An interesting and unique read...

Summary
The Death of Us explores the aftermath of a violent home invasion on a couple's marriage. Twenty-five years after a serial killer, the "South London Invader," attacks them, Edward and Isabel reunite for his sentencing. The book examines how the trauma of that night, and the subsequent years of silence and separation, have impacted their relationship.

Unlike most thrillers that try to find the killer, this one flips thing around and you watch a couple handle the aftermath of the invasion -- along with flashbacks of their early years together which build in a unique way. I know this one has worked for so many people but unfortunately the constant jumping in time kept me from fully sinking in and enjoying it. I will say, however, that by the second half I was able to enjoy it a little more so I was glad I didn't DNF it (many of you told me to stick it out!).

Have you read this one?
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After one of my favorite bookstagrammers recommended this book, I knew it was a must read. Edward and Isobel survive an attack by a serial killer and each handle it different ways. Twenty-five years later, the divorced couple must reunite for the attacker's sentencing. I enjoyed the way the author did the multiple POVs, with Isobel telling the past and Edward detailing the present. The story chronicles the rise and fall of a solid relationship after tragedy and the different ways the same event can affect people so differently. A solid thriller!

I have a new rule: I can give up on a book that's not for me. DNF is a category I am fully embracing from now on. There are too many books that grab me and keep me all the way through to force myself to finish one that doesn't. I guess you know where I'm going with this review...No, I didn't finish it. As an author, it actually pains me to give another author a less-than-stellar review, so please don't take this as a bad review. It simply wasn't for me. The subject matter, the sadness, grief, and pain that comes with that, was not the reading experience I needed when I picked this book up. Others will feel differently. Abigail Dean is a terrific writer who captures nuanced emotions beautifully. I'll definitely read her work again. Thank you to Viking and Net Galley for an advance copy.

I liked this but didn't love it. I expected to pack more of an emotional punch. Maybe I'm just heartless.

I liked this overall, but wish that it was a bit shorter. I think some editing could've pushed this one to be even higher for me and I would've enjoyed less reflection over the marriage.

I did not finish this book. I wasn’t a fan of the characters or the storyline and didn’t want to continue.

The Death of Us by Abigail Dean is about a relationship that was destroyed by a home invasion caused by a serial killer. While this couple ended up being okay physically, their marriage was not okay after this violation. This book explores the years following the home invasion and how they were reunited when the killer was finally caught. I thought this was a very unique premise for a thriller, and I really enjoyed it. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

Half a gripping crime drama, and half a richly detailed, character-driven portrait of the rise and fall of a marriage, Abigail Dean’s THE DEATH OF US is an absolutely original blend of genres. One storyline follows the final days of the trial of Nigel Wood, also known as the South London Invader, whose crimes spilled over several decades, as his victims gather to read their impact statements to a judge assessing punishment, and the other, the nearly 40-year relationship between playwright Isabel Nolan and lawyer Edward Hennessy, from early meeting to first home to the night they are brutally attacked, and then the slow, painful disintegration of the marriage due to the complicated consequences of both physical and emotional trauma. It’s a difficult read but a beautiful, poignant, brilliant exploration of the way painful experiences can split us apart but also the hope that gestures of expression, acceptance and forgiveness can possibly guide us back together. So many wonderfully creative decisions made by author Dean in telling this story (Isabel’s account of her and Edward’s love story is addressed to Nigel, effectively re-establishing her humanity which her attacker attempted to destroy) and so many unforgettable narrative surprises. It’s definitely one of the best novels of the year let alone one of the most effective thrillers.

READ IF YOU LIKE: It’s David Nicholls’ ONE DAY (movie version with Anne Hathaway, TV version on Netflix) meets SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. Also, Liz Moore’s THE GOD OF THE WOODS

The Death of Us completely caught me off guard—in the best possible way. What Abigail Dean accomplishes here is nothing short of genius. The structure—the slow, deliberate unfolding of both a marriage and a tragedy—is so intimate, so raw, and yet so delicately rendered. She doesn’t just tell the story of what happened the night a serial killer broke into Edward and Isabel’s home—she tells the story of who they were before, and how that night changed the entire trajectory of their lives and relationship. The way the past and present weave together is seamless and emotionally devastating.

As someone who's been married for over 20 years, this book hit hard. It made me reflect deeply on love, trauma, and the ways people cope (or don’t) in the aftermath of unimaginable events. I found myself unexpectedly in tears towards the end—not just from what happens, but from how beautifully and painfully human these characters are.

Yes, it has the hallmarks of a thriller—suspense, tension, the desperate need to know what really happened—but it’s so much more. It’s a meditation on grief, connection, and the cost of survival. Honestly, I don’t think I’ll stop thinking about this book anytime soon.

The Death of Us is a uniquely powerful and haunting read. One of the most original and masterfully written novels I’ve come across in a long time.

Abigail Dean’s The Death of Us is a haunting, slow-burn exploration of trauma, memory, and the emotional wreckage left behind in the wake of violence. With her trademark psychological insight, Dean unpacks not just the terrifying home invasion that upends Edward and Isabel’s marriage, but the quieter, longer-lasting fractures that followed. The dual timelines—shifting between the night of the attack and the courtroom reckoning 25 years later—create a rich, layered narrative that examines how differently two people can carry the same event.

What makes this novel stand out is its refusal to simplify trauma or healing. Isabel’s determination to confront her past in the courtroom contrasts powerfully with Edward’s quiet, even reluctant participation. Dean’s writing is thoughtful and atmospheric, and while the pacing is more deliberate than propulsive, the emotional stakes remain high throughout. Some readers might wish for more tension in the traditional thriller sense, but this is ultimately a psychological study of aftermath, not a whodunit. A compelling, character-driven story that lingers long after the final page.

