The Couple on Cedar Close was more procedural than psychological thriller. It's not a bad thing per se, but I prefer the later genre. The plot was easy to predict and even disclosed around halfway so there was no surprise/twist. Too many POVs and most I didn't care about, think it'd better if it was interchangeable between the DI + culprit only. I kept forgetting that the DI was <i>male</i> because it didn't feel like it. For someone who is the center of the series, DI Dan certainly didn't leave me any good impression. The case took up too much, but if author wrote about Dan and his colleagues or his romance-thing, I didn't buy it.

writing: 2/5
plot: 3/5
characterisation: 3/5
my mood reading this: 2/5

overall: 2.5/5

<i>(I received a digital ARC via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)</i>

Thanks Netgalley, Booukouture, and the author for the ARC.

I really loved this book. It is a slow burner at the beginning, but soon picks momentum.
There are many surprising twists and turns which kept me hooked and entertained.
I would recommend this book.

This is my first book by this author and I didn’t realise until after I had read it that it is actually book 2 in the series. It can easily be read as a stand-alone but I will definitely read the first book in this series as I liked Dan Riley and hopefully the first book will give a bit of background into him. This book though I really enjoyed, plenty of twists and it hooked me right from the start and I couldn’t put it down. Although I guessed the murderer before the end it didn’t take the enjoyment out of the book. I would definitely recommend this book.

Laurie and Robert are beautiful couple, but when they move to Cedar Close (which I believe is a dead end street in British speak), it is evident something is off with Laurie.

The story opens with a neighborhood barbecue and Laurie finds out something that she didn't want to about her husband. The whole neighborhood is then privy to their fight and what has occurred.

Three months later, Laurie is in a grocery store planning a dinner for Robert. However, later that same day, Robert is found brutally murdered in the house. Laurie has no recollection of what happened, but she is immediately the main suspect, especially when information about their volatile relationship surfaces.

Laurie's best friend, who lives across from her, jumps into action to help her friend and we're off and thrown into a story filled with lies, deceit, affairs, psychological abuse and pathological behavior. I won't give too much away here.

The detective in the case, Riley, is a good character and I learned while reading this, this is his second appearance in a book by this author. He's definitely one of the good guys and you want him to get a win that he is so desperately due for.

My two cents:

I was very excited to read this advance copy I requested from NetGalley. I thought it sounded like it had great promise. The story was well written, fast paced and I read it very quickly. Now, there were some aspects in backstories of certain characters that unsettled me, but to each their own. Also, while this was a crime/domestic abuse story, for me (and again this is just me) there was NO mystery. I just felt that it was made very obvious what was going on very early, when it seemed like that wasn't the author's original intention.

This was an entertaining enough story and I appreciate the copy from NetGalley. All opinions are my own. Releases January this year!

I hate to say that I did not love this one. It started strong, but soon the dialogue became stilted and it became confusing to see how everyone fit in to the story. The plot was straightforward and entertaining, and I enjoyed the twist at the end. Overall though I felt like the characters and writing needed some additional work to be believable and for the writing to flow better.

Thank you Netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Anna-Lou Weatherley for this ARC.

Ooooh, I loved this book! It sucks you in right from the start, and keeps you intrigued throughout the whole story. I figured out the "surprise twist ending" halfway through the book, but that didn't stop me from being shocked at the end. That twist was definitely a shocker!

Fantastically written story, by a new favorite author. Loved it.

Another miss for me, this book just did not keep my interest. I think it had a very strong beginning and then the one of the characters refers to "More Than a Feeling" as an REO SPEEDWAGON SONG!! That is just plain wrong and is a very strange editing mistake to make.. In any event, that may have clouded my judgement on the rest of the book-I forced myself to read it. I think this would be a good book for strong mystery buffs that are not sticklers for their late 70's or early 80's Rock classics.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this arc in exchange for an honest review.
This book was written containing two things I'm not keen on, firstly with a detective angle, and secondly with a second story which ties in somewhere, but neither of these things spoiled my enjoyment of this book in any shape or form.
The storyline was also quite dark and chilling in places, which I don't tend to go for when choosing a book.
Having made these negative comments, WOW what a book! I was hooked in from the start and I carried my kindle around with me so as I could read a chapter in any spare minute I had. I did guess the connections quite quickly, but I think the reader was meant to, as it didn't detract from the story at all.
I loved the very ending. Having read about some pretty evil characters, it was just the perfect note to end on. I can't say anymore than that without spoiling it!
A good gauge for me, is how long I take to read a book, and this book was probably the quickest for some time.
I didn't know it was a second book in the detective Riley series, not that It mattered at all, but I might just have to read the first now too.

