Review: I’m not going to lie, I was disappointed with this book. The last book I read was my favorite for the month, but this one fell short for me.. The beginning started off super slow and you were able to figure out who the killer was early on. Then at about the 60% mark the book picked up a lot and had my heart racing and me wanting to read more! Then the ending came, and I did not care for it at all. I felt that the ending ruined other parts of the book that were great otherwise. All in all, this one was a miss for me..

Childhood sweethearts Nicole and Tom's lives change dramatically after winning the lottery. They move into a luxurious Glass Barn on Lancaut Manor's grounds. But tragedy strikes when Tom is found dead in their pool. As Nicole grapples with grief, she uncovers unsettling truths about their newfound wealth. Was Tom's death an accident or something more sinister? Nicole navigates a world of opulence, suspicion, and danger, realizing she's a small fish in a perilous glass fishbowl.

This novel starts a bit slow, but the first two-thirds are captivating. The setting is vividly portrayed. The Glass Barn and Manor House play essential roles in the engaging storyline. Unsettling dynamics between characters like Kitty, Olly, and Sasha create a tense atmosphere that keeps you guessing about their true intentions.

As the story progresses, it becomes evident that many characters are hiding something, adding an intriguing layer of mystery. Themes of coercive control are effectively woven throughout. The narrative skillfully incorporates dreamlike moments that add depth to the tension. Surprising twists keep you engaged, with a few catching you off guard.

However, the strong beginning isn't consistently maintained. Some characters' gullibility feels unrealistic, and the ending has both impressive and far-fetched elements. The use of journal extracts, while informative, occasionally disrupts the pacing.

The novel weaves between past and present timelines, unveiling a complex plot. While the pacing might be a slow burn, the story's cleverness and occasional humor shine through the twists. Despite its strengths, the ending might leave some readers feeling that it was too predictable.

In summary, the book offers a gripping, atmospheric experience with a few shortcomings but ultimately remains a clever and entertaining read. This is technically an ARC for me, but this is a new edition of the book. Huge thanks to NetGalley for sending me this "ARC", this edition of The Manor House publishes on November 7, 2023.

This could do with about 150 fewer pages, which would make it less of a slow burn and expose more of its wit when one doesn't expect any. Overall a good read.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review

The Manor House is a perfect suspense novel for cold nights at home; the titular setting is a compelling backdrop to the schemes of its inhabitants, and the cast of point-of-view characters bring distinct narrative voices and intrigue. The multiple perspectives are utilized excellently, and information is doled out to readers at an expert pace. While the whodunit itself is not revelatory or unpredictable, it doesn't need to be—this is a story about the surprises within humans, both those we know and ourselves. The Manor House might not be particularly groundbreaking in its genre or even particularly memorable in the long-term, but it's a delicious and fast read to get swept up in for its duration.

I was so happy to receive an ARC of this book from Netgalley. I am a fan of Gilly Macmillan’s writing and this story did not disappoint. It gave all the twists and turns while also having great character development. I loved the twist at the end! I will definitely recommend this title to other thriller lovers. 5 stars.

The Manor House by Gilly MacMillan.
Wow is all I can say. I love a good mind game and this book definitely does it.
Lottery winners Tom and Nicole Booth build their dream home next to the Manor house, where things are not what they seem. Olly, Sasha and their housekeeper, Kitty appear to be like good neighbors but who are they really? After Tom is found mysteriously drowned in their pool, investigations begin into both houses. Is there a connection?
How it comes together will shock you. How it ends will blow your mind! Definitely a 5⭐️ read for me.

Nicole and Tom are your average, run-of-the-mill couple. That is, until a lottery windfall changes their lives forever. It's not long before they have built a gorgeous, modern home in the English countryside, with all of the technological enhancements and security features that could be imagined. But it proves not to be enough, as Tom's lifeless body is soon found floating in the swimming pool. What looked to be an idyllic future is now over in an instant. Nicole is devastated and grief-stricken. Was it an accident? An intruder? Nicole is riddled by questions, and not a single answer.

But she is not alone.

Up the road in the Manor House is another nice young couple and their live-in housekeeper. All three of them are there to help support Nicole as she deals with her loss. Soon afterwards, Tom's childhood friend also shows up to help "comfort" Nicole. It's not long before she begins to wonder if everyone's intentions are pure, or if they are simply hoping to snag a piece of her large financial pie.

"The Manor House" was a suspenseful and thrilling read. No one was as they seemed in this clever read. Gilly Macmillan is a master of creating novels with many twists and turns, and this one kept me largely entertained, and pretty surprised when the final twist was revealed. Definitely recommend this for you mystery lovers out there!

I became a Gilly Macmillan fan after "The Nanny" and am so grateful to Netgalley and William Morrow for the advanced copy in turn for my honest review.

