Dang! When I read this description I couldn't believe how creepy this one was going to be! Definitely a thrill and all of the characters were intense, which is perfect for a thriller like this one. Must read!

When two skeletons are discovered on Saffy's property during renovations, she and her mother Lorna wonder how they got there, who they are and if Saffy's grandmother is involved since she lived in the house in the late 70's and early 80's. Another man named Theo also begins investigating when he finds a newspaper clipping at his father's house about the discovered skeletons and the words "find her" written next to Saffy and her grandmother Roses's name. Unfortunately Rose has dementia and is unable to answer all their questions. Things become more confusing when Rose mentions names they have never heard of. As Saffy, Lorna and Theo all investigate, their worlds are turned upside down with what they find. Little over halfway, I started to get really confused and then the story pulled together and made sense. It also runs a little too long and I was anxious for the story to wrap up. It's a mystery for sure!

The Couple at Number 9 is a gripping, can't-put-down thriller. Easily 5 stars! When Saffy and Tom decide to renovate their new home, they aren't expecting the builders to unearth two bodies. As the police, Saffy, and her mother Lorna investigate these bodies, long hidden family secrets are revealed (and not just Saffy's family). Theo, a young man living hundreds of miles away who already has a tumultuous relationship with his father, finds himself in the middle of the mystery surrounding the bodies and questioning if his father is hiding even darker sins. The story is fast-paced and the characters are very well-developed. The chapters alternate between Saffy, Lorna, Theo, and Rose (Lorna's mother who suffers from dementia). While I have been able to predict most twists in recent thrillers, the big twist at the end of The Couple at Number 9, I did NOT see coming. I highly, highly recommend this book!

Saffron and Tom Cutler get the deal of a lifetime after they are gifted a cute cottage at the Cotswolds to fix up from Saffron’s mother, Lorna. The cottage was first left to Lorna by her mother Rose who is now at a care facility with dementia. While crews are on scene digging up the back garden, that’s when things get interesting. When several bodies are found, questions start to arise. Stories start to be told, and fingers start to be pointed.

This was a great page turner! My favorite part, multiple POVs with jumping timelines. The character development is phenomenal with you never being left to wonder who is who and why they are the way they are. Saffron is first developed into a nervous and skittish individual but soon morphs into a strong woman. The plot was executed wonderfully with the book being very plot driven. It was a bit of a slow start but picked up rather quickly after that. Definitely a great mystery for those who enjoy them.

"It was the house of their dreams. Until the bodies were found . . ."
BRO. This was all I needed to pick this up. I went into this blind and highly suggest you do the same as this is one of my favorite Douglas novel!

Saffron Cutler and her husband Tom are delighted when she inherits her beloved grandmother Rose’s cottage on Skelton Place. Delighted until the builders working on the kitchen renovation unearth two bodies buried in the backyard. The police are called, Saffron’s mother Lorna returns from Spain but the focus of the investigation is on Saffron’s grandmother Rose who lived at number 9 when the bodies were buried thirty years earlier. There’s a problem - Rose has dementia and is in a nursing home. And the police aren’t the only ones looking for answers.

The Couple at Number 9 is told in the voices of Saffron, Lorna, Rose and Theo, a young man who is trying to understand his father’s behavior. This is a story of love, betrayal, violence, stalking and more. Claire Douglas builds suspense slowly and artfully, making you sympathetic to each character. The pace picks up in the final chapters and the tension is unbearable until the shocking conclusion. You won’t see this one coming! 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Perennial and Paperbacks and Claire Douglas for this ARC.

Saffy & her partner Tom just moved into a cottage in a small village outside of Bristol owned by her mother, Lorna. As the renovations on this cottage, bodies are found in the garden. The unearthing of these bodies sends Saffy, Tom, and Lorna’s lives spiraling into a series of question marks.

The cottage was owned by Lorna’s mother, Rose, and while she kept it mostly a secret to Lorna and Saffy until recently, having lodgers there between the years, it comes to light that the murders took place while Rose was living there.

As Saffy and Lorna, along with the police, investigate what happened during the early 1980’s that led to the murder of two people, the answers they get are shocking and life changing. Rose, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, has a hard time remembering what happened back then-but things resurface during her moments of lucidity.

Staffy and Tom are given her Gran’s old cottage, Staffy is expecting a baby soon so they begin to renovate. When workers are in the yard digging they dig up two bodies who’s bodies are buried in the yard and who killed them? It’s discovered that the bodies were buried while Rose ( Staffys gran ) lived there… Rose has dementia so they’re only able to get small clues out of her when they visit her in the nursing home.

