Another winner from Louise Candlish, whose finely observed portraits of relationships between friends, spouses and neighbours reminds me very much of Liane Moriarty. This book has Christy and her husband moving into their enormous dream house on Lime Park Road. Soon enough they notice there’s Something Weird Going on, to do with the the disappearance of the much loved Frasers, who used to live in Christy’s new house, and their hirsute and mysterious neighbour, Rob. None of the other neighbours will tell them what it is. Christy’s attempts to get information are politely rebuffed, and she becomes simultaneously unemployed and obsessed, always a dangerous combination. You want to scream at Christy occasionally when her poor husband is disintegrating before her eyes under the weight of a crippling mortgage and she’s more obsessed with following the going-ons of her neighbours out the window. But eventually What They Think Happened comes to light. And then What Actually Happened, which is a sight more morally shocking. Settle into this one on a comfortable couch with a nice cup of tea. And when you’ve finished it, move on to Candlish’s latest book, the also excellent Our House. The author seems to be obsessed with people moving house, but carry on, I say.
