Suspenseful and engaging

The plot has all the tropes of a suspenseful mystery novel. It hold the readers captive and let you on the journey of the characters past and the present. I liked how Henry’s obsession with Phin makes him wish to track him down and how Lucy and the children are all set to find Henry and the cat and mouse chase each have to reach Phin first. In the meantime, Lucy past deeds are also closing in on her and a new character is introduced Rachel, the wife of Lucy’s ex husband Michael.

The story is written with keeping the mystery circled around the lives of these characters and also when an ongoing investigation is brought up, we could see how the characters lives are about to change and it looks like the past will make them pay for their sins.

The entire plot line was engaging and holds our interest throughout.I liked the timelines difference in the chapters and the new characters sets a unique atmosphere to the read. Henry’s character as usual was unreliable yet deeply connected and I found Lucy to be more bold and strong in this book. Rachel also holds a strong perspective and I liked how the author has played well with the character description in this book. I found myself more engaging in the first half and even though the second half holds the mystery of murder I found the author’s focus was more to bring closure to the lives of these characters, hence the suspenseful vibe was bit off in the last 30% of the book.

Overall, the entire combination of suspenseful murder mystery plus a die hard search for a friend with some twist and turns makes this read enjoyable and worth the time.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for providing me the review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Just sat and downloaded this and read it in one go

The story from The Family Upstairs continues...

Great way of continuining a great book

Ive nver read a sequel to a crime novel like this before

The link between this and the first book were good!

Compelling stuff

A jewell in the crime fiction crown (sorry not sorry)

Well now one of the best follow up books I have ever read .. ever.. this book has everything in it, now it would be no harm to read the first book first The family upstairs, one needs to familiarise themselves with the characters from the last one but wow is all I can say, loved everything about it x

Gripping sequel that delivers just what readers want in a perfectly plotted package!

As with most thriller readers, The Family Upstairs is one of those books that I absolutely loved and has stayed with me ever since I first read it. Along with the majority of other readers of it, I was desperate to know what happened next, so when I heard that a sequel was to come I was overjoyed. There was so much that I wanted to know more about at the end of The Family Upstairs and The Family Remains does not disappoint! Jewell has taken the heart of The Family Upstairs and expanded the world and characters within it, to create a novel that is thrilling, unsettling, thought-provoking and incredibly satisfying. It concludes the story of the Lambs and the Thomsen’s in an exhilarating and memorable way. I was completely hooked on this book and it delivered absolutely everything I could have hoped for and then heaps more on top!

A lot of the novel is written from the perspective of Henry and it was quite a journey to delve into his head so deeply. I love how complex a character he is and I felt a swathe of emotions whilst reading his chapters. He is an intense character who is very unsettling at times - even rather creepy - but he is also vulnerable, lonely and a product of the abuse that consumed his childhood. Such is the power and craft of Jewell’s writing that despite Henry’s uncomfortable behaviour and questionable motives, we as readers can still relate to him and even root for him. This is what I love about Jewell’s novels: her ability to delve deep into the essence of a character and create someone who is painfully human, raw, three-dimensional, not clearly a villain or hero and ultimately, absolutely fascinating. This is equally true of all of the characters in The Family Remains. I loved the shift in focus away from Libby, which allowed other characters and backstories to take centre stage. I loved learning more about Rachel (Michael’s second wife) and she is an incredible character who remains strong and determined throughout a horrific ordeal. There is so much tension built through Rachel’s narrative and I was on the edge of my seat reading about the rapid breakdown of her relationship. It is through the lens of Rachel’s life that we also learn more about Lucy. It was so interesting discovering the depth of the link between Rachel and Lucy. In turn, it is via Lucy’s son Marco that we gain a further understanding of her too. I really enjoyed Marco’s chapters and he was an instantly likeable and incredibly intelligent character, who often felt like the voice of reason or the most level-headed presence throughout the action. He has a wisdom beyond his years that makes for compelling reading. Essentially, The Family Remains is a rich tapestry of intricately written characters, woven together through anguish, pain and finally redemption.

