frustrating, I was shouting at the page for him to hurry up.

I didn’t find it gripping or able to hold my attention and couldn’t engage with the characters. I finished just to see who the killer was (I had figured it out within the first chapter or two). If you like a dialogue-heavy whodunnit, this book might be for you. It just didn’t do anything for me I’m afraid.

The Couple at the Table is out on the 27th of January. Thanks to @netgalley & publishers for the arc.

Rating: 2.2/5

Although it is not apparent from the accompanying blurb, this novel is actually part of a series, rather than being a standalone. However, although you may miss out slightly by not having the extra dimension of background knowledge of some of the characters, it is not so significant that you couldn't read this in isolation. I have read a number of books by Sophie Hannah over the years. Some I have thoroughly enjoyed, while others have felt more like a chore. Sadly, "The Couple at the Table" falls into the latter category. As you would expect from this author, it is intelligently written, but I also found it to be a laborious experience.

If you are able to persevere and get as far as the eventual unravelling of the mystery, it actually makes for entertaining reading and has been fairly cleverly put together. Though, that said, there are some elements of the big reveal that are more than a little tenuous and require credulity to be stretched for the reader to be able to accept the manner in which the detective arrived at his deduction.

However, I already had significant misgivings about "The Couple at the Table" well before this end point. The story is presented in a style that is very much akin to murder mysteries from the "golden age" days of yore, but with a contemporary setting - and that combination really doesn't work convincingly. You might just about get away with it in a lightweight cosy mystery, but this doesn't fit into that category either. There are other aspects that are reminiscent of a cosy mystery, particularly when the author seeks to inject some comedic elements into the narrative. These sections may well have allowed the author to express her clever wit, but it seemed as though she couldn't make up her mind whether this should be a cosy mystery or something with a little more gravitas. I am not convinced that meandering around in the middle ground was effective. But, above all of the aforementioned points, the biggest letdown for me was that it was so tedious for so long. I found myself really not caring who killed the victim, let alone what the motivation for doing so might have been - and that isn't a good sensation to have when you are reading a murder mystery!

I dare say I will be back to read Sophie Hannah again in the future, because when she gets it right, she produces very good reading matter - but this one was certainly below par.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.

I just love this series of books. The story starts with a murder that took place 6 months previously. Charlie and Simon happened to be having a mini break at the local resort where the murder took place and Simon has become obsessed with finding out who murdered Jane Brinkwood.
Jane is not a very nice person we discover. She took Lucy's husband away from her two weeks after having their daughter. Not only that, she was Lucy's Doula throughout the pregnancy and used the opportunity to spend more time with William.
Six months after the murder, William turns up on Lucy's doorstep uninvited accusing her of murdering Jane and to confess. She tells him that it wasn't her and he leaves believing her. This prompts her to speak to Simon about a letter that she wrote to William, but has never sent him. It was basically cheap therapy but it might hold clues to the deed.
She also sends a letter to everyone who was there (apart from Charlie and Simon) addressed to the murderer, but with a note saying that she has sent this to everyone. This sets a chain of actions in place which lead ultimately to the unveiling of the killer.
The story flits between the now and six months before giving the reader various insights into what was going on at the resort before the murder.
There are a lot of twists and turns and although I did work out whodunnit, it took a bit longer to work out motive.

I quite enjoyed The Couple At The Table, but I found the first half slow going, with lots of names and complex positionings of people and places to remember. It picked up half way through and made a decent Golden-Age-style mystery, but I found it a bit unsatisfactory overall.

The book is in many ways a modern take on a classic Country House Mystery, with a seemingly impossible puzzle at its core. Several couples, including Waterhouse an Zailer are on holiday at an exclusive resort when one of them is murdered. The evidence shows that the one person who was with the victim couldn’t have killed her, the others were together the whole time elsewhere and it’s not possible that anyone else could have got in. It’s an ingenious set-up, although I began to suspect at least part of the solution fairly early on. As more information gradually comes to light later and DC Waterhouse doggedly and obsessively pursues the enquiry, complex backstories begin to emerge and eventually there is a Poirot-esque “One of you in this room is the murderer” denouement.

I’ve only read a few of Sophie Hannah’s stand-alones before this and I’m new to this series. It probably doesn’t help that I don’t know any of the characters and their pasts, but I did find this hard going to begin with. Also, in Hannah’s others I’ve read, she has some witty and trenchant things to say about character and places; this is almost exclusively a puzzle plot with a little quirkiness and background thrown in from Waterhouse and Zailer, which interests me rather less.

I think fans of ingenious mysteries will enjoy this far more than I did. Personally, I wasn’t really engaged. Sophie Hannah is a very good writer and storyteller, so it wasn’t bad by any means, but I did find it just a tad unsatisfying.

(My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for an ARC via NetGalley.)

