I loved the international setting and the diverse range of characters. The story was a bit over the top for me and I found it difficult to engage in it as a genuinely credible story. It will appeal to readers who like a bit of ,melodrama, I think, but I prefer things a bit more grounded. ,

There is too much happening at once for this book to be enjoyable in the slightest and I wanted to love it and gave it a shot but I was too confused

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. A great mystery thriller novel. Recommend

I'm thoroughly impressed with this one and it definitely kept me glued to the pages right to the very end. Wonderful book. Great writing craft.

I really wanted to like this book, but while parts of it were it intriguing, it just was not drawing me in. I found myself re-reading entire pages because it wasn’t holding my attention enough to remember what I was even reading. I think it has promise but the writing was only fair and it was just way too slow for me. Ultimately, it was a DNF. I think it could be a great read but it needs work.

Thank you NetGalley, author and publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

2 "oh my goodness why are there 376 violinists playing...all slightly out of tune" stars !!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Eclat books for an e-copy for my honest review. This was released November 2018.

I want to start on a positive note. This is likely the most enjoyable two star book that I have ever read. I never wanted to abandon this book and for all its many flaws I enjoyed it from cover to cover.

We have a self-made Nigerian fashion designer (Phina) who is talented, beautiful and intelligent. She is also emotionally labile and as psychologically deep as a bathtub without water. She is married to Patrick, also super wealthy and British. There is a murder and Phina is implicated.

There are a wide assortment of paper doll characters beautifully dressed, exquisitely rich and they all smell so darn good. We have beautiful London Mansions, Nigerian chateaus and wonderful art, food and fashion.

The writing ranges from fair to poor but you cannot stop reading almost adds to the c-level made for TV vibe that it has going for it. The dialogue is often ridiculously delicious and absurd, the shifts in emotion range from bizarre to unbelievable.

I do like how the mystery unravels though and I enjoyed walking along with Phina in her Yves St. Laurent outfits, listening to Sade and having to choose between two wealthy hunks who want to marry her after her own husband is murdered.....

This was like a 1980s version of Nigerian UK Dynasty that is dubbed in Japanese Cartoon voices.

I was hooked, really hooked but I simply cannot rate it higher than two stars !

Focussing on an intense desire for power, characters in Oby Aligwekwe’s ‘Hazel House’ will have you questioning if having money isn’t really all it’s cracked up to be.

Phina, a beautiful Nigerian woman has it all; a hilltop home in the outskirts of London, a handsome, driven husband, a cute little girl, household staff including luxury cars with chauffeurs, influential friends including many with royal titles, lavish dinner parties, exotic travel and a massive inheritance. She’s also an astute businesswoman in her own right. Did I mention she has an aristocratic title? Marchioness Phina Campbell. She doesn’t use it and that should tell you everything.

Patrick, a marquis and a gorgeous movie producer with shares in his wife’s business, is tied to his job and cell phone. He has always managed to make time for his wife regardless of how many demands are put on his time. Until recently. Phina notices that something isn’t right, but can’t put her finger on it. Is he overworked? Is he ill? Is business troubling him? When a body is discovered in a Barcelona hotel room, Phina’s life changes forever.

You’ll love reading about how the other half lives! How dreamy to be able to do what you want and when you want to do it. I loved reading about this fashion-forward, power couple who drink Dom Perignon, eat in exclusive restaurants, jet-set from Nigeria to London to New York to Barcelona to Jamaica and get escorted to private customs agents when they disembark. In spite of the fast-paced life the Campbells lead, this is a slow burn read. The author takes the luxury of setting the stage, but it is worth it for the final third of the story. You’ll read about all the people who come into the picture under false pretences. It must be awful to wonder if people are friending you because they want to spend time with you or because you are rich and powerful and they can use you. The author introduces readers to Nigerian food, culture and the importance of marrying someone from your tribe. Aligwekwe’s slow dance through the plot works well with the twists and turns because readers don’t see them coming. I’ll bet if we could talk to Phina, she’d tell us that titles and money are great, but being loved for who you are and not what you have is more precious than all the riches in the world.

Thank you to Oby Aligwekwe, Eclat Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book and offer my honest review.

Interesting read. I would call it more of a drama mystery. Interesting writing style. It felt very classic, in style. The climax came very quickly then the book ended pretty soon after. The beginning 2/3 of the book are an extremely slow burn, but toward the end of the book, I did feel like I was sucked in and could not stop until I got to the very end. Not much of an open ending, which I enjoyed.

This was difficult for me. I thought the book had a lot of potential. However, the editing could have been better. I thought a lot of things and sub-plots could‘ve been avoided, as they made the overall plot seem overwhelming and cluttered. The writing felt robotic and stiff. I thought the emotion was missing.
I could not connect with the characters, and I felt that the relation between Phina and Patrick seemed forced and stilted. Phina’s relationship with other characters seemed superfluous and, sometimes, unnecessary, to me.

The plot gets better in the second half, although the mystery bit wasn’t too mysterious. It was interesting to see Phina evolving as an independent woman who could only lean on herself instead of finding solace in a man, like she was used to doing initially.

I want to thank NetGalley and Eclat Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Totally AWESOME book!! Amazingly good read that will keep you glued to the pages and wanting/needing more!!
Highly Recommend

A good and fun story that was full of mystery and intruge. I really found this book hard to put down x

this was such a great mystery, I loved the plot twists and getting to know the characters. The storyline had me guessing and hooked from beginning to end.

Phina and her husband Patrick, live in the lap of luxury in a beautiful home on the outskirts of London. They have famous and powerful friends and live a life of indulgence and excess. But when a man is murdered, secrets about the power couple and how they attained their wealth surface and cracks in their perfect facade begin to appear. Someone is out to take Phina and Patrick down, and they won’t stop until the couple is utterly destroyed

*Thank you to NetGalley, Oby Aligwekwe and Eclat Books for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review*

Phina and Patrick are a London Power couple with a beautiful home and a small daughter, Brigitte. They are the envy of everyone around them with the love between them and their lucrative careers as a Fashion designer and a Movie Star. Then Patrick is murdered and everyone becomes a suspect. Hazel House feels like it is based on the board game Clue! Everyone is suspected until there is one left!

Every once in a while I come across a book that I don't know what to say about and Hazel House is one of those novels. This could be a masterpiece with some editing and less characters. Hazel House could be cut down to half and still be amazing but I found myself losing focus 3/4 of the way through the book. It felt immense with too many story lines and too many characters. Some of the characters I felt were superfluous. For example, Brigitte, who is their much loved daughter. She is barely mentioned in the 300 pages and time spent with her is limited to her nightly tuck in and a couple of dinner parties.

I am giving this three stars because I felt it could be more succinct but the writing was amazing and it was a wonderful mystery.

Power and greed will make people do just about anything, but Murder? It appears so, Phina is about to discover that someone is truly looking not only about to destroy her emotionally, but they are trying to harm her physically as well!

There is such a long list of people that would do her harm, but she never thought her husband would be one of them! But is he? That is what the police and her private detective is going to find out, but is Phina ever destined to find a true lasting relationship?

This book has more twists and turns that the epilogue you won’t believe and don’t go there first because that will spoil the whole book!

The author is fantastic and her keeping you on the edge of your page and then when you least expect it there is another occurrence that throws you off! When you think you guess right, the author seems to know when to write in that next little clue. There is just little ones and you have to keep up or you will miss them! I loved this authors writing style and I hope she has more similar books of this nature. I still wished she ended up with the brotherly nature friend! Just saying!

I would recommend this book.

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley and these are my willingly given thoughts and opinions.