The book is full of twists and turns that keep the reader engaged and intrigued. The story is told from the perspectives of the main protagonists and is cleverly done with interspersed fairy tale themes. The book is a thrilling blend of mystery, suspense, and family drama that will keep you hooked until the very end. I wasn’t that keen on the complete fairy tales at the end as to me the story was already finished. Even so it’s a solid 4 stars

This drew me in from the first page. The writing style makes it an easy and enjoyable read.
However, the retelling of the story from different perspectives affected the pace and felt quite repetitive at times, with few new insights provided to move the narrative forward.
It’s a good ending, I felt it completed the story.
Thank you Cornerstone for the arc.

What a lovely story. I enjoyed unraveling the mystery of who killed Ben's mother. Loved the characters and the ending proved to be very satisfying.

3.5 rounded down

In August 1993, Kirsty Swarbrick’s car breaks down on the motorway and she leaves her seven-year-old son Ben in the car while she seeks help. That is the last time that Ben sees his mother as she is murdered in nearby woods as he waits, her killer is never found. In the present day, Ben is now happily married to Rebecca after a whirlwind romance. On the surface, Ben seems to be coping with his tragic past, but he has recurring nightmares. When Rebecca gets a commission helping with the restoration of Marchboys House, once a glorious Georgian mansion, owner wealthy businessman, Pieter Blake starts asking questions about Ben and Kirsty. Is it possible that after all this time that the past can be laid to rest? The story is told via several points of view.

I really like the premise of the novel and I feel sure that Kirsty is murder could be based on fact, perhaps that of Marie Wilkes in 1988? The authors representation of Ben and how he copes is done well and he is a likeable character, as is Rebecca. There are some strange characters, odd, maybe even alarming relationships, especially between Kirsty and her parents and some situations that raise all kinds of questions. I puzzle over Pieter’s interest and Rebecca is certainly curious about him which changes to unease. The mystery of Kirsty‘s death is intriguing and that seems to deepen and the waters get murkier and murkier. There are some fortuitous finds, growing suspicions and a lot of two and two making five.

There’s an ever present Grimm’s fairytale element which starts with Kirsty’s murder and is reinforced by the work that Rebecca is doing at Marchboys. It gives a sense of unreality to the storytelling and a nightmare element with the past like a presence you cannot see. Although I really do enjoy the fairytale approach it is perhaps slightly overdone but is a balance between good and evil.

However, the book is slow at times, especially in the first half and the different perspectives adds to the pacing issue because there’s a lot of repetition which is unnecessary. Eventually, one point of view does advance the story, which is both interesting and revealing. The novel gets better and better the deeper we go into it and I find myself drawn into and invested in Ben story. Although I have my suspicions over the outcome which does prove correct, the ending is a good one and very satisfying.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK, Cornerstone, for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

This book was a great read, it had me full of questions and kept me reading until I knew the answers, recommended.

#TheHouseAtTheEdgeOfTheWoods #NetGalley
Breathtaking.
When Ben was seven, his mother was murdered in the woods while he waited for her in their car. The case made the front pages, but her killer was never found. Thirty years later, Ben has a safe, grown-up life: a job, a ramshackle cottage and, most importantly, a happy marriage to Rebecca. His mother has receded to the corners of his mind, lingering only in the nightmares that won't quite go away.Then Rebecca takes on a new job, painting a fairy-tale fresco for a wealthy businessman who starts asking questions about Ben's mother Is it time for the truth to come out - and for Ben to face the questions he's never dared ask before?
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK Cornerstone Century for giving me an advance copy.

I mostly enjoyed this.... the whirlwind romance of our main characters had me charmed from the start, and Ben was someone I could not help but to like a lot.
There was mystery aplenty... what did happen to Ben's mum, or rather , who happened.
I wasn't so sure about the multiple point of view, it went over too much of the same ground without too much new for my liking.
The unravelling of the story worked well though, and I was fully satisfied by the end.

Memory is far from immutable and people don't always realise that what they remember may not be accurate. Sometimes we rewrite memories to get past our own discomfort, or to make things look the way that that we would want them to be. At other times, we hide away from truths that are too painful to confront.

Ben has experienced childhood trauma which involved a horrific incident. His mother was murdered in the woods when he was waiting in the car, at the age of only seven, for her to return. And her killer was never caught, which means that Ben could never get the answers or the closure he needed to move on with his life.

Yet, to all intents and purposes, it looks as if he has done precisely that - happily married to Rebecca and seemingly satisfied with his safe, secure job as a plumber, and their small, isolated home.

The thing is, while people may die, the past itself rarely does. It lives on in each one of us, and its legacy lives on in our descendants.

So when Rebecca's enigmatic new employer Pieter - who has hired her to paint the ceiling with a fairy tale mural (even if he seems decidedly *not* the fairy tale type! Perhaps he's influenced by his daughter Emily?) starts asking questions about Ben's mother, things go awry quite quickly. After all, why would he want to know? Is it some form of ghoulish curiosity, or does he know something more about what really happened...?

This reminded me of a case in the UK where a woman's toddler son was left alive after she was brutally murdered on the side of the highway after her car broke down well before the era of mobile phones. That story has haunted me ever since.

The book has an intriguing premise and some thoughtful storytelling. The reader is quickly drawn in, and the writing style makes for an easy read. It gets 3.5 stars.