Claire Douglas delivers!

I am so grateful for the opportunity to review galley. In this novel, Saffy and her husband Tom are working on their cottage extension in England when the contractors find two bodies buried on property.

The cottage was given to her mother Lorna (a bit of a wanderer) by her mother Rose and in turn, Rose has given it to Saffy and Tom. With construction halted, pregnant Saffy calls her mom Lorna to share the news and Lorna rushes to the cottage.

This story is told in alternating perspectives by Saffy, Lorna and dementia ridden Rose. Who are the bodies and how did they end up there?

I just couldn’t get into this book and it actually put me in a bit of a reading slump. Sadly, I just found the early chapters a bit boring and didn’t feel connected to the characters. Perhaps it got better, but I had to DNF this one.

What a fun ride and puzzle to piece together! It was different type of intriguing mystery and I loved it! I did find it a bit odd that the bomb dropped a little earlier than I expected but regardless it all worked well and kept my attention from start to finish.

Saffron and her boyfriend Tom are pregnant and recently moved into her gran’s old cottage that she had left to Saffron’s mother and was being rented out by others for the past thirty years. They are renovating and expanding getting it ready before the baby when right from the start the contractors discover two bodies buried in the yard. This begins the domino fall of who are they? How did they die? What does this have to do with Rose, Saffrons grandmother? Secrets begin to arise and right when you think you know, you find you are very wrong! Love love love those moments!

This is told in multiple point of views and it worked so well! It wasn’t overwhelming and it aligned perfectly. I really enjoyed this one and highly recommend if you are in the mood for a good surprise.

Thank you to netgalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was a thrilling quick read. I liked it but didn't love it. It seems like another average thriller we have skeletons in our closet kinda book but will fix your need for a thriller if you want one!

I give this book 4 stars. The plot was developed incrementally and with anticipation for the reader. I enjoyed the twists and turns. The author did an excellent job organizing duel timelines. She executed this duality skillfully and with aplomb. I did not foresee the outcome. Thank you NetGalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks, for granting me this ARC. #TheCoupleAtNumber9 #Netgalley @dougieclaire.

What happens when your contractors find two skeletons in your backyard? Who are they and who put them there? I really enjoyed this one from Claire Douglas. Told from multiple points of view and spaces in time, it tells the tale of Rose and Daphnae and the past they are running from. The story plays out in current time with Saffy trying to figure out why there are bodies in her backyard and how is her grandmother (who has demenia) involved. Definately recommended.

This is a perfect beach read! Loved all of the twists. This book will do well especially on airport shelves this year!

I freaking loved Do Not Disturb by Douglas!
Just Like The Other Girls I was hoping to get approved for that one but I didn't.....
So I seen The Couple at Number 9 by Claire Douglas

And this book was everything!
I was simply captivated by this book.
The writing is very mature and the plot is creative, ingenious and very atmospheric with great vivid descriptions.
This is what a good thriller should be like!
Twisted, shocking and leaves you wondering, but the truth that is going to be unraveled is nothing what you think it will be.
All characters seem shifty and to be hiding something. By the end I was totally and completely taken by surprise by the turn of events.
Loved the whole book right to the last page.

Harper Paperbacks,
Thank You for this eARC!

I liked this book. I didn't love it. But at the same time, it's compelling and reading it felt like fun, not a chore like some books do.

What an fabulous mystery and twisty read! The Couple at Number 9 was told through multiple POV’s which really allows you to get into the heads of the characters. Such an intricate plot with a crazy twist! One of the best books I’ve read in quite some time. Can’t wait for the next book from Claire Douglas!

Appropriately twisty with characters who it's possible to like, but with major editorial issues (I may have read this late enough that it actually went to publication this way, which...).

Saffron and Tom move into their dream house, and during renovations, 2 bodies are found buried in their back yard. The Couple at Number 9 begins with this simple premise, and you’re quickly drawn into this entertaining mystery. There’s a lot of spokes on this wheel, with plenty of characters and an equal number of twists. Told artfully, the author weaves different timelines together in a coherent fashion, keeping the reader engaged and informed, maintaining the suspense throughout until the puzzle pieces all come together. Well done! I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Woohoo! Multi POVs! A unique puzzle! Great characterization! Well executed, hooking, riveting, smart mystery!

I gave 4.25 : it was a little more from my usual 4 starred readings but I just solved the biggest mystery in the middle of the book: which a little ruined my jaw dropping revelation moment ( that’s why I cut some points) but this book was still a promising, making you pick up the pieces to complete the entire puzzle, hooking you up at the strong opening: Saffron Cuttler, close to her mid twenties, pregnant, living with her boyfriend Tom, moving to her new house located in 9 Skelton Place she’s inherited from her beloved grandma Rose who suffers from dementia, living in the nursing home.

When the couple decides to make some renovations for their kitchen : the builders found two bodies buried at their backyard. 30 years ago somebody might have killed them and buried to the ground. Unfortunately this time slot matches with the very same time slot that Saffron’s grandmother Rose lived at this place. She had a mysterious tenant named Daphne who has no trace to be followed.

Saffron’s young, eccentric, fiery, nosy, energetic mother Lorna leaves her young boyfriend and her adventurous life behind, flying from Spain to help her daughter to solve the mystery behind the dead bodies! She’s my favorite character in this book!

Only one person knows what happened 30 years ago and that person barely remembers who she is: Rose: the grandmother is the key of this mystery!

Three generations’ POVs and moving back and forth between 2018 and 1980 were great experiences. I felt like an amateurish detective to gather the clues and any information the author hides behind the lines! It was truly fun!

