Review: The Family at No. 13

The Family at No. 13 by S.D. Monaghan

Genre: Psychological Thriller
​Page Length: 310 Pages
Publication Date: 27 April 2018
Publisher: Bookouture
Source: ARC via NetGalley

Stars:  4 out of 5

LINKS: Amazon (UK)

ABOUT THE FAMILY AT NO. 13

Mary has everything. Beautiful and rich, she lives on an exclusive street in the heart of the city, in a house with gorgeous views and an immaculately maintained garden. Her life looks perfect.

But behind closed doors the truth is very different. Her husband Andrew barely speaks to her, spending his days down in the basement alone. Her teenage nephew is full of rage, lashing out with no warning. Her carefully constructed life is beginning to fall apart.

And then someone starts sending Mary anonymous notes, threatening her and her family…

Everyone has secrets. But is someone at number 13 hiding something that could put the whole family in danger?

My Review:

I enjoyed S.D. Monaghan's debut novel The Accident and looked forward to reading The Family at No. 13.

I read the book whilst travelling from Africa to the UK, through two airports, and on two respective planes. It kept me sane during a particularly long delay at Entebbe Airport waiting for a Turkish Airlines flight. It took me a couple of chapters to get into the story from the two standpoints of Connor and Mary. But by chapter three I was in for the long haul.

You never know what goes on behind closed doors...

I love the nosy curtain-twitching of neighbourhood thrillers - as the old adage goes you never know what goes on behind closed doors. The first chapter opens with a dead body and it would be easy to assume it would be an average whodunnit, but how wrong I was. The rich story was so all-consuming that I almost forgot about the crescendo I was hurtling towards chapter by chapter, until the final twist!

The story is about families.
The story is about relationships and marriages.
The story is about neighbours.
The story is about difficult teenagers.
The story is about ambition.
Above all, the story is about the complexity of people living in close proximity to others.

I lost count of the clever, subtle twists. It was a joy to spend time with the multi-faceted residents of St Catherine's Hill.
Highly recommended.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of The Family at Number 13 in exchange for my honest review.