A really gripping story, my stomach was in knots throughout. Well written and atmospheric. Loved it xx

Wow! What a page turner! This is truly gripping and I devoured this in 23 hours. Hard to know how to review really, without giving away spoilers, but this I feel is Louise Candlish's best yet. Full of twists and turns and just when you think you've worked out what is happening, another shock! Marvellous!

This book was addictive from start to finish. It had brilliant characters and the story was told from multiple perspectives. Firstly we meet Alex who is married to Beth. Alex starts to get very concerned when plans go ahead for a nature trail along a track behind their house. Why is Alex so fearful about this trail being made? What secrets is Alex hiding?
The story then jumps back to 1995 and we meet Rick who has just started a relationship with a girl called Marina. This relationship is full of problems from the start but what is she hiding and why?

There were so many breathtaking twists in this story making it impossible to predict, particularly when the stories interlink. Just as you think you've worked it out something else happened. Louise Candlish is definitely an autobuy author for me and this book is in my top five books of the year. Highly recommended for fans of psychological thrillers.

The Only Suspect by Louise Candlish
I have read many books by this author and found this one engaging and was keen to find out what had taken place. It is set over two time periods one in 1995, the other in the present. The main character is Alex. He and his wife live in a quiet suburb of London and his main concern appears to be that a nature trail is to be established at the bottom of his garden which could disturb the life he has forged for himself and unearth long buried secrets.
Then his wife moves in a house guest who is pregnant and we wonder how far she will push Alex as he becomes increasingly annoyed by her insidious presence. We begin to fear there will be another murder in the present.
The author draws you in gradually drip feeding information about Alex/Rick and what actually took place in 1995. As with all of her previous novels there is always a twist at the end of the story and in this novel I did wonder if there was yet another twist to be revealed. She allows you to believe that you have solved the mystery and then shows how far you are from the truth.
I enjoyed this book and will recommend it to my various different book groups.

Having read ‘Our House’ and ‘The Other passenger’ I was expecting another exciting read and I wasn’t disappointed. My only personal downside to this writer’s (Louise Candlish) books is that they’re not a series and all have definite endings.
Sometimes writers flip back to previous times, often decades before, but it becomes confusing to read. This isn’t the case here as we go back to the 1990s and forward to modern times. I didn’t feel lost by the changes in time.
There’s a building stress, a sort of anxiety in the story and as as you turn more pages you wonder how much worse this can become, but it does.
The twists and turns arrived as a surprise and really altered (for the better) the route the novel was going.
My free copy of this book was greatly received and when I reached the end I reminded myself to buy some more books by this writer.

What a cracker - I didn't want to put this down it kept me totally absorbed so thoroughly recommend you read it
I don’t want to give too much away but the story flicks from the mid nineties to the present day eventually reaching g a conclusion did t see coming
Rick is becomes enamoured with Marina but she is quite elusive and difficult to tie down. She eventually reveals she is married but in an abusive relationship. Rick would like her to escape and so the plotting begins……,,

Another taut and perfectly plausible thriller from the queen of the gut-wrenching reveal!

I’m a huge fan of Louise Candlish’s thrillers and so it’s no small deal to say that this is one of her absolute finest! The Other Passenger is one of my all time favourite reads and The Only Suspect brings all of elements from that book to create another brilliantly immersive and perfectly plotted thriller that is so realistic it sends a shiver down your spine. I know I’ve said it before, but Candlish is unquestionably the 21st century’s literary equivalent of Alfred Hitchcock. Character and plot are beautifully blended here to create a masterpiece of mystery, suspense and genuine connection with the protagonists. It’s a very hard book to review without revealing any secrets (it’s virtually impossible to guess whilst reading, so you don’t want anyone to spoil it for you!), but there were shades of Hitchcock’s Vertigo in many places, plus an overarching tone reminiscent of the film noir greats. These are all things that I love, so The Only Suspect has sailed into one of my favourite reads of 2022 without a shadow of a doubt!

This book is another example of how Candlish can take a group of ordinary people and essentially shove them down a spiral staircase into hell! I loved the relentless downfall of Rick, as he descended from your average city worker and mid-twenties lad into a world of paranoia, manipulation and heartbreaking torment. I loved how the format flipped between Rick’s historical mid-90s life and the present day, told through the eyes of Alex (someone who clearly has a link to the previous events). This builds a mounting tension and helps to evade the reader, keeping us continually questioning what is going to happen whilst also allowing us to formulate our own theories and hypotheses. As with any Candlish novel, there’s plenty of twists and turns and jaw-dropping revelations that pack that sucker-punch Ruth Ware has famously stated about Louise’s books!