I was enthralled by this novel and the many different aspects of it. Whilst this is definitely a brilliant psychological thriller/domestic noir, there is so much more to it than that. The plot is laced with obsession, abuse, gaslighting, blackmail, murder, privilege, wealth and nail-biting tension. The police investigation into the discovered bones is perfectly peppered throughout the plot and whilst it propels the novel forward and certainly ramps up the suspense, it is in some ways the less important element. For me, at least, the real beauty of this novel lies in the complexities of the humans at its centre: their relationships, their traumas, their actions and their connections. The overarching sentiment I took away from this book is that it is a story of love in many guises. Love is the motivating factor for most of the events. From Rachel’s father’s efforts to protect his daughter, to Lucy’s desire for a place her and her children can belong, via Henry’s physical and emotional obsession with being in receipt of it and Justin’s attempts to make up for the past. Love both divides and unites these characters in a way that is so refreshingly realistic. It breathes life into these characters and these pages. And it proves just what an incredible writer, at the top of her game, Lisa Jewell continues to be.

You know what you get when you read a Lisa Jewell book and with this one especially so because it's a sequel. Because of this I would advise any reader to read the first one before this one because it would be hard to understand the story fully. It took me a while to get back into the story but after that it read like a train. I couldn't put it down before I knew the end. It's well written, like all her books and the story is well crafted though it takes a little well to see how the three stories will converge. This is a very good summer read.

Firstly a big thank you to the publishers for my copy to review on netgalley. As a big Lisa Jewell fan this was a bloggers treat to recieve .

Amazing idea to write a sequel because the characters we meet in The family upstairs were way to enthralling and conplex to just be in one book!

This had me absolutely hooked from the very start and racing through the pages to uncover the truth.

Gripping and explores how these adults have been shaped from what happened in that house in their childhood. Fascinating insight into these minds as we follow them on their journeys.

Just as dark and claustrophobic and was a thrill to be back with these characters getting more answers. Or maybe more questions ??

Tense and unpredictable this is a fantastic book that is set to be another bestseller for Lisa.

Published 21st July

The story from The Family Upstairs continues... when a bag of bones are found in the river Thames, DSI Owusu investigates, and soon finds a link to the house we got to know well in the first book... Meanwhile some of those we got to know well in the first story return and seek answers to questions from the past. Will family secrets be revealed? How will it end for all of the family?

A brilliant sequel that keeps you turning the pages until the great ending. I liked how the chapters moved between different people. Recommended!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the book in return for my honest feedback.

Thank you to netgalley and Random House UK for access to this text.

Chilling, disturbing, and unsettling - Lisa Jewell delivered once again.

. At times, it felt like I was watching a horror movie pan out infront of me. Taking into account the horrors of the last book, we can only anticipate what is to come for this family. I think it’s fair to say that trauma runs deep in this one and makes the characters question those around them. The tension throughout is unreal; it’s like walking on a tight rope and there are moments where you almost lose your footing. You know those moments that make you hold your breath? There are many of those within this book.
I do have to be honest and say, I feel like I wanted more terror filled moments like in ‘the family upstairs’, and unknowingly comparing this sequel has obviously impacted my thoughts. I was satisfied with how the ending tied things up for these characters. However, the epilogue will leave you knowing that trouble always follows, and I just loved it!

I read The Family Upstairs when it was published so was excited to read the sequel, ideally I would have reread Upstairs as I think I’d have got into the characters a little easier especially as this picks up where it left off so I would highly recommend doing that. Henry hasn’t lost any of his perverseness and his obsession with Phin extends to him chasing him overseas, he continues to be the main voice of the story and his is a fabulous mind to get into. Alongside we have the story of a detective investigating the discovery of human bones and the story of Rachel and her whirlwind marriage, although it takes a while to see where her story fits. This is an excellent sequel and ties up the original story fabulously but definitely read them in order!

@currentlyreading__
Book 40 of 2022

Well how lucky was I to receive an e-ARC of @lisajewelluk's upcoming sequel to her 2019 bestseller 'The Family Upstairs'?! Desperate to get my hands on it, I re-read 'The Family Upstairs' to refresh my mind on how the book ended so I would be picking up from where I left off. Even if I hadn't done this I am sure the characters would have all come back to me, such was their distinctiveness and originality.

' The Family Remains' starts with a mud-larker uncovering a bag of bones on the banks of the Thames. Cue DI Samuel Owusu and his forensics team desperately trying to uncover the mystery of the small bag of bones. This seemingly random event is woven into the plot and in her usual style, Jewell moves seamlessly through past and present, the settings of London, Antibes and California and weaves new characters so effortlessly into the plot.

