The setting is a small village in The New Forest. A family of three disappear from their cottage without a trace, leaving the TV playing, food waiting to be cooked and a suitcase half unpacked. Jump forward ten years to when the house is purchased by Naomi on behalf of her husband Ed and her step-daughter Morgan. Naomi is a Crime Journalist and the story of the disappearance has got under her skin and she is determined to do what others have failed to do and find out what happened to the family. Her husband has no idea of the disappearances and Naomi has no idea of the danger she is putting herself and her family in, one thing is for sure there's no warm welcome from the village. The story flits between then and now, there's plenty of twists some I saw coming but others I certainly didn't. I really enjoyed reading this book and I can highly recommend it.

Wow. 2 days to read this book. Just couldn't put it down.
Great story line with excellent characters.
Loved it.

I found this book very enjoyable to read, it was unpredictable with fast pacing and with a good amount of tension. The characters were good and added to the storyline.

This is my first book by this author and as my favourite genre is psychological thrillers I thought why not. I was impressed with the storyline and strong characters. There was plenty of twists and turns and I didn’t see the ending coming! I will definitely look to read more by this author. I recommend this book.

I am a fan of Caroline Mitchell's books, particularly the Amy Winter series, so was interested to read this stand alone story. I quite enjoyed it, but it certainly didn't live up to my expectations. The Harper family disappeared without trace 10 years ago and nothing has been found of them since. Right from the start we know that the villagers know what happened that day, but have agreed to keep it secret. Naomi is a crime journalist who is obsessed with the case and jumps at the chance of buying the Harper's cottage, moving in with her new husband and step daughter. She soon regrets her decision to move to Nighbrook as the villagers seem determined to drive them away. I didn't really warm to the characters in the book and I felt the denouement was quite far fetched.
Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

What a Cracker of a read! This has got to be up there with the best of Caroline's books. The suspense was crazy. Full of strong characters with an ending I didn't see coming!

Crime journalist Naomi has long been obsessed with the mysterious disappearance of the Harper family - Susan, Martin, and their terminally ill daughter Grace. The family haven't been seen for ten years, not since the police found their house empty with the TV playing, the oven on, and water running, as if the Harpers had simply blinked out of existence.

When Naomi sees that the Harpers' cottage is up for sale, she persuades her wealthy husband to buy it and relocate their family to the rural idyll last enjoyed by the Harpers. But the village of Nighbrook is not what Naomi expected. The villagers seem to have closed ranks to anyone who wasn't raised there, and Naomi and her family find themselves unwelcome. But is it just small-town mentality, or is there something more sinister behind the villagers' behaviour? Naomi is determined to find out...

As a huge Caroline Mitchell fan, I was really looking forward to this one, and excited by the premise. However, for me this one fell a little flat. I didn't think it was as well realised or well written as the Amy Winter novels, and I saw the twists coming in advance - usually there's at least one that throws me for a loop. I liked the story itself but the multiple viewpoints muddied the waters a little, and I didn't connect with any of the characters.

Caroline Mitchell remains one of my favourite authors in this genre, but this one was a rare miss - I just didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publishers who granted me a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

One of those books where you are initially baffled, then start to guess where the storyline is going, before everything gets turned on its head prior to the end!
Naomi is moving with her husband Ed and stepdaughter Morgan from London to the countryside. But why has Naomi, a crime writer by trade, chosen the deserted abs desolate Ivy Cottage? Ten years ago, a family of 3 mysteriously vanished from the house and never been found. Naomi is desperate to solve the mystery but she is bit going to receive any help or support from the locals, who are determined to keep their secrets well hidden….
A great read that kept me guessing. Thank you NetGalley for my review copy.

Well what can i say ............ I loved it, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ another masterpiece, it was quite eerie in parts which i loved, The village has a big secret but can naomi unlock the truth anout the harpers and ivy cottage, it kept me guessing, just as i thought id cracked it there was another twist, highley recommend

This is a thriller with unexpected twists and turns. Really appealed to my taste for psychological themes. I love this author.

I loved the premise of this book - a missing family that had simply vanished from their home one day and a true crime writer so determined to solve the mystery that she purchases that family's home, Ivy Cottage. The village of Nighbrook where they disappeared from is full of closed-off people who want nothing more than to be left alone, with no outsiders welcome. Is it simply because they are tired of their notoriety? Naomi believes there has to be more to it, and that settling into the community is the only way to uncover the truth.

After moving with her husband and stepdaughter from London to Nighbrook she jumps right in, asking everyone she meets about the family's disappearance. This immediately unsettles the villagers and they make no attempt to hide their obvious distrust. The narrative also includes the point of view of one of the villager leaders, Lloyd, so we know that they held a gathering once they heard the cottage was sold. They were worried about the intrusion to their community but agreed to see how it went. And with all of her questions, Naomi is acting exactly as they feared. We know they want to silence her, but how far will they actually go?

