There will be mixed reactions to the book's format. I found this to be an intriguing domestic drama with a mystery attached. It meanders back and forth in various timelines in telling a multi-layered story. This structure added to the suspense and tension for me. There was also a coming-of-age storyline that provoked an emotional reaction. Its overall vibe was unsettling, sinister, and disturbing.

Stephanie, her husband Pete, and their son Danny had moved from London to a quiet, more suburban upscale neighbourhood. Stephanie was hoping to make friends with the mostly older women but was finding it difficult to fit in. Across the street lived the Franklin family consisting of the parents, Richard and Janet, and teenagers Jonathan and Mimi. The family dynamics seemed weird and dysfunctional to Stephanie. Janet was all about control. She dominated others with her opinions and attention-seeking behaviour. Toward Stephanie, she was rude, pretentious, condescending, and demeaning. Her husband, Richard, was quieter and unhappy in his marriage, and rumours hinted that he had a sleazy reputation. There was something not right within the household.

Danny and Jonathan become fast friends. This was because Danny was beginning to notice girls, which would get him closer to Jonathan's sister, Mimi, but the boys soon were happily enjoying each other's companionship. Stephanie and Pete were relieved as Danny would know someone when he must fit into a new school. Jonathan seemed like a nice, shy young man despite bad parenting. Later, on the night of a classmate's party, something happened that left Danny sullen, angry and depressed and avoiding his friend. He refused to confide in his parents about what was bothering him.

Some issues were addressed with sensitivity, such as sexual tensions and guilt, class divisions, snobbery, grief, family dysfunction, voyeurism, blackmail, threats, secrets and lies.

Stephanie's husband and son, Danny, were killed in a car accident, leaving her alone without support in her anguish. Her parents refused to attend the funeral. Still haunting her was why Danny had changed so drastically before his death, and she is determined to get the answer from Jonathan. Later, there was a major explosion at the power facility. People are warned to stay in their homes because of the danger of more explosions. The area is in darkness.

As much as she is uncomfortable around the Franklins, she plans to present herself as not wanting to be alone with her losses and grief. She hopes they will allow her into their home so she can confront Jonathan, demanding to know what happened to make Danny so miserable. There is a physical struggle between the young man and Stephanie. She discovers some shocking truths, but there is a misunderstanding. Her actions were misconstrued, and also a confrontation with Richard. Tensions spin out of control. What was hidden in the locked room in the attic? This added to the portrayal of Richard's mental instability and creepiness and played a part in the mystery.

Stephanie wakes up in the hospital. This is actually at the beginning of the book. She has no idea why she is there but is suffering from injuries. Little by little, fragments of her memory gradually return. She recalls her family is dead and that her injuries occurred at the Franklin house, but they are lying about what happened. The story concluded in a satisfactory manner. I enjoyed the author's previous Dinner Party and found The Locked Attic compelling, riveting, and difficult to put down.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter, for an early edition of The Locked Attic.

I absolutely loved this book. So many twists and turns that I felt like I was on a rollercoaster a definite recommend.
Thanks Netgalley and publisher.

All thoughts and opinions are my own and aren't influenced by anyone else

The story is told from a few different view points and each chapter is a slightly different time period. It centre around a single start point where the main character Stephanie wakes in a hospital bed and pieces together where she is there.

Overall I felt a little disappointed by the end. However overall was a very enjoyable read. The different perspectives and time periods kept things interesting and the reader engaged.

I’m not sure if I’m being too harsh with this rating but I just didn’t think this was good. There were parts I enjoyed but it seemed to meander all over the place. For most of the time reading it I said to myself that the title of this book has nothing to do with this, or these, plots. It could have been something good I think. Thought the ending would redeem it all but I found it to be lackluster and said “that’s it?”

A thriller which was fast paced and kept me engrossed.

I really enjoyed the book lots of twists and turns

A well-structured and compelling domestic thriller, The Locked Attic is a brilliantly layered story about family secrets, coming of age, grief, and loss.

At only 263 pages long, I read this in a matter of hours. The quick pace suits the story really well, and the multiple narratives between the past and Stephanie's present really keep you on your toes.

But what let me down was that, had it not been for the book's title and synopsis, I wouldn't have had any clue about the attic meaning anything. When I read the book's synopsis, I was immediately curious about what was going on here. But as soon as I started reading, the thought of the attic left my mind completely.

