A fantastic book which kept me reading all day. A brilliant story with lots of twists and turns. The ending was very twisty and wasn't what I expected. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Massive shout out to Elisabeth Carpenter and Noelle Holten for giving me my reading mojo back! I have been struggling to read anything that all for months. Noelle gave me the idea of listening to an audio and reading at the same time. Well, it totally worked for me. So there I am trying to find something once again that will keep me interested after reading the blurb I thought yeah this sounds alright! Just alright, who am I kidding.....This book was much more than Alright. It was fanflippintasic. Only 8 Hours, 9 Minutes long. I was hooked from the first page and devoured it in a day. It is totally addictive I just couldn't stop listening to it. I loved everything about it. The characters, the plot and not forgetting the twists and turns. This book is what a thriller is all about taking you on a rollercoaster ride that doesn't let you up for air. This is easily the best book I have this year.
Not only do I have my reading mojo back but I have also found a new author to read. This story is so captivating and filled with tension that it will blow your mind! There are plenty of twists, turns, and heart-in-your-mouth moments.
Last but not least I have to say what a fantastic job Sarah Durham has done narrating this. She has pulled out all the stops and made this story what it is bringing all the characters to life. I always say an audio is as good as the narrator makes it. Sarah did just that... I can't wait to listen to more books narrated by her

Oh hey, Elisabeth Carpenter, I see you, girl!!!!

This book was one heck of a wild ride and I am here to hype you all up and tell you how you MUST read this book!

The Family On Smith Street, is one of those books you just know will be talked about for years to come. This one right here screams, bestseller!!

Im not sure I knew what I was getting into when I first began reading, the title deceiving, I questioned if this would be mild or one of those pulse-pounding thrillers that will keep me breathless.

What a naive little thing I was!!

This book right here exceeds all expectations. It is a wild, earth shattering, twisted read that will have you fearing what lurks around the corner.

Don't believe me? Check out this teaser :

The Sawyer family adore living on Smith Street. They love the neat houses and family barbecues, the neighbours they can wave to as they walk down the tree-lined road. Most of all, James and Jo have loved seeing their daughter Scarlett playing outside with the local children, growing strong and beautiful. It’s somewhere nothing bad could ever happen.

But one cold winter’s morning, Jo finishes her breakfast, kisses James and Scarlett goodbye, and sets off through the frost-bitten air to work. She never comes home.

As James and Scarlett begin a desperate search for Jo, it becomes terrifyingly clear that the Sawyers had no idea how dangerous Smith Street could be.

Because behind closed doors, the most perfect homes can hide the deadliest secrets…

Wonderfully tense and thrilling. Loved this amazing book full of twists. I was absolutely absorbed. A wonderful read. one I highly recommend.

While I'm not sure the title is the best fit for the story, I really enjoyed Carpenter's latest. Numerous twists and turns kept me turning the pages. Scarlett was my favorite character, but the entire cast was well-written, complex, and worked well together. I liked the insight gained from the use of multiple POV's. I look forward to future books from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley, publisher and author, for a free copy of this book in exchange of my honest review. Oh my goodness. I could not read this book fast enough. I loved the way the author started to add the elements of the story from the beginning, for them to collide in an amazing way at the end. The author's beautiful storytelling style never disappoints. I did not see the ending coming, not by a mile. This is one of my favorite thrillers of all time.

This was a twisty and engaging read, though once again I didn't feel like the synopsis accurately portrayed the story. The book is told from multiple points of view: Joanna, who has been kidnapped, her daughter Scarlett, and a man named Alex from an earlier timeline.

The book was action-packed and I liked how it gave me enough info on the characters to understand them but not so much that it took away from the activity. I had an inkling of what was going on but there were actually multiple twists; I thought the author did a great job of laying breadcrumbs and exposing the twist in a way that wasn’t confusing, kept the mystery high, and tied up loose ends. The ending was fine- not earth shattering but everything was tied up in a way that worked.

Overall, this was a quick and twisty read with a few good surprises. I’d recommend to those who enjoy mysteries and psychological thrillers. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book I’m exchange for an honest review.

Wow! Talk about twisty. Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the ARC of The Family on Smith Street! This book took me a bit to finish! I had a bit of a hard time keeping track since the book changed POV and time hopped frequently. I definitely was shocked by the twist at the end!

Quite the number of twists and turns in Elisabeth Carpenters mystery novel The Family on Smith Street! Just when I thought that I finally had it all figured out, another plot twist would have me guessing all over again. I really enjoyed the book. I will say that it is very British and as an American I did not get some of the references, but that did not detract from my enjoyment of the overall story.

This was a bit of an unexpected locked room thriller and it was amazing. The MC doesn’t know who is after her or if her family is in danger. I enjoyed unraveling everything with her to
figure out who was responsible and I was on the edge of my seat toward the end. It was definitely a tense read which is great in a thriller. I highly recommend to thriller lovers.

I am new to author Elizabeth Carpenter and her books. But if you are looking for a nitty gritty psychological thriller, then look no further than here.
Told from a number of different viewpoints, the kidnapper, Joanna the woman kidnapped and her daughter Scarlett so straight from the onset, you are getting a great understanding of the story from all sides.
From the outside, Joanna and her husband James along with their daughter Scarlett seem to have a nice family life in a beautiful, friendly neighbourhood Smith Street.
We get a great understanding through the viewpoint of the kidnapper of how life can be difficult for some people. It doesn't excuse anything that happens but you can see how a young boy not getting the right care might turn out the way they do.
Creepy would be how I felt towards this character, cleverly created to give us a real sense of unease as we read his point of view.
I wondered often do you come about this level of nastiness having been born with it or is it through pure neglect and being cast aside so many times that it develops within you. I'm still not sure of the answer.
Great complex characters, a great storyline and dark in quite a few places.
A real case of everything looking rosy from the outside but not quite so on the inside.
In this scary world we live in, I often wonder how well do we really know people. How well do we know our neighbours even.
Well worth your time and one you will struggle to leave aside until you have finished it.

The Family on Smith Street

Hmm, this book.

Here’s what I appreciate about the book; The past POV is toughly a billion times more interesting than anything else and makes this readable.

The meh moments: Some of the twists seemed a little misplaced to me. They didn’t hit as hard as I thought, but for the past POV alone, it’s worth a read.

Last note, the ending doesn’t feel like the true ending for me. I think it should have ended slightly sooner to have a bigger impact.

Overall, I’d say it’s a 3.6. It has compelling moments, but the POV we start with wasn’t as compelling of a read. I’m glad it was sparsely used, but I think we needed a little more to care about that portion.

This. Was. Good.

Told from several different POV and across different timelines, The Family On Smith Street is a pacy thriller full of suspense and thrill - you won't want to put it down, I didn't!

Although I'd worked out who the kidnapper was, this didn't distract from my enjoyment of the book. The twists came thick and fast, the suspense was through the roof and my nerves shot to pieces.

The characters are realistic and their stories are brought to life throughout the pages with the authors naarations.

This is the first book I've read by this author and definitely won't be my last.

A really gripping read that I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s one of them proper mysteries, with so many twists and turns and parts going back in time over the years, that you have no idea how or where the plot will go next.
Joanna is kidnapped on a night out, with no trace of her anywhere and her husband James not exactly acting or behaving like the normal worried distraught husband. Their seventeen year old daughter Scarlett is worried sick about her mum.
Alongside this, the story goes back twenty odd years to the life of Alex who has the worst hand dealt to him from a very early age. As the years go by it only gets worse.

I flew through the book in a day. Interesting characters and a few weird bits of plot. But overall a fantastic read. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC in return for an honest review.

BLOG TOUR REVIEW


Review for 'The Family On Smith Street' by Elisabeth Carpenter.



Read and reviewed via NetGalley Shelf and NetGalley for Elisabeth Carpenter, Bookouture publishers, Bookouture Audio, Bookouture anonymous and Hachette UK.



Publication date 14th August 2023.


This is the first book I have read by this author but I'm definitely looking forward to reading more!!


This novel consists of 44 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

'The Family On Smith Street' discusses some topics that may upset some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Elisabeth discusses animal abuse, bullying and child abuse.


This book is very well written and narrated and had me hook, line and sinker from beginning to end. The descriptions were so in depth and vivid that the hair on my arms was standing on the ends and my heart was pounding throughout. The synopsis, title and cover were perfect for the storyline.

I will admit that this book was a bit of a slow burn to start as the story starts to build up but I would definitely liken it to a rollercoaster ride. You open the page and then you start going up the ride to the peak and then all of a sudden you are thrown over the top with twists and turns with the speed building up and up until it comes to a fantastic ending. The book is written with both multiple protagonists as well as a dual timeline and Elisabeth weaves the different characters and the different timelines together perfectly building up the larger picture for the readers to see what happened in the past to lead to what was going on in the present. The 'present' protagonists are Joanne who is on her way home one night when she gets abducted and Joanne's daughter Scarlett. The past timeline protagonist is Alexander who is a young boy who lives with his grandparents after an event between is alcoholic mother and abusive father. I wont go into more details about the storyline as I don't want to spoil it for future readers. The storyline is ram packed with tension, drama, twists, lies, mystery, friendship, secrets, red herrings and much more! It is a captivating book that once I started listening to it I just couldn't stop and I was playing it through my earphones while doing jobs in the house, in the car when out and even through Alexa until I had devoured it in several hours!! There were several twists throughout the book. Although the book was slow to begin with it did pick up speed quite quickly and I enjoyed the unexpected twists and even the ones that were not a huge surprise. The ending was definitely unexpected and did leave me mind blown and considering how many crime books I have read that is definitely a huge bonus as it is getting harder and harder to surprise me. I am looking forward to seeing what Elisabeth comes up with next!


It is set over multiple time lines. When books show what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present I find it really helps the reader (if it is well done) understand why things are happening and what has lead to the present activities and decisions. It also shows the bigger picture


This is one of the few books that I have listened 100% on Audiobook. If I listen to a book on audiobook I usually also read the physical book between but I listened to the whole book and I was impressed! I must say a HUGE congratulations to the narrator Sarah Durham who did a great job bringing this story to life. I would listen to it in the car and while walking at any opportunity and Sarah did a fantastic job on both male and female characters voices!!! I'm not only looking forward to reading more books by Elisabeth but also to listening to more books narrated by Sarah! I have previously listened to several books that Sarah has narrated and she really does do an absolutely amazing job ensuring the story comes to life for the reader. The books I have listened/read that Sarah has narrated and I would highly recommend are The Doctors Wife by Daniel Hurst, The Doctors Widow by Daniel Hurst and The Nurse's Secret by Liz Lawler.

The characters were all realistic and Elisabeth evocative writing skills and Sarah's fantastic narration brought each of them to life leaving you feel that you are standing next to each of them as they are telling you their stories. They each had their own unique personalities that I enjoyed getting to know as the story was being told. My heart went out to Scarlett who is just 17 years old when her mum goes missing. With her mum missing and her fathers strange behaviour she doesn't know what is going on and who is telling the truth. I also felt sorry for Alexander whose past made my heart break. Alexander's mum was an alcoholic and his dad abusive and that is no way for a child to live. I wont say anymore about them. I read Elisabeth's letter at the back of the book (not included in the audiobook version so I always look at all books I listen to via audible to read any letters and notes that the authors have included) and she states that she enjoys 'exploring reasons that make people act the way they do, and the lengths they'd go to, to protect the people they love'. I am exactly the same as Elisabeth in this regards and I think she has definitely included this aspect of her personality in her book perfectly. This is a book filled with lies, twists and one where you have no idea which characters are telling the truth or who are hiding secrets. regardless of whether you love or hate the characters they all work together perfectly to create a tension packed psychological drama that will keep you hooked throughout!


Congratulations Elisabeth on an absolutely gripping true page turner! I am looking forward to reading more of your books!!


Overall a captivating and tension packed intriguing psychological thriller!!!



281 pages. 8 hours 10 minutes via Audible.


This book is just 99p to purchase on kindle, free with kindle unlimited, £7.99 in paperback, £16 for the Audiobook and £7.99 for the Audiobook with Audible (at time of review) via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!

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Joanna and James live on Smith Street with their teenage daughter Scarlett. It’s a safe and quiet neighborhood until one night it isn’t. After a night out with her friend Amy, Joanna is abducted on her way home. It isn’t until the next morning that her husband and daughter realize she is missing. The story flashes from the past with Alex as a narrator to the present with Joanna and Scarlett as narrators. In the past, the story follows the life of Alex who loses his mother violently at a young age. As the story progresses, it becomes apparent that Alex is a very damaged and dangerous boy and then man. Present day, Joanna finds she is being held by someone who knows her secrets as well as her husband’s and wants her to pay for this. The two stories slowly converge and as more and more secrets are revealed it is apparent that not everyone is who they say they are. This was a fast paced novel with quite a huge and unexpected twist! Great read that I have 4 stars.

Joanna is kidnapped, and she knows it’s all her own fault. But she will do anything she can to ensure her daughter is safe.

Told in differing perspectives of Joanna as she is kidnapped, her daughter Scarlett dealing with the day to day after the kidnapping, and a past perspective of Alex, who is the assumed kidnapper as he is growing up in an abusive home and everything after that.

Easy to read chapters and enough to keep you interested throughout. Slightly predictable, but twisty and good.

This was my first novel by Carpenter. I love discovering new to my Psychological Thriller authors. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to discover new authors.

When you live in a neighborhood, sometimes you know all your neighbors, or just a few. Obviously some never really know their neighbors, which was the case of this book.

Imagine waking up and being in a windowless room and not knowing where you are or how you got there? Frightening to say the very least. You notice photos on the wall that completely leave you unglued. Not only of local people but pictures of you and your family Could whoever have taken me have my husband or daughter?

Is their a killer in the neighborhood?

BOOKWORMS REVIEW: The Buchanans live on the lovely Smith Street. An idealic street where they are happy and thriving...to the outside world at least. But,the family are held together with lies and secrets. Mum Joanna wakes up one morning not in her own home,but a strangers basement. Alex,James and Scarlet are oblivious to what has actually befallen Joanna. Told in split timeline from multiple povs you could easily get confused but surprisingly it didn't happen. Took a while to get going but hooked after that. A good domestic drama about not being able to outrun your past!
With thanks to Bookouture , NetGalley and Elisabeth Carpenter for an arc in exchange for a review.
MY RATING: 📒📒📒📒

Loved this book. You are thrown into the action from the very start with the kidnapping of Joanna and from there you are taken on a rollercoaster of twists and turns
The narrative unfolds through three distinct POVs, each presented in concise, brisk chapters designed to maintain a swift pace. This book expertly keeps you in a state of uncertainty about every character you meet, with their history slowly being told. From the first chapter I was hooked and I found myself unable to resist the next, the need to unveil the truth was too compelling to put down