****
Saffy and her boyfriend Tom move into a cottage that belonged to her grandmother and start renovations to make it their dream home. That is, until the construction company unearths human remains in the process. This fast-paced thriller has plenty of twists and turns as Saffy and her mother try to understand the past from Grandma Rose, who has Alzheimer's. As she shares random memories when they come to her, we get little pieces of the past through two timelines. The author weaves a compelling story with a few surprising reveals.

Wow. I never expected a Thriller to leave me crying. What an amazing book, with all its twists and turns(some I figured out, others I thought I did, but nope!). So many past family secrets coming out after two dead bodies are found on the family property. Definitely an amazing read. And the letter at the end really got to me. There is nothing like a mother's love.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for my advanced eARC of this book!

I went into this blind. The beginning of this was super intriguing and piqued my curiosity but as the story kept progressing, it just wants for me. I felt like it was dragging, the time hops and the different POVs weren’t as smooth to easily follow. Although, it wasn’t a winner for me, there are a lot of great feedback on GoodReads.

This was an enjoyable read, though not as fast-paced as I would like, or expect from a mystery/thriller. The most interesting and compelling part of the story to me was the quiet English village setting and main character Saffy, though not much time is spent on the location itself or character development.

There is a lot happening here, and feels at times interesting and propulsive, but most of the time I felt its length without enough plot to fill it. There are a few twists and turns, but they did feel predicable to me, without much payoff.

Overall it was an enjoyable read, but not memorable to stick around long term.

To be honest, at 10% I almost stopped reading The Couple at Number 9 by Claire Douglas. I'm so glad I didn't! This is a great mystery with an unexpected outcome.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: August 2, 2022
Saffy and her new husband, Tom, are thrilled when they are gifted Saffy’s grandmother’s house- a cute cottage in the countyside. But when they begin digging out the backyard for renovations they make a grisly discovery- two dead bodies, one male and one female, are uncovered, having been dead for decades, around the time Saffy’s grandmother lived there. As the investigation into the bodies is taken over by police, Saffy and her mother, Lorna, decide to do a little investigating of their own. With Saffy’s grandmother in a care home due to her Alzheimer’s, Saffy is unsure if the random names and information her grandmother spurts out is actually part of a crime- or just a result of her disease. But as more and more is uncovered, soon Saffy must come to terms with the fact that her family had deep, dark secrets, and life as she knows it will soon be changed forever.
Claire Douglas, the author of “Then She Vanishes”, “The Sisters” and “Local Girl Missing” reunites her readers with the nail-biting, suspense-fueled plots and relatable characters only Douglas can provide. As Saffy and Lorna, a mother-daughter duo of broken promises, lies and secrets, come together to try and solve the family mystery, it was easy to root for the pair and to empathize with them.
This novel has various, complex POVs. Saffy is the primary storyteller, but we also hear from Lorna, Daphne, and the seemingly unrelated (at first) character of Theo. Theo and his family seemed incongruously thrown into the plot; a filler with his own mystery to solve. But as the story plays out, both Theo and his father play an important, albeit disturbing, role in Saffy and Lorna’s life. There are a lot of characters in this novel, and multiple timelines and although Douglas identifies them well, you can easily get lost in the shuffle of it all if you aren’t paying close attention.
The ending had a great twist, and it caught me off guard. As with other novels in this genre, I anticipated the plotline to go in the same predictable manner, with the same tropes. Douglas, however, upped the ante and added her own twisty-turny creativity to the novel, also upping the entertainment value. For someone looking for a page-turning, deliciously addictive, compelling read, Douglas’ “The Couple at Number Nine” is the hottest summer read going and it proves, without a doubt, that no secret stays buried forever.

I, too, live at #9 and after reading The Couple at Number 9 by Claire Douglas, I am not entirely sure that is a good thing. –Thankfully, I don’t have a backyard that could have possible human remains, because that is what happens to Saffron Cutler and her boyfriend, Tom as they are renovating their cottage at 9 Skelton Place. Two bodies are found in the process and the police determine they were buried there in the 1970s or 1980s, while Saffron didn’t live here then, her grandmother, Rose, sure did. Unfortunately, answers don’t come easily from her grandmother because she is in a care home with dementia. Saffron and her mother, Lorna can’t help but investigate Rose’s past but they aren’t remotely prepared for the answers they discover.