Nicole and her husband, Tom, hit the lottery (literally) and decide to build a gorgeous glass barn off a remote peninsula. Nicole comes home to find Tom dead, and immediately dials 999 and runs to her only neighbors... the odd couple that live nearby in a house they call The Manor. The vibes are incredibly strange with the neighbors (Olly and Sasha) and their housekeeper, Kitty. Who killed Tom? Was it for money? Jealousy? Greed? Only time will tell.

This was a very strong storyline, and I enjoyed the Kitty dynamic (you'll have to read to see what I mean there!) I thought the ending was presented in a perfectly tied bow, and was certainly shocked at a few minor twists when I thought the story was over!

I definitely recommend this novel, and can't wait to see what Gilly publishes next!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
All I can say is what a wild ride! I didn’t know who to trust and who to not. Who was lying and who wasn’t. And even who was really who.
So many surprises. All of them well written and woven right in.
Definitely not a predictable who-dun-it at all.
I loved this book. So well written. Many times it can get confusing with so many different POV’s but this one did not.
Another amazing read by Gilly Macmillan.

Nicole and Tom are childhood sweethearts. They win 10 million in the lottery, and move into their dream house.
Tom is found dead in their swimming pool and the investigation begins for the mystery killer. There is a younger couple that lives in the Manor close to Nicole and Tom's new home. Tom's old friend from school appears to help Nicole with her grieving process. Nicole is scared that Tom's death was not an accident and she might be next.

This book is slow at times but kept my interest. There are some tense moments and several twists to the story. The ending is a great wrap up overall and I enjoyed the development of each character in the story.

Intense Plot, Fast Paced Ending and Suspenseful! 3.5 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

Really??! For real? This book was a crazy read. A wonderful, crazy read but still…..Wonderfully written though possibly not plausible…..This may could happen but, reality?? That said it’s a work of fiction full of mystery & suspense. If a body tried to take the book from me by the midpoint, I just might bite them. I def enjoyed The Manor House😁

The Manor House is the story of two houses really and the people that live there. The homes are part of the same land. When happily married Tom and Nicole won the lottery they wanted to build the house of their dreams. The location was in a nature reserve, land purchased from the owner of the Manor House. The two homes couldn't be more different. The new house is all glass and technology while the Manor House comes with hidden areas. The Manor House starts off with Nicole coming home to discover her husband dead in the pool. Was it an accident? Who would want to murder him?

I love the way this is written! At times I was reminded of Agatha Christie. The focus on personality and even the detectives gave me that feeling. We get points of view from every character. Usually I'm not a big fan of so many narrators but it worked very well here. The chapters show us what's happening but also how everyone's mind works. That includes Tom who we hear from a little later in the story. His chapters were particularly interesting because we learn what he did step by step on his last day and it gives the reader, if not the police, answers for many things.

It seems kind of obvious in the beginning who the murderer is but then you will quickly decide you can't be sure of anything. There are several characters who are capable of murder. There is also something dark and nasty going on in the Manor House. Does it tie in with the murder? There is a twist halfway through that I should have seen coming that made me rethink everything I had read. The ending will satisfy many readers.

This is the first book I read by the author. Now I need to look up her other books! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read. The Manor House will be open November 7th.

Man oh MAN!!! How do I even begin to review this book without giving anything away? My mind is completely blown! It is crazy to see what some people are capable of getting away with. People messing with your mind so much you begin to think things were your own ideas. To me there are two stories going on here. Lottery winners who buy some land from a lovey couple and their housekeeper. They will be neighbors and it will be great! That’s what Nichole thinks. Her and her husband Tom want to turn an old barn on the property into some amazing, the glass barn. It’s truly stunning. A mix of old and new and topped off with all the fancy smart home technology you can buy. Although it doesn’t seem to work properly most of the time. Then you have Sasha, olly and kitty in the mannor house. If those walls could talk! Oh the history they have seen. Not to mention all the secret spots behind walls and tunnels under the property. How did young Sasha and Olly come to be the caretakers of the property?? I’m sure Nicole never imagined what her and Tom had stepped into when they finished their beautiful new home. That is until she comes home to find Tom dead in their swimming pool! She runs to the manor house and tells them what’s happened, she’s a wreck! Sasha and olly leave her in the care of their housekeeper Kitty to see if they can do anything to save Tom. When the police arrive everything starts to unravel. Sasha and Olly’s story doesn’t add up. Kitty sees this as an opportunity to finally get some help and tell someone what’s been going on, if she can get the cops to believe her story. It’s wild! It’s crazy! It’s all consuming. Because when things start to come together the lies, secrets, betrayal, gaslighting, manipulation murders, cover ups start to add up! And the book can not be put down! This is one of the best I’ve read in a while!! Thank you NetGalley for allowing me access to this eARC! I’m so glad I got to read this. This is a story that will stick with you long after you’ve read it!!

