This book crept under my skin and captivated my heart and soul.
Each chapter is by a different character, mainly concentrating on mother and daughter, Karen and Alice. The story jumps between the late 90s and present day, from a violent double murder to the mystery of notes and phone calls to Alice's vintage clothes shop.
How does it all connect? How many deadly secrets are people keeping and how far will they go to to keep their secrets within them?

Found this quite a difficult book to get into and it wasn't helped by the fact that I couldn't feel empathy with any of the characters. Usually live Erin's books bit sadly this one didn't quite hit the mark for me.

A real mix of a book blending family drama , mystery and psychological thriller in to one enthralling story. It revisits characters first encountered in The Poison Tree. There are family secrets that are the backbone of the plot. There are twists and turns to keep you following the captivating book

I usually like this author’s books but this one was not my cup of tea. A bit of a slow burner. I definitely didn’t like the gothic element. Not enough of suspense to keep me interested. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

The House of Mirrors by Erin Kelly
This story relates to the characters who we first met in The Poison Tree. This can be read as a standalone but obviously would interest those people who read and enjoyed The Poison Tree.
Karen and Rex’s daughter, Alice, is opening a vintage dress shop but she has to be careful not to reveal who she is as her father has been in prison for murder and her family do not want his pseudonym or his past revealed. As information is leaked out to the reader it is obvious that even Rex is not aware of exactly what happened on “The Night of …” as they refer to the events of 1997. It is a family of secrets and then Alice starts receiving visits at the shop from a strange woman and then there are phone calls and notes.
The story is mostly told from the viewpoint of Alice and her mother and it seems as if Karen is not very keen on Alice’s choice of life partner but we do not know why she is so set against him. Alice is trying to uncover the truth about her past without her parents finding out and Karen’s story is revealed as the plot develops. The characters are not very likeable but there is twist after twist to negotiate as we finally become aware of what happened on that fateful day and in the years following leading up to a shocking ending.
It was a quick and engaging read and I will recommend it to those fans of this genre. Many thanks to Erin Kelly, Hodder and Stoughton and Net Galley for the opportunity to read the book in return for an honest review.

I'd heard good things about Erin Kelly books, however this seemed slow and sometimes hard to remember who was who. Nothing really endeared me to any of the characters and I felt nothing really at the end, other than perhaps confusion.

It was pleasant enough but I couldn’t get totally behind it. I get why people like it but not for me

I read this book after the publication date.
The House of Mirrors is a sophisticated psychological thriller that continues the story from Erin Kelly's last novel, The Poison Tree. This book explores themes of family secrets, murder, and the lengths people will go to protect their loved ones. I had mixed feelings about the characters in The Poison Tree and enjoyed this sequel more.

The story is now set in London and Suffolk and follows Karen Clarke, her husband Rex, and their daughter Alice. Karen has kept the events of the summer of 1997, which led to Rex's imprisonment and the disappearance of Biba, hidden deep inside her. Alice, who runs a vintage clothing company, starts receiving anonymous notes that threaten to unravel the family's carefully kept secrets

Erin Kelly excels at creating complex characters and a suspenseful narrative. The dual perspectives of Karen and Alice add depth to the story, allowing readers to see the impact of past events on both generations. The novel's pacing is well-balanced, with tension building steadily towards a gripping climax. Kelly's exploration of themes such as loyalty, guilt, and the consequences of past actions is both thought-provoking and engaging

I found The House of Mirrors to be an unpredictable and compelling read. The characters are more realistic this time around and of course still very flawed, making their struggles and secrets feel authentic. Kelly's writing style is evocative, and she skillfully weaves together the past and present. The twists and turns kept me hooked, and the epilogue provided a satisfying conclusion

The House of Mirrors is a solid psychological thriller that will appeal to fans of the genre. Erin Kelly's ability to create a suspenseful and emotionally charged narrative makes this novel a must-read. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a gripping and atmospheric story.

A perfect follow up to The Poison Tree, The House of Mirrors picks up 10 years later as Alice is leaving home to set up a new business. Told in the voices of Alice, Karen & Biba we learn more of the past while new mysteries are revealed.

Highly recommend read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read The House of Mirrors.

Years have passed since the sweltering summer of 1997 - the summer Karen Clarke fell under the thrall of beautiful, captivating Biba Capel; the summer she fell in love with Biba's brother, Rex, and the summer which ended with two men dead and one in prison.

Alice, Karen and Rex's daughter, is now older than her parents were in 1997, and opening her own vintage clothing boutique in North London, thanks to a not insignificant investment from Rex and Karen. 'The things we do for Alice,' they remark ruefully. But Alice doesn't know the half of it. She remembers visiting her father in prison when she was a child, and she's well versed in her parents' version of events - that Rex is a good man who did a bad thing. But there are some details that Rex and Karen have kept hidden, secrets buried so deep that they should never see the light of day. And then the phone calls start, an anonymous note is delivered to Alice's shop, and a strange, yet familiar, woman appears.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'll note that I actually read The House of Mirrors before The Poison Tree, not realising that it was a sequel to Erin Kelly's 2010 debut until I had finished it. This new installment certainly functions as a standalone novel, with plenty of time dedicated to flashbacks to 1997 and the summer of Karen, Rex and Biba. For readers who are unfamiliar with The Poison Tree (or who read it so long ago that they have forgotten much of it), this is essential; those who read the two books back-to-back would likely find the retread frustrating. Having now read both books, at times it even feels like it's been a while since Kelly read her own book: all of the major 1997 plot points are played as big reveals, yet they were already established in the first book. This means that, whichever order you read the two books in, you are in for some clever twists and turns which are then underwhelming the second time around.