What I needed was for the attic to be at the centre of this story, for the characters to be more curious about what's in the attic, and for more of a sinister atmosphere to be built up around it. Because with little mention, the eventual revelation of what's inside the attic felt completely underwhelming to me, when a plot twist like that really should have had more of an impact.

The domestic thriller going on around this, however, is very intriguing. I liked the characters and felt compelled by Stephanie's situation. I especially liked the friendship between Danny and Jonathan and was shocked by the turn of events surrounding them.

For me, The Locked Attic lacked the suspense that a mystery centred around a locked attic should. But there's still a lot that I enjoyed about this book, and I always find Walter's writing very engaging.

I was so disappointed in this book. The plot was all over the place and so confusing. I almost gave up and it did not really hold my interest but I perservered and it did get better. Not one of the best books I have read by this author. Saying that I am sure other readers will enjoy it more just not for me.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

Ooo the secrets that keep spilling out with every page turned keeps you addicted.
I could not put this down the mystery in the attic just kept me reading.
A fantastic plot twist!

A good on the edge story that has lots of twists. When Stephanie and her family move into a new quite affluent area the neighbours are keen to introduce themselves but things aren't what they seem. Although I enjoyed this book I felt it lacked something. It had a big build up that seemed to just end without much explanation

A fantastic book by a fantastic author. There us nothing negative I can say about this one. This has been a gem from beginning to end.

The Locked Attic will have you quickly turning the pages as you race to find out what is happening not only in the attic but in the neighbourhood.

The book starts out strong with Stephanie in hospital after an explosion and she has traumatic memory loss.

Who if anyone can she trust.

Secrets and neighbours that I would not want next door or across the street.

Her son has started acting so out of character and it seems his friendship with the boy across the street is inexplicably over .

I wont give anything away but I will say pick up your copy of The Locked Attic and clear your schedule for a gripping read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter for a book I wont soon forget.

An addictive read that I couldn’t put down. Twists and turns, settle down and enjoy as the nights are getting colder and darker

I was really enjoying this book and had no idea what was going to happen. I was trying so hard to guess what the storyline was, but I just had no idea. I didn’t particularly like any of the characters and found them all to be a bit annoying, so I didn’t care much about what happened to them. I’ve been left with a few questions and I feel a bit disappointed - for a book that had me so hooked, I feel like the ending was a bit anticlimactic. I was expecting a big twist or revelation, but I was a bit disappointed. I also feel like it didn’t end properly, as nothing was really wrapped up, but it also doesn’t feel like there could be a book two. I really enjoy B P Walter’s books because I find them really easy to read and I blitz through them. I will read more from B P Walter in the future, but unfortunately I just don’t love their books.

I really enjoyed The Dinner Guest and A Version of the Truth, but didn’t get in on with The Woman on the Pier. I was nervous going into this one. I loved the cover, the title and the description. However I sadly couldn’t get into this mostly I think due to my mismatched expectations.
This story follows Stephanie and cuts across several narrative with a now and then type of thing, something I usually love but felt wasn’t executed as well here and strangely wasn’t that pacy for me. We have the day after the explosion (blackout), the day of and two years ago. I felt very confused throughout the first 20% of this. I wasn’t sure what the blackout was. It took about a quarter of the story to set the premise up. Basically a year so ago Stephanie and her family moved to the area and her son became best friend with the neighbours. Until something went wrong and her son became detached and different, but before Stephanie could figure it out he died in a car crash with his dad. Now the day of the blackout Stephanie goes to her neighbour’s house to find out what happened and what’s in the attic...
Like another reviewer said this story felt scattered and disjointed. It lacked pace and meandered. There are twists in the last third, when things kick off and it’s weird and creepy. But I wasn’t invested in the characters enough for there to be payoff. The attic itself doesn’t have much prominence in the story and only comes into play in the last third. The protagonist felt too similar to the one in The Pier, as both deal with grieving widows. On the whole an okay read. 2.5/5.

This book had me intrigued from the first page but unfortunately this turned out to be not what I was expecting and by the end I felt quite disappointed.
I feel like the title, cover and the blurb are all very misleading. This is in no way a thriller. I would describe this as being much more like domestic fiction.
As I was progressing through this I was waiting for some mention or just anything about a locked attic to appear but it never really played much part in the story AT ALL. In fact nothing much happens in this at all.
The pacing was too slow and by the end all I could think was: is this it?!
The writing isn't bad and it did keep me reading (maybe in hope of something happening)
This is the definition of a 3 star book for me. Nothing bad but nothing special.

