This was definitely a wild ride! It was such a twisty and at times very dark novel. I did enjoy it, I just think it could have been about 100 pages shorter.

Gilly Macmillan (favorite author) returns following The Long Weekend and The Nanny with her latest taut, twisty, atmospheric psychological thriller, THE MANOR HOUSE. A couple wins the lottery and builds a beautiful home next to neighbors who may not be trustworthy.

A murder, deception, journal entries, gaslighting, and an ongoing whodunit collide when the past meets the present. Everyone wants a piece of the action when you are a lottery winner.

Tom and Nicole are in love, childhood sweethearts, married, and have just won the lottery. They want to keep it quiet and are building the house of their dreams. A beautiful glass smart home barn mansion amid luxurious grounds they called The Glass Barn. They cannot wait to move in and, hopefully, children to follow.

It is located on the Lancaunt Peninsula, an outcrop formed by a dramatic bend in the River Wye, on the border between England and Wales. They have it all, from the home, pool, luxury cars, and everything they have always wanted.

Their neighbors, Olly (writer) and Sasha (yoga instructor) live in the Grand Manor House, and their housekeeper, Kitty, in the adjacent coach house. The two mansions are entirely different. Tom and Nicole's Glass Barn is new and modern, whereas The Manor House is old, grand, and Gothic, with creepy tunnels.

After six months, they have started trying for a baby. When the worst possible thing that could happen—Nicole comes home to find the music blaring, and Tom is face down, drowned in their pool. She is frantic and seeks her neighbor's help.

Was this an accident, or did someone murder Tom?

Detectives Hal and Jen are leading the investigation. Who murdered Tom, and what motive? Can Olly and Sasha be trusted? What about Patrick, Tom's old friend who wanted money? Could he protect her?

From the past (five years earlier) to the present (The Day of his death) to one month to ten months later —told from alternating POVs: Nicole, Tom, Olly, Sasha, Hal/Jen (detectives), Kitty (maid), and the mysterious Anna's journal.

Macmillan sets the stage brilliantly with her vivid descriptions of architecture and design, which draw you into the atmospheric, lush setting.

THE MANOR HOUSE is multi-layered, full of plot twists, turns, suspense, menace, and some unreliable characters, keeping you guessing which characters are to be believed and which are cons. The two mansions are like additional characters. Anna's diary entries added intrigue and mystery.

There is another layered revenge plan besides the murder mystery, which keeps readers on the edge of their seats!

As always, the author delivers another fabulous whodunit psychological suspense with excellent characterization! For fans of Carol Goodman, Shari Lapena, Riley Sager, A.J. Banner, and Sarah Pearse.

Thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy.

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My Rating: 4.5 Stars
Pub Date: Nov 7, 2023
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The plot was good and I enjoyed the story, but some parts felt like it just dragged on. I liked the multiple POV but found it hard to like most of the characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Nicole and Ted's lives are forever changed after they win 10 million pounds in the lottery.
They move into a state of the art home called The Glass Barn.
Nicole comes home to discover her husband floating face down in the backyard pool. Nicole rushes over to the neighbor's home...The Manor House for help. Was this an accident or murder?

The two homes are very different The Manor House is an old stately mansion, very majestic. The Glass Barn is the total opposite, modern and contemporary.

I found the first few chapters a bit slow. The journal entries slowed the pace but did full in some of the gaps in the story and added a plot twist.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Thank you NetGalley the opportunity to read and give an honest review.

4.5 stars
The Manor House by Gilly MacMillan is a taut, suspenseful thriller with enough twists and turns to satisfy the most discerning readers of psychological suspense! Told in two timelines—present and 5 years earlier—it is the story of a lucky young couple, Nicole and Tom, who win the British National lottery. They purchase a lovely rural property and build the high-tech mansion of their dreams, The Glass House. Their world is upended early on when Tom is found dead in the swimming pool. From that moment, the plot twists begin, as Nicole grieves and the police look for Tom’s murderer.
The author drops plenty of breadcrumbs as the story is narrated by multiple unlikable and twisted characters. The narcissistic wealthy neighbors in the nearby Manor House, Sasha and Olly, figure prominently in the plot, as well as their obsessive-compulsive housekeeper Kitty. The red herrings are abundant, and the Manor House itself is a shady character with walls that have ears and listen!!
The beginning chapters were a bit slow, but they laid important groundwork in classic mystery fashion. Then the action and intrigue pick up, culminating in an exciting, dynamic conclusion.
No spoilers here—the epilogue may turn your theories upside down!!
This novel is clever, twisty, well-plotted suspense with multiple POVs, told in a very creative framework.
I highly recommend this book and believe it is MacMillan’s finest thriller thus far!