The main parallels between the two books - aside from the characters - are the mystery elements and the setting. The summer of 2022 serves as a mirror to the sweltering days of 1997, and the author uses pathetic fallacy adeptly. We feel the tension and intrigue building alongside the climbing temperatures, and we sense that we are building to a dramatic climax in the way that the close, sticky air of a heatwave must ultimately be broken by a storm or cold front. In terms of the new mysteries, there are plenty to keep the reader engaged: Who is The Woman? Is it her who has been trying to contact Alice? Is Karen right to distrust Alice's partner, Gabe? Everyone is keeping secrets from each other and, should they come out, things will never be the same again for any of them.

Alice replaces Karen as the main protagonist of this book, and I enjoyed her as a character. The vintage shop was a nice tie-in to Biba and I liked how Kelly opened each of Alice's chapters with an Instagram-style #ootd run-down; it was great attention to detail and really helped establish Alice as a distinct character. I also thought that Kelly used her to create some clever misdirection, playing on the reader's likely assumptions from her own inner monologue and her interactions with other characters.

Unlike in The Poison Tree, we get to hear Biba's perspective. In that book, Biba was at once the most interesting character and the most unlikeable, and having the opportunity to account for herself does nothing to redeem her. Rex continues to be something of a non-entity, and it was a shame not to see more of the impact losing Biba had on him, having seen how devoted he was to her - and how responsible he felt for her - in the first book.

Some of the plot twists are predictable but plenty were completely unexpected. There was lots to keep the reader guessing and I found the switching between Alice and Karen's POVs worked better than the two Karen timelines of the first book. The ending, I thought, was perfectly pitched.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A sequel to The Poison Tree which to be honest wasn't one of my favourite reads. I started this with a bit of a dread expecting it to take some getting into like the last one, but wow I was hooked from the start! Well paced and written from different POV's I just loved this book and couldn't believe it was written by the same author. So much better with lots of twists and turns.

More than twenty years after the summer of 1997 and Karen and Rex (who's now changed his surname to Clarke) are still together, and Alice has grown up and opened a vintage clothes shop in London. However, just as she prepares to open the shop to the public, a verbal slip up by Rex, referring to The Night Of, has Alice questioning what happened in 1997, and if the official events are true. To make matters worse for Karen, Alice's new boyfriend Gabe, who Karen neither likes nor trusts, has managed to become involved in Alice's secret investigation. And then there's Biba, who still has the power to surprise all these years later. But what will Alice uncover, who will survive, and will Karen's secrets be exposed?

I'm so glad The Poison Tree got a sequel, although this can easily be read as a standalone. This time the narrative is mostly shared in the first person by Karen and her daughter Alice, but we finally get to hear Biba's story, and to meet newcomer Liss. Again we have drama, tension, and Karen's ever-increasing paranoia as her distrust of Gabe grows and she learns of Alice's investigation into the past. After all this time, not even Rex knows the whole truth. But this time around Alice, Gabe and even Biba have secrets of their own, and one's which can change everything. This is tense, fast-paced, absorbing, enjoyable, and I suspect it will stay with me for as long as the first book did.

Another page-turning, 5 star read from Erin Kelly. This book is a sequel to the poison tree, so make sure to read that first. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance reader copy

This is a twisting, turning, psychological thriller I just did not want to put down.
Hard to do a synopsis without plot spoilers, so will just recommend it to anyone who loves the kind of crime thriller that keeps you guessing and wondering all the way through.
Believable characters, very pacy prose and a very satisfying read. I can see this working as a great television drama series.
Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for an advance review copy of this novel.

A great and interesting story which I was very impressed with. Cleverly written I read this very quickly. A new author for me which I always love. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I didn’t realise until 70% way through the book I was actually reading the sequel! Not that it mattered as the book stands well as a stand alone. I’ll have to read the other now too. The book follows the story of a married couple Rex and Karen who are settling their daughter into her new business selling vintage clothing in her shop Dead Girls Dresses. We learn that in 1997 it was “The Night Of” when her father shot his sister’s boyfriend and neighbour. The Capel family seemed beset by tragedy. Rex’s mother a famous actress and model had taken her own life and his sister had been declared dead after committing suicide. The book follows the multiple secrets that each person in this family has, each with the ability to implode the family and the lengths they will go to to keep those secrets buried.

I absolutely loved this book. The writing literally kept off the page with gothic twists and turns. The characters were flawed, full and in turns unlikeable. I was completely invested in what happened next. First but definitely not the last book I’ll read by this author.

I purchased a copy but it felt like there was just something missing to make the characters relatable. Good read but not for me unfortunately.

Wow! I was totally gripped by this unusual & original story. The characters had depth & I so wanted to find the ‘Dead Girl’s Clothes’ shop. There were little twists & turns constantly & it was a very interesting take on family loyalties & connections as well as a kind of murder mystery. You need to read it!!

I love Erin Kelly.!! This was absolutely addictive

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review

This book was so addictive! Amazing sequel to The Poison Tree that I didn't know I needed!
Great crime/mystery that I think will really hit home with a lot of people.