I don’t like to leave bad reviews, but this book was all over the place. I’m being generous with 2 stars. This is my first book by this author, and I intend to give her other works a shot! This one just wasn’t it for me. Thank you to Harper Collins and NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy of The Manor House. I was so excited to read this one, the premise and the setting sounded amazing. The setting was good and I enjoyed reading about the Manor House and the lives of the people living on it were interesting. However, this book really was way too slow for me. I at points had to force my way through it, as I felt the story was not moving anywhere and we kept going in circles with the same information over and over. I enjoyed the two stories told by Tom and Anna but again they were so slow to move anywhere that by the time I got to the end I just didn't really care.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book!

Happily married Nicole and Tom win the lottery and move into their wonderful new home, but soon Nicole finds Tom drowned in the pool. Was it an accident, or was there foul play? The story takes the reader through multiple POVs as we learn everyone's darkest secrets.

I really wanted to love this book, but every single character was so unlikeable that I couldn't get into it. Also, the mulitple POVs were confusing at first. I did want to keep reading to find out what happened though, so I gave it 3 stars.

Winning the lottery should be the beginning to a fantastic new life….but what if it isn’t?

Nicole and Tom became fantastically wealthy overnight as the result of a lottery win. They buy a beautiful lot of land from the owner of Lancaut Manor on a peninsula in Gloucestershire, and design and build their dream home, the Glass Barn. Who hasn’t dreamt of doing something very like that? Friends from their old life were happy for them when they won, but the change in their circumstances has created a gulf between them and their old crowd….especially their closest childhood friend, the ne’er do well Patrick. There aren’t many people close by, but they are trying to create a connection with Sasha and Olly, the couple in the Manor House. That’s not proving to be terribly successful either; there is something a bit off about Sasha and Olly, and their downtrodden housekeeper Kitty. When Tom’s dead body is found floating in the pool of the Glass Barn, everything begins to unravel. Nothing, and no one, at the Manor House is exactly what it seems. Patrick rushes to Nicole’s side, but may have an angle of his own. Detective Hal Steen and his partner Jen Walsh have few clues but many suspects….and millions of reasons for someone to want Tom dead. The more they dig into the backgrounds of the different people who had been part of Tom’s life, the more suspicions grow against all of their suspects. Will they be able to sort truth from lies, and find out what happened to Tom before someone else dies?
The book is narrated by multiple characters in alternating chapters, and elements of each of their stories is revealed slowly and from different points of view. In a book where it seems no one is completely innocent but none is necessarily guilty of the crime being investigated, the reader has a different sort of whodunnit, one where even the two houses play important roles. The main characters are very relatable, even if most of them aren’t particularly likeable. There is a great deal of manipulative behavior on the part of certain of the characters which the reader discovers over the course of the novel. The relationship between the two detectives shows a good balance of different strengths and respect of one another’s abilities, and the portrayal of their jobs comes across as quite realistic. The Manor House is a solid psychological thriller, and the differing narrators and multiple timelines add to the complexity of the unfolding tale. Some of the villains are easy to spot, but if you blink you might just miss what other characters are capable of doing. I found it to be an engrossing read, with plenty of plot twists to keep things interesting. Readers of author Gilly Macmillan’s previous novels will enjoy this outing, as might readers of Karin Slaughter, Lisa Unger and Megan MIranda. Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for granting me access to and advanced reader’s copy of The Manor House.

Slow paced thriller with multiple POVs (seven), journal entries, and time jumps. While the premise of this held a lot of promise the story develops very slowly and nearly all of the characters are unlikeable, unreliable narrators. The ending is very unsatisfying.

Have you ever requested a book on NetGalley that you wanted SO badly, you'd check your email every morning to see if you'd been approved yet? I did that with this book.

This one was worth the anticipation for me.

The story has multiple POVs (8, I believe?) I worried it may be too much. The author did a great job transitioning from person to person in a way that doesn't leave the reader confused or overwhelmed by information overload. I found all of these character's POVs to be necessary.

I loved the overall story. Detailed. Suspenseful. I think I accused each character of being the murderer at least once. I cannot wait for you all to read this one!

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5

Thank you so much #NetGalley and #WilliamMorrow for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

The Manor House will be published November 6, 2023.

I wish the characters in this book had been as compelling as the setting. I loved both the old Manor House and the ultramodern Glass House. Macmillian has used them effectively in the book so that they almost feel like characters in their own right. The human characters, however, were less interesting. I found that them to be gullible at times and they were all unreliable narrators. The book was incredibly slow to start out with before it finally picked up, but all that led to was a lackluster ending. There are journal entries interspersed to provide background, but I found that this device was distracting rather than illuminating.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.