I'd not read anything by B A Paris before this - a shocking confession - but had heard good things, When I was offered the chance to read an advance copy by Harper Collins and NetGalley, I jumped at the chance.

This is the story of Alice and Leo who move into an exclusive gated community in London called 'The Circle'. The neighbours are friendly, the houses luxurious and the security strong...but Alice soon learns that nothing is as it seems. When she uncovers a nightmarish secret about her new home, her life is turned upside down as she struggles to decide just who she can trust.

I enjoyed this tense and twisty tale of Alice's time at 'The Circle'. I'm much more familiar with police procedurals than this style of thriller and so fell for every single trick and red herring along the way. There were times when I wasn't sure whether it was all in Alice's head as she interrogated and alienated people - but I really needed to know and raced through the book in two sittings.

In particular, B A Paris is excellent at keeping the tension high as little clues suggest that all is not well at 6, The Circle. Things not being where they were left, Alice's sense of being watched while she sleeps, the strange 'gifts' appearing - all of this kept me reading and became more sinister as Alice isolated herself from those around her. It felt like the stakes were being raised all the time and the reader (and Alice) are left playing catch-up.

Another clever feature of this book was the portrayal of the community surrounding Alice. It felt that this initially welcoming bunch of neighbours had their own complex webs of relationships and plenty of secrets between them - something that kept unfolding as the novel progressed. The fact that this was all set in a closed and exclusive community was also appealing - shades of Agatha Christie's novels where the cast list is limited by the location, be it a small village, island or stately home!

I'd recommend this book to those seeking a compelling and enjoyable thriller. It is pacy, well-plotted and engaging - and a whole lot of fun as you guess again and again, only to be proved wrong at the very next turn. Or maybe that's just me who would make a hopeless investigator!

Thank you to the publishers for this ARC. Thus was another gripping book from.B.A.Paris.
Alice moves to a gated community in London with boyfriend, Leo, who works away a lot. She soon finds out that a murder took place and that is why they were able to get the house for such a good price. Strange things start happening and Alice becomes obsessed with the murder.
This was a gripping read and I wanted to keep reading. There were a lot of characters to keep track of and I did find the character of Alice a bit annoying. As I got closer to the end, I felt frustrated by some of the events and found I wasn't really that bothered.

Couldn't put this book down; the mystery of the murder followed by suicide in Alice's new home in a small gated community had me determined to understand the truth. So many potential killers and secrets among the residents leading to a surprising killer.

Fantastically mysterious and twisty. Alice moves into a house with her partner in a safer than safe gated community but then finds out that the previous occupier of the house was murdered. She gets to know all of her neighbours and each of them come under suspicion at various points for having committed the murder. Strange things start to happen and Alice feels she has a nighttime visitor in her house.
All is definitely not what it seems in this story and you really shouldn’t trust anyone. The book had me gripped from start to finish and I absolutely trusted and suspected the wrong people all along! A very ingenious and clever tale.

The Therapist- BA Paris

A new book from BA Paris is always a cause for excitement, Behind Closed Doors being one of my favourites, and a classic in the genre. I always live in hope that the next one will be as good.

The Therapist centres on Alice, moving to an exclusive gated development 'The Circle' in central London to cement her relationship with Leo. All should be happy, until Alice learns the shocking history of the property.

I thought the first half and the setup was excellent, the geography of the properties, the assorted neighbours, the personalities of the main characters are all convincinly presented. My alarm bells were starting to tingle and I was enjoying the sense of anxiety that BA Paris creates so well.

I wish I had read it in one sitting. After devouring the first half, I picked it up the next night and found the middle section quite difficult, lots of conversations and rumour and gossip, I found it hard to keep track of who was saying what about who, and what relevance it had to the story. Sorry to say it rather lost the mood of the first half for me.

The plot develops into a whodunnit, with plenty of potential suspects. The build up to the finale was good, and of course there are twists I didn't see coming.

Overall, I thought the main characters were better than the plot, and I really enjoyed the mood of the first half. There are some very clever twists and uses of the structure to keep the reader guessing.

I'm glad I read it, but unfortunately not one for me to rave about.

