Claire Douglas’s books are always a must-read for me, and her latest certainly lived up to expectations.

Young parents-to-be Saffron and Tom move into a cottage, previously owned by Saffy’s grandmother Rose, in the curiously named village of Beggars’ Nook. In the process of renovation, though, two bodies are, horrifyingly, found buried in the garden…

Rose now has dementia and lives in a care home, and is unable to provide answers even if she ever had them. As the police investigate, Saffy and her mother Lorna, newly returned from Spain, embark on their own search for information. And Theo, an apparently unconnected young man, has questions regarding the past of his father Victor, a once eminent doctor.

We see events both from the perspective of Saffron and Lorna in the present, and Rose in the past. It did feel confusing at times, with more and more names - Daphne, Sheila, Jean, Victor - being thrown into the mix, but it all came together satisfyingly and surprisingly. It’s a cliche to say the big twist made me gasp out loud, but it’s literally true in this case - safe to say I definitely didn’t see it coming.

I loved the character of Lorna, in particular, and also really enjoyed Rose’s narrative in the past. (Given that Saffy is the sensible daughter of a colourful mother, it is slightly hard not to think of the Ab Fab character of the same name.)

The title is a bit uninspiring, recalling (I suppose deliberately) the inexplicably successful The Couple Next Door, which this is happily far better than. Also, isn’t it no. 10?? Did I miss something?

Many thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy - I really enjoyed it.

Another of those books where extraordinary events happen to ordinary people. Young couple Saffy and Tom are renovating their Cotswold cottage before the impending arrival of their first child. Their perfect lives are disturbed in the most horrific way when their builders unearth the remains of two bodies in their garden. A nightmare scenario gradually becomes even worse as it appears Saffy’s grandmother may have lived in the cottage when the murders occurred. As the past is retold seamlessly alongside the present, a horrifying and deeply buried tale gradually reveals itself. This is a dark and at times terrifying story of deceit and lies with clever twists that I didn’t see coming. With many characters to become accustomed to, it does take a while to make sense of them all but their relevance becomes apparent when this clever plot finally delivers it’s full horror.

This book has a bit of a slow start but gets more interesting as it goes on. An old, beautiful, inherited cottage, a young loved up couple who are waiting for the arrival of their first (unexpected) child. All good, until they have renovations started and the builders find a body which then turns into two when the police arrive.
Saffy's gran who owned the cottage before bequeathing it to Saffy obviously might be able to help but she is in a home suffering from Alzheimer's and her memory is going fast. The story goes between the 1970's and the present day with lots of what appear to be loose ends which sends the reader down many wrong turns but pull together to give a satisfactory ending

Many thanks to Penguin for my copy in return for a review.

I enjoyed the slow start to the book whilst getting to know the characters and their backgrounds. Once the story gets going it is hard to put down.

It was an extremely clever plot and I highly recommend this thrilling read.

I really enjoyed diving into this book. The characters were very likeable and the story was gripping. Would highly recommend!

Saffy's moves into her beloved grandmothers cottage (after she is taken into a care home) and everything is just as she pictured until the gruesome discovery of two bodies in the garden, now to uncover the truth! Not so easy when the person who holds the key is a muddled, confused old lady.

This is multi layered novel set across the generations and sees the pieces (layers) all coming together to reach a dramatic conclusion!

Claire has an amazing talent in her character assignations that finds you truly invested in their plight.

The portray of dementia was a really personally one for me having two grandmothers myself who have been blighted by this heart breaking disease despite this Claire handled the subject with care and true dose of reality.

This is what you call a page turner a cracking read with twists and turns a plenty.

So many twists that just when you think you have a handle on who is who and what they have or haven't done your thinking is disrupted all over again.
I liked the story coming from different perspectives and time points and felt it all slotted together really well, which is not always the case with multiple narrators.
Great setting, great characters and phenomenal twists!

This gripping psychological thriller from Claire Douglas is a real page turner. The characters are rounded, if devious, and the setting is atmospheric. It's difficult to say too much without dropping hints about the plot but it twists and turns very satisfyingly. A great read.

Many thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

My second Claire Douglas novel, and I went back to read my review of the other before writing this, and I was struck at the similarity in my emotion.

The first 50% of the book was not gripping, easy to walk away from for days, as the scene was being set for the various characters, but from then on, it was hard to put down. Douglas drags you in and you'd be hard-pressed to not keep going, and it took only 2 sittings to reach the climax (one does have to sleep!)

You will be captured by the characters, and need to know the provenance of why and how there are bodies under the patio. And the end was satisfactory, enough to know a good commissioning editor in broadcasting will snap this up to produce an intriguing ITV mini series starring Suranne Jones or Kathryn Kelly as Lorna, and Jodie Comer as Saffy.

