I really enjoyed this mystery! I loved the setting and the various POVs the story alternated through. It was fascinating from the start.

Reading Between the Wines book review #145/115(met goal in Sept!) for 2023:
Rating: 3 🍷 🍷 🍷
Book: The Manor House
Author: Gilly Macmillan
Available Now!!

Sipping thoughts: If Gaslighting was a book it would be The Manor House. This book had 2 of the most unlikable characters I have read in a while. I enjoyed it enough but could not wait for karma and justice to be enacted! I really liked the ending.

Cheers and thank you to @WilliamMorrow and @Netgalley for an advanced copy of @TheManorHouse.

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3.5 ⭐️’s
Be careful what you wish for… when Tom and Nicole win the lottery, they build a state of the art glass barn on the property of an old Manor. After an outing to a county fair, Nicole comes home to find Tom floating face down in the pool. Nicole is sure it was an accident, the police are not so sure. Olly, a novelist and Sasha, a yoga instructor are living in the manor. They have a housekeeper, Kitty, who lives in the coach house. While they seem like a nice couple, all is not kosher at the manor and secrets abound. Even the walls have ears! When an old friend, one that Nicole isn’t too keen on at the moment, shows up to offer his condolences and to help Nicole out, the plot thickens. Did someone have a reason to kill Tom? Is Nicole safe from harm? What secrets is the manor hiding? Filled with some good twists and turns, this was a fun read! Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

This will give you lots of suspense, strong characters and many twists, turns and surprises. In part that is because most characters are very human - or should I say flawed?

Such a great read! The story is well-written and the many twists and turns will keep readers guessing until the very end.

I like the setting and all the different perspectives in this one. The glass house is so perfect! It is so ..
I don't know. I guess ostentatious. They were trying to hide their wealth and also not have a housekeeper but live in this particular house. I love it.
So Tom dies and that spurs the story. Right away you find that people are lying and keeping secrets.
It was interesting.

Struggled to engage with this book. The pacing felt slow, and I found it less captivating than anticipated. Regrettably, it's not one I would recommend.

I read this twisty mystery in one sitting on a flight! I had to know what happened.

The Manor House has it all: a creepy old house, a new, glass, too-smart house, and characters that are not what they appear. Lots of twists and turns as the characters’ stories and connections are revealed.

THE MANOR HOUSE is just the type of multilayered duplicitous thriller that keeps a reader up at night for just one chapter more. Macmillan continues to dazzle with her eloquence and ability to create an engrossing story.

From the opening scenes, I was hooked. And then to have all the various perspectives as the truth becomes revealed showcased the complexity of the characters as well as the intricacy of the plot. The author gives us characters to love and ones to hate, but all are not perfect or as they seem. Nicole, Tom, Sasha, Olly, Kitty, and Anna are the perfectly flawed characters I expect from Macmillan.

The deception, twists, turns, and red herrings carefully placed made me want to keep reading until the end. The fast pace and effortless flow of all the voices within this book keep the questions popping up. And the reveals! I mean…no spoilers…but…I loved it!

THE MANOR HOUSE is simply a juicy thriller perfect for those who love reading about people with ulterior motives. Add to that the overall atmosphere of the setting with the ultra-posh houses, and you have one addictive read.

The book started out strong but then lost all the steam. The writing is not something I was used to so it was hard for me to read. It was hard for me to figure out which genre this would fall into. Supposed to be a thriller but it was anything but.

Nicole and Tom have won the lottery in it seems within reason all their dreams are coming true. The biggest extravagance they bought is a glass farmhouse in her dad‘s favorite spot in Wales and although Nicole is a planner and always plans for “the just in case.” The one thing she didn’t plan on was becoming a widow at 32 but when she came home and found her husband floating facedown in their newly appointed pool that’s exactly what happened. It isn’t long before Tom’s estranged friend Patrick shows up to give his condolences. Patrick and Tom had a falling out over money because Patrick wanted some and Tom didn’t want that between them until they hadn’t talked in a very long time but Nicole couldn’t be happier to talk to someone else who also knew and loved her beloved husband. The young couple who live in the manor house also start wanting to keep Nicole company but not everyone is befriending Nicole out of common decency or empathy it seems the emotion they’re feeling is greed. They live with a woman they call kitty but soon that’s what they’ll be calling Nicole. This book was so good and so underhanded and devious I love a book that is smartly done that you can read and feel as if the plot is plausible and that is definitely this book. I want to think William Morrow, Harper Collins and Net Galley for my free Ark copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. This was a fun thriller told from multiple timelines. Add in the neighbors secrets and this book keeps you on the edge of your seat.