Not wanting to spoil ANY part of this book as it's far too exciting not to reconnect with the original characters of Lucy, Henry and Libby to name a few, I loved the inclusion of the new character Rachel, the wife of Lucy's ex-husband Michael. Rachel Gold/ Rimmer is such a beautifully constructed character and I loved how Jewell made her such a woman's woman. Despite the tender topics covered within her storyline, we root for this woman who smells of "wood smoke and beer" according to Lucy's ex Michael.

Talking of rooting for characters - how could we not put all of our efforts into wishing happiness for the original Lamb children? The movement through time in revisiting the damaging childhood in 16 Cheyne Walk and then seeing how they have flipped their experiences to create their present is fascinating. That said, their present is brimming with ghosts and the terror of the past catching up with them.

As always, with @lisajewelluk, you are guaranteed a contradictory experience, a book to make you want to read faster and yet read slower such is your desperation to uncover the truth yet savour the moment.

My most sincere thanks go to #NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone, Century for choosing me to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion - I loved it that much I am reading it again.

#bookstagram #bibliophile #bookworm #book #booknerd #bookstagrammer #kindle #instabook #reader #bookobsessed #instareads #currentlyreading #bookchat #bookish #books #thefamilyupstairs #thefamilyremains #lisajewell

The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell

Ever since reading Lisa Jewell’s novel The Family Upstairs I’ve been hoping she’d write a sequel. The book was certainly satisfying as a standalone, but the characters were so complex and their situation so traumatic I was certain it would bubble up to the surface sooner or later. Detective Samuel Owusu thinks the same, when human remains are found washed up on the banks of the Thames by a mud lark. When he sends the bones for forensic examination it’s clear that she was murdered; there’s an injury to the skull that could only have come from blunt force trauma. The other clue from the bag is a mulch of leaves, unusual ones for London, taking him to a mansion house in Chelsea. There, thirty years ago, three people were found dead in a kitchen and upstairs was an unharmed baby girl with a rabbit’s foot tucked into her cot. The clues are pointing to two missing teenagers, Henry and Lucy Lamb, belonging to two of the deceased. Yet, neighbours had said they hadn’t seen the children for years. We follow DCI Owusu’s investigation, but also this missing brother and sister who are doing some investigating of their own. They’re looking for a third teenager who lived at the house, Phinneas Thomsen, son of the third deceased adult and also a resident of the Chelsea mansion, hoping he can make sense of their childhood. Why was the Thames body separate from the other three and what was her link to the adults living there? The house has just sold for over seven million pounds, it’s owner a young woman called Libby, so she must be their first port of call. This is just the first step in untangling a very dark web of trauma, murder and a family who have tried to bury secrets that just won’t stay dead.

Lisa Jewell really is the master of this domestic noir genre. She could have plodded along with this book unravelling secrets from long ago and it would still have been a very good book. However, she doesn’t take the easy option, she chooses to introduce new characters and storylines that are equally compelling and link into to the Cheyenne Walk mystery. As well as Samuel, Henry and Lucy narrating the story, we have a woman called Rachel narrating a present day storyline too. Rachel is a jeweller, just waiting for a big store to pick up her designs and thrust her work into the limelight. After years of dating and not finding the one, she meets a man called Michael who seems almost perfect for her. He is attractive, attentive, wealthy and seems available emotionally, which makes a change from other men she’s dated. He’s been married before, to a woman he met while she was busking in France and he was staying at his home in Antibes. Rachel doesn’t really pry into his past and all Michael volunteers is that she was musical and ‘a nightmare.’ Her name was Lucy. In a whirlwind, Rachel and Michael get married and she’s of an age where people don’t tend to take you aside and ask if its all moving a bit fast. Perhaps friends are just glad that this has finally happened for her and her father seems happy for her too, believing Michael to be that rare thing - an older, unmarried, great bloke. On honeymoon, amongst the rose petal strewn sheets and days spent reading by the ocean, Rachel thinks she might suggest a bit of fun in the bedroom. She’s happy with vanilla sex, but wonders if some light BDSM games might bring variety. She unpacks some special underwear, some ties and a leather whip and is looking forward to a fun night, but Michael looks embarrassed, then furious. He flies into a rage, accusing her of having no class, sleeping around and ruining their honeymoon. Rachel is bewildered as he storms off to sleep separately and refuses to talk about it. All she can hope is that he calms down, but she is starting to feel like she must apologise, although she doesn’t really know why. How can she return from her honeymoon and tell anyone her husband is disgusted by her?