This is more of a lengthy thriller with a lot of different POV and takes place from 1978-2018. I really enjoyed this book and read it almost straight through. Since there are a lot of characters and POV along with plot twists you have to really piece everything together when reading. At times I caught myself re reading a page or two to really get a better understanding. I’d recommend this to anyone who is looking for a mystery/thriller.. I honestly did not think it was going to turn out the way it did

Thank you @netgalley @clairedouglass @harperpierenials for the net galley copy

I needed a good twisty mystery and this one did the trick! It's a pretty complicated plot with, what I thought were a lot of characters, and several different POVs throughout and it was all very simply laid out for a very enjoyable read. The author did a great job of pulling the reader along slowly through a deftly woven plot and directing your attention exactly where it needed to be. The numerous historical characters and seemingly disparate current characters keep you wondering just how everything will fit together, and it does. It all fits very, very well. And there's a twist. And it's a good one!

This is a complex book with multiple perspectives and timelines - but it is easy to keep a track of them. This was a truly fun read and super unsettling. I was surprised at every turn and found the book deeply enjoyable. Lots of tension, lots of secrets, and lots of revelations. You have to read it!

A couple finds and moves into their dream home. While doing renovations they come upon a pair of Human remains in their backyard and are immersed in a homicide investigation that results in the police wanting to interview everyone who has lived in this house for the last thirty years. The main person they need to talk to? Savvy’s grandma who lives in a home and has dementia. How much information will they be able to get out of her and will that help them solve the case? And I I’ll bringing up these memories put anyone in danger? This book was a page turning thriller and I highly recommend. A little predictable but totally worth the read. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book had a lot of potential. I did enjoy the plot overall, but felt it a big lengthy. I also didn't find most of the characters that interesting or likeable. Overall 3/5.

The Couple at Number 9 is a captivating story woven through many year in the town of Begger’s Nook.. Saffy & Tom have moved into Saffy’s Gran’s old cottage, to prepare for the birth of their child.. After starting an expansion of the house into the garden, two bodies are uncovered.. Who are they and what connection could they have to Saffy & Gran, if any?

With Gran in a memory care facility, her memories slipping away with each passing day, how will anyone ever find out the truth.. Adding a menacing private investigator and a slew of press only adds more questions..

A dark, twisting story of love is best description for The Couple at Number 9..

4 1/2 stars

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review The Couple at Number 9 early.. I truly enjoyed the stories and characters..

two bodies are found in a cabin when a young couple starts renovations , they have been there for 30 years. who are they, why are there bodies hidden? interesting mystery.

could not put down this this nail biting thriller. I was on the edge of my seat as I devoured this book in one sitting! Plot twist after plot twist had me in shock and the last one blew me away!

Saffron Cutler and her boyfriend could not be more excited to move into the cottage on 9 Skelton Place. With a baby on the way, they quickly begin renovating the outdated property. As you can imagine there are numerous things that can go wrong during a home renovation. However, I bet they didn’t expect to find the remains of two people in the garden!

The couple find out that the bodies have been buried at least 30 years. It is ruled a homicide and the police immediately begin their investigation. They ask to speak to the cottage’s former owner, Saffron’s grandmother Rose.

Rose suffers from Alzheimers and resides at a care home. Her memory is fuzzy and she is often confused. At first it seems she will be no help to the police. However, it becomes increasingly clear Rose knows more than what she is saying.

As Rose pieces together the fragments of her memories and the police continue their investigation Saffron fears that she is being followed.

Who are the people in the garden? What happened to them all those years ago? The answers lead down a rabbit hole of questions, the answers will shock you!

I loved this book! I don’t give five stars unless a book has absolutely blown me away and this one did just that.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc.

2.5⭐ The synopsis of this book sounded so good. I read some great reviews for it too, so I was really looking forward to it. This one unfortunately didn't work for me. It started out really good. I loved the mystery of the 2 bodies being found in the garden behind the old cottage. I wanted to know who they were and what happened to them, but as it got further into the story there were so many characters, and the back and forth between the two timelines...it just was dragging on for me. I think others may like this but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was a crazy roller coaster of family secrets, murder, lies, tension, emotions and intense twists. I’m a little bit of a snob when it comes to thrillers, but by 3/4ths through I found that I just couldn’t put this one down. I literally had no idea when the next shocking revelation was going to come and what was going to be revealed! I honestly was unable to predict the ending.

So, I struggle at where to begin this review. I guess I will get the elements of the book that I wasn’t too much a fan with out of the way first. There are only a couple things that tripped me up though. One, there were moments where I felt the scenes dragged on a little bit. There was so much energy spent on building up the suspense, tension and emotion before an explosive twist that it was “Come on already!” This could come from my general aversion to suspense and overwhelming desire to just know what is going on. More my flaw than a flaw in the book.