Solid 5 stars!
Really dark and twisted story. Characters wove a complex web of lies and secrets.
I enjoyed the authors writing and the suspense that each character was built upon chapter by chapter.
And yes, i fell in love with DI Dan Riley! :)

Thank you to #Netgalley, the author and publisher for my free arc in exchange for my honest review.

While I mostly enjoyed this book, I felt confused as to whether or not I was supposed to have guessed the ending so early on, because I did. Either way, it entertained me and I finished it quickly, so I would recommend. Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

This book is another one of your average, run-of-the-mill thrillers.

Before reading, I suppose I should have looked further into the synopsis. I did not know it was book two of a Detective Riley series. Although the plot lines of the murders do not go together in these two books, I am not usually too keen on books in Detective's POVs. However, it did not bother me too bad in this one.

From the start, it was very hard for me to read. It took me almost a week to read the first 1/4 of the book, due to the lack of interest. I had no want to pick it up. It started to pick up, however, about halfway through.

I guessed who did it pretty early on. After the first chapter that was based in the past, actually. I wish I had not been able to guess. I am not usually a fan of books where I know the events of what happened before the main protagonist does. I like the suspense of finding out when the protagonist does.

Also, there were several times that things that Detective Riley said that threw me out of the story. He goes on tangents that have nothing to do with anyone.

Examples:
"A lot of people back at the nick think I have the hots for Davis. She's young and pretty in a girl-next-door kind of way with a friendly yet firm disposition, so it's not altogether surprising. I don't fancy Davis, but I do like her"
And then he continues on a tangent about his partner, which pulls me out of the story!

"...Vic says in that dispassionate way of hers that makes me wonder if she might be passionate in other ways to counterbalance it"
First off, EW. And second off, why was this necessary?

And he just kept saying things that made no sense to the story throughout the book.

The story itself, however, eventually became interesting and I finished it all in one sitting. Although I knew who the murderer was, things kept happening and I was waiting to see how the story ended, and how the murderer would be caught. It kept me enticed, which is the reason it got three stars.

Thank you to Netgalley for sending me this ARC of "The Couple on Cedar Close" in exchange for an honest review.

Just started The Couple on Cedar Close by Anna-Lou Weatherley. It’s is suspenseful and a little dark, I am curious about which direction the story will take the reader…



Cedar Close has always been a nice place to live – a quiet suburban street where everyone looks out for one another and bad things don’t happen. Until late one evening, when Robert Mills is found dead in his bedroom. Downstairs, in their beautiful kitchen, his wife Laurie sits alone in the dark with her head in her hands. She can’t remember the last few hours, but she knows she didn’t kill Robert. The trouble is, no-one believes her.



The book begins with a woman drinking too much, passing out and waking to find blood all over her and her husband, dead. If that’s not an explosive start to catch your attention, I don’t know what is. Though she has no recollection of what happened, its obvious that she committed the crime, or did she?

I am looking forward to delving further into this book! So far, so good.

January 18, 2019.

The Couple on Cedar Close by Ann-Lou Weatherley got off to a great start with a typical scene, a wife discovering her husband's infidelity at a most inopportune time. From there the plot veers into criminal territory, with Laurie, the wife, discovering her husband's dead body and also discovering that she herself is covered in blood. The trouble is, she blacked out, and is not sure exactly what happened. I found this book to be just okay, Laurie was so troubled as a character, and seemed kind of wimpy. Too fragile to be believable. I didn't care for some of the dialogue, it came off as stilted, awkward, or just not engaging enough. The detective was an unlikable character as well. Overall, an okay book, but felt as though this has all been done before.

My second book by this author, and the second book of the Detective Dan Riley series. To be honest, I hadn’t realised until I’d started to read it that it was part of a series, and I had to go back and re-read my review from almost exactly a year ago to remind myself of the character! From doing this I remembered that I had loved the first book, and so it was no surprise that I also loved this one!

