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 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.

An interesting book, with a good plot and great characterisation. The interesting premise in this book is the fact that the police don’t agree on who the suspect is. One detective thinks the obvious suspect committed the murder and is keen to close the case and add it to the list of solved cases. However, the other, Dan Riley, is of a completely different opinion. Is he able to prove that Laurie Mills didn’t kill her husband? Read it and find out!

I finished the Couple on Cedar Close in one day. It was written in a manner that was easy to follow and easy to get engrossed in. I connected with all the characters and had empathy for them all, except for Robert. It really shows what love can do to people. How giving all of yourself to someone who doesn't reciprocate fully can break you, how loving someone in a twisted way can do to irrepairable damage to you, etc. This story is more than meets the eye. It runs deeper than just a jilted wife/lover.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The couple on Cedar close the perfect marriage or the perfect murder...
A suburban crime/psychological thriller, think Desperate Housewives meets Broadchurch.
It’s set in dual time past and present.
Cedar Close where nothing bad ever happens except it has, Robert Mills has been brutally murdered and his wife Laurie has been arrested. We first meet Laurie at the close’s annual summer BBQ, this is her first time meeting the neighbours even though they moved in 6 months ago and quite an impression she makes, she had promised not to drink and Robert had promised to stay by her side , neither had worked out. Laurie sufferers from depression and PTSD and uses alcohol as her coping mechanism but things had been getting better here a fresh start until she learns that day Roberts been hiding something from her again. Fast forward to present day when Laurie wakes to find herself in the dark her dress soaked in blood and discovers Robert’s body his throat cut and 3 words written on the mirror. Did she kill him? She can’t remember, she was angry furious that after all the work she had done cooking his favourite meal and making herself look nice he had stood her up , it was a last ditch attempt at keeping her husband. She remembers opening the vodka and opening the Prosecco then nothing until she woke covered in blood.
Daniel Riley is the investigating officer and the book spends a lot of time following the ins and outs of an investigation , I liked this element . As the next body is discovered it doesn’t look good for Laurie as the evidence is stacking up against her, Wood’s, Daniel’s superior is pleased this is an open and shut case,but Dan’s got that gut feeling that somethings not right and it hasn’t let him down in past and as he delves further into Robert past he makes some shocking discoveries. He promises Claire the second victims mum he would get the person who killed her and true to his word he does. The book gives away a big clue very early on and I am assuming that it was the authors intention for us to pick up on it , so the book can tell the story of the relationships between the characters and there lives rather than concentrating on just a who done it.
This is the kind of book I love , one thats written in such a way that I could come home from work and read it without having to think too much the story just flows. It’s definitely a page turner with a few twists along the way. The story portrays how strong women can be trapped in emotional and psychologically abusive relationships and the damage it can cause. The book made me feel I wanted more , I didn’t want it to end!
This book has it all betrayal, lust,lies, addiction, abuse, jealousy.
#thecoupleoncedarclose
Links attached to review on blog/goodreads/amazon

I read the first book in this series, Black Heart, sometime early last year. I loved it and absolutely adored Dan Riley. However, I forgot about the series until I found out about book 2 being released this year.

I seem to be meeting terrible Roberts this year, starting with R. Kelly. This Robert is twisted. What is worse is that he is married to a lovely lady, Laurie. Things take a dark turn in the marriage when Robert is found dead in his house. Laurie is the only other person in the house and all evidence points to her being the killer. However, Laurie is convinced that she didn’t do it. It is hard to convince everyone else though because she doesn’t exactly remember the events of the night.

Like in the first book, I found myself drawn to Dan Riley. He is intuitive, sensitive, a great detective and human being. I loved how he related with his team especially Davis. I also liked how he was with the suspects. Riley is the kind of detective who gets you invested in a case. You find yourself caring about him and all that he cares about. He cared about the victims and so did I. He had strong instincts about the case being more than it seemed and yes, I did too.

I was so gripped by the case that I found myself thinking about it when I wasn’t reading the book. I pieced everything together while washing the dishes one evening. So excited was I, that I thought of sharing my thoughts with Dan only to remember that I wasn’t really part of the detectives team. So I had to take a seat and watch Dan solve the case too.