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ

Just wow. When I think of B A Paris, I think of Behind Closed Doors, a book that will forever be one of my favourite thrillers I recommend to anyone. This is definitely up there for me as one of my favourite thrillers. I adored the concept of The Circle, and the writing was so wonderful that I could just imagine the layout and the characters. It built at just the right pace, and the ending had me sitting with my jaw dropped. So so good, please read this!

I absolutely loved this book. I felt for Alice who, having moved into a house with her partner, Leo, finds that the house has an extremely horrifying secret. Leo knew and didn't warn her! His lies, the fact that her neighbours appear to be keeping secrets, a mysterious stranger entering their gated community and strange happenings in the house all make for an eerie and unputdownable book. I raced through the pages in my eagerness to find out which of the many possible suspects was guilty. I wavered too and fro in my suspicions but was still shocked by the final reveal. Definitely a five star rating from me. My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A very enjoyable book. Once I'd started the book I didn't want to put it down. Alice and Leo move into a small gated community in London. Alice soon discovers why they managed to buy the house so cheaply and gets embroiled in discovering the truth. Why didn't Leo tell her and what are the neighbours hiding?
This is an honest review of a complementary ARC.

Another book which kept me guessing throughout...,well written and lots of interesting character involved in an intriguing storyline. A good read.

3.5 rounded up. Firstly, I love books that involve therapists for some reason so I was drawn in by the synopsis of this one. It’s definitely a book that will hook you in and keep the pages turning. We have a gated community, nosey neighbours, a whole host of untrustworthy characters and a suspicious murder. Definitely worth picking up, I actually enjoyed it more than Behind Closed Doors.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was given an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and independent review.

Another exciting, pacy and cleverly written thriller by this author.
With lots of twists and turns, a mixed and interesting range of characters, I was hooked from the beginning and just could not put it down
Despite me thinking I knew the truth at several points along the way, the conclusion still came out of left field.

Excellent read. 5 *****

Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Collins Audio, HQ and BA Paris for my arc and audio arc of The Therapist.

Publishing 15th April 2021

I received both an E-Arc and an audio arc of this book so combined reading and listening in order to review.

The Therapist is a compulsive, unputdownable book that revolves around a small gated community in London called The Circle. Alice has been with partner Leo for a year now but due to living in different areas means they only get to see each other at weekends and somethings got to give if they want to make a commitment. So that's why Alice agrees to leave her beautiful cottage and move to London to live in the circle with Leo. It definitely helps that they manage to snatch up such a beautiful house at a bargain price.

But as Leo works away during the week and Alice tries desperately to make connections with her new neighbours she finds out a grisly secret about her new home and becomes obsessed with Nina the therapist who lived there before her. Everyone is keeping secrets and Alice is determined to find them out....

It's rare that I find audiobooks engaging enough to keep listening compulsively. Usually, I tend to snatch a few hours with one while doing chores or in the bath but I couldn't stop listening to this one. It's very cleverly written and it was nearly at the end before I started to make connections and work out the mystery. Alice's character was admittedly a bit annoying but aside from that I absolutely loved the book and would highly recommend it both as a written and an audiobook.

I really wanted to love this book but unfortunately although I enjoyed it, it wasn’t my favourite book by B A Paris. Told exclusively from Alice's perspective, we get the impression she could be an unreliable protagonist. I do love an unreliable narrator as it means you can’t take anything at face value, and I always find myself looking for inconsistencies in the narration. If I’m honest and isn’t that the point of a review? I found Alice annoying at times.

The thought of living in a gated community makes me break out in a cold sweat, it must feel like you are living in a goldfish bowl with neighbours knowing your every move and even worse what if you don’t like or get on with your neighbours? And the more I learned about the neighbours the more convinced I become that a gated community isn’t for me! B A Paris has chosen the perfect setting for this novel on the surface The Circle seems to offer the perfect suburban life, but as you scratch below the surface it’s a place surrounded in suspicion, betrayal and dark secrets, the setting feels claustrophobic which adds to to the overall tension.

Although I enjoyed this book as psychological thrillers go I felt it lacked the element of surprise that I hoped for. The plot starts of very slow but does picks up pace by the second half of the novel but then it slows again. I personally found this an ‘Ok’ read, it took to long to get to the heart of the mystery and Alice’s character grated on my nerves. An enjoyable mystery with a few twists and turns.

I really enjoyed this, it was a psychological thriller in the truest sense. There were lots of twists and turns and the plot line was not totally unbelievable. This is the first book I have read of this author however I would certainly read more. So if you want a fast paced, who done it with mystery and intrigue this is for you.

