The Couple at Number 9 was a very satisfying puzzle mystery with multiple points of view and alternating timelines. A granddaughter uncovers human remains at a cottage she inherited from her grandmother who has moved into a nursing home. The police begin an investigation and when it becomes clear that the bodies were buried when her grandmother lived in the house, Saffy starts to ask questions of her own. Her grandmother’s advancing dementia doesn’t help with putting the pieces together, but clues are revealed slowly, then increasingly quickly in the present timeline as the book goes on. We also see the events leading up to the burials through the grandmother’s eyes in the form of a letter to her daughter, Saffy’s somewhat estranged mother.

The family relationships are well written and believable, as is the mystery. The plot is fairly complex, but the short chapters and repetition from multiple points of view made it easy to follow along. There were quite a few surprising twists throughout the story that kept it interesting all the way through. I highly recommend The Couple at Number 9 to any fan of puzzle mysteries!

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for proving an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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I don't even have WORDS for this book. I was addicted from the very start. We have a multi POV book, in which we're getting the story from multiple perspectives. I was frantically turning pages to find out what happened because I was STUNNED. When I got to the end I had to sit and think for a few minutes. My brain was going WHAT over and over and over again.

This book is mind bending in the best of ways. I loved how we get pieces of the story and the plot that link together through the different characters, and as they draw closer to the answers, the tension gets amped up. Douglas did this well -- she drove the story forward in a way that made sense and was interesting enough without being too complicated.

I really enjoyed the writing in this, and was FASCINATED with the mystery aspect. In a few moments we get a bit of back and forth between past and present, and it was brilliant. Honestly, I can't even believe this book. Definitely one of the best mystery books that I have read recently. It kept me on my toes and guessing. It also made me remember how much I enjoy a good mystery book.

I still don't know what else to say -- it's hard to when you don't want to give away the different plot points. This book is best read going into it blind.

Wow, twisty thriller. This story definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat. This thriller is full of gripping scenes that leave you anxious and tense. Definitely recommend

Main Characters:
-- Saffron (Saffy) – 24 years old, 14 weeks pregnant, living with her boyfriend Tom in the cottage her grandmother used to own
-- Lorna – almost 41 years old, had Saffy at 16, was a bit of a wild child when she was a teenager, moved to Spain shortly after Saffy met Tom
-- Rose – 75 years old, living in a full-time care home suffering from Alzheimer’s, has increasingly fewer lucid days and begins to talk about things from her past that don’t make sense to the people around her
-- Theo – 33 years old, head chef at a nearby restaurant, married to Jen and trying to start a family, does not get along with his father, his mother died 14 years ago from a fall down the stairs

I was sooooooo close to figuring this out. Literally one piece that I missed. The author does such a great job of offering up a number of possibilities. Coupled with the fact that the person with the answers (Rose) is unreliable because of Alzheimer’s, the twists and turns make for an amazing thriller.

Saffy and Tom live in her grandmother’s former cottage, which Rose gifted to her daughter Lorna 10 years prior. Lorna doesn’t remember living in the cottage. Having always been a bit unsettled in life, she has been living in Spain but returns home when two bodies are found buried in the garden. Immersed in a hometown she doesn’t remember, Lorna experiences flashes of memories and tries to piece them together with her mother’s ramblings.

Theo is an unknown at the beginning of the book, having no real connection with the others that we’re aware of as readers. About midway through Part Two, there’s an “ah ha” moment, and as the story progresses, of course, we find out the complete connection.

Narration of the story alternates between Saffy (first-person), Lorna (third-person), and Theo (third-person) in the current day, supplemented by first-person accounts from Rose 30 years prior. What drives this story forward, in part, is the lack of reliability of Rose’s memories. And that’s what makes it so hard to figure out.

The notes I made while devouring the story touched on all but one piece, as I said. I was right on the cusp of figuring it out…and that’s what I loved about it. Pick this one up. You won’t be disappointed.

Another great and thrilling read from Claire Douglas. She knows how to ratchet up the suspense and keep you turning the pages. Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys a pulse pounding suspenseful read.

This is an absolute thrill ride of twists and turns. The multiple POVs are so fun to switch between and perfectly executed characters. Fans of Alex Finlay and Charlie Donlea will inevitably love this twisty crime thriller.

The synopsis sounded very interesting, but this book was not for me. The story is well-written, but it was a boring slow burn and I did not enjoy it.

Imagine finding out that there are skeletons buried in your backyard! What a shock! When Saffy and her husband decide to have some work done in the yard, the workers discover bones, and this discovery leads to Saffy and her mom finding out about soooo many secrets in their family! This was a good suspenseful story! I’m thankful to netgalley for my copy of the book. All opinions are honest and my own!

Promising synopsis and a strong start (finding skeletons in the garden is always exciting in a bad way), but I started losing interest over time. I wish it had been trimmed a bit to keep the sense of urgency going. This was my first book by Douglas, and I'd be interested in reading her other work because there were a lot of things to like about this one, even if I didn't love-love it.

