YES! Claire Douglas does it again! This book was amazing!! A book with multiple POVs, twists, suspense and gripped me from the first page! I have read this in 24 hours as I just wanted to know how the stories were all linked and how it would end. I guessed 1 twist but the rest I had no idea! When this comes out, definitely buy it as you will not be disappointed

When Lena overhears a possibly sinister conversation between her new neighbours, she becomes obsessed with unravelling their secrets.

There is the mysterious baby grandson and daughter-in-law, late-night arguments, stories that don’t add up, and a general sense of unease that keeps building.

Do the new neighbours really have something to hide or is Lena becoming paranoid?

Another great thriller from Claire Douglas although part of the ending is a little tenuous.

Its always a bit nerve wracking when new neighbours move in but when the Morgans move in and Lena overhears a conversation that arouses suspicion all sorts of worries are raised. This book was additive and had enough twists to keep me interested all the way through. I also really enjoyed the ending which I didn't expect! Claire Douglas is a great writer and I look forward to reading more from her.

I enjoyed this read. It was a bit like an ogre, full of layers. The pacing kept me interested, and the revealing of each layer was well done.

It bordered on repetitive at times. Lena's constant narrative kept regurgitating similar things, and she largely kept just having the same conversations with other characters.

It was a good, solid read.

I couldn’t wait to start this book as I have loved all of Claire Douglas’s books and wow just wow it was fantastic.
New neighbours The Morgans move in next door to Lena and her son Rufus and soon begin to make Lena uncomfortable after she overhears a conversation between the couple. Who are the Morgans and what is really going on inside their house?
This book had me gripped and had so many twists and turns I was on the edge of my seat and read it in one sitting. The ending was fantastic and I loved how all the clues came together.
An amazing 5 star thriller I would 100 percent recommend.
Thanks to NetGalley, Claire Douglas and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for an advance copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

There are so many neighbour/house stories around at the moment, it’s almost a standalone genre! It’s difficult to find a new angle that will keep the reader hooked. Claire Douglas delivers in spades. Normal suburban street but nothing is as it seems. Lena, newly divorced, moves in with her son and overhears something with potential consequences. Is her interpretation of what she overheard correct? What shoukd she do? How far should she snoop to discover the truth? Lena, of course, has her own secrets to hide. How can she protect herself?

This is first class storytelling. Fast paced, plausible, and twists that you don’t see coming. Everything I want from a domestic psychological thriller, and then some. Just brilliant.

Another great read from Claire Douglas! Here we meet recently separated Lena who lives with her son Rufus. When a well to do retired couple move in next door, Lena overhears something that makes her think they may be up to no good.

She decides to go snooping despite her family and friends urging her to mind her own business. Throughout the book we get flashbacks to how the couple next door met and their developing relationship as well as Lenas short lived midwifery training 20 years prior. We also hear from Natalie who is on the run from something or someone and is sure she's being followed.

As a reader, we know something bad has happened, we just don't know what or who by. Is Lenas instincts right about her neighbours or has her life dilemmas (divorce, work woes, impending empty nest syndrome) making her paranoid?

A fast moving book, I devoured this in one day, thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Claire Douglas and Penguin books. Claire has done it again, this book was so good it was actually so stressful and had me on the edge of my seat. It follows Lena who over hears her new neighbours sounding suspicious- as the book develops, it is astounding how everything intertwines and what situation Lena finds herself in. I couldn’t put it down, definitely one of my favourite books written by Claire.

This is a very twisty but compelling thriller ,Lena is suspicious of her new neighbours after she over hears a strange conversation .There are lots of characters in this story but mostly it is told through Lena who seems a bit unhinged breaking into her neighbours house and defying the rules at work and being so obsessive .It is a good story ,fast paced with a satisfying ending .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC.

Oh wow this really had me GRIPPED! I was constantly trying to fit all the pieces together to work out what was happening but I didn’t predict it all as it was so twist and turny! I loved that there was a lot of things happening but everything still managed to be linked and fit together. The storyline was brilliant and I loved the characters. I think one of my favourite things about this story is that you can understand the motives and reasoning behind Lena’s actions. A lot of times in thriller stories when the main character makes questionable decisions they just seem so unbelievable but with Lena there’s multiple reasons that you can understand why she’s wanting to find out what’s happening so much and why she’s investing so much of her time into it, so I think it’s a brilliant part of the story and shows that there’s different layers of the characters which you get to know which is always a plus for me. I like the dual timeline, it didn’t get confusing at all and you learnt more about the story throughout so that worked really well. I just thought the whole story worked brilliantly. The pace was perfect, there was always parts of the story that were unraveling and I was worried the ending was going to be rushed but if absolutely wasn’t. I have absolutely no negatives about it. Thoroughly enjoyed and I flew through it because I was completely gripped from the first page.