I loved how these four narratives were interwoven, because they cleverly show us how abuse in all it’s forms leaves it’s legacy. Whether it’s self-hatred and body dysmorphia, a deep seated rage thats ready to boil over, or a desperate need for love and a tendency to repeat the patterns of childhood. I thought Rachel’s story was particularly compelling, because I’ve experienced that pattern of abuse - the love bombing, rejection, gaslighting and fits of rage. I hated Michael and really understood her need to find Lucy and talk to her. I felt she’d lost the ability to trust her own judgement and that if there was someone else he was abusive to, she could start to accept and own her own truth. Her confidence had sunk so low she was struggling to fight for herself, but as soon as Michael’s behaviour affected someone she loved she was able to stand up to him. Henry is also struggling with what happened in childhood, his twisted and confused emotions surrounding Phinn were complex. Phinn was held up as an example of what a boy should be, with Henry receiving punishments and neglect for not being more like him. We might expect Henry to feel hatred and even harbour harmful thoughts about Phinn, and to an extent he does feel these things. There’s a part of him that never wants to see Phinn again. However, there is a part of him that is still the little boy who wants to please so he has changed the way he looks and now looks at Phinn in the mirror every morning. There’s definitely an element of hero worship and sexual desire too. I was actually scared of what Henry might do if he ever found Phinn, who is thought to be working on a game reserve in Africa. Lucy is living with her brother at the start of the book, along with her two children. Henry’s upmarket flat with it’s high thread count sheets and all the right TV packages is the height of luxury to her two children. They have slept in some terrible places while homeless and they don’t want to be on the run again. Lucy is scared and not just about the events in her childhood, because she’s been replicating the pattern of abuse she learned to endure at Cheyne Walk, into her adult relationships. She’s also used to running from people she owes money to. She hopes that now the house is sold, she can find a secure and happy home for her children close enough to keep in touch with her brother. She knows that Henry is more fragile than he seems, but also that there’s a darkness at his centre and she doesn’t know what might happen if he ever lets it come to the surface.

The pace of the novel is pretty fast and I almost read it in one sitting. Short chapters mean it’s very easy to get caught by that little voice that goes ‘just one more chapter won’t hurt’ when it’s gone midnight and you have to be up in the morning. The tension is builds, then decreases, then builds again by using clever tactics like finding something out at the end of a chapter, then the next chapter going back in time or dismissing what you’ve just found out. Although the storyline seems clear she throws in little curveballs like a spot of blackmail here or an unexpected murder there, to take us off the main track. I found some dark humour in two people turning up to murder the same person. I thought that the author also managed to inject some hope for the future too, in what has been a very dark and painful story. If you’ve been through childhood abuse, domestic violence and sexual violence there are some tough paragraphs here and there. I must admit I found some of the coercive control and verbal abuse difficult, and I found myself holding my breath in parts, but that’s how I knew the author had got it absolutely right. This was a fantastic sequel, that I would say needs to be read after the first novel and not as a stand-alone. It really stands up to the power of the first novel with it’s tension, darkness and psychological game playing but also offers some measure of healing too.

Will appear on my blog on publication day.

Insanely, exquisitely good. I loved the first book so was very happy to get the chance to see where the characters had progressed to since. As usual I really was not disappointed in fact the narrative was completely compelling and moving.
The strands of story all develop in turn as we flit from character to character and are magnetically drawn in. As each short part leaves us in the lurch and we switch to another thread there is that slight twitch that we don’t want to move away but we’re quickly and cleverly immersed in another person’s tale. What I didn’t expect, although should totally have known from experience, is that all these individual threads of story quietly and slowly are all weaving themselves into parts of the same overall tale. All so very cleverly done.
I also love that, although there are murders in the story, they are almost a side note to the overall storyline and we absolutely focus on the backgrounds to the acts rather than the actual event. Fantastic insights and expert knowledge of human nature as ever and beautiful and stunning characterisations. Utterly unmissable!