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

When Nicole and Tom win the lottery their lives change. They build a custom state-of-the-art home dubbed the Glass Barn and begin their new lives on their shared property with the luxurious Manor House. However, when Nicole comes home one day to find her husband dead in the pool, she begins to question if her neighbors can be trusted.

THE MANOR HOUSE is the latest fast-paced thriller from Gilly Macmillan.

This one was quick with its multiple POVs (including our deceased, Tom’s) and had that juicy need to flip through pages that Gilly tends to elicit in her books!

However, I had a hard time liking any of the characters - they felt two-dimensional and naive despite the fact that they should have been quite complex. I also felt myself harboring some questions at the end that were never fully answered.

I’m definitely in the minority with my meh-ness (and my obvious love for her last book THE LONG WEEKEND), so definitely give this one a shot if you love a quick-paced thriller!

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: Nov 7

The Manor House by Gilly Macmillan was a fast paced, suspense fuelled thriller that kept me gripped from the very beginning.
Gilly Macmillan writes a tense, multilayered and complex character-driven story.
I really enjoy her style of writing. It flows well and it keeps you entertained from the beginning to the end.
The plotting is very tight, the characters are superb in this multiple point of view read.
A whip-smart, twisty thriller with a crazy twist you don’t see coming.
The Manor House is the type of book that begs to be read in one sitting.

I would like to thank NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read this ahead of its publication date in return for my honest review.

Anna is lonely after the death of her husband, and begins taking a yoga class. She meets Sasha, a vivacious and confident person, who has some rough patches in her life.
Tom and Nicole are living their best lives, enjoying being lottery winners, and their new home. When Tom turns up dead, Nicole is shattered. It is a tragic accident, right?
Sasha and Olly have moved in with Anna, and are helping her to move past her grief, but there is something amiss, and the detectives cannot quite put their finger on what it is. Anna, it seems, is not available, and the housekeeper seems to be hiding something.

OHHHH my goodness, this book! I was hardly able to put it down. I wanted more, and when it ended, I had to sit there and say, this is it? Is there another book coming? I NEED more!
While investigating the death of Tom Booth, the detectives are turned on to another mystery. However, they cannot quite shake the feeling that something is really off. Is the housekeeper trustworthy? Can they really trust her? Nicole seems to be hiding something as well - and the sudden appearance of Patrick, Tom's best friend, throws another wrinkle into the case. He seems to be living larger than life, but he too, has secrets.
Sasha and Olly - what can I really say about these two? I wanted to throttle them sooo many times throughout the book. I could not believe the amount of confidence that Olly exuded, and his "I am only trying to help you" sanctimonious appearance. There were so many red flags, yet Anna (aka Kitty) seemed to overlook all of them - or did she? There is more to this plucky lady than meets the eye - and she turned out to be one of my favorite characters throughout the book. I really felt for her, and the horrific turn of events that brought her to the current state she finds herself in.

Looking for a good thriller? You need to check this one out! It was perfection in a book.

Can a book that is written to be what the industry calls a thriller really be a farce? I sure think so.
“The Manor House” is the story of an English couple who won ten million pounds in the lottery. They build a glass barn on some land purchased from a recent widow who lives in the Manor House and has let two young people move in with her to ward off her loneliness. What possibly can go wrong? In the first chapter, the husband of the couple who won the lottery is found dead in his swimming pool. Was it an accident or a murder? The bumbling police can’t seem to figure it out.

The house is full of the newest electronic gadgets, which seem to work only sporadically. The voice-automated window shades are a particular issue for the new widow.

Good writing, a fast pace, and a vivid sense of place make this novel readable. But, it is not a thriller.

Olly and Sasha live in the old Manor House, previously occupied by Anna and Nick, and retain longtime housekeeper, Kitty. They live close to Nicole and Tom who recently moved into their newly built modern mansion, The Glass Barn.