At first glance, this seems like a typical thriller…bodies are found and terrible secrets will be uncovered. NO. NOOOOOPE. The plot thickens with every chapter. Honestly, I forgot about the bodies because I needed to know what the hell Rose was up to! Some readers might be a little put off by the timeline jumps, and multiple points of view, but trust me, it is so worth it! This thriller is so complex but it is a slow burn, so don’t expect it to move quickly.

There are many factors that drive this plot but I try to write my reviews without spoilers, but let me just say that murder and betrayal are barely scratching the surface of this book. I did really enjoy the complexities of Lorna and Saffron’s mother-daughter relationship. They are very different people but it is amazing how this story drives them together. I also loved Theo and Jen’s relationship. They both have their difficulties but they communicate with each other and are a great example of a nontoxic relationship, as most thrillers have the most toxic relationships. Overall, I wasn’t sure at first but I ended up loving this book!

This book has it all. Great domestic thriller, solid character development, good writing. Throw in some life complexities and you've a solid 4 stars.

My first by this author. It's has a great plot with different Points of view and timelines. I was hooked from the beginning, love the way the character were introduced and the different timelines.,
Was totally involved with this story and it’s characters read it in two days.

Saffron and Tom are having a baby and are renovating saffron’s grandmother Roses house. While builders are digging out the garden for a kitchen extension two dead bodies are uncovered and the mystery begins. Who are these bodies, how did they die and why are the buried in Rose’s garden.

As we piece this mystery together using everyone’s point of view, we as an audience discover the whole truth.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I read an advanced reader copy. A young couple moves into the small cottage in a quiet English village given to them by her grandmother who is in a rest home nearby with dementia. During renovations two bodies are discovered under the patio in the back garden, one man and one woman dated back to 1980. Plot driven narrative with good characters guides the reader through the past and present dangers. Good and evil characters, mother daughter relationships, murky familial relations and revelations, village busybody, and even a Westie named Snowball. Fun and enjoyable mystery read.

Loved how you jumped right into the mystery from the first page. This book checked all the boxes, multiple perspectives, dual timelines, mysteries all around. It was a bit slow at times but overall a wonderful read.

A young expecting couple has the chance to move into a serene cottage. Sounds like the perfect situation, until it's not. The house is under renovation, and when the builders discover two bodies, creepy events begin to unfold. The investigation begins, and there are many questions to be answered. There are many little twists and turns, but this was a slow read story for me. There are altering points of view, and different time settings. So what is the real story behind this house? A slow read, yet easy and enjoyable!
This was my first Claire Douglas read, and I will definitely be checking out more of her work.

This was a solid 4 star thriller!

When Saffron and Tom discover two dead bodies in their backyard of the cottage that Saffron’s grandmother owned the story takes off over multiple perspectives and multiple timelines to figure out who are the people buried in the garden and why? The one person who knows is Saffron’s grandmother, however she is in a nursing home with dementia.

I can honestly say I didn’t see the the twists coming and that is always a good thing. I would definitely recommend if you like a good twisted mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and Killer Crime Club for a copy of this book.

What a crazy ride of a thriller! Multiple time lines, a murder mystery, an unreliable witness to the events of thirty years ago, make this a great thriller! Saffy and Tom are gifted a cottage that originally belonged to Saffy's grandmother who now has alzheimers. When they are renovated 2 bodies are found! What happened to these two people? Can Rose remember with her alzheimers? I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

A digital ARC of this book was provided to me by NetGalley, Harper Perennial and Paperbacks and Harper Paperbacks. The opinions are my own and freely given.

Secrets, identities, long lost relatives and unprofessional practices are all wrapped up in this story.

The very beginning. Saffy is out in her garden while construction is being done to rebuild her kitchen when suddenly the builders come to say that they found what appears to be a skeleton buried in the back yard. This starts Saffy, the police and her mother looking into the history of the cottage, which was owned by Rose, who now has dementia.

