'The Locked Attic' is a compelling read that does require your focus and attention but is absolutely worth your time. There are multiple timelines, told form the viewpoint of several characters, Our protagonist is Stephanie who wakes up at a hospital after a terrible incident in her hometown. As Stephanie is suffering from amnesia, she faces a battle to recall the events leading to her arrival in hospital and with flashbacks to the death of her son and recent explosions in her community. Slowly Stephanie recalls moving to the neighborhood and how uncomfortable she felt in the presence of certain new neighbours.
As the tension grows, the layers of complexity are building up and it becomes difficult for the reader to know just who to trust. The ending is certainly unexpected and a little disturbing but I did enjoy the twist.

Another brilliant read from this author, he just gets better. Loved the concept and immediately wanted to read it - and think I’d have felt the same way had I not heard of the author. Unsettling and disturbing (as all his work is, for me) it is flawlessly characterised and keeps you gripped and unable to put it down until you reach the conclusion.

My thoughts: I liked this book, and I was intrigued by it, but I felt as though the title had nothing to do with the story at all. Also, from the hook of the book, it is not anything that it sounds like it's going to be. I felt a little mislead by the little blurb on this book as the blurb kind of had nothing to do with the storyline. I will reiterate that I did enjoy the book, but it definitely wasn't my favourite. The book was also a little bit hard to follow as it had about 7 different time lines that it kept switch back and forth from which can be very confusing. I can totally do 2 different time lines, but several? That's too many.

I didn’t finish this book unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me. It didn’t grip me and pull me in, I tried to persevere but I got to a third of the way and I didn’t finish. I may re visit at some point though. I felt the story was dragging too much, I was confused over what was going on, and the time jumping was very blurred line wise.

Thank you for the preview of this book.

This is a compelling, mysterious read. It follows Stephanie as she wakes up in a hospital after a traumatic event, it then tells us her story via flashbacks to certain events. I found it truly gripping and just couldn’t stop reading! I found myself desperate to know what was in the attic, and all my answers were definitely wrong!

⭐️ 4/5
📚 95/36
📍 🇬🇧
🗂 Domestic Thriller
📖 Stephanie Hadley moved to Kent 3 years ago, with her Husband and Son. That was then and this is now. Things have changed and answers are needed. Although their neighbours in Oak Tree Close seem perfect in their Christmas round robins, we all have secrets right?
👉 Proof and NetGalley eARC
✅ Dual POV
✅ Now and Then
✅ Easy read
✅ Chapters felt short
✅ No idea where it was going, surprised me all the way
✅ I enjoyed all of the character’s journeys
💬 “The bible tells us to love our neighbours and also love our enemies; probably because generally they are the same people - G.K.Chesterton”
📆 September 2022
*Publication Date - 24th November 2022 (paperback)

More of a domestic drama with details held back than the mystery that I was expecting. That said, I did enjoy reading all of the different perspectives. I could generally see where it was going, but it was still a good read. Much of it happening in one home while locked in really helped to create tension. Just never quite led to any sort of surprise but intriguing none-the-less.

When Stephanie wakes in a hospital, fuzzy and disorientated, after suffering a terrible accident she begins to realise it has something to do with what's hidden in her neighbours attic. She had already suffered the tragedy of losing her husband and son and now someone had tried to hurt her. Will she figure out the reason why?

This was good kept me gripped and wanting to find out more. I thought when reading there was going to be more mystery around how she lost her husband and son and less mystery about the neighbours. It was fast paced and had a few twists. I really didn't like the way it ended though.

Overall not too bad a thriller.

This is a good book overall. It was gripping throughout and tense at the right bits. I was building up to a spectacular ending which just didn’t materialise.

Stephanie, grieving the loss of her husband and son, wakes in hospital after a pretty weird day spent in a neighbour's house, against the backdrop of a nearby explosion which requires everyone to remain indoors.

This was an enjoyable read, but left me a bit disappointed in the end. Walter writes in an engaging way and the book is very readable.

However, the reveal is a bit anticlimactic and the eponymous attic - which is barely mentioned till the end - really kind of irrelevant. I felt like the basic plot would have been the same without anything being in the attic, which made the title a bit pointless. When we find out what's in the attic it's a bit underwhelming really - if undoubtedly unsavoury - and seemed like the author perhaps just had to shoehorn something in. And what was the Alexa and Logan business all about? What did I miss?

