The Downstairs Neighbor is Helen Cooper’s debut novel, and it is a good one. The entire book is well written with a twisty, exciting plot that is exciting and full of suspense, along with characters that are mysterious and believable.

The mystery/thriller is fast-paced and quickly will hook you in with the story being told from two timelines. The current timeline deals with Paul and Steph and their daughter who has gone missing. It also has views from several of the neighbors that live in the building with them, of course, everyone has a secret,  and while at times the number of people telling their side slowed me down a bit, I would quickly catch up and feel back on track. 

Also included in the book the second timeline that takes place 25 years earlier and deals with Kate and her mom. You know at some point these two times lines are going to connect, but the author weaves them so it will keep you guessing long into the book.

When I read a thriller, I really enjoy the feeling of tension or dread in the story, it draws you in, and makes it feel all the more real, and The Downstairs Neighbor certainly gave me that feeling as I read, it also kept me turning the pages, not wanting to put the book down until I reached the very unexpected ending.

This is a great thriller and a great debut. I look forward to reading more of Cooper’s writing in the future.

Plot Details:
Emma is a downstairs neighbor to Paul, Steph, and Freya. She can't help but eavesdrop on their lives sometimes. Until one day, she realizes that Freya, Paul and Steph's teenage daughter has gone missing. What happened to her? Are things with this family not as great as they seem? Are Paul and Steph hiding something that led to Freya's disappearance? Emma has her own problems to deal with, but it seems that her neighbors' problems are affecting her as well.

My Thoughts:
Wow, was there a lot going on in this book! So many secrets being hidden. I loved this book for all that it had going on. I love finding out secrets and what characters are hiding. And of course, there's a twist. What really happened to Freya? I'm usually horrible at guessing these things, and this book was no exception. I loved the ending and the things that tied together. The characters were very likable, even if you had to suspend disbelief a bit on some things. I gave this book 4/5 stars, only docking one star because I thought that having so many characters to learn about seemed to make it so that you never got to know and relate to any of the characters as well as I'd like to.

3.5 stars

Another twisty, exciting psychological suspense book. I was very invested in finding out what happened to Freya--how did she disappear into thin air, and what secrets are everyone in her life hiding? The book is told from multiple points-of-view, many of them residents of a house that has been divided into three flats, one is a girl from twenty-five years in the past.

I loved the story for the most part, but it took a little bit too long for the author to tie the events of the past to the present. Even with that, it honestly would have been a four star book, but the ending for me was just too unbelievable, it made me roll my eyes a little. Overall though, it's a fun read with some pretty awful characters and some that you might think are awful but turn out to be decent.

This was a fantastic thriller that kept me guessing, freaked out and surprised at the ending. 

Freya is the teenaged daughter of Steph and Paul and one day, she disappears. Emma lives below them, and she has her own secrets. And living below Emma are Chris, Freya’s driving instructor, and his wife Vicky. Everyone has their own secrets, This story is interwoven with a parallel story from the past and the present is explained in various point of view chapters. 

I knew the flashback story had to have some pertinence to the present but there were so many twists and turns that I gave up trying to figure out whodunnit and let myself just read. And it was really good and surprising, with well-drawn characters that inspired empathy. Thumbs up for this one!

The Downstairs Neighbor is the debut novel of author Helen Cooper and has been categorized as mystery/thriller, as well as, women’s psychological fiction. There are three tenants in a shared house in London. There are Paul, Steph, and their seventeen year old daughter Freya upstairs. Emma is downstairs, and Chris and his wife Vicky are in the lower apartment with a separate entrance. One afternoon, Steph comes home to an empty home when Freya should be there. She asks her neighbors if they have seen her and tries to reach her husband but as the hours pass, they realize that she is missing. The result is a twisted “guess whodunnit” from multiple POVs as you try to figure out what happened to Freya and who each of the characters really are. The story is told from Paul, Steph, Chris, Emma and Kate’s POV, although Kate’s POV is a flashback from 25 years earlier. It’s sort of confusing at times, but works overall. As typical with so many thrillers, it takes no time at all for every character to seem that they are a potential suspect – but there is so much more to this novel.

