07.12.25
Someone pointed out that all Riley Sager's books can be summarised as 'Young down-on-her-luck woman moves house, discovers neighbours' secrets, has secrets of her own.' This one definitely fits that mould, and is also pretty similar to Sarah Pinborough's supernatural domestic thrillers (like the one I've just read). Despite its cliches, this was still quite well written and pretty entertaining, if not all that engaging.
As you'd expect from the cover, this '80s-set thriller ramped up the gothic mystery factor before unapologetically going all out at the end. You could call it twisty but twisty does not necessarily a good book make - the last 10% or so was a case of "Really? Come on! Give the reader some agency!" Credit for the variety of female characters, though (all the male ones were pretty one dimensional), and for the quality of the writing - except for the irritating overuse of "atop" instead of "on".
