Unfortunately, I just could not connect to the writing style in this book. I made it to 23% and just couldn’t finish. I think the story had potential, but it could have used a heavier hand in the editing process. Or maybe it just wasn’t for me.

Saffron is gifted a cottage from her grandmother, Rose, when she has to move into a memory care facility, due to Dementia. Saffy could not be more thrilled to move closer to her grandmother and start renovating the cottage with her significant other, Tom....until there are two bodies found buried in the garden.
How do you solve a murder when the only person who might know something is now in a care facility with Dementia?

A slow burning book at the beginning, turned into a blazing bonfire by the end. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough!

Thank you to NetGalley for gifting me this Advanced Readers Copy!

Picture this idyllic scene--you have just inherited a home from your grandmother. You and your boyfriend are pregnant and joyfully beginning new future together. It is a nice day in the garden and then..........dead bodies are found in your backyard.

Saffy's world turns upside down when not only does she realise there are 2 bodies buried in her back yard, but her dear grandmother who has dementia and is in a care home may have had something to do with it.

This is a solid read with lots of POV and twist that will keep you guessing to the end.

Saffy and her husband Tom move into her grandmother Rose’s cottage. While remodeling, two bodies are found in the backyard. This sets off the story of learning who they were and who murdered them. Rose, the only one that likely knows how the bodies got there, is fighting dementia and half the time does not even know Saffy, is of little help.

An interesting and compelling page turner. I loved the three generational POVs. A few twists and turns along the way make it a favorite of mine this year so far.

Saffy and Tom are a young couple who have moved into a cottage, formerly owned by her grandmother, located in a small English village. Saffy and Tom are expecting their first child. While the cottage is owned by her mother Lorna, it is Saffy's to use as Lorna is living her own life in Spain. Lorna, who was young mother, left Saffy in the care of Rose, her mother. Saffy's relationship with Rose, now in a care home with dementia, is in many ways closer than she shares with her mother.

Theo and Jen, another young couple, would like to have a child but can't. Theo's mother died years before and he struggles to have a relationship with a cold, distant and demanding father.

As the novel opens, workmen, doing renovations to the cottage, open a hidden grave containing the skeletal remains of two people. Who these people are and what they are doing there is at the core of a well paced plot with lots of twists and turns and an ending I didn't see coming. The charachters are well developed and likable.; it is they who are the primary sleuths in this story .

This is a page turner and my pulse got up to a good rate toward the end. I very much appreciate receiving an ARC copy from HarperCollins through Netgalley

Lots of twist and turns. A little confusion with the Daphne character but still Could not put it down.

This book was just a lot of fun. Funny named town in the Cotswolds? Yes, please! Mysterious strangers, surprise bodies in the garden? Yes! This is the type of book that while it deals with some serious topics like murder, doctor abuse, domestic violence etc flows really well. I always appreciate that Claire Douglas keeps a tight and correct timeline. So many mysteries that are as twisty and turny and frankly over the top as her books are do not. It really goes a long way in making her books enjoyable despite the wacky plots and actually grounded in reality. My only quibble is that Saffy's husband really felt like an after thought. I don't know why Saffy was married or was pregnant, it didn't add anything to the story. She could have been a single or dating woman just fixing up her grandmother's house. That said, that didn't take away from the book but it was rather long so if they cut out her thoughts about pregnancy, it would have been a little shorter.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. This was my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it! A thriller told from different POV which I enjoyed. There were twists that I did not see coming and found this book so easy to read and engrossing from beginning to end! I will search out this author!

I really really really enjoyed this book! Saffy, a young expectant mother, lives in the cozy cottage she inherited from her doting grandmother Rose. Saffy and her boyfriend Tom are in the midst of renovating their new home when contractors uncover two skeletons buried in the garden. Needless to say, Saffy is shocked, especially when it looks as though her grandmother could have some knowledge of how two bodies came to be buried at her old home. Rose suffers from dementia, however, and even when Saffy's capricious mother Lorna comes to help, everyone wonders if the real truth will ever come out. The stakes are raised when a mysterious man shows up looking for "evidence" and threatening the residents of the cottage. What exactly happened 30 years ago to cause Rose to abandon her home with her small child, and does it have anything to do with the deaths of two people?
Pretty much everything about this book was great. The characters really drew me in from the beginning and made me want to know what had happened in the past at the seemingly idyllic cottage, and how those in the present would get to the truth. The pacing was very well-done, too. It was slow enough to reveal nuances and yet fast enough to keep me interested and turning the pages as quickly as I could. I never got bored and wanted to skim anything. At about 2/3 of the way through I thought, "Wait a minute...what if...??!!" I had figured out the big twist, but I had to sit for a bit, staring off into space, trying to figure it all out in my head and see if it all fit into place. I thought, "I think THIS could be what's going on...! Wow!" And that's what really sealed the deal for me with the book. Sometimes when you figure out a twist it just seems too obvious, or you think," Of course this is what's happening. You are being too heavy-handed, author!" and roll your eyes. But in this case I thought it was very well-done, and the fall-out from revealing the twist really gave it serious impact. The ending was great, too. I have to admit I teared up at the last page. My only real issue was with Saffy. She was supposed to be an important character but she came across as whiny, petulant, and pouty to me--but she did redeem herself a bit at the very end. I really liked Lorna, Rose, and Theo much more than Saffy.
This book is full of tension, old mysteries, motherly love, and secrets that people will kill to keep hidden.
If you are looking for a great mystery, I would absolutely recommend this book.