I was really excited to hear that "The Family Remains" by Lisa Jewell was coming out, and even more excited when NetGalley granted me access to an advanced copy. Although the story is excellent, I did spend some of the time trying to remember parts of "The Family Upstairs", and this marginal marred my appreciation of it slightly, but that is my own fault and nothing to do with the way that it is written. Once again Jewell writes some excellent "nasty" characters and it was clever how the story fitted into place.

I was so thrilled to have the opportunity to read Lisa Jewell's sequel to the hugely gripping The Family Upstairs and it certainly did not disappoint.
The novel starts when DCI Samuel Owusu is called to the shore of the Thames where a mud larker has discovered some bones. As the novel progresses we discover how these bones are connected to the events in a house in Chelsea many years ago. The novel is told from different. points of view and brings together characters from the previous book as well as introducing some new characters. I loved the police procedural aspect of the novel.
You know you are in safe hands with a Lisa Jewell novel and I feel that her writing and plotting gets better and better. Although I read the previous novel on release in 2019 I could not remember all the characters and plot intricacies but this is not important. Jewell reveals the important parts of the back story gradually until all becomes clear. I found it to be a gripping and well paced novel that I raced through over the course of 24 hours. Highly recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC

Excellent as always. It was so nice to revisit the characters that we loved (and some not so much ;) from the first book, The Family Upstairs. I love Lisa's writing style and devoured this one in just a few days. A dark, tense, and absolutely brilliant read!

Well I knew after reading the first book “The Family Upstairs” and loving it that this one was going to be good but it was even better than that it was totally outstanding!
Sometimes you start a read and you are desperate to finish it to find out what happens but all the time you don’t want it to end well that’s exactly how I felt about this one I was completely engrossed in the story I forgot about everything else and just immersed myself into this weird, warped and fabulous cast of characters and what had happened to them after the last book.
I’m not going to try and describe the book there is just so much going on it’s a tour de force of writing by Lisa Jewell and I must admit I had tears in my eyes at the end of it, it answered so many questions and completed a story that I adored it just took my breath away.
This is a book filled with amazing characters but if I had to pick one favourite it would be Henry with all his flaws my heart ached for him he was so needy and obsessive I’m so glad I got to spend some more time with him.
So what more can I say I am so grateful to Lisa Jewell for writing this sequel and at the same time making it even better than the first I can’t fault one thing about it, there are books I love and books that go beyond that this one of those it’s my best read of the year so far and I can’t wait for the next book by her, many many thanks Lisa this deserves far than the 5 stars I can give it.
If you are looking for a great read and haven’t read the first book please do and then read this I can 100% guarantee that you won’t be disappointed it really is that good.
My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone, Century for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

An exciting, breath holding read that had me turning the kindle pages at pace. This is a belter of a story that is in my top ten reads this year.

#TheFamilyRemains #NetGalley
BRILLIANT. 5 🌟
How would you find your husband's murderer?
Early one morning on the shore of the Thames, DCI Samuel Owusu is called to the scene of a gruesome discovery. When Owusu sends the evidence for examination, he learns the bones are connected to a cold case that left three people dead on the kitchen floor in a Chelsea mansion thirty years ago. Rachel Rimmer has also received a shock--news that her husband, Michael, has been found dead in the cellar of his house in France. All signs point to an intruder, and the French police need her to come urgently to answer questions about Michael and his past that she very much doesn't want to answer. After fleeing London thirty years ago in the wake of a horrific tragedy, Lucy Lamb is finally coming home. While she settles in with her children and is just about to purchase their first-ever house, her brother takes off to find the boy from their shared past whose memory haunts their present. As they all race to discover answers to these convoluted mysteries, they will come to find that they're connected in ways they could have never imagined.
Loved The Family Upstairs and adored The Family Remains. Together they are complete package. I think everyone should try this one. It's brilliant.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK Cornerstone Century for giving me an advance copy.

What can i say, absolutely brilliant read, pulled an all nighter just to find out what happened, if you love a bit of mystery with murder thrown in the get his in front of you, fab read.

4+

I've yet to meet a Jewell book I don't like.
This one maybe more so than most, because we know the characters spread.
Well, I say we know them, I have a memory like a sieve do can't remember much about the last book, but this sums it up perfectly when needed, without feeling like it's telling the whole tale again.
There's more mystery and intrigue, and reliving the horror or book 1.
It's a great stand alone, but also the icing on the cake to find out where the characters went.
I wonder if there's more bodies to dig up so we can have book 3?
Excellent as always.