Two people whose paths cross years ago but intersect again. The unravelling of a life and the variations told to other people becomes more puzzling. A mystery that will keep you guessing right up to the end.
I really enjoyed the story and will be looking for more by Philippa East.

Tense, Anxiety Inducing....
A tense and anxiety inducing read from Philippa East. Running a parallel storyline, involving serious themes and with a fragile protagonist the tale is well written, suspenseful, disturbing and often heartbreaking. Not for the feint of heart.

When Jenn carries out what should have been a routine visit in her position as housing manager, she has the feeling that something isn’t quite right. After not hearing from one of her tenants for a long time, she is forced to pay her a visit with the bailiffs in tow but when the tenant doesn’t answer her door, Jenn’s uneasy feeling returns and she calls the police to force entry. Nothing could have prepared Jenn for what lay on the other side of the door - in amongst the ruins of the flat is a table set for three and a badly decomposing body on the sofa. All indications point to the tenant, Sarah Jones, as being popular and full of life so how can it be that her body has lain undiscovered for ten months?

I found this to be a really well-written story with a compelling plot; although I did find the first part of the novel quite slow and primarily made up of Jenn’s repeatedly circling inner thoughts, the pace did pick up soon after and I was intrigued to find out where the story was going.

The emphasis on Jenn’s mental health is portrayed very realistically and you can almost feel yourself spinning out of control along with her. Some of the events that unfolded in the book didn’t make sense to me until right at the end when Jenn’s main trauma is revealed and it suddenly clicked into place why she struggles the way she does. Although you can get a real sense of her anxiety and panic throughout, I don’t think you fully understand it until you’ve finished the story.

Overall, this was an interesting and easy read and although more of a slow burner, it definitely gets more complex and twisty the further in you get.

Really liked the twists and backstory of the book! Really enjoyed reading a story with an imperfect mother, and her road to getting better through solving a mystery.

I enjoyed the premise of the book, the protagonist is determined and this keeps us engaged. I didn’t find the middle and the unravelling of the mystery became confusing. But overall I’d recommend this - I had that ‘ah’ moment at the end.

Jenn is a complex person with few friends and few social skills and when she comes to evict a tenant and finds her dead she becomes obsessed with finding out what happened, going to great lengths to trace colleagues, friends and romantic partners of the deceased in her quest for answers.
The book dots between parallel stories and in places gets bogged down in unnecessary detail but as things draw to a close the reasoning behind the storylines becomes more understandable and the reveal is suprising.

Really sorry but this book was boring,Jennifer is such hard work and the flashbacks to the other story annoying, really wasn't for me so gave up at 50%

This book started out a little bit slowly for my liking but once it got going it ended up being a decent story and gave a insight into how mental illness affects people.
No hesitation in recommending and would be happy to read more by this author
Thanks to publishers and NetGalley for ARC.

This thriller had me hooked ..
Loved the writing style and also how it flashed to the past and gave us deep insight into the characters past .
So many questions ran through my mind at the end of each short chapter . I couldn’t contain my mind was in overdrive.
Real page Turner and I read in 3 sittings .

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

Such a sad story and not what I expected!

Really good.
A slow start which made me wonder if it was worth carrying on. I’m so glad I did. I got a little frustrated now and again with our protagonist Jennifer but as everything came together I found myself becoming more empathic towards her.
While not your usual ‘thriller’ it nevertheless keeps you guessing and the overall story was refreshingly different. Some of the chapters had those endings that make you feel you HAVE to read the next one and the one after that, even when it’s way past sleep time lol.
All in all a very good read and I recommend.
My thanks to NetGalley and HQ for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Jennifer Arden works for the housing association and has to go to evict a tenant, Sarah, for non payment of rent and ignoring their final warnings. As she’s there with two bailiffs, they make a frightening discovery and Jennifer’s world is turned upside down.