This was a brilliant, addictive read. The series is perfect for anyone who loves crime fiction. Character development is top notch and I already miss the team, especially Riley. I can’t wait for the next book. I just hope that it won’t take another year to come out.

I requested this book and was approved. Unfortunately this book did not appear on my shelf and went straight into my archive folder. I have emailed the publisher but had no response.

The House on Cedar Close is a dark domestic thriller with basically no surprises or twists. Almost from the beginning, it was easy to guess where the story was going and “who-dun-it,” and about halfway through the book, everything is confirmed, so there’s little, if any, element of surprise and no hope for a twisty ending.

Laurie Mills and her husband Robert live on Cedar Close, across the way from her best friend, Monica. Laurie is a traumatized woman, having discovered her husband’s long-term affair, leading to a car accident during Laurie’s pregnancy, causing the loss of twins. The affair continues, and one day Laurie finds that not only has her husband continued the relationship, but the other woman has given birth to a little girl. These things contribute to Laurie spiraling out of control, and when Robert is found murdered, she is the most likely suspect.

There is a backstory involving two other characters, Kiki and Bertie, whose importance become relevant soon into the book. Again, there are not many surprises, and it’s easy to figure out how they play into the drama.

The most interesting character, by far, is the detective on the case, Dan Riley. He is working through his own loss, but seems the most human and a relatable character.

One interesting note: there are a heck of a lot of pregnancies mentioned in this book. If I was told I would be one of the female characters in the story, I would be well-prepared with plenty of contraceptives, as it appears no one else in the book remembers to use any.

Other than the disappointment of figuring out the plot early on, the storyline was interesting enough that I stayed with it throughout. Although figuring out the murderer was easy, I still wanted to know how the story would end, and the conclusion was satisfying.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookoutre for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. 3 solid stars.

Compulsive. A word easily thrown about in reviews, but this certainly is.

In a genre where storylines are often overdone, this has twists aplenty and more than that is completely readable and gripping. I genuinely, really enjoyed this and have no qualms about recommending it. It’s gritty and harrowing, but so good.

I finished The Couple on Cedar Close by Anna-Lou Weatherley last night. I saw this is being described as a psychological thriller and it is also number 2 in a detective series. I haven’t read the first one, but this can be read as a stand-alone. I was loving Detective Dan Riley, so I would probably pick up the first book to see the beginning of his story and the next in the series to continue.
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I had the killer figured out around 40% read. I think I would have figured it out sooner but I was only able to read in short bursts at first...mom life. I do love a good psychopath and this book is definitely not short on them. The Couple on Cedar Close is dedicated to anyone who has or is suffering in an abusive or toxic relationship. Weatherley’s characters definitely know what that is like.
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I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this book until the very end. I usually like my psychological thrillers to be unpredictable, at least a little. This one wasn’t but to me, the characters are so complex that I don’t think it needed to be.
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Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an egalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

This book had me hooked from the very beginning! Just when I thought I knew what was going on, something else unexpected would be thrown at me! Definitely read this book if you like mysteries that keep you guessing the whole time!

Omgoodness this book! Seriously hooked me from the moment I started it. Excellent writing, believable characters. I loved this book. It made me cringe for the main character and what she has been through, and I wanted to reach into the book and strangle the husband myself!

Having not read the first book in this series, I was happy to have not been lost in the storyline. Addictive, fast paced, relateable. A great thriller.

Although I was expecting something different than what this book actually was I still really liked it. There were several twists that kept adding to the storyline that kept it fast paced. I had an idea about the main twist in this story but I was still unsure about the explanation behind it which when I found out what it was at the end it I really enjoyed it and what it did for the story. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5, practically perfect in every way, stars!

Imagine this? You awaken in darkness, groggy and disorientated, to discover you’re lying on your guest bed with no memory of how you got upstairs. The last thing you remember is sitting at your kitchen table, drinking wine, dinner ruined, suspecting you’ve been stood up by your cheating husband, whom you were hoping to reach an amicable solution with, maybe even a reconciliation. The power is out, so you grope your way downstairs, suddenly aware that your dress feels wet and sticky. You find a flashlight, turn it on, look down, and to your horror, discover you’re covered in blood. Terrified and confused, you dial your husband’s number, praying he’ll help. You hear his phone ringing – it’s coming from upstairs. You follow the sound to the guest bathroom where your husband is lying on the floor, throat slit, stabbed eighteen times. The police arrive, and next thing you know, they’re arresting you for your husband’s murder.