Dean’s psychological mystery is both intimate and harrowing, unraveling trauma with unflinching clarity. A deeply affecting story of grief and survival.

I was completely hooked by The Death of Us. A couple’s life is shattered when a serial killer breaks into their home, and then decades later, they’re forced to reunite for his sentencing...but this is so much more than a thriller; it’s about how a single moment rewires everything between two people who thought their love was unshakable.

Abigail Dean does such a great job digging into marriage, memory, and how people break in ways they don’t always realize. I loved the way the story toggles between the past and present, revealing what actually happened that night and how both Edward and Isabel have (or haven’t) coped with it since.

The writing is sharp and emotional in a way I crave from character-driven fiction. It’s haunting and sad, but also has glimmers of hope.

Thank you PENGUIN GROUP Viking Penguin and NetGalley for the ARC.

Love the concept of how this book was written with her, writing her trauma to the perpetrator and him basically writing his story as if he is speaking ans apologizing to her. Definitely has some sad parts and some tragedy, and there were times where I was extremely sad for both of them, knowing that their life was so terribly altered by the crime and the tragedy. It does, however, have a semi happy ending and their relationship with Nina was extremely heartwarming.

This was a stunner of a book with a clever and new way of telling the story. I mean, we all know the two sides to every story - the two narrators. But Dean has done it differently this time around and it made the novel so very readable and insanely hard to put down.

Isabel and Edward are attacked by a serial rapist/eventual killer when they are younger. What follows is the story of how they moved on (and stagnated) after this event as well as the search for the culprit. Isabel tells her story from the past, whereas Edward is the present - during the sentencing hearing when they finally catch the perpetrator many years later. The novel shows the fractions in a marriage when confronted with violence and tragedy - but it also shows the strength of the characters involved.

Impossible to stop reading, I wanted to know everything that happened next - this surely can be attributed to the Edward-Isabel-Edward chapter style, but let me tell you, it worked.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a digital ARC of this title!

The Death of Us by Abigail Dean is a gripping psychological thriller that delves into dark family secrets with emotional depth and narrative flair. Isabel and Edward were once married and endured a home invasion in London. 25 years later, the perpetrator is facing trial and the estranged couple is reunited while their past is revealed through alternating viewpoints. The use of shifting timelines builds tension effectively, though at times the backstory-heavy sections slow the momentum. The characters are vivid and complex, and the gradual reveal of buried truths delivers a compelling payoff. Overall, it was a strong and haunting read.

I loved this book. 4.5 stars rounded up. I thought the second/first person of Isabel's POV was going to be annoying, but it wasn't once I figured out she wasn't talking to the audience, but to her attacker. I liked the dual timeline that was also separated by the dual POV. And the fact that one was in 3rd person and one in 2nd/1st. This helped keep the timelines straight. I have had mixed luck with books that are based on/take their origin/idea from real life true crime stories (the serial killer/rapist in this story is basically the Golden State Killer), but this one absolutely worked for me. And although it was tragic and heartbreaking at times, listening to Edward and Isabel's love story from the beginning added some much needed levity, hope, and breaks from the heartbreak.
This was a fast, compelling read that kept me turning pages. One my best books of the year so far.

This was a very heavy, dark, dense read for me. It was difficult to get through. Some parts were very heinous and awful. Lots of parts were heartbreaking. The book went from backstory, to before and current timelines which was a little confusing at times and had 2 POVs. The characters were well written and it was a tough story. This one is definitely for people who like depressing books.

Wow - what a tragic and unable to look away story..

I was expecting The Death of Us to be a thriller, but it turned out to be much more and much deeper.

There was grief, trauma, and survival. I have never read anything by Abigail Dean. She doesn't just tell a story; she made me feel like I was living the story. I truly felt Edward and Isabel's pain. WOW!

This book will be with me for a long time. I highly recommend this one.

Thank you for letting me read.

Character driven slow-burner of a novel, about the aftermath of a crime and a couple whose marriage could not survive what they lost. This book has some mystery elements but is not a psychological thriller, rather it is a general fiction novel about a couple named Isabel and Edward, the couple met in their early 20's when they both were dating other people. Their romance wasn't typical; it was more a case of them running each other and having feelings slowly developed. They married and were quite happy with Isabel working in the communication industry while trying to make it as a writer and Edward working as a lawyer. Their lives changed forever when a man who later became. a serial killer entered their home and attacked Isabel while Edward was kept in another room. The book begins when the couple are in their late 50's, divorced and are about to attend the trial of the man who was eventually caught.

Going back and forth in time we see Isabel and Edward both as young people who fell in love then as a couple dealing with the aftermath of a terrible attack and finally as a divorced couple who still care about each other. Edward has remarried a woman with children and Isabel has become a famous playwright. We also meet Amy, Edward's wife and Etta, a police officer who never gave up in finding the killer. I thought the book's momentum slowed down a lot in the end and it seemed there was nothing more to say at that point, but overall it was beautifully written, sad and yet somewhat hopeful. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for a review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the gifted earc to read and review. This is this month’s PMReads selection and, as always, I went in blind not knowing what to expect. This is such a different story of the aftermath of a serial rapist and murderer who targets husbands and wives and how this affects their entire lives moving forward after the event both while the offender is at large and once on trial. It is based around two characters Isabel and Edward and spans their entire relationship from before, during and after. It’s slower paced but so nuanced and really shows two flawed beings and their navigating their lives and relationships. Through Isabel’s written words to the accused you get an honest and riveting take on her past experiences as well as the pov of Edward’s thoughts in the present throughout. I found this wholly engaging and difficult to read but could not put it down. This is less a thriller or procedural but has elements of both. I would say it’s more an introspective on how this trauma affects our main couple while sharing pieces from other victims, the police and proceedings.