Cover Image: The Couple at Number 9

The Couple at Number 9

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Member Reviews

I absolutely loved this story. At first I wasn’t sure because it was pretty slow. But when that twist hit, I didn’t want to stop listening!!! So good and it was so heartfelt the ending. Would definitely recommend this one!

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Full of twists and turns from beginning to end. Chapters switch between a few different characters, giving you more perspectives and making you question your guesses of who did it. Gets a bit slow in the middle, but picks up again towards the end.

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I'm always up for a good thriller. This had an interesting premise, and the ending was good. The multiple points of view made me a little daunted at times, but it kept my interest.

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I think I would have enjoyed this one more as a physical book. I found it difficult to keep track of all the characters, and I missed some key plot points while listening. Sometimes I space out when listening to audiobooks. I did enjoy the multiple POVs and jumping timelines. One thing I didn’t care for was the male audio reader. He spoke too fast, so while I listened to the female at 2.0 speed, the male I had to stop and change to 1.5 speed. It was really difficult to do as I listen while in the car!!

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I loved this audiobook!!! The way the phone calls were narrated was something I had not heard before, great job! Just when you think you have it figured out it , another twist. Fantastic read, I could not wait to get to the end.

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This was a fantastic read. Suspenseful and engrossing from start to finish. The narration was superb. I will recommend my library order this to add to our catalog.

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It all starts with a couple of bodies in the garden. A young couple, pregnant, are having their kitchen extended in their small cottage in the Cotswolds when the builders find the bodies. Their whole life is turned up-side-down when the police think there is some connection to the woman's grandmother who has dementia. This book had lots of twists and turns and was a pleasure to listen to. Just the right pace to keep me gripped., I listened to it as an audiobook and the narrators did a great job with the accents and voices.

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You and your husband move into a lovely cottage in the village. You’re young and pregnant for the first time. The cottage is beautiful but small, so you are going to add an extension out the back. When the contractors unearth two dead bodies, the nightmare begins. The story is told through flashbacks when gram, who suffers from dementia, has some lucid moments, the investigating begins. The story flows so nicely and keeps your interest. Audio narration was well done except for the phone calls, those voices were too quiet and tough to hear.

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Twists and turns, unexpected thrills, engrossing cannot put down and when I was finished I wanted more! Refreshing, unexpected tale intricately woven together, effortlessly moving back and forth between decades. Narration was spot on. Highly recommend to thriller/mystery lovers who are bored of the usual suspects and are looking for something new.

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Thank you to NetGalley for the audio advance reader copy of this book. Douglas weaves another great mystery. The alternating perspectives kept the book interesting and it was hard to turn off the story while waiting for that character to come back to their part of the story. Twists and turns keep the reader listening. The story wraps all the questions up neatly, although a few conclusions seem a bit rushed. The only reason I did not finish this book quicker and listen faster was the accent the narrator had was often hard to understand, especially the male reader. 4 stars

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Where do I start? I really like this book by Claire Douglas. It was just the right amount of secrets, tense moments and twists to keep this lover of psychological thrillers happy. I did feel like it was a bit repetitive in some spots but it did not take away from the overall storyline. Perhaps it was my anxiousness to get to the end of the story that made this a rather small issue for me. Keep writing these stories and I will continue to read them.


Thank you to #Harperaudio and #NetGalley for an copy of the book in return for an honest review

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The Couple at Number 9 was an exciting and captivating thriller set in a small English town when a young couple moves into the woman's ailing grandmother's old rental home. When a quiet afternoon of gardening turns up two skeletons on the property, the secrets of the past are ready to be unearthed as well.
I loved Saffron as a narrator, as well as hearing the alternating perspectives of the women who raised her. This book was completely gripping and had a number of surprises. Though I ended up guessing the main twist, there was far more to it than I could have imaged and all the details and storylines that the author wove together made this a truly unputdownable read.
I listened to the audiobook and highly recommend the format for this title. The narrator did a fantastic job with these characters and keeping the story moving.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

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Fascinating multiple POVs, multiple timelines.
This is my first introduction to the author, and I was pulled into the mystery. I enjoyed the way the story was told and the timelines. It was like a sinister playing through. I was able to figure it out early on, but nevertheless I enjoyed listening to the narrator. The narrator, Kenton Thomas did a fabulous job portraying the multiple POVs and elevated the story for me.
I must say that this wasn’t a thriller..this was very much a mystery book for me. But a very enjoyable mystery with its twists and turns.

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This audiobook took me a little while to get into, but once that happened I found it a fun, fast paced listen. It had a clever plot and multiple POV's which I thoroughly enjoyed.

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Good story with lots of twists and turns. How would you feel if you had to live your life always looking over your shoulder? What does it mean to love someone? Both questions are big parts of the plot of this book.

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There were some thing within this book that I am not a fan of, but it is a very interesting story. There are twists and turns. The whole story kept me in suspense.

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It took me a bit to become engrossed in this book, but once I did, I didn't want to stop listening! Teenagers and husbands can feed themselves, right? A shower can be put off for another hour...

Overall, a really solid book. The characters were fascinating and the twists and turns--I figured them out about 2/3 of the way through, but was so engaged with the story that I still couldn't wait to learn how Douglas had woven them all together.

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I enjoyed this book a lot. Likeable characters and the narrators were very good. The storyline is paced well with a good ending.

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Saffron and Tom are a young couple expecting a baby. They are remodeling their home which they inherited from Saffron's grandmother Rose. One day two bodies are unearthed by their construction crew in the garden. The mystery to discover the identities of the bodies and whether Saffron's grandmother Rose was involved begins. The ghastly discovery helps to reunite Saffron with her flighty mother Lorna as they work together to solve the mystery.

After a surprise twist to the ending of the book, I find myself wanting to read it again and again to find all the clues I must have overlooked the first time around. Author Claire Douglas builds emotional suspense throughout the mystery by having her character Saffron pregnant and her grandmother is in a nursing home with Alzheimer's. I thoroughly enjoyed the readings by both voice actors. I thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to listen to this ARC copy.

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Oh my goodness. To start out with, I was so bored with this one. I considered DNFing it multiple times, but I just wanted to know what was actually going on. I found myself completely missing full sections of the audio, but I didn’t go back to see what I missed and I still knew the gist of the story.

Now with that being the case, at about chapter 35, I really felt myself getting absorbed in the storyline. Things really picked up, and I found myself thinking that this is the exact reason that I don’t like to give up on books. I was fully invested in finding out who the second body was and the reason behind it all. While I did figure out the main twist earlier on, Douglas kept making me see things differently until the very end. I’m not sure if I would’ve enjoyed it more in print, but I was left wanting the beginning to grasp my attention more. The second half(ish) of the book was great, though!

Thanks to NetGalley, Claire Douglas, and Harper Audio for this gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

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