Told from Saffy's POV and her mother Lorna in present day and flipping to Rose, (grandmother and mother respectively) writing a letter to her daughter, Lorna in 1980 when a new tenant, Daphne, comes to live with them.

There are a lot of characters/names thrown into this book. Mainly by Rose, and Saffy takes it as ramblings from the dementia, but are they real people that Rose once knew?

There is also Theo. Theo is a chef and the son of a doctor. The doctor is in his 70's and doesn't seem to have a tender bone in his body. Very stern and cranky. But what part does Theo play in all this? He's closer to Saffy's age and has never been to Beggars Nook.

This is a very intricately woven story of 2 woman spanning decades that intertwine with their 2nd and 3rd generations. Not so much a thriller, but I would highly recommend.

I got a digital ARC from NetGalley. Thank you so much!

My rating is 3.75 ⭐️

When I began this book, I thought I would love it. I usually like multiple POVs and short chapters. The story seemed interesting throughout but I felt like it kept switching between timelines and introducing too many new characters at once. At times, I felt confused and I had to go back and read something again because another name was mentioned and it was had to keep track.

Towards the end, the book really picked up though! My favourite part was the ending. It was truly shocking and unexpected!

Wow this book was so good! Not sure what I liked the most since I liked pretty much everything about this book. I loved the characters, multiple POVs and timelines, storyline, dialog, mystery and overall it was very entertaining.

Saffy and her boyfriend Tom find a couple of bodies buried in their backyard and they find out that they have been there for 40 years. They are told that is the same time that her grandmother Rose owned the property. Now they have try to figure out who they are, why they were killed and buried there.

This book kept me entertained the whole time and I had a hard time putting it down. I will definitely be reading more of Claire Douglas's books.

Thanks Netgalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you so much @harperperennial and @netgalley for the digital ARC

Judging by the Goodreads reviews I am in the minority on this one. I liked the overall story; but found it to be a little too slow and lacking any real tension. I figured out the ending pretty early on too, though there was one small surprise, which I didn’t think really added anything to the story other than extra characters. Maybe my expectations were too high because I really loved Just Like the Other Girls by this author. Read this if you enjoy slow burn mysteries.

“THE TROUBLE WITH LOVE IS THAT IT BLINDS YOU.”

It was the house of their dreams, until the bodies were found. When pregnant Saffron Cutler moves into 9 Skelton Place with her boyfriend Tom, the last thing she expects is two bodies unearthed during housing renovations. When her grandmother Rose, who suffers from dementia, is questioned by police in her care home, secrets long since buried begin to surface. Secrets held tight for over thirty years.

I may or may not have gotten whiplash from the speed at which the twists were thrown into this story. 🥴 It took me a fair amount of time to get into it but wow, once I did there was no turning back.

The audio was good, with dual narrators which I always enjoy. The male narrator for Theo had such a strong accent that I had a really hard time understanding him. I had to really slow the audio down to even follow along, and I found myself just reading his parts unfortunately.

𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘰𝘵𝘦: “The sea, as much as she loves it, has always terrified her. It’s like a mighty beast, and you never know what mood it’s going to be in. It deserves respect.”

Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Perennial and Paperbacks, Harper Audio, and the author for the ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you net galley.
This has to be one of the best suspenceful books that I have read in a while. It had everything I could ask for in a book - romance, suspence.
This is a story about 3 women (grsndmother, mother, daughter). Rose is the grandmother and she is in a care home. Saffron is the granddaughter who visits Rose every week. Lorna is Rose's daughter who lives in Spain.
Saffron has inherited a cottage on Skeleton Place. Saffron and her boyfriend Tom have moved in and start to do renovations. The work crew are digging the backyard and soon come across bones. The police get involved and start their investigation of who the bones belong to.
Rose memory starts to resurface of the 'crime' as Saffron starts to dig deeper into her grandmother's life.
Are the people who we love are actually who they say they are???
Read this book. Yes, there were allmkinds of twists which is what made me keep on reading .