“There’s something in my neighbours attic”

B.P Walter has become an auto read author for me and I jumped at the chance when I was auto approved on Netgalley for his new book – The Locked Attic.

The Locked Attic follows the story of Stephanie. We find her in hospital suffering from short term amnesia. Several explosions have occurred close to the family home. Stephanie starts to remember what happened at the Franklin’s house – her neighbours living across the road. We get two timelines of before and after the explosion. We learn that Stephanie's husband Pete and Son Danny die tragically in a car accident.

On the day of the explosions Stephanie is on a mission to find out why Danny’s behavior changed and she needs to speak to Jonathan Franklin and find out what he knows. She uses the excuse of not being alone to get in to the Franklin’s house and Janet couldn’t turn her away. Stephanie will stop at nothing to get answers, she knows something is wrong with the house and they are keeping secrets.

This was a great written psychological thriller and I am looking forward to seeing what is next for B.P Walter. I enjoyed the different timelines that shaped the story perfectly especially with all the twists and turns in the book.

Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for a copy of this book for my honest review.

The Locked Attic by B P Walter

I have mixed feelings about this story. There is such a random, scattered feeling to it, for me. There are explosions that affect Stephanie's neighborhood. There is a car wreck off scene that changes everything. There are the weird neighbors that are so gross it's not funny. And Stephanie makes supremely bad decisions that should never have happened no matter what excuse she makes for herself.

I'm thinking MORE is going to happen because it seems the explosions are almost a sort of white noise to the story. The wreck was just that, a wreck that changed things but nothing else to see there. And the weird family was just pitiful to me, not that it's the kids' fault who raised them.

The best part of the story is the friendship between Stephanie's son Danny and Jonathan, son of the weird couple across the street. Good kids, struggling with so many things, some the normal parts of growing up and some that should never ever happen. Best friends who are torn apart by several events. Danny spends months being very moody and depressed and Stephanie wants to know why, even after he dies, especially after he dies. Part of the book is narrated by Danny and he's a good kid, getting a bad deal in more ways than one.

Then we come to what's in the locked attic. Disgusting, ick, yuck, wash my brain with bleach. I did like the very end of the story and what it says for the future of three characters because I think it will be good when everything comes out in the wash. I wavered between 3 stars and 4 stars, 3 stars for the adult driven drama and 4 stars for the coming of age story. Danny and Jonathan make this 4 stars for me.

Thank you to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for this ARC.

I received locked attic byB.P.Walter on netgalley can't really saw it was a page but there aresome positive points,for instance liked the way the book is divided by chapter for each character the before and after the explosion,but I didn't feel that there was enough information given to the reader, so the reader was left with more questions than answers,still didn't understand the Attic and the secrets,although the book did pose questions about teenagers trying to find themselves and the perverted old man.
As far as I am concerned this book needs a lot of polishing up to become the rough diamond it can be,

This one really went in a direction I was not expecting!
It was a fast easy read and I really enjoyed the story which was told in a couple of diff timelines. As it kept unfolding into ways I never expected I just kept thinking what has the attic got to do with it all!!!
When the attic portion was reveled it felt a little anticlimactic and the whole ending let it down which was up until then a very intriguing read.
Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for this Arc.

3.5 Stars

This was my first read by this author and I have to say his marketing department isn't doing him any favours or justice. From the blurb and cover a person would think this is about people locked in an attic and a mother's revenge for her child having that done to them. A person would be forgiven for thinking that this book is a thriller, but it isn't. It doesn't mean that this is a bad book, in fact, it is a pretty decent book by any measure but it isn't what we readers are led to believe it is, don't let that cover fool you. This is more of a domestic drama or a domestic noir at a stretch.

There were many themes dealt with throughout the story, LGBTQ, grief, classism, and adultery to name but a few. I loved that about the book. It took on many serious issues in a very realistic and sensitive manner. The plot was a unique one and grabbed my attention right away. The story is short and so absorbing I managed it in a single sitting. I loved the format of the book where we are getting multiple points of view and varying timelines. The writing is well crafted and the plot is multi-layered, Walters certainly has talent and I would read more of his books.