Theo was also likable character and I wish he and his wife have their own book ( I’m so sure there was enough material for that) but his character was crucial for bringing out one of the surprising revelations.

Overall: I truly enjoyed it. This is my first book of the author! And I absolutely need more works of her! I loved her talented writing style!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts .

Three generations of one family (all women, of course, because that’s what sells these days) come to a terrible reckoning with their past at a small village cottage.
The couple that’s living there currently, Saffy (the granddaughter) and her man are not the first inhabitants of number 9. This was a cottage they inherit from Saffy’s grandmother, who is now away with advance dementia. Saffy’s mom, Lorna, is off in Spain living her best life. All Saffy wanted was a larger kitchen. And then they found bones on her property. Two bodies’ worth of bones.
Not quite an easy carefree inheritance she might have hoped for, but there it is. And so, the grandma is obviously hiding secrets, but uncovering what those may be from a dementia-addled mind won’t be easy. There’s a conventional investigation going on too, but really…this is a family business. And so, Lorna (a young hot mommy who Gilmored her baby out at 16) arrives from Spain and her and Saffy begin an investigation of their own. They will not like what they find, but eventually will learn to accept it.
And so, yet another one of those thrillers, you know the kind, the ones that are so ubiquitously popular these days. Not the best of the bunch, but absolutely solid. Well plotted, well written, slightly too long but well-paced for its bulk, oodles of family drama with some very credible character writing and a few nice plot twists.
If you ever thought Gilmore Girls might be spiced up quite nicely by a murder or two, if only to take attention away from that obscene bullet-train-paced dialogue, this ought to delight you. Plus, it’s British, which enhances all things in general.
Entertaining. Fun was had, I’d likely read more by the author. Thanks Netgalley.

Labeled as a psychological thriller, this suburban mystery story is not so much that, but more of a slow-build study in family and the secrets we all keep, with some twists and turns along the way. When Tom and pregnant Saffron move into her grandmother Rose’s old cottage and begin renovations, an investigation is soon under way to figure out the identity of the two bodies unearthed in the back garden buried thirty years ago when Rose may or may not have lived there. Rose is not much help, though, as she’s in a care home with dementia, and only lucid every so often (just enough to drop hints, red herrings, memories, and other tidbits to move the story along). But the police aren’t the only ones hoping to uncover the truth. Others with more sinister reasons are also at hand, both now and in flashbacks. As the story unfolds from various points of view, in the present and in the past, readers are left to wonder how the pieces fit together and whether the real story will ever be discovered. For readers wanting a fast pace, deep characterizations, and a true psychological thriller, this title will disappoint. But for those who are patient and willing to stick with a story for the payoff, The Couple at Number 9 will be worth a read

This ARC was provided to me by Harper Perennial and Paperbacks and #NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Okay, I devoured this. Like, almost in one sitting.

Loved the premise of this book. It sounded so intriguing, so I HAD to pick it up!

The beginning was a bit confusing, and it took me a while to get used to Theo’s POV as opposed to Lorna and Saffy’s POVs. But in the end, I love how the stories came together and tied up the loose ends.

Also… the plot twist???? UH???? Like I had an inkling at one point, a MINUSCULE feeling that what I thought could be a possibility, but I was like, “Nah, no way. That would be crazy.” AND YES. IT ABSOLUTELY WAS CRAZY.

So many secrets are dug up when two bodies are found in the garden of a cottage after decades of being buried there.

This was a fun twisted thriller. I liked how it hoped back and forth between the present and the past and everything all started to come together toward the end. I liked the different relationships and all of the characters were likable.

However, some of the twists were predictable and there was almost too much going on at some points. It was a little hard to keep track of everything at some parts. The story also seemed a little dragged at parts. That being said, i would still recommend this to anyone that likes murder mysteries. It was still a fun twisted mystery that kept you guessing the whole time!
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Harper perennial and paperbacks for this arc!

This is fantastically written! Well thought out, an intricate plot and so many twists! I was kept guessing until the very end. I love mysteries and the one thing I love about them is that I rarely figure it out before things are revealed.

The couple at the center of this story are Tom and Saffron. They inherited a quaint cottage in Beggars Nook at No.9 Skeleton Place. Little did they know when they moved in just how appropriate the street name would come to be. The house needs a lot of updates. They decide to extend the kitchen and in doing so have to dig up the garden. Shortly after beginning the excavation of the garden, the building workers find something, well two somethings. Two skeletons buried under the stone slabs. They contact the police and soon are inundated with looky loos and reporters. Nothing like this happens in this tiny village.

The police of course are investigating who the bodies are. They start asking questions of Saffron. She tells them she inherited the house from her grandmother, Rose, who only told her and her mother, Lorna about the cottage recently. Rose now lives in a care facility, dementia claiming the last years of her life and any memories about what might have happened to the two people there.

After some investigating by the police and Lorna herself, they start to unravel the events of the past, 30 years past. Startling revelations about who Lornas father is, who the bodies are and who Rose is. Without saying more as not to spoil it, the secrets she's been keeping are HUGE!

I really liked this story! I felt the characters were well developed and the setting descriptions made me feel like I was there with them. The author does a good job of weaving the story, not just in between the characters but also the years involved. I really liked how the chapters went back and forth between differing viewpoints and years. A 5-star read and definitely one I need to have in a physical copy.

Lots of twists and turns. Good pacing, and on a personal note, I love multiple POV’s.
A classic mystery, thriller. I look forward to more by this author!

Claire Douglas has produced another nail biting psychological thriller. Loved this book and can't wait for more by her.