I loved the ins and outs of the plot, when people are not whom they seem to be, complicated by the unexplained death by drowning of Nicole's husband, Tom. Nicole's house, the Glass Barn, is an intricate part of the plot, another character in a bunch of characters in the novel. The Glass Barn is controlled by unfathomable electonic devices and computerized so-called amenities that confuse Nicole and which only Tom, now dead, knew how to operate.

The title of the book could easily be The Glass Barn instead of The Manor House, though I love that the very old Manor House has its own intricacies such as hidden rooms.

An elaborate plot of death, manipulation, elder abuse, and vengeance.

These 336 pages felt like 500. The plot was good and I enjoyed the story, but at times I felt like it just dragged.

Like I said, I enjoyed the plot itself. It had a few twists and it was well thought out.

Looking for a suburban thriller that’s White Locus meets Nine Perfect Strangers? The Manor House is the perfect blend! The main characters, Tom and Nicole, are fabulously over-the-top rich after winning the lottery and are trying to fit in with their wealthy neighbors. They have just built a giant glass barn in a secluded area. Their closest neighbors, Sasha and Olly, live in a traditional English manor, fit with features like a Great Hall and servants’ quarters. The two homes are almost as much a part of the book as the main characters, and their descriptions bring them to life. Similarly, the two couples are fleshed out so well that each new twist feels like a true shock.
This book is definitely a thriller, with a suspicious death happening within the first few chapters. And as the death is investigated, the intensity goes even higher. This will definitely keep your attention with its quick pace and sneaky twists!
Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the advanced copy!

Lottery winners Nicole and Tom are living the dream when Tom ends up dead.

This was an interesting book, but it fell a little short for me. I liked the roving POV, each chapter is different, but found the characters themselves to be not my favorite. Everyone has secrets and are trying to get away with a lot so it was a hard book to actually trust anyone. The mystery itself was good and I wanted to know what actually happened. This thriller will absolutely find its audience!

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy!

Tom and Katie won the lottery and built the Glass Barn, and are now neighbors with the residents of the Manor House, Sasha and Olly, and their housekeeper Kitty. One tragic day Tom dies in the Glass Barn’s swimming pool, and the police suggest it may be something more than just an accident. This leaves Nicole mourning, and wondering if she might be in danger too.

I liked that this book had short chapters and constantly changing povs. This kept the book engaging and quick moving through what could have been a slow moving plot. The very ending was really great, and I didn’t see it coming at all. This isn’t the best book I’ve ever read, but it was a good read, and I would recommend it.

Nicole and Tom win the lottery and build their dream house expecting live out their years in happiness. But of course that doesn’t happen. I’ wanted to like this book but I didn’t care for any of the characters (and there were a lot) and the pacing was a bit slow. Some may like it, but it just wasn’t for me. Thanks to NetGalley for a chance to read and review.

Be careful what you wish for. A lottery win gives a young couple the home of their dreams. But dreams turn into nightmares when a death rocks their exclusive neighborhood. Along with finding the killer, there are many more secrets to uncover that have been hidden for years.

This is a really good example of how well do you really know your neighbors??

I got this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I give The Manor House 4/5 stars.

I really liked this book but the ending lost a star. The whole book was a good buildup but the ending was just okay. I loved the story and wanted to keep reading to find out what happened and it was still a great read.

4.5 🌟

This murder mystery drew you in and took you through an entire funhouse of mazes to find your killer/s.

Just when you are sure it’s one person, another shows you just what they are capable of.

By the end, you begin to realize maybe no one is innocent.

However, it did seem that everyone got exactly what was coming to them.

I’d recommend this book to all my murder mystery, psychological thriller friends.

It definitely keeps you on your toes and gives you a bit of a different perspective about winning the lottery.

This is my first Gilly Macmillan book and I was hooked from the first page. It was the perfect who did it mystery.
I like how everyone seemed to be a suspect and I didn't see the twists and turns coming with Kitty and Anna. I also like the twist with Nicole and her secret from the lottery winning! Just the perfect amount of revenge too! It was a great read and I am excited to read other books by this author. Thank you for the advance reading copy.

Another great thriller from Gilly Macmillan.

A murder mystery with no shortage of suspects. The Manor House is a fast paced story with twists at every turn. This one will keep you guessing, with surprises right up to the very end.

Thanks to William Morrow, Gilly Macmillan, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.