This is an excellent tale. I found the story of a man who lives by getting into other people's homes while they are absent and finds himself as a suspect in a murder to be very enjoyable. Our main character, Al, as he calls himself is a loner however through circumstance ends up involved with 3 other people who live the same life as him and they agree to try to solve the murder and thereby clear themselves. Very well written characters, just the right amount of humour and lots of twists throughout.

Thanks to netgalley, the publisher and author for the review copy.

This book is not for me.
39% in & I'm DNFing it.

It sounded right up my street, It started out really promising too. Al's inner monologues made me giggle & it gave me Jonas Jonasson vibes.

But then it went down hill, nothing really seems to be happening & I realised instead of getting excited to pick it back up it felt like I was just wadding through it to get to the end ....which I don't do. So I'm putting it down and off in search of a book I'll love.

Al is an interloper. He lives in wealthy people’s second houses when the owners are away, and it’s been mostly going very well. That is until he gets caught up with another group of interlopers and they break into the wrong house on the wrong night and find themselves in a whole world of trouble.

I’m not totally sure what I was expecting from this book, but what I got was both different and better. I liked Al and I especially liked his narrative style, speaking directly to the reader as he writes his story from prison. We know from the beginning that things aren’t going to work out too well for Al (he is in prison, after all) but the plot unfolds in an engaging and unpredictable way, which kept things entertaining despite already knowing the final outcome.

The tone is light and humorous throughout, though the plot does take some darker turns and the book is more ‘amateur detective’ than ‘cosy mystery’ – slightly chaotic and convoluted, but a lot of fun.

Al considers himself an interloper, not a burgler. Sure, he breaks into houses, and stays there while the owners are away, but he never steals anything and always tries to leave the property as if he had never been there. He's been doing it for years: it's a lot cheaper than renting a place to stay.

Now, Al is in prison. A Beginner’s Guide to Breaking and Entering is the story about the series of events that landed him here.

It's starts small, with an absent owner suddenly returning unexpectedly shortly after Al thought he was gone for an overseas trip. Al gets out, but leaves evidence. Oops. That's his first mistake.

What follows is a wild ride, alongside a group of other interlopers. Al's indignant: they are new to the game and lack his expertise. He's also not sure how much he can trust any of them. The group find themselves wanted for murder, and they scramble to solve the murder and clear their names.

It's a fun story. The characters are engaging, the pacing is nicely balanced and the dialogue is witty. Lots of tension, lots of laughs. It's a perfectly good caper, and it's not twee or silly (as books in this genre can be).

The story of Al, who lives as an interloper, breaking into and staying in other people's houses whilst they are away. The book starts with Al in prison, telling his story, so you know things have gone awry. After a couple of minor mistakes, Al finds himself with others living a similar live and making a bigger mistake - another property, a dead body, and lots of people after them.

An interesting and different approach to the crime/thriller, with good writing and pacing, good characters and development as Al loses his solitary existance and becomes ever more entwined. Good humour, laughs along with tension.

Alonsgide The Last Day, the author's best book so far with different styles and approaches in each title.

A book with a difference, quirky and original.
I enjoyed the style of the writing and the humour, the original storyline and the main character. I did find it a touch long winded at times though.

Fun, entertaining and engaging. This novel manages to do something different in a market that has fast become saturated, making it stand out in the crowd in my opinion. It was funny but also heartfelt at times. I enjoyed it!

3.5. This is a great tongue in cheek caper book if you’re looking for a summer read to take onto the beach or pool side.

‘Al’ (real name withheld) is a self-styled interloper - aka a squatter - with his own rules for leaving properties in the same condition they were found in. He operates alone, only opts for 2nd homes and doesn’t overstay his welcome. Until one day he meets up with other people doing something similar and things quickly unravel.

Daft, totally unbelievable and utterly divorced from any semblance of reality. It’s fun and undemanding.

With thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review

This is a really fun, enjoyable read about Al, (not his real name) who is an interloper, finding out when rich people’s homes are empty and moving in. He has a very strict set of rules to escape detection and always works alone. After a series of events going a bit wrong, the stakes are massively raised when Al meets a group of others doing the same thing, and they get caught up in a murder.
After this the newly formed gang decide that the best way to avoid arrest is to find the murderer themselves. There follows a madcap scenario involving estate agents, the police, a trip to Nevis, and a bit of romance along the way.
The writing is funny- Al is an excellent, witty narrator. The group escape some very tricky situations in some creative ways, and I did not identify the murderer until revealed.
Very enjoyable.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

What a fantastic, utterly unputdownable book - loveable quirky characters, fast-paced scurrilous plot, humorous turns of phrase galore…I wanted this story to go on forever!

