This is such a brilliant book. I really thought I knew where it was going, and I was totally wrong and completely floored by the ending in a way that made me want to immediately start reading it again to check the very clever clues! Highly recommended.

I would like to thank Netgalley and HQ for an advance copy of The Red House, a stand-alone thriller set in the Derbyshire dales.

In 2002 fifteen year old Joseph Flowers shot his parents and baby brother, while his five year old sister, Celestine, escaped and identified him as the shooter. Joseph can’t confirm or deny this as he crashed a car and has been in a state of unresponsive wakefulness since then. Twenty years later Celestine is now Eve and she’s having to re-evaluate her memories in light of stunning new evidence.

I enjoyed The Red House, which is a tense read full of twists and turns. I have read the Meg Dalton series and was interested to read a change of direction for the author on the basis of this previous series. I was attracted by the premise, which is a twist on the family annihilator trope with the teenage son as the perpetrator.

The novel starts with a bang in 2002 featuring Celestine in the aftermath of the shooting. This is a gripping and intriguing start and had me hooked, despite a sag in the middle and finishes with a 5* flourish that is twist after twist, none of which I saw coming. Eve/Celestine is the main narrator in the present with other characters contributing as required, but it also flashes back to the events leading up to the murders, mostly told from the father, Andrew’s point of view. It could be confusing but each timeline and narrator is clearly marked, so the reader knows where they are. It works well as it gradually becomes clear that nothing is as it initially seems. The real story creeps up on the reader insidiously. I think that Andrew’s narrative is the most impactful in this respect.

So, great start, incredible ending where everything is clear and linear. The problem is the middle, which is a bit muddled and doesn’t have the clear lines of the “bookends”. Much of it centres on an old computer game that Joseph developed and a secret level that may unravel what happened that night in 2002. Do I have an interest in this? Do I understand it? That will be a resounding no. Is it even possible? Doesn’t seem likely to me, but what do I know? I also think that Eve’s face blindness and Joseph’s unresponsive wakefulness is too much exotic illness for one novel, and there is too much serendipity attached to it.

The Red House is a good read that I can recommend.

This had such a good hooked and I loved the first quarter of this M, but unfortunately the ending was disappointing and much of the mystery could’ve been solved much more quickly if only characters were honest and would speak to each other. I’m afraid I struggled to suspend my disbelief.

The premise is reminiscent of Dark Places. A teenage boy kills his family with a shotgun then kills himself only to end up in a coma. Now twenty-five years later he’s still in a coma. His sister Eva (renamed as Celestine) works in a bookshop and has Prosopagnosia (face blindness). She gets a call from her grandmother Peggy, who tells her that she is dying of cancer and to look after her brother who is still in a coma after she dies. Then the following morning her grandmother dies…this starts the unravelling of the mystery as certain things happen.

A good premise and build up but unfortunately a disappointing and a rather tepid conclusion. I think there was just too much happening and subsequently I just wasn’t that invested.

An atmospheric suspense novel following the protagonist, survivor of a horrible massacre that resulted in her family dying when shot by her brother. Her version of the events are questioned after the passing of her grandmother and the release of a video game based on her horror story.
An eerie mystery with a creepy setting.

This book was edge of your seat wildly unpredictable. The switch between the past and the present draws you into a tense ball as you wait for the next event to happen.

Omg what?! So I was plotting my review as I got towards the end of the book. The characters are well written and humanised. There are relatable moral dilemmas and challenges that even the best of humans would struggle with.

Its a well written throllers/ mystery that keeps you guessing throughout and it has enough twists and turns that you can never be entirely sure of what happened back then.

The pacing felt quite slow to start with but once I got into it then I was hooked. It all potters aling quite slowly until the final 3rd where it ramps up as all the revaleations come spinning out.

It's well written and engaging, even if it seems to have a lot of random themes thrown in such as *spoiler alert*




I'll just wait a bit






I'm assuming you've left if you don't want any slight spoilers?






OK, so the face blindness and the locked in syndrome on top of a secret level in a game that tells the story of the murders, 2 secret romances and just a ehole lot of lying is all a bit OTT but if you do just go with it then it's a most enjoyable ride

And that finale...... I literally have no words. The final twist that you don't see coming is just insane. The phrase "jaw dropping" is often used but rarely literal but in this case, my jaw dropped! I had to re read because it just couldn't be saying what I thought it wad saying.... but yup, it went there! And it finished the book off perfectly. That really wad the coup de grace and its executed absolutely perfectly. In my opinion it elevated the book from really good to absolutely amazing!