If you want a book that you won’t put down till the very last page then this is it.
Leo and Alice decide to start a new life together and move into a secure gated community called the circle. Desperate to settle in Alice arranges a drinks party for the neighbours. All of them different but are they what they seem. Then Alice discovers that a woman called Nina was murdered in the house the year before. Horrified, that Leo would keep something like that from her she questions their relationship.
Will they last as a couple.? Is anyone else in danger and just who is the therapist?
Loved the fact that this book had me constantly guessing.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC

What do you do when you move in to a new home with your new partner and find out that there was a murder committed in the property? Following the relevantion Alice's relationship with her partner, neighbours and a mysterious stranger all change. Full of twists and turns. Enjoy I did.

I really enjoyed this book, but I struggled with the characters. The storyline had me hooked and I really liked the writing. I’m a huge fan of B A Paris’s writing and the writing in this one didn’t disappoint. It was a really easy book to read and a very addictive storyline. Once I started reading, I found it really hard to stop. I liked the suspense and I was really surprised by the twist. I couldn’t predict what was going to happen and all of my guesses were wrong. However, I really didn’t like the characters and I struggled to connect with any of them. There’s quite a few characters in this one, and I didn’t particularly like any of them. This really effected my rating because I didn’t feel any sympathy for the characters that we were supposed to feel sorry for. I also really disliked the main character as I found her to be quite annoying. I think that if the characters had been more likeable, then my rating would have been higher. Overall a good thriller, and one that I would recommend.

The Therapist is an addictive blend of cleverly crafted characters, nail-biting psychological suspense and a puzzling plot. Alice and Leo move into the exclusive gated development in London to begin their lives together. Alice is unsure if London life will suit her, but Leo wants to live in London, and she wants to see more of him.

Told exclusively from Alice's perspective, she soon reveals herself as an unreliable protagonist. A past family tragedy still defines her life, and she sees the change of lifestyle as a way of living again. Alice dislikes The Circle's sinister ethos. A series of unexpected revelations intensify her emotional vulnerability to breaking point. Everyone has secrets, and Alice isn't sure who she can trust. The house's tragic history immerses Alice until her life starts to unravel, pushing her relentlessly towards danger.

Short passages from the past with undefinable characters intensify the sense of menace and suspense towards the climactic, twisted conclusion. The final shocking twist is well disguised. This is a book you won't want to put down. It will have you checking you've locked the doors.

I received a copy of this book from HQ in return for an honest review.

The Therapist by B.A. Paris is a marvellous contemporary psychological thriller that had me gripped from the start.
The novel is written in the present but there are also voices from the ‘past’. I tried to work out whose they were but failed miserably (again!)
As a new resident moves into the square, she is determined to find out the truth about what really happened in her house and who the perpetrator is.
Traumas in the past have far reaching consequences in the present as lives are stuck at a moment in time.
B.A. Paris is the master of the psychological thriller. She weaves intricate plotlines that, try as I might, I cannot solve. I always find myself at a jaw-dropping moment where previous action becomes even more creepy in my mind.
The Therapist really is a fabulous read – not recommended to read alone, as you never know who is watching!
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

A thriller with killer twists, BA Paris's latest novel takes us into The Circle, a gated community of 12 houses where Alice hopes she'll be happy with new partner Leo. But then she learns that the previous owner of her house, Nina, a therapist, was murdered by her husband in the bedroom that Alice now sleeps in! Everyone accepts that Nina's husband Oliver killed Nina before killing himself, but Alice has strong doubts. Will she get to the truth before the killer gets to her?
This is a well-plotted and well-paced story with really strong characters. Told almost exclusively from Alice's point of view, we share her hopes, dreams, fears and anguish as she uncovers secrets and lies, not just about her new neighbours, but about Leo. Along with the suspense, there's a good element of creepiness to this tale and, even knowing the author's fondness for twists, and so looking out for them, I wasn't able to guess the outcome at all.
I felt the substory of Alice's tragic past - she lost her parents and sister in a car crash - could have been explored a bit more. As well as grief, she suffers survivors' guilt, and I would have liked to have seen that properly resolved.
But all in all, this was a satisfying suspenseful read I would recommend to lovers of thriller domestic noir.