‘Dear Whoever Killed Jane Brinkwood,
Dear Jane’s Murderer,
Which do you prefer?’
-
I feel like I don’t need to say more than Sophie Hannah has a new book coming out… that should be enough to make you want to buy it
-
You’re on your honeymoon at an exclusive couples-only resort. 
You receive a note warning you to ‘Beware of the couple at the table nearest to yours’. At dinner that night, five other couples are present, and none of their tables is any nearer or further away than any of the others. It’s as if someone has set the scene in order to make the warning note meaningless – but why would anyone do that?
You have no idea.
You also don’t know that you’re about to be murdered, or that once you’re dead, all the evidence will suggest that no one there that night could possibly have committed the crime.
So who might be trying to warn you? And who might be about to commit the perfect impossible murder?
-
Yet again, Sophie Hannah has aced the mystery game. For me, she truly is a must buy author, and this new novel just strengthens that. In this one we jump from present day to 6 months ago where the murder takes place. I loved how we moved between the different couples at the resort both then and now, and finding out all the separate recollections and piecing the puzzle together. Sophie Hannah is truly one of the best and you’d be a fool to not read this one!!
-
Thanks so much to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC!!

I've enjoyed many of Sophie Hannah's books but sadly this one, of the Waterhouse and Zellar series didn't cut it for me.
I found the characters unlikable, the story more of a "Death in paradise" venture. If that's your type of read this book would be perfect.

Reading this is a blast! Hannah has, again, pulled off a bonkers 'impossible' murder and her Poirot novels seem to have keyed her in to a definite Christie feel. It's great that she's returned to the Spilling series and has brought back Simon Waterhouse and Charlie Zailer, along with their colleagues and friends. It took a few chapters before I settled into this one but once caught up in the tangled lives and stories, this became hard to put down. I'd say that in comparison with the earlier books in the series, this is lighter, without the same intensity of trauma and troubled characters. But brilliantly complicated and a bit crazy too!

This is a very slow read and unfortunately for me, I could not connect with the story at all. I found every character annoying and insufferable, and felt like it was a hard track through the end

I had starting reading this book via pigeonhole before I was approved for this so will continue to read on there.

Really enjoyable so far and know I will love it.

"Beware of the couple at the table nearest to yours." It is hard to imagine anything seriously malicious or dangerous happening in an only for couples luxury resort. Who would need to tell anyone to beware in such idyllic surroundings? One guest who’s here on her honeymoon with the former husband of another guest?

And then - murder. As it seems the perfect and unsolvable murder, but there is Lucy, betrayed ex-wife and she wants to know who is the perpetrator and maybe she wants to thank them? She is absolutely obsessed, because the shadow of William and Jane’s betrayal has loomed over her life.

The plot is really intriguing, because everybody, accept the husband, were elsewhere when the murder happened. Lucy can’t rule anyone out, so she doubts everyone. As a protagonist, Lucy is very proactive, end reader understands her wish to revenge somehow, yet - she is still pretty unlikeable.

The trajectory of cause and effect wasn’t a single, clear, straight line in any case. Sophie Hannah rather likes to complicate things to the end, and then there is no big end at all. It seems that I really can't warm to her novels nor to her writing style.

Overall good crime novel.

3,5/5

Sophie hannah has been one of my top 5 authors for over a decade now so you can't even imagine my delight to have been granted a pre release copy of the newest book. It's 3am, I have work at 9am..... and I have absolutely no regrets. As always, this book is a masterpiece!! If you like thrillers and mysteries then you will be obsessed with this book. The characters include the main suspects from previous stories, so if like me, you've been reading about them for years then they are like old friends by now. If you're new to Sophie hannah books then you won't be any further behind for not knowing the backstories since they're not really pivotal to this story. It's amazingly well written, the 1st book I've actually laughed out loud at (even more unusual to happen in a murder/ thriller). As I said, the characters do have a long backstory by this point but even the new cast are so well written and fleshed out that you really find yourself caring about what's happened and getting invested in their lives. There are no cliches or "read it a million times" storylines. If anything, it's just elevated to a completely new level in the genre and very few other domestic noir/ thrillers come close. Its such an original story line that you'll be guessing the whole way through and still be none the wiser until the final page. I love that the book has such a good pace and you really just get swept along in the tale. I didn't even stop to make dinner tonight, I just had to keep reading!! There's nothing predictable, there's no gore for shock value, it's all just masterfully put together and just so flipping intelligently written. The characters are also intelligent people which is also a nice change! Nothing is more irritating than reading a book where the mystery drags on purely because the characters are idiots lol. This is a very cleverly written story, with characters who make logical and rational attempts to solve it and as a reader, you also get caught up in trying to get ti the bottom of it. It truly has been a delight to read this and I will eagerly be awaiting the next installment. All I can say is, this book will be one of the best you read all year. And I have no problem stating that even though its only Jan, books don't get much better than this gem!! Amazingly enough, it's actually longer than a lot of other books are aswell and yet, mone of the chapters are drawn out or are just there as filler to bulk out the page numbers. Every page of this story is meaningful, relevant and goes to moving along the plot! It just has so much more depth and content and yet you still feel like the book just wasn't long enough when you finish. To be honest, even if thrillers aren't yout thing..... give this a go because as I said, it is funny and it is homest and interesting and captivating and it's just such a good plot that regardless of the genre you prefer, I'm pretty sure you'll be hooked! I could go on all day (or night) but as I said...... Its literally 3am!