I was intrigued by the premise of this book – why would a girlfriend who presumably did not kill her boyfriend but did find his body risk being accused of his murder by cleaning up after the unknown killer?

The first chapter was beautifully delivered and I was loving the disembodied 1st person POV, the careful, almost guilty behaviour she preforms as if another version of herself has committed the crime – but then the Before and After sections did throw me off a little. I was in too many places at once and never in one long enough to find my feet. Several pages in and I know more about the woman who wedding they’re playing than the protagonist or the victim.

However, as the book finds its pace and the distance between the timeframes closes, and the personalities and dynamics come out, everything becomes much more fluid. There’s a lot of tension and the old Prisoner’s Dilemma feeling of who will rat out who and questions of loyalties.

I think this is a re-release or at least a change of title. I’m assuming this because the book feels a tiny bit dated. In the first chapter the protagonist is removing evidence from the scene of the crime – a CD of Garth Brooks! But still, it’s a great read – know the first few jumpy chapters will past and enjoy the main body of the book and a cracking ending.

First of all, I’m confused by the release information. NetGalley gave me an eARC of this book with the publication date listed as April 27, 2021, but is this not the same book that was published in 2010? Is it just a reissue with a new cover/publisher? Either way, this was my first time reading it.

When the book starts, you know someone is dead and that Bonnie is hiding the body instead of calling the police. You don’t know who died, how, or what Bonnie had to do with it. Bonnie calls Sonia to help her hide the body. The reader knows that Bonnie was romantically involved with the dead guy. 

The book then switches back and forth between “before” and “after” the murder, as the reader waits for the timelines to converge to figure out what happened. I found it dragging a little bit at times. You don’t find out what Bonnie has to do with the murder until nearly 70% of the way through the book. The author spends a lot of time describing Bonnie’s guilt and mental deterioration after hiding the body.

I found Bonnie to be somewhat unlikable, starting with how she dragged Sonia into her mess and got her involved with the murders. She just didn’t seem like a strong enough protagonist to carry the plot.

The ending was a little lackluster, not worth all the pages and pages and pages of buildup.

View my full review on my blog here: https://www.howdidthatbookend.com/other-side-of-the-door-nicci-french/

The Other Side of the Door by Nicci French is a murder mystery done in typical murder mystery fashion. There is a murder that is discovered in the first chapters of the book. The book then jumps between before the murder and after the murder, only relinquishing small tidbits of information per chapter. The main character is Bonnie, a music teacher, and we follow her throughout the novel as she covers up a murder scene.

The before and after didn’t feel like it served any purpose because the story could have been told chronologically and still have the same punch. This might have actually helped feel more attached to the characters and allow them to develop stronger bonds of friendship that I felt was missing from the time jumps.

I particularly had a hard time with the entire relationship between Bonnie and Sonia. It all seems so unrealistic and then inconsistent. I wish we had more time to see that relationship in a normal setting before jumping into the chaos and seeing it fall apart. Bonnie was such an unlikeable character and that was further displayed with the relationship with Hayden. Also, I get that there is monstrous behavior from both, but why is Sonia the only one being called out for it?

Throughout the book, I felt like I was being set up for a convenient ending with information that was never presented to the reader. What I love most about mysteries is the ability to track the mystery unfolding and discovering the answers with the protagonists. I didn’t get that with this book because it was all delivered as exposition at the end of the book. And then it was all just so convenient to bring out Sonia’s plotline that had no build-up.

I really wanted to like this book, but I couldn’t stomach Bonnie and Hayden’s relationship with no acknowledgment or comeuppance. And I realize how that sounds considering the plot, but Bonnie was such a passive character and had no redeeming quality about her.

I thought this was a pretty good book, the "before" and "after" alternating chapters were a bit disorienting at first but after I got used to it, I thought it worked well. There was an unexpected twist about halfway through that really got me, but the ending left me unsatisfied. This was the first book I've read by this author and I will be reading more from her.