This story focuses intensely on mental health and the character of Jennifer is written with such great detail. You can feel Jennifer’s anxiety, confusion and need to find out what happened to Sarah the entire way through this book. You honestly feel like you are in Jennifer’s head but for me this did leave me confused for a lot of it. It is very clear the author wants to create mystery in several story lines but I found this left me needing clarification until it all came together at the end.

The story runs two parallel plots, one set in the present and one in the past whereby the link between the two won’t become clear until the end! Thank you to NetGalley for this copy - Safe and Sound is out on February 18th.

The is a superbly written book, has a good story and characters BUT for me....
I seem to have read so many books where the main character is a woman in her 30s (or later 20s) who is totally stressed out and panics at anything and everything so in the book she struggles from crisis to crisis. Given that Jennifer's mental health is critical to how the story develops I can only describe my feelings for the book as good and bad. I've tried to find the right words - hot and cold, happy and sad, content and aggravated, sublime and ridiculous - but none of these describe how I felt when reading the book. Some parts are absolutely brilliant yet others I just had to speed read.
So if you are reading this review and you don't have my 'hang-ups' about female lead characters constantly panicking then go for this book and you will not be disappointed.
As usual I failed to work out who was who and why. The unravelling is really good and may well surprise many other readers.

Well this book started out a bit slow and confusing but opened out into how trauma and mental illness affects people in so many different ways. Overall an interesting read. #SafeandSound #NetGalley

This is the story of Jennifer, a single mum struggling to keep afloat above the strong pull of mental health issues. Jennifer lives with her much-loved little boy Charlie. The story hints at issues between Jennifer, her parents and her son, but keeps you engrossed by not revealing too much too soon.
Jennifer becomes involved in the unexplained death of one of her tenants. The parallel stories are intriguing, keeping you guessing for much of the book.
The exploration of mental health, loneliness and make-believe is vivid and strong, and this book is not for the faint-hearted.

wow what a book that kept me reading from cover to cover. I loved the twists and turns, the characters....It really showed how we think things in our minds which are out of proprtion, how we see ourselves and how they should be in the real world. Loved it.

This was a brilliant, dark and very, very twisty read and I loved it! At times I literally gasped at what I was reading and couldn’t stop rushing through this book until I sadly finished it. I couldn’t decide how this brilliantly written book was going to end, my kind of book. Wonderful. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I never repeat the blurb. Didn't really enjoy this...a bit too disjointed with random interruptions to another story...annoying and unnecessary.

Remember Joyce Vincent?
How in a population of 9.5million can someone pass away alone, and no one notice their absence from the world?
This is the tale of a Jennifer Arden, , a housing officer, who discovers the body of one of her tenants in a flat that she manages. This has a profound effect on Jennifer who makes it her mission to discover more about the dead Woman's life, and in turn has to face her own demons..
A captivating tale of hidden traumas and modern life and loneliness and love....Read it, and remember Joyce Vincent

I love a dark book with interesting characters and unusual circumstances and Safe and Sound really ticks those boxes for me.

Set in Brixton, single mother Jenn is trying to juggle her work life and her family life caring for her young son Charlie as well as dealing with crippling anxiety.

Jenn works for the local council in the housing department and when she attempts to evict a tenant for non-payment of rent she discovers the body of a young women lying on the sofa, radio playing in the background and the table set for 3. Shaken by this discovery and then horrified when she learns the victim has been dead for 10 months, Jenn starts a personal investigation to try to discover how this situation could possibly happen.

Jenn has issues herself, anxiety, panic attacks, constant concerns about her son’s health, a dysfunctional family and this situation tips her over the edge. Following Jenn’s journey to find out more about the young woman, Jenn puts herself in potential danger and difficult situations when her obsession becomes out of control. This is a very claustrophobic tale, written beautifully about mental health issues, obsession and isolation.

Safe and Sound is, in my opinion, a stunning book and I highly recommend it. Out on 18th February 2021.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