The Manor House by Gilly Macmillan. Pub Date: November 7, 2023. Rating: 3 stars. This author is either a hit or a miss for me and this book was a miss. I get really excited when this author writes new novels, but I am to the point where I don't know if I will jive with the story or not. Previous works of hers, I rated really high and others have been mediocre. This is the story about a couple who win the lottery, by a secluded house and the male turns up dead. It is a multiple POV written novel with various viewpoints including their neighbors and the neighbor's housemaid. What really happened? Slow burn of a mystery with not much action. I will still read this author's novels because I know this was just a miss for me. Thanks to #netgalley and #williammorrow for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

*3.5 stars rounded up to 4*

The synopsis of this book hooked me IMMEDIATELY - a husband and wife couple who built their dream house after winning the lottery and suddenly one of them ends up dead. SIGN ME UP!

Overall, I thought this book was captivating with interesting characters that kept me turning pages to see what crazy things they would do next; however, I didn't enjoy the writing style. I felt the writing was choppy at times and some chapters even felt like they were written by a different person entirely. Given that this book has multiple POVs, maybe that was the point, however it just didn't work for me.

I also thought the first half of the book was incredibly slow and I struggled to get through some points, but once I got to the half way point I couldn't put the second half down! I loved the twists and turns at the end of the book and really enjoyed the ending as well. Definitely would recommend this one to readers!

My favorite from this author to date! I enjoyed this thrilling mystery and its old school manor house setting. A classic who dunnit crime. T winds up dead, the owner of the house is MIA, everyone is acting shady, who did it?! Fast-paced and thrilling with plenty of twists. The twists were endless and unpredictable, with one huge one at the end!

The novel bounced from last and present timelines in multiple points of view. How the story enfolded was wonderful, made perfect sense and all the flashbacks were in the right spot. I enjoyed this audio immensely and would highly recommend!

Throughly enjoyed this book as I could not put it down. I love all the different perspectives and the ending. Very nice.

This was a great mystery. It was a little slow to start but once it got going the ups and downs of the story were intriguing. It makes you think one thing then turns that on its head. You never know who to trust and what their true intentions are. The gaslighting was such a clever plot point. I really enjoyed it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Truly a rollercoaster of a mystery! I greatly enjoyed the multiple narrative perspectives, and felt like that added so much to the story. You really are kept wondering what the outcome would be, which is such an important element in this kind of tale.

Thank you William Morrow and NetGalley for providing the electronic ARC so that I could give my honest review.

Tom and Nancy are living the dream after winning the lottery, that is until Tom ends up dead in the swimming pool of their luxurious mansion. Suddenly, Nancy is faced with her worst nightmare. She has lost the love of her life, and if she's not careful, her own life may be next.

A fast paced-psychological thriller, The Manor House will keep you on your toes. With breathtaking twists and turns that will leave you audibly gasping in shock. I loved the depth of the various characters, and all the intertwined nuanced moments that really elevated this book from good to great! Told from multiple POVS and even a journal, I really felt like this helped give us a more complete picture of the story without going overboard. This is my first Gilly Macmillan but definitely not my last!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily and all views expressed are my own.

This was a great read from the very start. I loved the setting and backstory of the couple. Lottery winners finally build their dream home and it is smarter than it should be. Personally, this book reinforced why I would never want a house where there is a lot of smart technology controlling everything.
The characters in this book are unique and form a wide range of the human psyche. If you are a writer I really recommend reading this book just for the strongly developed characters alone.

I enjoyed reading this book.

The story is told by multiple narrators where each character - it seems - has reasons for revenge.

The suspense builds up, and twists are multiple and surprising until the very end.

The story is about a woman who comes home to find her husband unconscious in their pool. Frantic, she runs to her neighbors, who live in Manor House, to get help, but they are too late, he is dead.

Police are called in. Suspicion rises that the death is not an accident when they start investigating as secrets are divulged.

Everyone is vulnerable in at least one point in their lives and it is sometimes difficult to find someone to trust during those periods

My third and final book club of January was the Manor House with the #winingdownbookclub. This was my first book with these ladies and I loved them all! I’ll definitely be back.

The book is about two recent lottery winners who move into a custom built, state of the art Glass House. They have new fancy hobbies and cars that match their new bank accounts, but deep down they are just childhood sweethearts who got very lucky. They make friends with a couple who live down the street from them that are also quite well off, or so it appears.

When Tom is found floating facedown in the pool, Nicole can’t help but wonder how her life got to this point. Was this an accident or was Tom murdered? Luckily she has her new neighbors and an old friend of Tom’s to help her. Or are they trying to get close to her money?