How far works you go to protect a friend from her own folly? What works you do if you found a dead man in her apartment! Nikki French weaves an intricate talk of secrets, lies and betrayal in this carefully crafted novel about what happens when a group of old friends who used to perform together reunite to rehearse for a wedding performance. Who died is clear once Bonnie discovers the body, but who did It and why is less interesting than the web of lies spun by everyone involved Not the author's best book, but worth reading if you're a fan

A thriller that takes you from one person to another. A fellow band member is murdered. No one knows who did it. However, they all suspect each other and remove the body and clean the crime scene to try and protect the other person. This book is intriguing and keeps you on your toes trying to determine who the murderer is. They all have motive.
Great read!

Excellent! I enjoyed the alternating Before and After (the murder) chapters. Bonnie gets a group of musicians together to play at a friend's wedding. Hayden enters the group and changes the dynamic. Bonnie gets involved with Hayden, and he's problematic. Hayden winds up dead. Who did it? Pretty much everyone that knows Hayden has a motive. Even after most of the mystery was revealed, the book kept going with twists right until the very end. Bonnie was an interesting character and somewhat scattered narrator.

"Who is more dangerous? An enemy? A friend? Or a lover?

Bonnie Graham stands in the open door of her friend's apartment. She is alone, except for the dead body lying in a pool of blood on the floor. What happened? What will Bonnie do now? Whom can she turn to? And what role has she played in the murderous events?"

Thanks to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was quite surprised when I got to the end of my ARC of The Other Side of the Door to discover that it had been published in 2010. It appears to have originally been published in the UK under the title "Complicit."

Nonetheless, it was a decent read. The story is told in alternating chapters of Before and After, the incident being a murder. It is told from the POV of the lead character, Bonnie. Bonnie is a teacher, and over her summer break, a friend asks if she will put together a small band to play at her wedding. Bonnie pulls together her best friend, Sonia, her ex-bandmate, her ex-boyfriend, an ex-pupil, and the pupil's father. She also manages to get a stranger named Hayden, who is a professional musician. Hayden is a great musician, but he rubs everyone he meets the wrong way. Still, Bonnie gets involved with Hayden, albeit it secretly.

As far as mysteries go, this novel was well-written. It wasn't much of a mystery to me who got murdered, and I knew who did it early on even though there were a lot of suspects. I think that was more a matter of me reading so many mysteries rather than the fact that it was obvious. What I didn't like were the characters; they were all pretty annoying. I've read several other Nicci French novels, and this one didn't live up to the writing team's capabilities.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

The book opens with our main character, Bonnie, stepping into her friend’s flat and seeing a dead body laying in a pool of blood. Most people would call 911. But not Bonnie.

The chapters go back and forth from the time she sees the body and then back to the beginning, leading up to how she got to that point. I found this slightly confusing at times since some of the chapters are extremely short but I also found that this kept things interesting. I generally preferred the chapters titled “After”.

The ending and last page is completely lost on me so I had to deduct a star because all of that reading and I have no idea what was significant about the last page. Overall, I enjoyed this book besides the fact that Bonnie had some sort of sexual tension with virtually EVERY male in the book... I had a hard time keeping them straight!

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing me with an ARC.

The format of this murder mystery is rather clever with alternating chapters of "before" and "after" the murder. It had me guessing right until the end with interesting twists and turns. I felt it ended rather abruptly but when I think on it, I can understand the technique of the ending. It's a good read.

Nicci French mysteries rarely disappoint wannabe detectives like myself. The Other Side of the Door kept me guessing the identity of the murderer, until it was cleverly revealed near the very end of the book.
Bonnie Graham, a music teacher on summer break, becomes infatuated with a charismatic musician, Hayden, who has joined her country band for one wedding gig. He's a man with anger issues and makes enemies among the band members and abuses Bonnie physically. Hayden is murdered and left in the apartment of Bonnie's vacationing friend. Who committed the murder and why they did it kept me reading until well after midnight.

