Interesting book told from the point of view of the surviving member of a family, the rest of whom were murdered when she was a small child. Some interesting twists and turns but generally I found the story rather rushed at times. So much to be said that it was kind of squashed in.

So good I had to continue reading until I had finished! Such an original story, psychologically thrilling but at the same time compassionate. Great characters and superb descriptive prose made it a pleasure to read. The twist at the end was so unexpected….

Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for the arc of The red house by Roz Watkins.

Wow!!! Super clever with so many twists and turns that you’ll question everything.

5/5. Loved it.

A clever and intriguing mystery thriller with some twists and turns towards the end that took me by surprise. A family on edge: : a mother struggling to cope with a new baby, a disgruntled teenager and a husband whose changeable nature she fears, and who feels helpless to understand the family dynamics. Told through the eyes of their 5 year old daughter with the complication of ‘face blindness’, the novel follows the perceived wrongs of each family member and the tragic and unintended consequences of one fateful meeting.

Eve is quite a reclusive soul, doesn’t like to get to know people, hides away in the back room of the bookshop where she works, has little or nothing to do with her family apart from Granny Peggy who lives in the Red House. But even then Eve doesn’t like to visit her Granny, the memories she has of there are too painful. The only person she does like is Marcus the bookshop owner, who is kind and doesn’t seem to notice Eve’s many oddities. Her biggest love is the animal sanctuary that she volunteers at.

After a mysterious call from her Grandmother, Eve agrees to visit the Red House, with no idea how the rest of her life is going to be affected.

This book started really well, getting to know Eve and all her little foibles was an interesting read. About half way through the plot did start to drag and a lot of the story required massive suspensions of disbelief. The last few chapters were a little drawn out, apart from the final chapter which was a delight! Very clever, very well executed. Moved the rating from a 2.5* to a 3.5* rounded up to 4*.

A book with a good start and a brilliant ending. The middle definitely lacking for me.

Thank you NetGalley.

A totally gripping story ,a very tense read full of twists and turns a real page turner .I really liked Eve who is bravely trying to get on with her life despite her limitations and forget her past .The ending was brilliant ,totally unexpected and so clever .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC.

The Red House!
An interesting read about Eve/Celestene and the horrors that had happened as a 5yr old. Different spin with the face blindness and using computer games made it very current.
I did find I lost concentration around 60% of the way through as it seemed a bit slow but glad I persevered as I didn't predict the ending at all. Very clever

The Red House by Roz Watkins is a gripping and atmospheric thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. The mystery itself is cleverly plotted, with plenty of twists and turns that will keep readers guessing until the very end. Watkins does an excellent job of weaving together various threads and subplots, and the resolution of the mystery is both satisfying and surprising.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for my approval to read and review this book.

This my first book by the author and it will not be last!!!
Eve (Celestine Flowers) has prosopagnosia, which is face blindness. The book is written over different time periods, Eve works in a book shop and volunteers at an animal sanctuary.

Eve's brother Joseph killed his parents and baby brother, ah, but did he commit the crime?

The characters and locations are well written. It's full of plot twists and turns. No spoilers as you will need to find out for yourselves by reading this book. I will be recommending this to my fellow book readers.

In 2002, the shocking murder of the Flowers family takes place, with 15 year old Joseph shooting dead his father, mother, and baby brother Benji, while his 5 year old sister Celestine runs for cover, becoming the sole survivor of this massacre. It is Celestine who identifies Joseph as the perpetrator of the bloodbath, the events of that night leading to their home being dubbed "the red house".

But unfortunately, Joseph - who spends the night at his friend's home working on a computer game, as though nothing untoward had happened! - is in a car crash the following morning, and is in a semi-vegetative state for the next twenty years. So it looks as though the full story behind the killing will never be known.

But Celestine (who later renames herself Eve, in an attempt to distance herself from the massacre and the obsession it has spawned among some true crime fans), begins to find some inconsistencies in the accounts of what happened that night. With the death of her grandmother Peggy, the burden of determining whether or not Joseph should be kept alive essentially falls on Eve, who begins tracking down key players in the story in order to find out what really happened, and to make peace with what has happened.

But is that even possible, given that the one person who could explain Joseph's behaviour is in a semi-comatose state?

Not to mention, with the emergence of the possibility that Grandma Peggy's death was no accident, this could now mean that Eve herself may soon became a target...

Well!!!! That was an exciting book. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough - desperate to find out more.

The author deserves a lot of credit for the creative plot and unique characters.

I consider myself to be “quite good” at working out how books will end!. Usually the latest point for giving myself a pat on the back will be at 70% read! In this book I reckoned I had it solved at 80% read. I was both pleased and disappointed - I should have worked it out earlier..

However and it is a big however - I got it all wrong!! I only discovered that fact just as the ending unfolded! My theory was well off the mark!

I will certainly be on the look out for more books by Rox Watkins!

