One sunny August afternoon, the residents of Cedar Close throw their annual summer barbecue. Children play in the cherry-tree lined street, tables are laden with food, and the wine is flowing. For Laurie Mills, it’s her first time meeting the neighbours. And it’s the first time she discovers her husband Robert is having an affair.Cedar Close has always been a nice place to live – a quiet … live – a quiet suburban street where everyone looks out for one another and bad things don’t happen.
Until late one evening, when Robert Mills is found dead in his bedroom.
Downstairs, in their beautiful kitchen, his wife Laurie sits alone in the dark with her head in her hands.
She can’t remember the last few hours, but she knows she didn’t kill Robert.
The trouble is, no-one believes her…
An utterly gripping page-turner about the dark secrets that lie behind closed doors. Perfect for fans of JP Delaney’s The Girl Before and Gone Girl, The Couple on Cedar Close will keep you reading late into the night.
Read what everyone is saying about The Couple on Cedar Close:
‘A…….maz……..ing, what a fantastic book, loved every word on every page, a great psychological thriller that held my interest throughout and I didn’t want it to end…I could carry on raving about this book but just read it for yourself, I can definitely recommend, you will not be disappointed.’ NetGalley Reviewer, 5 stars
‘Gripping, page turner, disturbing, just a few words I would use to describe this fantastic read! I loved this book, it reminded me of The Girl on the Train and quickly became one of my new favorites!’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars
‘Ten stars for being able to keep me up until 4 a.m. I just HAD to finish this book! I cannot begin to describe how riveting this novel was. Great writing, characterizations, plot, timing, suspense–it has it all. Trust me, you will NOT be able to put it down until you finish reading it. So many mediocre thrillers out there that this one hit me like a ton of bricks. Absolutely SUPERB!’ NetGalley Reviewer, 5 stars
‘What an explosive read…this is a loop the loop rollercoaster of a ride, you better strap in and get ready, your head will be spinning trying to keep up with all the twists, betrayals, friendships, heartache, loss… this book has it all, puts a whole new meaning on the term psychological thriller!!!’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars
‘Flipping heck! It’s a while since I’ve raced through a book like this, so engrossed that I literally did nothing today except read. I was caught from the very first line and it wouldn’t let me go…The story is so well written, the characters so fleshed out and real, it was like watching a movie in my mind. excellent stuff!’ Rona Halsall, 5 stars
‘An awesome mystery that kept me guessing and guessing…The author has the ability to connect the reader with the characters and the story immediately. It’s a winner!’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars
‘I fell for this book within the first chapter! Anna-Lou Weatherley kept me guessing until the last chapter! …I read it in a few sittings. Highly recommend!!’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars
‘A fantastic psychological thriller…This book is a gripping page turner, brilliantly written and full of secrets and lies.’ Goodreads Reviewer
‘I read a lot of thrillers and this was so much more believable than any other thriller I have read this year…I was very intrigued and finished it in one day and could not put it down.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars
‘Reminded me a lot of The Girl on the Train but more disturbing…A definite page turner!!’ Goodreads Reviewer
‘Wow!!! …Trust me, this is one you don’t want to miss—it’s going to be huge!’ NetGalley Reviewer, 5 stars
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Laurie and Robert Mills moved to a home on Cedar Close after Laurie had an accident. They live right across the street from her best friend, Monica. Laurie discovers that her husband is having an affair and that he has a daughter from the relationship. Laurie unloads about him and his cheating at the neighborhood barbecue. Shortly after that, Robert is found dead in the guest room and it looks as though Laurie did it, but did she?? As this story unfolds, there are more twists, turns and surprises which makes this a fantastic read. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hated it see it end. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher, Bookouture, for the opportunity to read this thrilling book in exchange for an honest review.
Solid psychological thriller that was easy to read. the plot was fascinating and true to form. My only complaints are that DI Riley’s voice was a bit over the top and longwinded and the whodunnit was figured out quite quickly. Otherwise a good read.
Even though you figure out who the murderer is, it is still a page turner to see how it all going to end!
This was a good read. Very original plot. Keeps you turning the pages. Even though I figured out who done it early own there were enough twist and turns in the story to keep it interesting to the very end.
What a story! You are kept puzzling over the characters actions the whole novel. The twist was shocking , and still haunts me. Our judgements and prejudices play into this story. Wonderful book. I will probably reread at some point.
Great dark thriller I couldn’t put it down
Very good read
What do you do when you wake up covered in blood, holding a knife, with no memory of how you got there? The kicker: your estranged husband is one bedroom away, stabbed to death.
Laurie Mills is the obvious prime suspect in Robert’s murder, but she has no memory of killing him – or so she says. The assigned detective is drawn to this case, making it his personal mission to solve the case (while also solving some personal issues of his own). As he investigates Laurie and Robert’s life together, he unpacks secret after secret, and learns that nothing was as it seemed.
This was a very fast read, and it kept my interest the whole way. The character development, especially of the primary detective, was effective. There is humorous dialogue and internal dialogue to balance out the sad and disturbing plot.. There are some surprises hinted at throughout the book, with the ultimate twist being revealed toward the end. The ending was predictable, and I’m proud to say I predicted it, but the book was no made no less enjoyable as a result. Also, this book is book 2 in a series; even not having read book 1, I really enjoyed this book.
Because of the predictability of the storyline, it gets 4 stars instead of 5.
When I selected this book, I did not realize it was a number 2 book in a series. This being number 2 did not impact the read of the story, however. Anna-Lou Weatherley made it easy to figure things out that happened in the first of the series. The Couple on Cedar Close is well-written and fast-paced. Ms. Weatherley did not give the reader a mystery bad guy revealed only at the end, but instead we are given our bad guy half way through so we can follow the killer’s thinking and actions. The story goes back and forth between someone’s past and someone else’s present. Laurie’s husband, Robert, is dead in the upstairs bedroom, and all evidence leads to Laurie being his killer. Laurie’s blackouts do not improve her chances of proving her innocence. I found Laurie’s personality frustrating and too simple for her own good. I’ll be looking for a third in this series!
A book has to keep my attention to read. This one certainly did!!!
Great read!
A good psychological thriller
I enjoyed most of it. It was a bit too contrived and predictable.
Did not care for it
Laurie and Robert are beautiful couple, but when they move to Cedar Close (which I believe is a dead end street in British speak), it is evident something is off with Laurie.
The story opens with a neighborhood barbecue and Laurie finds out something that she didn’t want to about her husband. The whole neighborhood is then privy to their fight and what has occurred.
Three months later, Laurie is in a grocery store planning a dinner for Robert. However, later that same day, Robert is found brutally murdered in the house. Laurie has no recollection of what happened, but she is immediately the main suspect, especially when information about their volatile relationship surfaces.
Laurie’s best friend, who lives across from her, jumps into action to help her friend and we’re off and thrown into a story filled with lies, deceit, affairs, psychological abuse and pathological behavior. I won’t give too much away here.
The detective in the case, Riley, is a good character and I learned while reading this, this is his second appearance in a book by this author. He’s definitely one of the good guys and you want him to get a win that he is so desperately due for.
My two cents:
I was very excited to read this advance copy I requested from NetGalley. I thought it sounded like it had great promise. The story was well written, fast paced and I read it very quickly. Now, there were some aspects in backstories of certain characters that unsettled me, but to each their own. Also, while this was a crime/domestic abuse story, for me (and again this is just me) there was NO mystery. I just felt that it was made very obvious what was going on very early, when it seemed like that wasn’t the author’s original intention.
This was an entertaining enough story and I appreciate the copy from NetGalley. All opinions are my own. Releases January this year!
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