I was not fond of the before/after format, it was distracting and made the story feel disjointed. I didn't care for the characters either, it wasn't just that they weren't likable but they were not all that interesting to me.

Like any good murder-mystery, The Other Side of the Door starts off in a normal fashion. We know the what and the who right off the bat... but things are not always what they seem. Bonnie is a mostly likable young music teacher who is tasked with getting a band together to play at a friend's wedding. She gathers some old friends and somehow a stranger ends up joining them, a stranger who has a certain appeal to Bonnie as well as other members of the band. He's the cool guy who doesn't like attachments, with a mysterious past and a volatile temper. The guy the ladies love and the guys want to be. So why is he dead???

This book skips back and forth between past and present and it kept me interested in the book. It quickly sucked me in and I couldn’t stop until I finished. This was so twisty and addicting.

Thanks Netgalley for this copy!

I’ve never read anything by Nicci French, who I’ve learned is really a husband and wife writing team. Cool! But something about this book make me request it on Netgalley. I wish I could say it was worth the read, but I was really disappointed.

From Goodreads:

Who is more dangerous? An enemy? A friend? Or a lover?

Bonnie Graham stands in the open door of her friend’s apartment. She is alone, except for the dead body lying in a pool of blood on the floor. What happened? What will Bonnie do now? Whom can she turn to? And what role has she played in the murderous events?

Bonnie is a music teacher who has spent a long, hot summer in London rehearsing with a band to play at a friend’s wedding. It was supposed to be fun, but the band members find the complicated knots of their friendships–some old, some new–unraveling as the days themselves unwind. What was meant to be a summer of happiness, love, and music turns deadly as lovers betray one another, passions turn murderous, and friendship itself becomes a crime. Everyone tells lies. But is anyone prepared to tell the truth to uncover a murderer?

Nicci French, the author of eleven internationally bestselling novels including Killing Me Softly, Catch Me When I Fall, and Losing You, delivers a sexy, intricate thriller about the temptation of secrets, the weight of lies, and the price of betrayal and suspicion.

The story is told in alternating Before and After chapters, before the murder and after. In the before chapters, you get to know Bonnie, the band she has haphazardly put together, and her friends and relationships. In the After chapters, you learn about the murder, namely who and why, and the aftermath and impact it has on Bonnie.

The characters were obnoxious. Every single one of them was awful, aside from Bonnie’s former student Joakim, who was a bright spot. Every other character lacked any kind of conscience, self-awareness, or moral compass. Because of this, I didn’t care about them. I kept reading to see all the secrets revealed, but the reasoning behind the murder and aftermath was just ridiculous. I was hoping for an interesting thriller, but this one didn’t deliver.

It was very interesting with the before and after sequences. Very twisty at the end. It was a little difficult to get into as it was UK English and terminology but the gist of the book remained the same. I like a good whodunit mystery. I give it 4 stars. Very little grammatical errors.

French keeps the suspense at a low boil before ramping things up for a page-turning, mind-boggling finish that will keep readers guessing until the very end.

Great book! First time to read this author though I’ve heard great things for a while. Different style of writing. The protagonist goes back & forth over the incident the book is centered on while not addressing what happened until the very end. I wouldn’t like all stories to be written this way but it was exceptional in this book. Very skillful. The story was good, but, again, how it was told & bit by bit revealed, really kept me enthralled. Fabulous! Will definitely try other books by Ms French.

It took me a bit to get into the book because of the before and after but once I got it I couldn’t put it down! I ended up enjoying the before and after. I thought this was well written and a great read. I loved the last part of the wedding and how the book ended!

This book didn't hold my interest. I didn't like the main character, and the conversation with another person regarding the coverup in the first pages just didn't ring true. Dead give away, of what I suspected, and later confirmed when I jumped to the end of the book to find out "who did it". Too bad, because I really liked the Frieda Klein series, but this just didn't have the same "magic" as that series.
Thanks for the sneak peek, netgalley.