The People Before by Charlotte Northedge
Earc: NetGalley
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
Publication Date:10 November
Genre: General Fiction, Mystery and Thriller
I regrettably found this psychological thriller to be uninteresting. I misunderstood the genre and was looking it more of a well-organized ghost story, like The Woman In Black. I quickly realised that this is of a distinct genre, and unhappily, I was able to predict every twist far in advance of what would happen. I had no interest in the unfolding events because none of the characters struck me as real and believable. I could predict some of the turns, but others weren't as evident until the obvious bread crumbs had been laid out, and it was just a little slow going.
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An everyday story of family life - not. I found this tale to be a little slow to get going but when it did, I found it a fascinating read. The story demonstrates very well that you really cannot judge people by what you see as that approach will almost certainly mislead you.

What I really enjoyed was that the people were "real" and the scrapes and problems that they find themselves battling. whether personal or environment, are really quite true to life.

Certainly a book worth your time as it is a great read for this, the darkest time of the year!

This book was hard to put down. I enjoyed the idea of Pete, Jess and their two children moving to a dilapidated house in the countryside and from the first page, I was pulled into the story. It’s well written and interesting. It’s easy to understand Jess’s isolation and how keen she is to have Eve as a friend. There are plenty of twists and turns, and jeopardy towards the end. An entertaining and atmospheric psychological thriller!

This was a great psychological thriller set in a tumbledown house in the countryside which holds a lot of secrets about its past. When jess and her family move in from London the tension ramps up and there is quite an otherworldly feeling. It's well written, the characters themselves having secrets too, which aren't revealed until the end. Plenty of twists and turns, realistic dialogue and a great ending!

A decent thriller that captured well the eeriness and isolation of rural Suffolk.
I felt the book's finale didn't fulfil the promise of the earlier plotline. It felt a little mechanical and odd. I found ot hard to believe.

It was okay, it was just a bit slow going and I could see some of the twists coming but some weren’t so obvious, not until the obvious bread crumbs had been laid out.
Overall it was a good way to pass the time on the cold and dark nights but I’m not sure that I’d rush out and buy it.

Townies move to Isolated House with a Past.

This was a psychological thriller which unfortunately did not work for me. I mistook the genre, and was looking for something more along the lines of a well structured ghost story, such as The Woman In Black. It was pretty quickly obvious that this belongs to a different genre and I was sadly able to unravel all the twists far in advance of events. None of the characters seemed believable and real to me, so I had no investment in events.

I have no particular objection to psychological thrillers but this seemed predictable to me. None of the characters are likeable – which doesn’t necessarily matter, - but the lack of credibility, particularly of Jess, who just seemed altogether too wimpy for her supposed earlier city sophisticate identity, did.

2.5 raised to 3.

DNF at 20%

I am really sorry but the sense of deja vu is so strong. It feels like I am reading Haverscroft by
S.A. Harris again: a London couple moves to the countryside in a dilapidated house they bought on the cheap.They have 2 children, the husband commutes to London for work while she gives up her job to look after everything. As soon as they're in, she feels all sorts of energies as do the children, while he is oblivious to everything... For the sake of integrity and originality I do hope the development of the story is different, but the backbone of the story is identical to Hacerscorft, which is really putting me off ....

A cosy little thriller with a few surprising twists and turns. A book about the lengths that people will go to in order to get what they want. A good read.

A house with a history that sets nerves jangling. This starts off as a pacey story with strange happenings particularly in part one but then the pace slows down . A London based family move to the country I search of idyllic life but the house has serious effects and this is further exacerbated by the interventions of Eve who has her own weird family history and her presence has a negative influence too

An atmospheric and creepy story where everything can change according to the observer. it can be the story of a house with a dramatic past or it can be something else.
The three parta are fascinating and a bit disconcerting. The firt one is a bit too slow and the last one is wild and exciting ride.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Pete and Jess, with their 2 children, are escaping from London and have bought a tumbledown house in rural Suffolk which they immediately find has uncomfortable vibes. Part 1 gives the impression of a typical house with an eerie past. Part 2, the story from another person's point of view, changes the plot direction and Part 3 moves the plot along much faster. A book of 3 parts - all readable - with many unpleasant characters for different reasons.
Mixed feelings but despite some repetitiveness quite well written. 3 1/2 stars for me, I definitely wanted to know the outcome.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Charlotte Northedge/HarperCollins UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Perspective is everything and Northedge plays unnervingly with that as the tension and the doubts rise in this excellent read that you won't be able to put down!

Pete and Jess and their two young kids are starting afresh in a rural area after their London lifestyle was disrupted. More space and more solitude is not what Jess is after as Pete travels for work and her children hate the scary house.
Eventually it all starts to go wrong and secrets are uncovered. Can Jess and Pete work through this? This was a solid read and I enjoyed the way in which it was written. I would definitely read more by Charlotte. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

A new house, AND with Japanese knotweed? Let the troubles begin!

All in all, I loved the premise, but the story really was too slow to start (for my liking) and truly a SLOW burner.
The writing style was very enjoyable and it is such a shame I did not like it more!

With thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Really liked the author’s writing style, and loved the first half of the book. The second half didn’t land so well and I’m not fond of having my expectations built in one direction as regards genre and then the author pulling a bait and switch. So overall it was fine but if it had continued in the same vein as the first half, I would have loved it more.

A really well written and compelling take on the familiar story of a new house with old memories. The stress of moving a family into a well established community is also very well told. Recommended

A really creepy atmospheric psychological thriller that kept me guessing and trusting no one. Perfect creepy story for a winters night x

The atmosphere has been captured really well by ‘Charlotte north edge’ you get pulled in so many directions whilst reading this book making it such a great read!

Pete and Jess, alongside their 2 children move from London to a big house in the countryside. The house needs a lot of renovation but has outbuildings that can be made suitable to rent out. Jess, who used to work at an art gallery prior to the move, feels very much of an outsider in the area, but they have great plans to extend the house after sorting out the outbuildings. One day she goes into Ipswich and feels drawn into a gallery there. She is met by the owner, Eve, and they start chatting, Eve later tells Pete and Jess that she is going bankrupt and Pete invites her to stay in the barn which is more or less finished. Eve tries to convince them to do the house up keeping original features rather than modernising and extending, even getting Pete to commission paintings of how the house will look. Jess begins to trust Eve to pick up the kids from school. Later Eve's brother Dominic gets in touch and all sorts of secrets are revealed leading to an alarming climax.