I probably only read about 10-15 novels of this genre a year, but when I do, I typically dive in and don’t stop reading from beginning to end. It took me several times to really commit and invest into this one. I’m struggling to describe why, but it took me a little bit to get into it. So, from about the 15-20% mark on my Kindle app until about the 70% mark I was completely consumed. Every narrator was unreliable in their own way, there were tons of lies and inconsistencies, and there was no indication whatsoever as to what happened to Freya. I was in love with this book and no one could tear my attention away. But then it happened. Things got way too busy and too complicated. There’s a fine line between too little, just enough, and too much. Everyone’s personal baggage and secrets started leaking out and unfortunately, some of them were just silly. Yes, they explained plot points, but it just seemed a little much. I felt like my brain was getting cluttered and just on complete overload. 

Despite all of that, I will say that Helen Cooper surprised the hell out of me multiple times. I never imagined the novel ending as it did and for that, I give her kudos. But Emma coddling her son Zeb was exhausting, Paul’s weird previous life storyline made so sense and was boring, and Steph’s secrets were just weird. This is a good book and if someone asked if I recommend it, I would say yes. However, it didn’t need quite so much “stuff.” Had Paul’s side story been left out, I think it would have been absolute perfection. Or maybe a bit less of Emma’s whininess? But overall, this was a pretty good read. Considering this was her debut novel, bravo!

*Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Despite being a very busy story, with frequent time and point of view changes, this was a book that had me looking for the next clue on every page. But, finally I just sat back and took in the story because so much is thrown at us that I realized it'd be very hard to figure anything out. There are too many moving parts, too many people, too many timelines (when memories of past events are thrown in). I didn't want my "sleuthing" to interfere with my understanding of the characters, their motivations, and their fears. 

Seventeen year old Freya lives in a nice apartment with her perfect (from the outside looking in) parents, Steph and Paul. Living below them is Emma, a small business owner who has had to close up shop and who lives alone...oops, not alone because she lives with her hamster who sleeps during the day and runs on his hamster treadmill at night, keeping Emma awake. Below Emma is driving instructor, Chris, and his nurse wife, Vicky. All these people have secrets, long held secrets that they never plan to reveal. But then Freya goes missing and everyone's life is thrown into chaos and put under a microscope. 

There is also the timeline of Kate, twenty five years ago. Kate is living with her mom and extremely worried about her mom's dodgy boyfriend. It's not until far into the book that we learn how all the secrets and Kate's timeline fit together. This story is like years of a soap opera thrown into the span of a week. It's very interesting, twisty, convoluted and maddening. I had great fun reading this story although I wish it could have been a bit more straightforward and not so messy with so many people and their secrets...but then that's what this story is about...secrets, lack of honesty, and how not revealing something can be the same as lying.

Emma lives alone in her apartment with Gilbert the hamster for company.  Below her in the basement apartment are Chris and Vicky.  Chris teaches a number of teenagers how to drive.  On the top floor are Paul, Steph, and their 17-year-old daughter, Freya.  Today, she is late returning home from school and her mother is getting nervous.  As time passes and Paul returns home from work, they finally decide to call the police.

As the hours turn into days and Freya has not returned, Steph and Paul are beside themselves with fear.  What could have happened to their daughter?

This story bounces back in time to a tale about Kate and her cousin, Becca, and then returns to the present day situation, slowly peeling away the layers of time like those of an onion.

These characters are all keeping secrets from things that happened in their past and struggling to make their present lives good.  But Freya disappearance means that those secrets come creeping out and may or may not relate to what has happened to Freya.

This is a good thriller that builds keeping the reader on the edge of their seat.  It gave me shivers at times which, for me, has always proven that I am reading a super book!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

It was a slow and boring read halfway through the book. The suspense surrounding a  missing teenager girl is what keeps you going.  Her disappearance is told through a series of  montages from other characters back stories and are woven together to solve the mystery.

With quite a few characters to keep track of, Helen Cooper’s debut novel, The Downstairs Neighbor, is a book that the reader has to constantly pay attention to, but the intricate plot details and the twists and turns generously reward you for your time and patience.

Set in suburban London, a large home houses three separate families, and an untold number of secrets.  On the basement level lives Chris, a driving instructor, and his wife Vicky who is a nurse. Their marriage is strained in what appears to be the same way many young marriages are – particularly money struggles and learning to communicate.