Another perspective of the narrative is that of Grace, the terminally ill daughter of the missing family. This is crucial in establishing why the events play out like they do. The author does an amazing job of misdirection within this timeframe and it isn't clear until the very end on just how brilliantly it works. Whatever you think you know...you don't! I love stories where I'm genuinely surprised and this is one of the rare few. I hope everyone enjoys the book like I did and I cannot wait for the next one!

Naomi is obsessed to find out what happened to the Harper family, as they had disappeared 10 years before. their cottage was found deserted. when the cottage comes up for sale Naomi sees it as her chance to find out what happened, but it is not as easy as she thinks, the villagers refuse to answer any questions. keeps your attention from the beginning.

The story follows Naomi, an ex journalist, who moves to the village of Niighbrooks along with her husband Ed and stepdaughter Morgan. She buys “Ivy cottage”, which has a past history but deliberately hides it from Ed so as not to worry him.
Ivy cottage once resided by the Harpers is now old and need of renovation. The Harpers disappeared from the house ten years ago and Naomi has never forgotten about the case since she wrote about it.
Naomi wants to solve the mystery and starts questioning the villagers, but soon realizes everyone is hiding something and the local police force is involved too.
The second half of the story brings out all the twists and solves them too, with some being a little predictable yet good. I loved guessing whether all the characters were trying to hide their personal motives or were they really just protecting everyone.

A good detective story. Ten years ago a family just disappeared and no clues were ever found. Naomi, a newly wed journalist, is obsessed with the story and talks her new husband into buying the house the family lived in. An angry stepdaughter thrown in, strange villagers who are not welcoming all combine to a great story. Good wrap up at the end. Highly recommend this book and author.

Crime journalist Naomi is obsessed with the case of the Harper family, who apparently disappeared into thin air. Their cottage was found empty, the water running, the doors locked from the inside. In the ten years since, the case has turned the little village of Nightbrook into a media sensation. Now that the cottage is up for sale, Naomi sees her chance to finally get inside the house and the village to get answers. But the villagers aren’t talking and Naomi is sure they’re hiding something, that they know what happened to the Harpers. Eerie and compelling

A thrilling story about a village that has conspired to keep the truth buried. Ten years ago, the Harper family vanished, with the water left running, the TV on and the oven ready to bake, as well as the doors being locked from the inside. The media speculated on the unsolved disappearance. making the sleepy village of Nighbrook a notorious one. Crime journalist Naomi becomes obsessed with solving the mystery, excited to find Ivy Cottage for sale. It soon becomes clear that the villagers are hiding something, and that her family could be in danger... A dark and thrilling story that keeps you turning the pages until the end. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the book in return for my honest feedback.

Absolutely brilliant! I was so absorbed that I couldn’t put it down. I love a good Mystery and this was right up my street. #TheVillage #NetGalley

I received an advance copy of, The Village, by Caroline Mitchell. I really wanted to like this book, but I did not. It kept going back and forth from now to a decade ago. I could not get into this book at all.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about The Village. I instantly loved the premise and I expected the plot to focus around Naomi uncovering what really happened to the Harper family. Rather than being driven by her following clues, the story is a mix of perspectives that reveal a little of the truth, until a culmination where the secret is flatout explained. By the end of the book, the multiple storylines blurred together and were more distracting than riveting.

Readers are only given a few clues, and even those aren't completely fleshed out. For instance, why have Naomi find a diary, for only one entry to be shared?

All of that said, this book held a lot of promise. There were so many elements that could have been really interesting, were they used differently.

Another excellent novel from one of my favourite authors Caroline Mitchell. I am always confident when I pick up one of her books that I am going to be guaranteed an exciting read.

A decade ago the Harper family disappeared without trace. Everything in their cottage appeared to be normal, television on, oven ready for baking but no sign of life. Their disappearance has remained a mystery and become a focus of speculation especially from the more macabre media.

For Naomi, a crime journalist solving the case has turned into an obsession and when the Harpers cottage goes on sale she persuades her wealthy husband to purchase it. Once the couple move into the cottage with her stepdaughter it give Naomi the perfect opportunity to investigate the case. The only problem is Naomi has kept it secret from the rest of the family her real reasons for wanting the cottage and it’s history. The cottage is located in Nighbrook and the locals are far from friendly. None of the locals want to talk to Naomi or answer her questions and there is a very uneasy feeling. The more investigating Naomi does, the more uneasy she feels, are the locals hiding something? and is she putting her own family at risk with her constant digging for the truth.

This is certainly a page turner and there was no way I was going to put it down until the very end. Great characters, full of suspense and so well written. Highly recommended.

I would like to thank both Net Galley and Amazon Publishing UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.