Right away, our hero, DI Daniel Riley has his doubts over Laurie Mills’ guilt – call it cop’s intuition, but he senses there’s more to it, and we along with Riley quickly discover he’s correct – Robert Mills’ death is just the tip of the iceberg. What slowly unfolds is a story of twisted obsession, murderous revenge, psychological abuse, lies and deceit, devastating secrets, tragic loss, and a cat-and-mouse game to catch and punish a vicious killer. And I loved every second of it – felt there was a 50/50 balance between police procedural and psychological suspense.

The Couple on Cedar Close is the second book in the Detective Dan Riley series, the first being Black Heart, but you will have no problem following this one if you haven’t read that one – I didn’t. Riley is the perfect leading man/detective – kind, caring, intelligent, vulnerable – still grief-stricken over a recent tragic loss of his own. His team were equally fascinating, and I loved the parallels between characters involved in the mystery to those on the police force.

The mystery was fast-paced, horrific, action-packed, with some jaw-dropping shocks and reveals that had me on the edge of my seat. There were some pretty heavy topics of a sensitive nature, as well as bad language, and several graphic, distressing, emotionally affecting scenes. This is not a tame crime by any means, so be prepared.

The investigation – Interviews/following leads/gathering evidence, etc – is conveyed via Dan’s POV, with touches of his personal life intertwined. Other chapters are narrated by Laurie as she attempts to access her memories from the night Robert was killed, as well as deal with being the main suspect in a murder investigation. There are also two sets of flashbacks – various snapshots of Laurie and Robert’s marriage, as well as an undetermined POV to a girl named Kiki, growing up in the 80’s and 90’s, living in a disturbing and dysfunctional family environment.

This was my first read by Anna-Lou Weatherley, but certainly won’t be my last by any stretch of the imagination. I have just downloaded the first book in the series, via Amazon Kindle, and I’m picking by the sounds of it, it will be on par with this one. The final pages of The Couple on Cedar Close (wholly satisfying and sweet by the way) felt like closure, and leads me to believe that Dan Riley’s story is finished, but of course I could be completely wrong. Whatever Anna-Lou Weatherley writes next, I’ll be there, ready to read, and review.

I'd like to thank Netgalley, Bookouture, and Anna-Lou Weatherley for the opportunity to read, and review, a digital copy of this book.

US Release Date: 18th January, 2019. (Out Now!)

Review posted on Goodreads, Amazon, and Instagram.

I thought that this book was an easy read. I am not sure that I would call it a mystery thriller though. I knew who the real killer was within 4 chapters.
I also did not like that the real killer (I will not reveal spoilers here) really had very little motive to start the killing. And why at that time? Who knows....
the characters were pretty one dimensional.
Overall the book was an easy read, the story needed more depth, and too many other side stories that had nothing to do with the overall plot.

A very enjoyable read! I was very interested in getting my hands on this one after I read the blurb and I am pleased to say that I was not let down.

The story is written very well and the characters are interesting and jump off the page. I would recommend this read!

Turns out this is the second novel in a series, but like me, you can read this as a stand alone and not miss out on anything!

I found that this was a quick read novel. The novel moves along nicely and splits into multiple characters – Laurie, Detective Dan Riley and a young girl growing up. I figured out quickly who the killer was, but for reasons unknown to me until the very end.

I wish the novel took a bit of a different approach and we got to know Robert a bit more. A lot of things came out after this death and I wished we got to see a one day in the life of Robert. I think it would of been very interesting and added a little bit more to the mystery.

A good read by an author that I will check out again! Note: I did find one storyline a bit disturbing, so this novel may not be for everyone.

The Couple on Cedar Close is book 2 of the Detective Dan Riley series. It can be read as a standalone but I liked him so much, I want to read more about him. He's a Detective with heart and believes in his intuition. The author did a great job writing this character.