On the ground floor is Emma who has had to close her shop and is having financial problems of her own, and until recently, Zeb, who has just moved out. Emma often hears the sounds from the upper floors where Paul, his wife Steph, and their teenage daughter Freya live, and whom Emma believes to have a near-perfect family life.

When one day Freya doesn’t return home after school, everyone’s secrets start pouring out in an effort to figure who might know something that would help. No one seems to know their neighbors, their families, or even themselves quite as well as they thought they did.

Weaved into this current day mystery, Cooper has also included a missing child and a murder case, both from more than 20 years ago. Readers will be kept on their toes as they are constantly handed puzzle pieces with no idea how they will all ultimately fit together!

There are times when there simply feels like too many people to keep up with. Besides those listed above that live in the house, Vicky has two sisters that make appearances, Paul has work colleagues that fit into the story, and the characters from the stories that happened decades ago all make for a very crowded cast. Cooper does an excellent job of letting the reader know who they need to be paying attention to, though. In addition, a too-large cast in a mystery is much preferred over a too-small cast, as that often results in no “mystery” at all.

This book also alternates each chapter between the perspectives of most all of the key players. I know some people do not enjoy the shifting perspectives, but I love it as it keeps things exciting, and keeps the tension high. I am very excited to see what Helen Cooper does next!

Helen Cooper has written a page-turner of a debut. When 17-year-old Freya does not return home, there are so many possible suspects. The police ask the parents if they have have any enemies who might want to harm Freya. And while both parents deny it, their actions show otherwise. And then there is the single woman on the ground floor, whose teenage son has disappeared, Freya’s driving instructor who lives in the basement apartment. As the suspects struggle with what is going on, there is a second plot taking 25 years earlier when a young girl accidently kills her mother’s boyfriend. Both stories collide at the end and the ending is totally unexpected.

Thank you NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for giving me access to this eARC.

This book initially caught my attention by the title and by the summary - a missing girl, family secrets? Sign me up! I was in need of a good thriller / mystery. 

When Freya, a young high school girl, does not come home one evening her parents become increasingly concerned. Where is she? What do others know? What secrets are not being told? Shifting from different viewpoints of the parents, the neighbors and the past - this will have you wondering, can you really trust those closest to you?  

Overall Rating: 4 stars
I was excited to dive into this book since I was due for a good mystery - the plot for this one intrigued me right away. I am happy to say The Downstairs Neighbor did not disappoint! The story is told through the different viewpoints of five people who are all somehow connected. I read this on my kindle and at first glance I was a bit overwhelmed by the number of chapters and characters that were involved. Sometimes with books that switch viewpoints it is easy to get lost in remembering who is who. In the beginning it started a little slow, but once I got into each character, learning their habits and personalities, I got sucked in. This book was great at giving each character a unique identity. 

The characters: I felt out of all the characters I connected with Emma the most. She is a funky young woman who happens to hear a lot of her neighbors conversations. She also has a lot going on in her own life at the same time. 

Lately I am finding that with most mystery/thrillers I am guessing the ending before it is revealed. This book was a breath of fresh air since it kept me guessing and on my toes until the very end. At first I felt the story had a slow start, but as the characters developed I felt myself becoming more invested in their lives and story. Towards the end of the book I felt I couldn't put it down as all the threads were weaving together.

Wow, now this is a mind-blowing book for me!  So well written, amazingly written characters, and absolutely unputdownable!  Very fast paced and unique, which had ne flipping pages like crazy; desperate to see what happens, not dreading it ending!  Lots and lots of amazing thrills, chills, and shocks!  Will likely be dizzy from all the twists and turns!  Fast paced & unputdownable, a must read for me fellow thrill seekers!  Highly highly recommend!

The Downstairs Neighbor was a riveting British mystery, where the real twists and turns came from those involved to thought provoking effect. It centers around a big house divided into three apartments in London, and let me tell you, not a single person of the seven living there are whom they seem to be!

There's Chris and Vic, who live in the bottom flat. He's a driving instructor, she's a nurse, and it seems like Chris is having massive doubts about their relationship. She seems not to notice or care.

Next is Em and Seb. She's into fashion, and has just had to close her shop. Seb has just left her. Neither of these things seem like mystery fodder but they are. They so are!