I was really drawn in by the premise of The Red House when I spotted it on Netgalley and wasn’t let down! It’s a tense, unpredictable read which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I was very intrigued to discover why Joseph Flowers had killed his parents and baby brother seemingly in cold blood while allowing his younger sister to escape. The story flips between the events leading up to ‘that night’ and twenty years later via Eve, the younger sister who escaped and later changed her identity.

The Red House is definitely more of a slow burn type of thriller but that’s no bad thing and my interest was held throughout, although some parts were a tad drawn out. The twists are subtle and clever, and the biggest one I didn’t predict at all!

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a fantastic and original story! It’s so well written, and contains everything that a good murder mystery needs – tension, mystery and suspense. The beginning drew me in and then I literally could not put it down. If you enjoy a fast-paced thriller with a multitude of twists you’re going to love this book. There isn’t just one shock at the end of this book, there’s two! Absolutely brilliant, and definitely worth 5 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a very exciting and heart stopping few hours.

I loved The Red House, it had so many twists!!! Eve’s story was a brilliant one, what happened to her family? Did her brother Joseph really kill everyone? I recommend you read the book and find out.

A suspenseful atmospheric book with dual timelines and loads of twists and turns. This hooks you from the first page with a unique premise and great writing. I was really drawn into this plot and couldn’t put it down. The characters are really well written and I especially liked seeing the character of Eve develop and learning about her “face blindness” was really interesting and it’s something I haven’t seen in a book before which made this thriller even more unique. With the short chapters, fast pace and amazing twists you won’t be able to put this down.

Atmospheric thriller with twists and turns along the way leading to a completely shocking denouement!
This is a cleverly plotted story about a young woman, Eve, who witnessed the murder of her parents and baby brother when she was 5 years old. At the time she tells the police that it was her teenage brother Joseph who did it. He’s actually been in a coma for the last 20 years but events in the book start to make Eve wonder if he actually did what she accused him of. all those years ago. As more comes back to her and she starts to investigate the earlier events, her own life is threatened and she knows that something she always believed to have been the truth might not have been so.
Eve is a great main character, bravely trying to get on with her life and escape her past. However it seems her past really doesn’t want to leave her alone and if she truly wants to know whether her brother is a murderer she is going to have to trust some people she is really not sure about, like her boss, Marcus, his girlfriend, Serena and her brother’s old friend, Nate, who really hates her blaming her for a previous attack on him. Clues lie in Joseph’s computer game and she needs Nate and Serena’s help to work out what it means.
There are lots of strands to the plot and several flashbacks to Eve’s father, Andrew before the murders which definitely muddy the waters when trying to work out what happened.
The “Red House” in the marshes. Eve’s original home where the murders took place is a major part of the story. Its looming presence is almost like another character, full of secrets that are going to be hard to unravel.
An enjoyable read, my first by this author, but it certainly won’t be my last!
Thanks to NetGalley and the HQ publishers for my arc.

I have read and enjoyed all of the DI Meg Dalton books by Roz Watkins, but (in my opinion) this new standalone thriller, The Red House, is her best so far.

When five-year-old Celestine’s’ parents and baby brother are murdered, she tells everyone that they were killed by her brother Joseph. Joseph is later found unconscious with a gun, having crashed his car. Everyone assumes he was responsible – but was he?

A couple of decades later, Joseph is still in a coma and Celestine has changed her name to Eve. She works in a bookshop and is doing her best to get on with her life. But when her grandmother dies, Eve is forced to question the truth about Joseph and what really happened on that fateful day at the Red House.

This book is hauntingly atmospheric, and full of twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat (you’ll probably fall off your seat when you read the final, mind-blowing twist!). I was intrigued by Eve’s prosopagnosia (face blindness), and thought the condition provided an interesting and entertaining premise for the story.

The Red House is a hugely enjoyable page-turner. I liked the short chapters and multiple points of view, and I thought the descriptions of the Red House were particularly well executed. As for that final, unexpected twist. . . wow!

With thanks to HQ and Netgalley for providing a free ARC and giving me a chance to read this hugely entertaining book.

Brilliantly written, so much suspense, intrigue and not knowing who to trust! I loved so much about this thriller and all the aspects of childhood memory, trauma, and realisations in adulthood.
Fantastic book

This is a new author for me but I was intrigued by the book description and cover. It did not disappoint. The story on the whole held my attention although I did get a little confused and irritated in the middle with all the problems that the main character Eve seemed to suffer from. My bad perhaps!
The book certainly redeemed itself in the final quarter when the answers to the plot questions start unraveling. Ending with several twists one of which I certainly didn't see coming. An excellent read which I take great pleasure in recommending.
Thank you Netgalley, HQ and Roz Watkins for giving me the opportunity to read this book. All opinions are my own.

A tense and well plotted thriller that starts and ends with a bang but it's very slow and drags in the middle.
I like the idea and the storytelling kept me hooked but the I was tempted to dnf in the middle.
Good plot and character development.
3.5 upped to 4
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine