I quite enjoyed this book set mostly in a quiet cul de sac. It starts with blue lights flashing in the middle of the night, curtains twitching, ambulances, police cars, two stretchers leaving the house.

Then we are taken to three months earlier.

Sapna has left her family and her life in India behind to start a new life in England with her husband Amir. She hasn't known him for long and Amir's friend was renting them a cramped flat in Hounslow but Amir managed to find a semi-detached house in a quiet cul de sac in a better area.

Sapna knows no one except her husband but he is working long hours to afford the rent. She feels very isolated and frightened. Her father has disowned her and has forbidden the family to have contact with her. Her immediate neighbours are an elderly lady Edith and sleep deprived Gemma with a husband and a new baby and the story is told from the point of view of the three women, Sapna, Gemma and Edith.

You do get a sense of foreboding and Sapna's paranoia. Is Sapna imagining things, losing her mind? Her neighbours have noticed things – crying in the night, bruises, arguments and come to their own conclusions. Each woman has a story and a past.

And there are a few surprising twists.

Although overall I enjoyed the story and found the writing style easy to read, it did seem to get slightly repetitive somewhere along the way, it didn't put me off however and I finished the book within a couple of days.

This was a very good quick read

I couldn't put it down. Thank you for the opportunity to review

4 stars

This book I felt was a slow starter but once the twists and turns started to unravel it kept me hooked!! More about Spanas back story earlier in the book I think would have made it feel less of a slow starter.
It really captures the relationships you can have with neighbours along with secrets they could be harbouring too!

This novel had great promise, but if just didn’t deliver at times. Some good ideas, but needs more development to be believable.

Sapna and her husband Amir move to a quiet neighborhood. But life for them becomes quite turbulent shortly after.

I really wanted to like this one as the story line was a good starting place and this is my type of book. The main issue that I encountered with the book was more around the execution of the story falling short of expectations.

In reading, I would hit a point where I was invested and interested in what was happening, but then that momentum just dissolved into something below average. The foundation is there, but it seems like there needed to be a bit more development to the story. There is so much more with the repetition of foreboding versus the meat of the action.

Thanks for the opportunity to read!

Great story line! Really fast paced, the twists were interesting and some left your jaw on the floor! Definitely recommend!

Sapna and Amir's new home is far from the dream house Sapna envisioned. From the moment she lays eyes on it, a chilling sense of unease washes over her. And as time goes on, especially after encountering the peculiar neighbors, things only spiral further into disarray.

The narrative unfolds through the eyes of Edith, Gemma, and Sapna, each offering a unique perspective on life in the neighborhood. Sapna's struggles with her new environment, cultural shift, and marital challenges add depth to the storyline. The neighbors' speculations based on glimpses of Sapna's turmoil create an air of mystery and intrigue. As secrets unravel and pasts resurface, the tale delves into the hidden lives of those behind closed doors, revealing a web of complexities and concealed truths within the community.

As a die-hard fan of psychological thrillers, I eagerly picked up this book, anticipating a rollercoaster of suspense and intrigue. The premise had all the right ingredients: a foreboding house, an unsettled protagonist, and mysterious neighbors. However, the execution left much to be desired. The narrative quickly became bogged down by repetition. Sapna's longing for her old home and her persistent sense of dread were hammered home repeatedly, making the story feel stagnant.

That said, the book isn't without its merits. The initial setup is genuinely gripping, and there are flashes of brilliance that hint at the story's potential. Certain scenes did manage to capture my attention and provided glimpses of the thriller it could have been. However, the repetitive nature of the storytelling dulled the overall impact, making it hard to stay fully engaged.

In the end, while the book has its moments and a promising foundation, it ultimately fell short for me due to its lack of narrative variety. With a bit more development and a break from the monotonous repetition, it could have been a much more captivating read.

For those who enjoy a slow burn and don't mind a bit of repetition, this book might still be worth a read. However, if you're looking for a thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish, you might find this one a bit lacking.

Thank you to NetGalley and Joffe Books for the opportunity to read this book; all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this book much more than I had expected to. It was very interesting to see things from the point of view of a young woman who has recently left her homeland of India and is trying to settle in the United Kingdom. Sapna and her husband didn't really know each other well, and went into the marriage with different motivations, so there was a lot of arguments and misunderstandings but I found myself rooting for this couple and really wanted them to work things out and find happiness together. There was a lot more to this story than romance though, This fast paced thriller was filled with so many twists and turns! All of the details of what family life is like in India felt very authentic to me and, while I don't know how accurate it actually was, I like to think that I got a glimpse into the fascinating culture of India. I'd love to read more from Renita D’Silva. She's a very talented writer!
Thank you, NetGalley, for this very enjoyable ARC!

This book had a lot of twists and turns in it, but I really liked how there was more to the story than your traditional thriller plot. The story is told from the perspectives of Edith and Gemma, who have been living in the neighborhood for a while; and Sapna, who moves in to a house in between the two of them with her new husband, Amir. Sapna is struggling with the move away from the culture she knows, her family, and her marriage. The neighbors see her crying and hear the constant fighting and draw their own conclusions. But Sapna knows someone is watching her and fears that her past is coming back to haunt her. It turns out no one knows what is really going on behind closed doors in this neighborhood. Everyone has secrets.

Thank you to NetGalley and Joffe Books for providing me with an ARC of this book. All thoughts expressed in this review are my own.

I am a fan of Renita D’Silva, but this is the first thriller of hers that I’ve read. I’m familiar with her historical fiction works, which I love. This book was a great thriller. I enjoyed it immensely. The plot kept me engaged from the very beginning until the very end. I hope she continues to write books in the genre.

Well written characters and ok storyline but i felt it got a little repetitive.
I ended up skimming through part of it.
Sadly just not for me.
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

What a great unique read - loved every page. could not put it down - edge of the seat thriller. i read it in a day. highly recommended.

Love thy neighbor. Fear thy neighbor. I thought moving to this quiet cul-de-sac was the fresh start my husband and I needed, escaping the noise of our cramped flat in Hounslow. I left India and all that was familiar for a new life with him in England!
Good book! This book had suspense, mystery, intrigue, murder, stalking, and a few twists and turns! The storyline was interesting and had a great ending! I definitely recommend reading this book! Thank you NetGalley and Joffe books for sharing this book with me!

Sapna and Amir’s new home is not all Sapna hoped for. She has a bad feeling about the house from the moment she set eyes on it. And, things do not improve the longer she lives there, especially after meeting the neighbors.

I’m a fan of psychological thrillers but, unfortunately, this book was not for me. I found it very repetitive (I know Sapna misses her home and family, I know she feels a sense of foreboding with the new house.) I felt like I was reading pages and page of the same, not really getting anywhere.

I feel that the plot has great potential, but it needs some editing to move the story along.

Thank you for the opportunity to read!