Then there's Freya, Paul, and Steph. Paul has a dull but well paying job, Stephanie is beautiful and a high flying* customer rep who works out of Heathrow (*couldn’t help it!) and Freya is their gorgeous teen daughter who, as the novel opens, has disappeared with Chris being the last to see her.

Freya's disappearance is definitely part of the book but a small part, because as The Downstairs Neighbor races along, it turns out that every person in the house has at least one secret, and some of them...wow! 

There are so many twists here and what I liked is that they all worked! Every reveal felt genuine, not forced, and the layers to them kept coming to the very last scene. And it was fascinating (and so well done) to see how all the revelations conected, how The Downstairs Neighbor is really, at its core, a psychological thriller about hiding parts of yourself. We all do it, but the seven characters here take it to very extreme (and deadly) places.

I also thought The Downstairs Neighbor had a lot to say about the justice system. Though the book is set in England, its criticism of the legal systems are definitely, absolutely applicable in the United States as well, from how poorly and prejudicial police can conduct investigations to the arrests and trials and how justice isn't always served well or fairly, right down to a look at how and why the side of "the law" can try to hide wrong they've done. 

I thought The Downstairs Neighbor would be a good British thriller and it definitely is but it's also a collection of fascinating character studies and an intense and searing look at the injustices of the justice system and those things end up what makes The Downstairs Neighbor so fresh and surprising. This is definitely smarter and more thought-provoking than your average thriller and is absolutely worth checking out!

With lots of moving parts and timelines, <i>The Downstairs Neighbor</i> will keep you on your game. Three families live in a sprawling house. Upstairs, there is Steph and Paul with their 17 year old daughter, Freya. Downstairs, living in the small apartment below them is Emma, a former shop owner. In the garden apartment is Chris, a driving instructor and his wife Vicky. 

One day, Freya leaves for school and never returns. She was last seen by Chris, after their driving lesson, dropping her off at school. Or was she? 

Everyone’s a suspect in this novel and everyone has secrets. Paul is not just the quiet data processor everyone thinks. And Emma also has secrets of her own she’d rather everyone forget. But time is running out and no one can find Freya. 

Cooper’s novel has multiple narrators and timelines, which may be a bit confusing at first. But once you start reading, you are truly immersed into the world of the characters and each ones desperate attempts to do whatever it takes to make it out alive and keep their secrets intact.

Comparisons to Lisa Jewell are hard to live up to in my book, but I enjoyed this twisty thriller pretty much. A nice, quick read.

Ugh. Synopsis is solid. This was good. The story moved along nicely interweaving characters into a solid story. Problem is, while the author tried to wrap everything up at the end it all really fell apart for me. What had been plausible no longer was. Also, it went on and on for far too long. I'm all for knowing how everyone ends up but this just wore on to the point I thought of not finishing even though there was less than 10 percent remaining.  Editing, editing, editing.  I appreciated being granted the ARC of this book from Netgalley/GP Putnam and Sons. I would like to see more from Helen Cooper in the future.

Wild neighbors make wild stories.  This was indeed a wild story.  Once Freya disappears, you find out that there is all kinds of weird stories about everyone.  This was a great book and you get hooked quickly.

I enjoyed this thriller with its twists and turns. Did not like the characters much. I think the title should have an S at the end, since it is about a few neighbors.  ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

I wanted to like The Downstairs Neighbor more than I did but it was just too much. Too many secrets from too many different people and too many coincidences, too long a book, and none of the characters were likable as human beings so I didn’t care what happened to them.

The entire book is predicated on every single character making catastrophically stupid decisions in an effort to keep things secret that shouldn’t have been secrets.

I always struggle with books or visual media that have this as their basis because it’s just so annoying. TALK TO EACH OTHER for crying out loud. Communication is such an easy concept but hard in action I guess. So for me, the book immediately drops down because of that. We had all sorts of random side stories that really didn’t need to be part of the drama, except the author needed to have reasons for characters keeping secrets. While I understand it, I don’t particularly love it.

That said, I still enjoyed the overarching plot enough to finish this fairly quickly. It was fun seeing what happened to Freya, although I’m a little upset that the people who wronged someone else most egregiously didn’t get their comeuppance. True to life I suppose, but still left be grumbling.