This definitely wasn't my favorite Gilly Macmillan read. It pains me to say that, but the strong start to the book did not carry throughout and I really struggled with that. I felt like the ending was dull and just kind of there. I also felt like the journal pieces could have been written a little bit better, they lacked that journal feel to them. Although this was not my favorite, I still enjoyed the story as a whole. I found it to have surprising twists and turns throughout.

They thought winning the lottery would be a dream come true, but the reality of it is more nightmarish than either Nicole or Tom could’ve imagined. The boredom, the pressure, the disconnect—not to mention the jealousy. But never would Nicole imagine that someone’s envy would lead to Tom’s murder, nor that the investigation into his death would lead detectives to start ripping the threads from the tapestry Nicole was trying to weave their new lives into.

Who would want to kill Tom? Could it be because of the lottery? Because Tom was in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or could something more sinister have happened?
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I thought this was a pretty good read. I love domestic murder investigations featuring lotto winners, and was really excited to start this. The plot was good, things made sense, and the resolution was incredibly fitting in the most malicious way. But unfortunately, it felt like the book was so drawn out that it lost its allure for me.

The plot was stretched so thin that it became predictable around halfway through. Because of how slow it moved for me, the book began feeling less and less suspenseful and more like a dark cop drama. If you like slower-paced Brit suspense then this is probably right up your alley.

I always love a good mystery/thriller. Nicole and Tom are just trying to get by….and then lucky strikes in the form of a lottery win! They decide to build a beautiful home on the Lancaut Manor ground, enjoying the finer things in life and getting acclimated to their new financial situation. But things seem too good to be true, and Tome is found dead in their swimming book leaving Nicole heartbroken and lost.

Nicole leans on her “friendly” neighbors - but we all have to ask ourselves - do we really know who lives next door? This story is a crazy wild ride, manipulative, jealous, deceit, murders and MORE! Told from multiple POVs and easy to follow - a great read if you like suspense!

I thought this was another decent book by Gilly Macmillan. Nicole and Tom go from poor to multi-millionaires after winnning the lottery. They build their dream house and it isn't too soon after, the readers and Nicole find Tom dead in the swimming pool. Were people out to get their money? Did Nicole or Tom have secrets? This book had a decent amount of good twists and turns and it was not predictable which is a very important factor when I read any suspense/thriller book.

Definitely recommended.

Thanks to Net Galley, Gilly Macmillan and William Morrow for an ARC in echange for an honest review.

Already available

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reading copy of this book.

Nicole and Tom won the lottery and built their dream home on the secluded Sanctuary. Their neighbors Olly and Sascha live in The Manor House down the lane.

When Tom is found dead in the pool, the ensiung investigation brings out all sorts of secrets.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Several twists and turns. 4 out of 5 ⭐️

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It was fast paced and had a story that made sense. I liked the characters. Lots of twists. Love how the author ties everything together.

The Manor House is the definition of an atmospheric thriller. I really enjoyed the setting while reading this story of these monstrous creepy houses and the people that live in them. I was really enjoying the story in the middle and I truly had no idea what happened to Tom, but by the end it almost felt like too many twists and turns. If a few things had been cut out, I think the reveal would have been better.

All in all, a good quick thriller that kept me on my toes.

Lots of plot twists and turns in this one. It took me two different times to pick this book up and get into it, but once I did, it was a very fast read. I liked how Tom's flashbacks fit into the story. Also wish I had a house with secret passages

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review, but all opinions are my own.