This was definitely a fun thriller! I didn’t see a lot of the twists. I enjoyed the different viewpoints of the story. I would never want to live in a glass house despite the remote location; I would always feel like someone was watching!

Thank you @williammorrowbooks @gillymacmillan and @netgalley for my gifted ebook.

Nicole and Tom Booth find themselves overnight millionaires after winning the lottery. They build their dream home with a gorgeous view next to a centuries old Manor House, owned (rented?) by Sasha Dempsey and Olly Palmer. Life is perfect, until Tom is found by Nicole dead in their pool.

With an extensive cast of characters, one would think that this would be an excellent thriller with plenty of twists and finger pointing. Which, there was slightly, but I felt like I knew who it was immediately and couldn't be swayed. I felt that this book was longer than necessary and could have had at least a quarter of the book removed and no one would be the wiser.

I felt that most of the ends were tied at the end, but I'm pretty sure I pulled an eye muscle from rolling my eyes at the cliche "miracle baby" at the end.

I've read MacMillan in the past and have liked her other works, but this one wasn't a winner for me this time around.


A huge thank you to NetGalley for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for a (very late) review.

Childhood sweethearts Nicole and Tom are a normal, loving couple—until a massive lottery win changes their lives overnight.
Soon they’ve moved into a custom-built state-of-the-art Glass Barn on the stunning grounds of Lancaut Manor in Gloucestershire. They have fancy cars, expensive hobbies, and an exclusive lifestyle they never could have imagined.
But this dream world quickly turns into a nightmare when Tom is found dead in the swimming pool. Nicole is devastated. Tom is her rock. And their beautiful barn —with all its smart features that never seem to work for her—is beginning to feel very lonely. But she’s not entirely by herself out there in the country. There’s a nice young couple who live in the Manor itself along with their middle-aged housekeeper who has the Coach House. And an old friend of Tom’s from school has turned up to help her get through her grief.
But big money can bring big problems and big threats. Was Tom’s death a tragic accident or was it something worse? And is her life in danger as well? Nicole’s beginning to feel like a little fish in a big glass fishbowl.Surrounded by piranhas.
Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for giving me an advance copy.

This was a slow paced thriller but then there ended up being quite a lot going on at the end. It was largely unbelievable and I wasn’t a huge fan of the story.

3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I had trouble getting through this one. There were a lot of characters to wade through in the beginning. I didn’t really enjoy the journal excerpts because they didn’t really read like a journal entry. Most of the characters and storylines were predictable and not thrilling in the least. The story drug on, but then the ending just wrapped up too neatly. This one just wasn’t quite my cup of tea.


Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for my copy in exchange for my review.

At the beginning, I felt like there was a confusing amount of characters in the storyline. But as I continued to read it began to come together for me. The story was full of twists and turns that I totally appreciated. As the story progressed, I found it hard to put the book down.

Thank NetGalley and Gilly Macmillan for allowing me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my review.

Reading the decription of this book is what piqued my interest in it. The idea of two ordinary people winning the lottery and using it to build their dream house, only for Tom to end up dead. The characters got on my nerves and I struggled to finish reading the book.

Thank you to the author , HarperCollins Publication and Netgalley for the ARC.

Absolutely engaging domestic thriller. Right off the bat it starts with a murder that when ends up being investigated digs out a whole lot of shocking revelations. The plot twists hit you out if nowhere and I was pleasantly shocked.
Short chapters narrated from the central characters in the story and chapters with a countdown of events from the murder victim’s day of his death, creates a dreadful feeling of the impending doom and increases the reader’s curiosity if it’s a whodunnit or natural cause ?
With an unexpected revengeful twist towards the end too , it’s a perfect example for the saying Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned !

Overall I definitely recommend this thriller.
It’s a 4 / 5 ⭐️ read for me.

The suspense !!! This book was so good. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Oh, make sure to leave your lights on.

The Manor House follows recent lottery winners Tom and Nicole as they purchase and move into their new home, effectively changing their lives overnight. This dream however is quickly interrupted when Tom is found dead in his swimming pool by his wife. We follow multiple POVs as the investigation into Tom's death unfolds. Tied into the mess are neighbors Oliver and Sasha, along with their housemaid Kitty. Are any of these people who they say they are? Detectives Jen and Hal work the case to put the all the puzzle pieces together.

Overall, Macmillan's novel was readable but quite complicated with the 9 perspectives we're presented with. This can get confusing at times. Also, the amount of "perfect" murders that were committed was absurd. The ending tied things up too neatly to feel authentic. Recommend if you can suspend belief and enjoy the outlandish tale for what it is.

This book didn't work for me. I felt it was slow and nothing exciting happened. The characters were dull. I was hoping the pace would pick up but it didn't.