Another element that keeps me returning to Candlish’s books is her ability to weave so much social commentary and thought-provoking themes throughout an accessible and highly engaging, commercial novel. I always come away with a book hangover, as I find there’s so much to delve into below the surface of the gripping plot. In The Only Suspect, themes of gaslighting, guilt, remorse, love blindness, money, family and manipulation are peppered amongst the character development and narrative action, making this a highly affective read as well as an absolute page-turner. For me though, the elements of male friendship that were explored through Rick and his relationship with Rollo (plus his colleagues to a lesser extent). This isn’t something that I’ve read very frequently, so it added a relatable quality to the story for me as a reader. Candlish astutely captures the dynamics between the men: the bravado, the competition, the back-slapping and the close bond and uses this all to brilliant effect in the novel. I won’t say anything further about this, but there were plenty of surprises along the way! I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.

If you enjoy a thriller that propels you through it’s twists and turns and deserves to be read in a single sitting, pre-order The Only Suspect right away.

The sign of a good book for me is when I look forward to picking it up each night, and that’s exactly how I felt about this one.

I was hooked from the get go and flicked through the pages hungrily, wanting to find out what happened next. I liked all the characters, Rick being my favourite, and thought they were very diverse. I also enjoyed the dual time aspect of the novel and the different POVs.

A superb piece of fiction - twisty, powerful and compelling.

Louise Candlish is an auto-buy author for me. She is always at the top of my most anticipated lists, and with The Only Suspect she proves once again what a queen she is of the domestic noir/suspense genre. She writes so well about lying, deceiving couples and her story is consistently full of tension and conflict until it comes to a snapping point.
This is a dual narrative read following two men: one in the current and one in the past. In the current narrative we follow Alex, who lives in a cosy suburban South London. He is in his 50s and he lives with his wife. Unknown to his wife, he brought that house for a reason. Decades ago, he buried a person in the woods that runs behind his garden. Now his secret is threatening to be revealed when it is announced that a public trail will be opening behind their house. In the past, we follow 20-something Rick who sees a stunning woman in his building canteen and falls in love with her. But the woman has her own troubles and Rick finds himself involved in strange situations for his love.
How the two stories come together forms the crux of this novel, along with the question of will Alex get caught?
This is a nailing-bitingly pacy, tension filled suspense read about past secrets and the extent people are willing to go guard them. The characters are realistically fleshed out and relatable. I found the character of Zara intriguing but equally hilarious at times. Like much of Candlish’s books, she has such a vivid sense of setting. This is a stellar read.

Louise Candlish does it again. An absolutely addictive and propulsive read with echoes of Highsmith.

This follows Alex in the present narrative. Behind his house a trail has been approved to be constructed. He’s scared. Because decades ago he hid a body there…
In the past, 1995, we follow Rick who lives in Camden and falls in love with a woman named Marina. But Marina has secrets of her own…
Throughout the narrative the reader is at edge, eager to learn how these two narratives will meet. We know Alex has changed his name, but who is he from the 1995 arc? That forms part of the mystery.
I did find the first half slow and I saw the first twist coming, but the second half was a surprise with plenty of surprising twists and reveals. Candlish proves her mettle once again as a master of the domestic suspense genre.

@currentlyreading__
Book 91 of 2022

Big thanks to @simonschusteruk, @netgalley and the very talented @louisecandlish for the advanced copy of ‘The Only Suspect’ which is due for publication on 1st February 2023. I have always enjoyed Candlish’s writing but she’s knocked this one out of the park (or nature trail) with this one!

The book has that messy slow burning menace, twists and turns galore plus a dual narrative moving from the 90s to the present day where we have auditor Alex, living in the comfortable suburbs of Silver Vale with wife Beth and their dog. Once their marriage was without drama but the recent creation of a nature trail behind his house has Alex increasingly paranoid and their marriage in turmoil.

As the narrative switches to Rick in the 90s, that typical Candlish drip-feed of plot points weaves into the present and we are left questioning what the remaining links in the chain are… Alex and Rick are inextricably linked and just as I thought I had it all sussed when Beth gifts her husband the results of ancestry DNA (bound to be a messy can of worms), my mind was blown at the twist.

Still wanting that buzz of a thriller after such an addictive and thrilling read, I’m moving on to a quick read ‘The Skylight’ to culminate my year of fantastic reads.