Dan Riley in the first book, Black Heart, was a dark and brooding character who was still obviously grieving over the death of his girlfriend and unborn child in a car accident. In this book, the case that he is working on, brings all those memories flooding back for him, but he seems like a much stronger character, and emotionally is in a much better place. The storyline focusses on the brutal death of Robert Mills, with his wife Laurie being the main suspect. Dan Riley and his team are given the case and whilst Dan works on his gut instinct, the rest of the team appear to be working on the facts! Dan is a great character and I liked him so much more than I did in the first book! He is one of the ‘good guys’, working on instinct and wanting to get the person who actually did it, not just the person who appeared to! I loved his relationship with his team and cheered when he continually put one particular member in his place!

The storyline is quite gory and gruesome, and the chapters switched from different characters perspectives and different timescales. I have to admit I did guess which particular person was involved, but loved how the story unfolded to the big reveal. It was great to see all the pieces fitting together for Dan and how he had worked them all out! The storyline was fast paced and gripping, with the emphasis more on not who was the killer, but why the killer did what they did.

This book kept me hooked, rapidly turning pages to reach the conclusion! The chapters were short enough to keep me interested and even though they switched between each character, this was done in such a way that it didn’t become too confusing. It was thoroughly enjoyable, lots of suspense and tension and was a great thriller of a read with plenty of twists and turns!! I can’t wait now for the next book in series to see how the storyline pans out for Dan Riley!!

A fabulous read! I didn't realise it was book 2 of a series but it is absolutely fine as a stand alone however i will be reading Book one as I loved Detective Dan Riley. A perfect looking life is not what it seems. Laurie is accused of murdering her husband. All the signs are there but did she do it. A really dark read with some great twists.

Hey and what a tale this was to take me from 2018 to 2019 ( reading wise!!)
It might be easier to list what ISENT involved in this psychological thriller tbh
It took a few pages for me to settle into the characters and the storyline ( by their nature some of the characters are nasty, really nasty) but once I had this fast paced ‘flick the kindle app page’book had me hooked
The story is dark and treacherous and the adage of ‘trust no one’ although old in this book is 100% true, no one is quite as they seem and they will all do whatever it takes to satisfy their needs!!
I found the clinical information re psychopaths throughout the book fascinating, how they work, what they feel, their goals and motives and the way this information was added into the story was welcome and not, as facts can be, boring...it was presented to be understood and play alongside the story
Detective Riley who plays a big part in the book is brilliant, I really liked his attitude and way he was determined to find out just what had happened on Cedar Close, I liked his human reaction to the terrible events he uncovered....and saw!!
As said the book is dark and abuse ( marital, psychological amongst other things ) is covered in a real and no nonsense way, I read a lot but parts did shock me!!
A genuinely really good read that leads to a grim conclusion on who these people really are that live on Cedar Close
Really glad first review of the year is a 10/10 5 Stars

Wow, a good thriller with many twists!
You think you have found the perfect location, think again! Cedar Close isn't the perfect and quiet place...
Imagine your husband is found dead and everyone thinks you did it! You know you didn't but you can't remember the last few hours...

I was hooked by the summary and wasn't disappointed! I love a good story with secrets... You think it's one person then someone else looks suspicious, then someone else, then you question your own sanity!

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this book for an honest review.

Thanks to #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest and fair review. The Couple on Cedar Close is about a marriage that is breaking down due to infidelities. After a very public confrontation by the wife at a neighbourhood bbq she wakes up one morning to find herself in her home on Cedar Close and her husband has been stabbed to death. Given her confrontation of him she is the number one suspect. Her problem is she cannot even remember what occured that night all she knows was she had been drinking a lot waiting for him to return home for dinner. The plot is suspenseful and serves up some plot twists that you won't anticipate. Even when I suspected who the killer was I still couldn't stop turning the pages to work out their motive. A great read and a reminder that nothing is as it seems in any neighbourhood. #netgalley #thecoupleoncedarclose #anna-louweatheley #goodreads #tea_sipping_bookworm #litsy #bookouture

This book was charismatic and well worth the read. The cons? I figured out the killer way to early which surprisingly didn't take away too much from the plot.

Fans of Gone Girl will definitely love this one. What I enjoyed most about this one was the fact that I thought I knew one thing and the story immediacy takes a turn in a completely different direction. Definitely a page turner..