The twisty new mystery from the author of The Stranger in Our Home
She’s married to him. But does she know him at all?Claire lives with her family in a beautiful house overlooking the water. But she feels as if she’s married to a stranger – one who is leading a double life. As soon as she can get their son Joe away from him, she’s determined to leave Duncan.But finding out the truth about … leave Duncan.
But finding out the truth about Duncan’s secret life leads to consequences Claire never planned for. Now Joe is missing, and she’s struggling to piece together the events of the night that tore them all apart.
Alone in an isolated cottage, hiding from Duncan, Claire tries to unravel the lies they’ve told each other, and themselves. Something happened to her family … But can she face the truth?
Dark domestic suspense with a twist – perfect for fans of Ruth Ware and Megan Miranda
‘Chilling and heart-rending, a creepy, atmospheric story with a beautifully-drawn, bleak setting and memorably flawed characters’ Roz Watkins
‘Beautifully written, with a chilling mystery at its core, Magpie is a suspenseful and twisty pleasure of a read’ Howard Linskey
‘This eerie tale lingered with me for days after I’d read the final page. I didn’t see the final twist coming!’ Nicola Rayner
‘I could not stop reading this – creepy and compelling. I loved it’ Sarah Ward
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Claire and Duncan are married, and have son, Joe. As Duncan is the Clinical Director of a veterinarian’s office, he’s well poised to supply her with anything she wants.
But all is not well between them. Claire feels she is married to a stranger and strongly suspects he’s having an affair with a woman he works with.
Finding out about Duncan’s secret life, she’s determined to leave her husband and take her son with her. She’s not sure what happened, but her son is missing .
(Book Blurb) Alone in an isolated cottage, hiding from Duncan, Claire tries to unravel the lies they’ve told each other, and themselves. Something happened to her family … But can she face the truth?
The suspense is nicely paced, with deftly drawn characters, warts and all. Twists and turns keep the reader riveted.
My one complaint … there are many pages concerning animal abuse. Being in a vet’s office, I can see where that would be a part of the story … but it seemed too much, even though not extremely graphic.
Many thanks to the author / HarperCollins Publishers / Netgalley for the digital copy of this psychological thriller. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
The House of Secrets was a mind bending surprise of a story. Claire’s marriage is on the rocks, her philandering husband is on his latest contest. Her precious. special son, Joe spends his day with a metal detector looking for lost treasure. Nina digs deep to leave her husband Duncan and then her son disappears. Nina’s journey is one of heart ache and confusion as she tries to figure out just what happened to Joe. Twisted and shocking, the ending blindsided me and gave me the big oh moment as the whole story suddenly just clicked. A fast-paced, enthralling story that had the pages flying by. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from Netgalley.
Claire Henderson is visiting a veterinarian’s office where her husband, Duncan, is the Clinical Director. He does not like it when she stops by because he says it confuses the staff. She has really stopped in to see if she can figure out which woman Duncan is having an affair with this time.
They live in a large converted barn with great views and lots of privacy. They have an 18-year-old son named Joe, and a dog named Arthur. Joe has always been a different type boy in that he likes to do his own thing. Right now, he is fascinated with searching the area for old coins. Evidently, stashes of them have been found. He often spends the night out searching with his metal detector with Arthur at his side. He said he needs the cover of darkness so other collectors won’t see what he is doing.
Claire is done with Duncan’s affairs and wants to rent a small, old house that was once part of an estate. It is not in the best condition, but she loves it. So, she slowly and secretly packs up what she wants to take with her. Duncan will not know where she is. She wants to take Joe and Arthur with her. After moving in, Joe has taken off for a few weeks somewhere and Claire is really scared. He has gone off for a bit before, but not like this.
This story grabbed me and would not let go. It goes back and forth in time spilling emotions of hatred, sadness, fear, and frustration. I did not fully understand the reason for the small cottages on the estate and wonder if they were part of a fantasy or if they were real. Duncan is a dichotomy personality in that he is a serial cheater, yet is a compassionate veterinarian. Claire is a woman who needs to use her brain that has become mushy with hate for Duncan and protectiveness for Joe. This constant conflict and unhappiness builds to a stunning conclusion that is sad. Some people live such a wasted life. And my heart broke for sweet Arthur who gave a lifetime of unconditional love. All of us should be more like our furbabies.
Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
This book was a good read. I highly recommend.
Going read
This was a great story. I couldn’t put it down. I thought it was just about the bad marriage at first, but it was much more than that. The last entry from Claire was a real shocker that I was totally unprepared for. Her last sentence explained eveything. It was unbelievable. I definitely recommend this book.
Too dismal, repetitive.