Meet Al, a serial interloper - secretly residing in people’s homes when they’re on holiday.
He bumps into quite a few characters along the way and gets into a few bits of trouble, including a murder and money laundering.
It’s intriguing and quirky - not your classic whodunnit, keeps you guessing as to who is the mystery killer.
An unique read with a few tongue in cheek, laugh out loud moments
Thanks #andrewhuntermurray @hutchheinemann & @netgalley for the fun, well paced holiday read

Al is an interloper. He breaks into empty houses, high end usually and stays there. He never makes a mess, the owners never know he has been there and he gets a roof over his head.

One day he chooses the wrong house, at the right time and someone is murdered where he is staying along with 3 others. As they have left evidence of them being there, they decide to use their skills to solve the murder and clear their names. The story that follows, involves dodgy estate agents, solicitors, money laundering, family, friends. Will the new friends solve the murder and clear their names or end up deeper in trouble?

A whodunit with a difference. Al (not his real name), is an interloper, someone who occupies an empty house while the owner is at one of their other houses. Like an upmarket squatter, Why pay rent when you can have it for free?
One day he returns to a regular house to find someone else there. Em, Elle and Jonny also interlope and they persuade Al to join them in their latest house, an old vicarage in the country. But things don't go quite to plan and they find themselves on the run.
Al is meant to be writing down his version of events and the tone is as if he's just telling an after dinner story. It would be great to hear what happens next.

Such an engaging read! A clever concept and a fun romp throughout, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one!!
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Thank you to the publisher for the early copy of this!!

Absolutely loved this book.

Funny, pager turner.

It's not normally something I read but this caught my eye. Can't wait for more.

Al has an interesting alternative lifestyle. He lives off the grid as an interloper. He identifies luxury homes, ensures that the owners are absent and breaks in. He lives there in style and then moves on aiming to leave no trace of his presence. He lives his life by a series of rules that have kept him invisible until he makes a tiny mistake.

The title of this book intrigued me and the brief prologue sets the scene with Al in prison writing about his exploits. The prologue points out that Al is not dead and that his tale is going to be fun. Both points are true. There are several attempts on his life and his story is fun as he attempts to solve a murder and find missing millions before the authorities arrest him for the crimes.

This is a fast paced entertaining story with a great range of characters and good plot twists. Plenty of humour and intrigue and a satisfying ending.

Not knowing anything about breaking and entering, apart from what I’ve seen in television dramas, I thought this could be an educational read for me, even though I had no intention of taking the book’s advice. It’s a nice easy read and appears to be from the point of view of the original house entering criminal, but he quickly sides up with a small team who take similar action; they break into a house when they know someone is away and live there for a few weeks, months, until just before the owners return. This isn’t as simple and straightforward as it sounds and this excellent writer takes us through the good the bad and the ugly of being a house sitter, without the owner’s knowledge. The humour is often sarcastic, but it’s fun. You know, from the first chapter, that all is not going to go exactly to plan. None of the characters really appear to trust anyone else. Which stories are true and which are false? There will be complications and that’s when the interesting read really begins. I would recommend this as a nice easy read and without expecting it to be a non fiction book; it’s fiction as its best and I look forward to finding more titles by Andrew Hunter Murray.

Ah I really thought I’d love this book but sadly I just felt it dragged on.
I enjoyed some elements of the plot although I did get lost at times remembering who was who. There are a lot of characters and the two sisters are interchangeable, I could have used a character list.
The whole whodunnit element was well executed but the build up lost my attention. There were technical words I just don’t understand so my interest severely lacked halfway through.
I did like the narration and some of Al’s inner monologues were so witty and I particularly liked the notes on the current housing problems in the UK

Unfortunately I’ll probably forget I ever read this.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️💫

The blurb sounded interesting, but unfortunately the story did not live up to the hype.
Too slow, long winded and a bit daft, to be honest, I lost interest and DNF. Not for me, this one.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this title.

I initially requested this book because I liked the concept and the book definitely does live up to the blurb.
The plot itself is quite convoluted, it does feel like you're chasing your tail and going around in circles, slowly finding scraps of clues but they just don't feel important enough revelations. I will say I didn't solve the murder mystery but I didn't find the reveal very triumphant.
I think the main issue I had was the humour which I didn't get. The style of humour wasn't for me but I can see other people enjoying it and I think this is what the book relies upon.
I don't think the characters were very well developed, I didn't learn much about them at all because you don't know what they're lying about to protect their identities. However it meant that I wasn't very attached to them, but I did enjoy the impersonations, these I did find quite funny. There is also an unnecessary romance which I didn't particularly enjoy.
Overall I found this to be more chaotic than clever. This wasn't the book for me but I do think if you enjoy the humour and writing style of Andrew Hunter Murray you will like this main character, the interloping adventures and being amateur detectives.
⭐️⭐️ 2/5

Thank you to NetGalley, Cornerstone and Andrew Hunter Murray for the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy.

Review posted to Goodreads.