Thank you to Harper Perrenial for a gifted ebook copy of The Couple at Number 9; I appreciate the chance to review a new to me author. This was a solid strong like as a mystery/thriller once I got into the pacing and style of the author. Those looking for a fast paced thriller won't find it here but there is a well developed plot and examination of the power of memory and trusting memory and secrets that come back to haunt. The pace was overall a bit too slow for me at times but that is me as a reader, it does not mean the writing was poor (it is not!) and the characters and plot were overall well developed and engaging. Indeed, the plot does have well executed twists and held my attention because of the timing of twists and plot development. Overall, this mystery for me felt more soapy and dramatic than suspenseful at times with twists and turns and character development but it did make for an entertaining mystery, a nice addition to summer reading.

I recommend this for mystery fans and readers who enjoy a book that has miniseries vibes. I appreciate the chance to support this book.

The Couple a Number 9 starts off slow... a bit rambling, a bit too involved in the lives of its characters without seeming to get anywhere. But stay with the book for about a third of the way through and the twists start coming one after another, keeping you utterly hooked. And then you figure out the extensive deep dive into the characters... because you can't understand what happened 30 years back without understanding how it shaped these people today. And you will never guess the end — even if you think you have it a number of times, the end is enthralling in the turn it takes. Definitely a page turner!

4 stars

You've heard of skeletons in your closet, but what about skeletons in your garden?

So begins The Couple at Number 9, a delightfully twisty mystery set in a small English village where long-held secrets are finally coming to light. Told through 3 different perspectives and two separate timelines, we discover along with our characters how the two bodies ended up at Number 9 Skelton Place and how the murders ripple through 3 generations of the same family.

I've made no secret about the fact that thrillers and mysteries have been hit or miss for me lately, but there is just something about the British mysteries I have been reading that has just made my heart so happy. This book, in particular, does a wonderful job of keeping the action moving, the reveals fresh, and the character relationships dynamic. I frequently found myself wanting to drop what I was doing and get back to reading this book and isn't that really the best endorsement you can get? I think so.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Paperbacks for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

I really liked this! It has that small English village cozy mystery vibe, with family secrets and a plot that keeps you reading. Definitely a page-turner that I enjoyed.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this Arc!

I love a good thriller and this was no exception. The story is great, love multiple Pov's, however this was a little too slow moving for me. I feel like there was too much information and that I would have enjoyed this more if it had a quicker pace.

I loved the characters, Theo, Saffy, Lorna and Rose. I also thought the twist at the end was great, really intense!

Out August 2, 2022!

I hadn’t read Claire Douglas before now, but I am now a fan! I received an ARC of this title for an honest review. I loved every twisty, dark, shocking turn of this book, many of which I did not see coming like I sometimes do. Told in multiple POVs and amid two murders from 1980 recently discovered when a woman and her husband move into her grandmother’s old cottage rent-free, it makes you doubt what you know about your friends and your family as more and more secrets and questions emerge surrounding the deaths of the two bodies found while the couple is renovating. If you find a stopping place before bed, take it or else you’ll be up all night like me. So worth it though. Highly recommend for book clubs or at least lend it to a friend soon after so you can discuss.

This book was so good! I want to see more from this author in the future!! I couldn't put this book down. What a page turner!!!

I'm really torn on the rating to give this book. I think it hovers somewhere around a 3.5 to 3.75, but it isn't because the writing or the story are bad or have major plot holes that frustrated me as a reader. If this were a TV show, a mini-series probably, I think I would have been drawn in and enjoyed it much more than I did as a book. As a book, it was way too slow moving. There was no action since everything seemed to have happened in the past timeline, so there was nothing to build to. And yet, the story was very interesting, and the characters drew me in, and I wanted to see what would happen next. I was able to guess most of the major plot points once the very slow starting premise of the story and introduction to the necessary characters was complete, but that's okay because they were still entertaining.

Ultimately, this read like Desperate Housewives...a drama without any major bang moments and maybe that's where it lost a bit in the ratings for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and the relationship building/dynamics. It was just a bit too slow moving of a story for what I like to read without much of a payoff at the end. I'd be all in if this were made into something motion picture, though!

I really wanted to like this story...the synopsis sounded very interesting, but I just couldn't get into the book. The story (at least for me) was a very slow burn, which made it difficult for me to keep my interest up.

The story itself was well-written, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. I'm sure that it will definitely be enjoyable for others, just not me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

twist and turns and twist and turns repeatedly--> this is the book for you!! I was shocked and my mouth dropped!! Different POV did not bother me at all which is a surprising aspect and I enjoyed each of it!

This was much different than I anticipated but not in a bad way. The characters were flawed and interesting, and the main twist was something I didn't guess. As a mother with a close relationship with my own mother and grandmother, I felt a kinship in the scenes with Saffron, Lorna and Rose.