The second was the overwhelming number of characters. Don’t get me wrong, by the end, it all makes sense and they all have a rightful place in the story, but there was a time about a third of the way in where I was finding that I was beginning to not really care about all of them. I just wanted to move along. It was hard early on to see their relevance and it felt that they were taking away from the primary characters and primary conflict.

Overall, the characters are amazing. They span three generations through grandmother, mother and pregnant daughter. I guess that means it technically spans about four generations. Rose, Lorna and Saffron have quite a story to tell. After Saffy and Tom move into her grandmother’s old cottage in the small Village of Beggar’s Nook, they begin some renovations on their house. Unfortunately it turns up two human skeletons when the builders are digging up the garden to build an expansion.

From there the book follows two timelines - present day (well 2018) and 1978-1980. Through the timelines, we experience multiple points of view. Grandmother Rose when she lived in the cottage in the late 70s and 2018 while Saffy and her mother, Lorna, attempt to uncover the truth about what happened there all those years ago. Saffy and Lorna having their own points of view really allowed their characterization to take form. The experiences throughout their lives, especially those events in their childhood shaped them differently, and thus they process the truth in very different, emotional ways. The different POVs allow this to happen.

The timelines are presented in a parallel fashion. As Saffy and Lorna are learning new facts and uncovering new pieces to the puzzle, Rose’s timeline mirrors what truly was happening. However, there were a few critical points where Douglas purposely held information from us until later. A very powerful strategy to say the least.

One would think that the secrets would be easily discovered. Rose can simply tell them what happened and the identities of the two bodies if she truly did live in the cottage when it all happened. The problem? Rose is in a care home suffering from dementia. All they can get are little snippets of information they have to piece together in Rose’s lucid moments.

Throw in Theo, Victor, Daphne, Shelia, Jean, Susan, Davies, and even Melissa, and the puzzle slowly and terrifyingly begins to take shape. Theo does become one of my favorite characters even though the primary plot does not necessarily revolve around him. He still is a very important element as is his father, Victor. Saffy and Theo come across in a very similar fashion. They both present themselves as meek and tentative in the beginning. I definitely wouldn’t classify them as assertive or strong willed, both also impacted by their early, formidable years.

Theo, and Lorna, have to learn and accept what family truly means. Theo has to learn to face the sins of a parent while Lorna has to learn to stop running from uncertainty of love and family. These concepts lead to the emotional roller coaster in this book. The idea that forgiveness isn’t always possible. For others it's the acknowledgement that sometimes the truth can’t change the emotional connection and can’t erase memories. It is because these characters struggle some much emotionally that the plot development becomes that much more intense.

Some of the little secrets and truths didn’t come as a surprise, there was enough foreshadowing for those to be anticipated if you cared enough to process through everything. However, the last quarter of the book I will honestly say it was like getting doused with cold water. I simply said, “What is happening!?!” more than once.

Douglas did a phenomenal job of creating threads and weaving a tapestry together. One that spanned almost forty years and impacted multiple families. The conclusion was fitting if not a little predictable when it comes to how the characters ended up. I was glad that there was closure for Lorna not only when it came to her own mother, but that she and Saffy realized the importance of their relationship. It’s never too late to fix a relationship that is deserving of fixing, but it is also clear that there are times that blood isn’t thick enough to heal a toxic relationship.

If you enjoy thrillers, you will want to get this one added to your TBR list now so you don’t forget about it as you will have to wait until August for it to hit the shelves. This book has everything you would want in a thriller. It was a nail-biting, twist filled, family feuding, secret hiding extravaganza. You too will probably have that “What is Happening?!?” moment too.

This was a great story! It was a little confusing when all the different story lines are at their peak and just before they come together, but after they do it made for a crazy gasp out loud story.
My main thought is: how is that NOT illegal? Once you'll read it you'll know what I'm talking about. You will be shocked as well. The twists and surprises in this were little but many so they added up to a much more complicated and then satisfying solve once they all came out.
CD did a great job with multiple narrators and while you can kind of guess how some are linked the ultimate bottom line of it is also a good twist in itself.
I enjoyed this one though I thought Saffy and her mom, Lorna, had too much animosity at times for how little of a dramatic backstory their relationship had. Although, I guess I'd be jealous if my mom was closer to someone else than me too lol.

First, thank you to Netgalley, Claire Douglas and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

I'm really debating on a 2.5/5 for this book

This book was just okay, I didn't find myself DYING to know what happened next. Honestly the POV switches were a little confusing until the end when everything came full circle.

This book was verrrrrry predictable, I figured out the plot twist by the middle of the book and once it happened I was like, alright cool now what?

I felt like this book just wasn't my favorite, and it wasn't for me. That being said, I believe it has very high ratings otherwise - so I'm probably just in the minority on this one!

A great page turner in the covid era... a great escape for an afternoon, a day at the beach, a vacation or plane read to divert ones thoughts from everyday life.