The case he is working on is a real psychological thriller. People are truly not what they seem. Did Laurie really kill her husband or was she set up? She's unsure herself and you will also begin to question what happened.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from this author. It's a good thriller and you will think about whom to trust in your life. And the ending was perfect!

* I was provided an ARC to read from the publisher and NetGalley. It was my decision to read and review this book.

I may be twisted, I may be turned

Let me talk about the emotions churned

I may be twisted, I may be turned

Let me tell you the scenes savored...

Murder and stabbing

Acid and gagging

Face in bag gasping

Infant left starving...

The book has these enlist

I was in literary bliss

The police and the forensics

The chief and his instincts...

The blind were forgotten

Where the ego deafened

Deviants and psychopaths

Dependents and sociopaths...

Hushed were the words

Incest was the whispers

Wife was arrested

Rest were blighted...

I may be twisted, I may be turned

Tell me o'dear who was a friend

I may be twisted, I may be turned

Anna-Lou Weatherley was the author brilliant!!!

There are a few times when a book makes me break into a song and a dance. And this book did. I certainly did my jig, hmmm..... Not sure if any of you would dance to this beat. But the story calmed my thriller mind to the point that my niggles were silenced.

I could guess the murderer easily, but Anna-Lou's writing kept my interested peaked. It was smooth, the chapters flowed. Even knowing the theme and the plot and the subplots, I couldn't let go of the book.

My vengeant superwoman soul wanted justice, wanted the right killer caught. I had to get to the end in one sitting. I wanted to knock sense into the cops, I could see the evidence and yet they couldn't.... Sheesh my brilliant mind and sheesh those dumb-boyos.

Well, I think you can guess I loved the book, and the book loved me back...

A bloody fantastic domestic thriller! Anna-Lou Weatherley absolutely got it right with this one! The Cedar Close community was the perfect setting for the plot of these insane characters! You know the saying, "you can't make that up", after hearing a story about something that seems so off kilter? Well....that's exactly what Anna-Lou Weatherley did!
With the tap of the keys on her keyboard, she created a cast of characters that felt unreal and so real, sane and insane, normal and abnormal all at the same time! Cedar close sounded like the kind of neighborhood that looked great...from afar! 
I don't think I ever wanted to punch a character in the face as much as I wanted to punch Robert! Lying, cheating PIG! Laurie was accused of his brutal murder although she had no recollection of committing any such crime. (Who could blame her, if it were true, though!)
Ugh! Thank GOD for life long friends and neighbors like Monica. Honestly I didn't know what Laurie would have done without her... she's a hell of a lot better than that other nosey neighbor who keeps tabs on every move Laurie makes.
Weatherley's creative craft using flashbacks to mysterious characters will keep you turning pages with fury. I have to be 100% honest, I figured out about half way through how the past connected to the events in the present....BUT...she cleverly stuck in some great twists that confirmed my love for this story. I LOVED it!!

"It's got all the elements of a front-pager: passion, jealousy, betrayal, rejection, attempted suicide..."

Laurie Mills wakes in a stupor in the middle of the night to find her husband, Robert, dead in the guest bathroom. When the police arrive, find the murder weapon and the message written on the mirror, Laurie is taken directly to the police station. It's a slam dunk, after all, Laurie had just recently outed her husband's infidelity -- including the fact that he had a love child -- at the neighborhood barbecue. But DI Dan Riley isn't convinced -- it's his intuition telling him that something about the whole crime and the situation isn't that clear cut. NO SPOILERS.

Well, this was a romp! The story has everything, including some serious psychopathology and several extremely twisted relationships. Although the main of the plot was quickly visible, it was fun to see how it all was going to play out -- including a few surprises along the way. Though I didn't really relate all that much with the very damaged Laurie (I was more sympathetic to the "bad guy" in a way), I did enjoy this second in the series as much as I did the first. As far as DI Riley, he's an OK male detective and I'm hoping with the bit of cliffhanger at the end that he's going to get over Rachel now and get on with his life. He's painted just a little too "all that", and I'm hoping he'll show some minor little flaws as well! It's a good series and I'm looking forward to the next installment.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookoutre for the e-book ARC to read and review.