My thoughts about Roz Watkins’s The Red House is a well written murder mystery thriller with a nail-biting finish, Roz Watkins’s The Red House holds the readers by the eyeballs till its engaging climax. This is one of those books that Roz Watkins should be proud of. With her outstanding writing and well written characters it will keep you thinking till the end. I have never ever seen such an unpredictable climax that leaves you in a deep breath. The story of Roz Watkins’s The Red House begins with the Flowers were the perfect family. Until the day fifteen-year-old Joseph shot dead his parents and baby brother whilst his younger sister Eve hid. The family home became known as ‘The Red House’, the place where the walls were covered in blood. No one knows why Joseph murdered his family: the following day he crashed his car and has been in a coma for two decades. Eve’s always known he did it; she saw the crime, after all. But how reliable a witness is a five-year-old? Now an adult, Eve is forced to re-examine her memories when disturbing new evidence about the case comes to light. Because if Joseph didn’t do it, then the killer’s still out there and they’re coming back for the girl who escaped. Roz Watkin’s The Red House will pump your heart for the proceedings on every page you turn. Roz Watkins’s The Red House is crispy thriller that keeps you engaged throughout, and very gripping. Roz Watkins’s book is an edge of the seat thriller. I would like to say a big thank you to Publishers HQ Stories and NetGalley, for kindly letting me read Roz Watkins’s breathtaking thriller which I’ve enjoyed reading. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥💥💥💥💥💥

WOW! This book was fantastic! Had me at the edge of my seat and utterly unpredictable. The final chapter left me with goosebumps! 10/10 you need to read this book!

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HQ for the much appreciated advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

The Red House is sinking into the marsh, but will it take its secrets with it? When fifteen-year-old Joseph Flowers murders his family at the Red House, his five-year-old sister, Celestine, is the only survivor and witness to the horrific crime. Joseph’s crime doesn’t go unpunished when he fatefully crashes a car on the night of the murders and ends up in a vegetative state. Twenty years later, Celestine is thrust into being the legal guardian of her brother, the brother she hates and loves at the same time. But was the crime as clear cut as her five-year-old self remembers? As events unravel Celestine is forced to revisit a painful past steeped in secrets.

The Red House is an engrossing page turner with striking imagery and breakneck twists. Roz Watkins has a crisp writing style which guides readers through this layered and innovative thriller. It was a treat to read.

3.5 rounded down

2002, The Red House, shouting, loud bangs and the only witness is five year old Celestine, now called Eve. The perpetrator who kills Andrew and Essie Flowers and their baby is assumed to be Eve’s fifteen year old brother Joseph who, post killing, steals his parents car, drives to a friends house where he works all night on a computer game they’re designing. Joseph drives away next morning, crashes the car and has been in a vegetative state ever since. In 2022 Joseph is still alive but the mystery still surrounds him and interest in the case just as high especially as the hit computer game is believed to contain clues to the killing in a hidden level. Is Joseph innocent? Can Eve discover the truth after all these years? Is she in danger if she pursues this quest?

First of all, I enjoy the first 50% or so. The isolated Red House, surrounded by marshes is extremely creepy and exudes an atmosphere all of its own. There are some excellent vivid images of the house that will definitely stick in the mind. Eve’s portrayal is good especially her desire to stay under the radar and you get a strong sense of just how much she has lost and how isolated she is. She is one of the narrators and I like her tone as although her life has been exceptionally difficult she has a dry, self deprecating sense of humour which does diminish in the second half. She has had choices to make and life has dealt her an unfair hand.

Unfortunately, in my opinion what starts out as a really good book gets absolutely overladen as it seems as if everything but the kitchen sink is chucked into the plot. There are some things that are too convenient and coincidental with so many twists I get dizzy! A few steps too far for me. Some dialogue in the latter part also makes me wince.

Overall, there is much to like about this book but some plot restraint would improve my enjoyment. However, I fully accept I may be an outlier in this point of view.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HQ for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

I have not read anything from Roz Watkins before and this did not disappoint it was great.

Eve has a new life she has tried hard to get away from what happened all those years ago. When her 15 year brother Joseph killed her family leaving her to hide with his snakes. So when she gets a phone call from her grandmother to return the house where it happened Eve feels she has know choice to return to see her grandmother but it then opens up so many emotions and secrets that nobody wants reopened.

This was a intense thriller which kept on edge until the end with so many twists and turns. Will definitely be recommending this book to all thriller book lovers.

#TheRedHouse #NetGalley
A true delight.
The Flowers were the perfect family. Until the day fifteen-year-old Joseph shot dead his parents and baby brother whilst his younger sister Eve hid. The family home became known as ‘The Red House’, the place where the walls were covered in blood. No one knows why Joseph murdered his family: the following day he crashed his car and has been in a coma for two decades. Eve’s always known he did it; she saw the crime, after all. But how reliable a witness is a five-year-old? Now an adult, Eve is forced to re-examine her memories when disturbing new evidence about the case comes to light. Because if Joseph didn’t do it, then the killer’s still out there – and they’re coming back for the girl who escaped…
I loved Roz Watkins writing style in this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and HQ for giving me an advance copy.