The only downside is the development of certain characters never materialises in some cases, and the horror of them is never explored enough to justify why/how they became the protagonists of the story; a shame since it would've given a tad more depth and 5 stars instead of 4.

But overall, The Couple At No.9 was a satisfying read, and definitely recommended.

I enjoyed this book overall. I liked how it was told my multiple narrators over multiple time periods. Unfortunately the reveals weren’t as shocking though as I had already worked them out. The plot was engaging and although it started off slow- I couldn’t seem to put it down during the last third!

When Saffy (Saffron) and Tom started renovations on the cottage that belonged to Saffy’s grandmother, never in a million years did either of them expect bodies to be found in their backyard. But that is exactly what they got and it wasn’t long before there were many unanswered questions and secrets coming out of the woodwork. All Saffy, and her mother, Lorna, want are answers but the one person who may know something about the bodies has dementia and getting any information from her is a bit hit-and-miss. Especially when she mentions names that they’ve never heard of before. Is it possible she knows something? Or is she just confused due to the dementia?

A fun and claustrophobic summer read, The Couple at No 9 is everything you want in a thriller: a murder to solve, a clever plot, compelling characters. The slow-burn tension ratchets tighter and tighter until you’re suddenly flying toward the gasp-worthy end. Irresistibly tense, utterly unforgettable and surprising in all the right places, you won’t want to miss this brilliantly written thriller.

A slow burner but a good book none the less. I know any book I pick up by this author will be a good read

I really enjoyed this gripping story, which kept me guessing until the end and I liked hearing from each of the main characters, seeing the mystery through their eyes. All the characters were well-drawn and there was tension throughout and plenty of twists that had me holding my breath in places!

Would definitely recommend.

Claire Douglas is one of my favourite authors and in this novel, she does not disappoint. Saffron and Tom move into her Grandmother's old cottage and have a great shock when builders discover 2 bodies buried in the back garden whilst renovating. Saffron's grandmother is in a home suffering dementia. A twisty story that you won't be able to put down. I’d like to thank the author, publisher and NetGalley UK, for my copy of this engaging story which I recommend to anyone looking for a fulfilling, page-turning read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really liked this. Quick paced with dark and twisted turns. I convinced myself multiple times I’d figured it out and I never had it correct! Multiple perspectives and time periods worked well with keeping the mystery. Totally recommend

What a book. I absolutely loved it from the beginning to the end and all the pages in between. I couldn’t put it down and managed to get it read in a weekend because I was totally and utterly gripped by the characters stories, how they linked together and the way in which it was written made me so eager to find out the truth in the end.

I found the Couple at No 9 by Claire Douglas a frustratingly confusing read.

It follows the story of Saffy and her family as they try to unravel the mystery of the bodies discovered buried in the garden of the cottage given to them by her gran, Rose.

There are lots of twists, shocks and surprises throughout. But unfortunately I found it difficult to follow at times due to the constant head and time hopping, as well as the story jumping from being told in 1st person then 3rd person and back again!!! And there was a LOT of characters to hop between!!!

Due to all that, I was never able to fully invest in any of the characters. A lot of effort went into describing the events but not in building the characters themselves.

However, once I got to about 60% through the book. I did get used to Claire writing style and thoroughly enjoyed the reveal and its consequences, Even managed to enduce a tear in the eye at the end.

If you like a gritty mystery, then this may well be the book for you.

Absolutely breathtaking story that had me hooked from the first chapter. The characters are deep and full of quirks that really add to the depth of the story. A few times I had convinced myself I’d got it all figured out to find I was completely off the mark and then suddenly My heart is in my mouth and I simply have to keep reading until the end. I devoured this book with its dark and grisly plot. Brilliant.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I devoured it within a week and love Claire Douglas as an author. She writes such good books and alongside this book I have also read others of hers - Last Seen Alive, Then She Vanishes and I love her writing style.

In this novel we meet quite a few characters, told from their perspective, we have Saffy who is pregnant with her first child and moved to her grandma's house in the countryside for a peaceful life, Rose who is Saffy's grandma and currently in a care home as she can not remember much and we also meet Lorna or '"Lolly" who is Saffy's mum and Rose is her mother. Each chapter is told from either Rose (when she was younger), Saffy or Lorna.

Saffy is living in Rose's house as she has gifted it to her and her and her husband are having an extension. One day the builders who are onsite and are digging unearth two bodies that appear to be from many moons ago. The story is based around this mystery and is incredibly engrossing. If you love a good murder mystery with some family drama thrown in then do give this book a read.

Thanks to NetGalley, Claire Douglas and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.