Wow. I was so amazed by this one, for starters the story has multi POVs, which is something I enjoy.

And the puzzle plot, the characterization, that made it a hooking, smart and intriguing book that kept me at the edge of my seat.

Overall I really really enjoyed it. This is my first book of the author and I absolutely need more works of her. A new auto-buy author for me.

This thriller snuck up on me. It started a bit slow but I was surprised at how easily the characters fit in my mind. I loved the dual POV with this and the multiple timelines. This is inherently readable and there were some genuinely shocking twists. I love to be surprised by a book and this one got me. Some of the details about Victor and that portion of the plot seemed disconnected but overall a very engrossing book.

I truly enjoyed The Couple at Number 9 while I was reading it, however it has been a few days and I will say that it has not stuck with me. The plot was unique, but it all just seemed far fetched. There is one aspect that I never got answers to, or if there were answers, it was very unclear. I enjoyed all of the twists and did not see most of them coming, but I don't think this book will be for everyone.

This was a perfectly paced domestic mystery that started with the discovery of a couple bodies buried in the garden. The different timelines and points of view all came together in an amazing twist that packed a punch! Fun & suspenseful--I just put several of Claire Douglas's older books on hold!

I'm a huge Claire Douglas fan and this book did not disappoint. Douglas brought forth an amazing plot, a wide array of characters, some likable some not. It has a great pace that keep you engaged in the story and wanting to continue

The Couple at Number 9 was ...well hang on a second (lol). The story is about Saffy and her husband Tom who inherit a home from her grandmother Rose. Right off the bat the story takes off by telling the reader that there are two bodies in the garden of the home. That was enough to blow me away right there and it was practically right there on the first page. No beating around the bush here!

Saffy was really close to her grandmother, Rose, who is now, sadly, in an assisted care home suffering from dementia. Rose hadn't lived in the cottage at number 9 in decades. In fact, Saffys mother Lorna, doesn't ever remember living there either. So, either woman isn't going to be much help in telling anyone who these bodies belong to in her yard.

An investigation ensues and so does a journey into the past concerning Rose and Lorna when she was little. What could have happened back then to have not one, but two bodies in the yard? Who are they? I couldn't wait to find out.

Let me tell you, when I found out what happened my mouth dropped open and I don't mean in a bad way. I am a huge reader and sometimes I am incredulous when I get to the end of a book and think, "Is that IT?" NOT the case here. My mouth dropped open in shock. I was so thrilled with this clever unfolding of events. I had one issue in the book that seemed kind of forced, but otherwise this was a crazy ride and I mean that in a good way! It was so fun and if you want a really fast read with an ending that kept me guessing, this is for you. I really enjoyed it. This may have been my first Claire Douglas book but it won't be my last. Unfortunately, you will have to wait until late Summer 2022, but it will be worth it!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and to the publisher for this opportunity. No review was required

Saffron Cutler and her boyfriend Tom move into her Grandmothers cottage. They began renovating after they moved in to add onto the cottage because Saffron was pregnant. The mystery began when the contractor started digging and found two bodies from 30 years ago with no identification. Saffron’s grandmother Rose was in a nursing home suffering from Alzaheimers. Interesting mystery kept me reading and surprised as to the ending.

Thank you Harper Collins and Net Galley for this thoroughly enjoyable book. Tom and Saffron live at No 9 Skelton Place. They are doing an expansion on the back of their house and two bodies are dug up. Saff’s grandma, Rose, owns the house and actually lived there when the bodies were put in the garden. Saff calls her mother Lorna home from Spain and the investigation begins. Most things are completely believable in this book but Saffron is 24 years old, married and expecting her first child. She cannot be jumping at shadows. The publish date for this is Summer 2022 and it will be a great book for you to pack in your beach bag and enjoy!

First off thank you netgalley for providing me with an advance copy to read. I wanted to love thus title as I am an avid thriller fan. The synopsis had me hooked and the title fits perfectly. However, I really found myself struggling with this read. The story is multiple POV and also hops time periods. I found it hard to follow and the characters just weren't that easy to connect with. It did have that thriller feel to it and the writing is simple yet interesting on its own.

Thank you @netgalley and the author for letting me read this book I truly appreciate it!
And for that reason I feel the worst right now! I honestly did not like this book. It was hard for me to get into it. Many POV's, timelines to follow At the same time I feel it's a me problem at the moment. I hope when the book comes out I grab a copy and give it an other chance

This book started off nicely - you get to a big reveal right at the start and it's super intriguing. But after that, things sort of fall apart.

I thought the book rotated between too many characters. For a good third of the book I kept thinking, wait, who is this again? I had already forgotten who a character was because you spend a good chunk of time hearing from one and another gets reintroduced way later on. I did enjoy hearing from Gran during her time living at the cottage in the 1980s.

I also thought the book dragged on a little bit after that first reveal of dead bodies. We could've gotten to the point earlier without some of the back and forth. I will also add that I guessed the biggest reveal in the book, but I still enjoyed getting to that point and realizing I was right.

Most of the characters are very likable, which is a nice change in a thriller because I feel that often characters in thrillers are nearly all unlikeable. I do wish we got more about the villain of the story - more development there would've been nice.

Overall, it was an okay thriller. Some good twists and turns, but a quicker way to get there with less switching between characters would've been better for me personally.