I also expected strands like the explosion and the deaths of Pete and Danny -
not to mention Stephanie's absent mother - to perhaps link more to the main plot in a way they didn't really seem to. Things just don't quite hang together, somehow.

I did enjoy the Jonathan and Danny storyline - Jonathan in particular was a very sympathetic character. And I was quite amused by the portrayal of condescending neighbour Janet and her performative, superficial wokeness. The awful Janet was well drawn and easy to visualise.

Main character Stephanie was really done dirty in this story. It seems like just about everything bad that can happen to a person happens to her, and things can't honestly be said to have looked up by the end. Indeed, nobody gets a happy ending.

An engaging enough read but the plot felt a bit rushed.

The Locked Attic was a brilliant book, I loved it from beginning to end. It tells the story of a grieving mother trying to solve the mystery of why her child had changed before his death. It was an immensely sad read, but also one that I could not put down until the mystery had been solved. I cannot recommend this book enough.

I’d like to thank One More Chapter for sending me a proof of this book in exchange for my honest review. I love a locked room mystery and when you throw troublesome neighbours into the mix you know the story is going to be interesting. I have read and enjoyed B P Walter’s previous books and was thrilled to give this one a go.

The majority of the story is told from the POV of Stephanie who has woken up in hospital, feeling somewhat disorientated. From there we are told the story of the events leading up to her hospital visit as well as moments from her past that contribute to the final reveal. It becomes clear very quickly that Stephanie does not trust her neighbours and feels they hold they answers to some much needed questions she has.

This is one of those reviews where I can’t reveal much more than that about the plot, without giving away spoilers! It’s safe to say that there is so much more than meets the eye where Richard and Janet are concerned but Johnathan is the gem of the story. He ended up being my favourite and most memorable character.

I found this to be a very quick read, had I not been doing a readalong with some fellow bookstagrammers then I would of demolished it in one sitting. B P Walter has written a story that is fast paced, tense and kept me guessing until the final moments. I loved the complex relationship between Danny and Johnathan and how Stephanie reacted to each discovery.

What made this read more fun was chatting to other readers as I went. I loved hearing their thoughts and theories along the way as well as their final opinions.

The Locked Attic reads as more of a domestic drama than a thriller. The domestic element is executed well with the differing family dynamics.

Many red herrings were offered which unfortunately often fell a little flat, including the end.

I understand the title is dramatic but most of the novel isn't focused on the attic at all. Seems an odd choice, plot wise, for the title.

I loved the dinner guest so I was really excited to receive an ARC of the locked attic!

The intrigue starts off strong as the first chapter starts with Stephanie waking up in a hospital and not remembering why she is there.

I love the dual POV of Stephanie and Danny and the way it went back and forth to different times to give more to the story and also more questions each time. I did not want to put this book down once I started and I finished it in one day!

I definitely could not predict where the story was heading and that's a plus for me, would have been a 5 star read except I was not the biggest fan of the ending. That being said I'm not sure how I would have wanted it to end instead.

While I enjoyed the mystery, I did feel that the denouement was slightly underwhelming. The story of the 2 boys was very believable and delicately and well handled,

Overall a satisfactory read.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.

I like this author and the books that I have read so far, so this one was a just as good to read. Enjoyed the different timelines and how it all come together eventually.

Okay that was weirdly anti-climactic. The setup. The title. The lead in. The descriptions. The cover. All are intriguing and cool but in the end, none were really relevant to the way the story played out. There's a lot of stuff going on here and most of it turns out to be red herrings or things that are presented with enormous significance but fizzle out in the final revelations. It made for a bizarre up-and-down read that didn't feel like a coherent story. This one wasn't for me...

Wow. This was a really riveting read. I was not familiar with B P Walter before I read The Locked Attic but I'm a fan now! What a thrilling book. Walter uses pitch perfect pacing to propel the narrative along. He skillfully juggles different moments in time to paint his masterpiece through the eyes of multiple characters. There are some you will like and some you will hate. It's a story of secrets. It's a book I couldn't put down. You won't either. It reminds us we never really know what's behind the locked door, do we? Thank you to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, & NetGalley for the advance reading copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was everything you need for a thriller and crime story. It is not as black and white as you first think and like most typical thrillers, is full of twists. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

The Locked Attic was a pretty good book I thought it was extremely suspenseful and the author was a talented storyteller. Unfortunately the ending and reveal of how the narrator came to be in the hospital was lackluster and unworthy of the suspense that the author worked to build throughout the book. I might try another book by this author, but I would not recommend The Locked Attic to anyone.