#bookstagram #bibliophile #bookworm #book #booknerd #bookstagrammer #kindle #instabook #reader #bookobsessed #instareads #currentlyreading #bookchat #bookish #books #louisecandlish #theonlysuspect

Louise Candlish is back to play mind games in her latest Psychological thriller The Only Suspect. With the storyline being told through alternating chapters from the past and present by Rick and Alex it keeps the reader on their toes as the scene is set to a murder we know has happened but have no idea who the victim is or the events leading up to it. Jump to the present day the council have given the go ahead for a new nature trail behind Alex’s house but he is anything but thrilled as it seems his past could be coming back to haunt him.

The author has such an incredibly skilled way of planting big clues in plain sight and yet there are still no warning bells that set suspicions off until you have already had your face slapped with a shocking revelation that you had no idea was coming, you then look back to see all the arrows pointing at this and it seems so obvious. THEN you feel like you are in safe territory and that your eyes are well and truly open and BAM she is back to hit you again with another shocker!

This is a highly skilled storyline that covers deception, love. friendships and murder that will have you captivated from start to finish with no safe place to put this book down as you will be questioning if you have missed something! If you’re looking for a totally unpredictable read with well-developed characters and twists and turns at every corner then you can’t go wrong with The Only Suspect.

WOW!!! Louise Jensen has done it again. From the very first page my attention was gripped. The split storyline (the 90s to present day) made for excellent reading and I really liked all the characters (even Alex)!! I cant wait for more from this superb writer!

Brilliant! Cleverly told over two time periods, this is the story of present day Alex who's fearful his secrets may not stay buried when work begins on a new nature trail and Rick who falls in love with the elusive Marina in the 1990s. Both narratives are equally compelling with an impending sense of doom. I was totally gripped throughout and whilst I guessed some of the many twists, the main one ie Alex's identity I didn't forsee at all. Louise Candlish is brilliant at drip feeding tiny bits of information so that you think you know where things are heading, only to be proven totally wrong. My only gripe with the author is that the 'bad guys' always seem to get away with 'it'.

#TheOnlySuspect #NetGalley
Awesome book.
Alex lives a comfortable life with his wife Beth in the leafy suburb of Silver Vale. Fine, so he’s not the most outgoing guy on the street, he prefers to keep himself to himself, but he’s a good husband and an easy-going neighbour. That’s until Beth announces the creation of a nature trail on a local site that’s been disused for decades and suddenly Alex is a changed man. Now he’s always watching. Questioning. Struggling to hide his dread . .As the landscapers get to work, a secret threatens to surface from years ago, back in Alex’s twenties when he got entangled with a seductive young woman called Marina, who threw both their lives into turmoil. And who sparked a police hunt for a murder suspect that was never quite what it seemed.
And it still isn’t.
I loved it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for giving me an advance copy.

The only suspect is a brilliant tale of obsession, love, murder and rivalry.

Alex and Beth are muddling through life when a pet project of Beth’s threatens to destroy their marriage. Alex appears to have a lot to lose!

Told in dual time lines from multiple points of view, and with some unreliable narration, this book packs a killer twist!

A brilliantly complex web of deceit and double dealing, you wonder if you will ever get to the truth!

A brilliantly dark read!

Fabulous author…… As expected, there were so many twists throughout with the biggest left until the end (although I won't spoil it!). I particularly appreciated the dual timeline, which was very well written. The Only Suspect certainly didn't disappoint.

A wonderfully creepy and twisty psychological tale from Louise Candlish that crept up on me slowly with its slow burning intensity. Unlikeable and unreliable narrators kept me gripped as I tried to make sense of both timelines and why they were keeping so many secrets. The Only Suspect is beautifully written with a compelling storyline that didn’t stop delivering the shocks to this gobsmaked reader!
Darkly pleasing and full of menace-another surefire hit for Louise Candlish.

Love Louise’s candlish novels
This appears pedestrian. But has good ending
I did like it but wasn’t as gripped as her previous novels
Still good and worthy of a read as secrets threaten to burst a man’s life apart and betrayed lurks round every corner of his past

Alex and Beth live in a nice peaceful area called Silver Vale. When Alex hears from his wife Beth that the lane behind their houses that has been blocked up for years. Usually used by drug addicts etc is being developed into a nature trail. Alex’s anxiety goes sky high and worries that something that was buried so many years ago will suddenly be unearthed.
The story is set-in two-time periods. Firstly, in the 90’s the story of Rick who falls in love with a girl called Marina who works in the same building as him. She brings him all sorts of problems and present day the story of Alex and his wife Beth. The story slowly unravels, and we discover what the connection is between the two.
The Only suspect by Louise Candlish is another exceptional read from the author. I read this in 24 hours. Once I started, I didn’t want to put this down. This has lots of twists and turns which I didn’t see coming, especially at the ending. I thought I had it all figured out and then Bam I realised I got it all wrong. This would make a great TV show. I highly recommend. 5 stars from me.