This new book from Claire Douglas absolutely ticks all the boxes for everything you’d want from a psychological thriller! Lots of interwoven mysteries between characters and timelines, soooooo suspenseful and tense - a perfect piece of escapism!

When new neighbours move in next door to Lena, at first they seem like a lovely harmless couple. Henry and Marielle are perfectly polite and in their late 60s - surely they will be no problem. But then when evening, Lena overhears a very strange conversation between them that sounds like they’re planning something illegal. Could they be planning to kidnap someone?

Meanwhile, we get flashbacks from Henry to when he first met Marianne, and flashbacks to Lena’s time training as a midwife at age 19, when she discovered something going on at the hospital that made her decide to quit the profession. And we meet Natalie - a woman on the run, who thinks she’s being followed…

Ooh there was so much to muse about and try to figure out how all these parts fitted together! Extremely gripping and fast-paced. It was a little far-fetched, but I didn’t mind too much because it was just such an enjoyable read!

Lena lives with her teenage son following the breakdown of her marriage when a new couple move into the recently renovated house next door. All seems well until Lena overhears a conversation suggesting that things are not as they seem. Claire Douglas is one of my favourite authors and I always enjoy short chapters and books with characters told from multiple perspectives. Lena is pretty annoying and I just wanted to shake her and tell her to go to the police! This new story did not disappoint and I whizzed through it in a couple of days.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.

Lena has new neighbours. When she accidently records their suspicious sounding conversation she is immediately concerned. Despite warnings from friends and family she tries to get to the bottom of it.

This book itells the story from present day, but also goes back to the past where we hear from a couple of characters. I liked the slow reveal of the back story and how it related to current day. The big reveal wasn’t what I had suspected upon reading the blurb and requesting this book. Not in a bad way though. A good read.

As ever! An excellent read from this author. Great plot and gripping too. Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book. Will look forward to more from this author.

The New Neighbours by Claire Douglas ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Absolutely loved this book. Couldn’t stop reading and had me holding my breath at times. Lena has new neighbours move in next door and from the minute she meets them she can tell everything is not as it seems. Highly Highly recommend. Published on 13th March 2025. Thank you to Penguin & Netgalley for an advance copy.

A twisted plot with two timelines.
The before sets the background and the present is the set of events that makes sense of the past.
Marriage broken and son about to leave home for university, empty nest and the prospect of having to sell the family home leaves Lena in an emotional state.
New neighbours, older couple but actions don't match the words makes for questions.
A very different and brilliant plot

First of all, I would just like to thank NetGalley, Claire Douglas and Michael Joseph for an ARC of “The New Neighbours” in exchange for an honest review.

The writing felt a lot more expository in this book than in her others, and I found that quite frustrating at times. Things were repeated or over-explained when they didn’t need to be- not really leaving much for the reader to figure out on their own.

The story itself was good, but it felt a lot more like a family drama than a thriller. I think part of that is because the story isn’t centred around a murder that takes place in the main cast of characters (as it usually is in her books).

The pacing slowed down a fair bit in the middle and I just found myself continually wishing it would pick up again.

I think, and this is just my opinion, but this novel was also a lot more far-fetched than her others. Would someone really break into their neighbours’ house just because they heard a snippet of an out-of-context conversation? I just found that very hard to believe, and therefore, hard to justify.

I still enjoyed it, just not as much as I usually do with Claire’s books. As one of my favourite authors, I just expected a bit more, I think. I also don’t think it helped that I guessed the twist- which I have never been able to do before in a Claire Douglas book.

However, I definitely still recommend it to lovers of the genre. Just bear in mind that this is no crime thriller, and it can slow down considerably in places.

The Morgans, a well respected older couple, move in next door to Lena and her son Rufus. One day she overhears a private conversation between them and becomes convinced they are planning a crime. Soon she lets obsession take over, needing to find out exactly what they are up to.

As soon as I saw Claire Douglas had a new book out I knew I had to move it straight to the top of my TBR list, she never disappoints. This was another excellent, twisted psychological thriller, which had me glued to the pages needing to find out what would happen next. Although this started as a bit of a slow burn, it soon speeds up with lots of tension and suspense.

The author always does a great job in building strong character driven novels. I enjoyed all of the characters in this story, picking up on their personalities and never knowing who to trust. The dual time line worked well in building the story and setting the clues. I loved how the plot came cleverly together and all the little twists and turns. The ending was also strong and satisfying.

This was another brilliant thriller by this author that I will most certainly recommend. I can’t wait for the next one! 4.5 stars. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

Lena is a newly separated mum living in Bristol with her son Rufus Her new neighbours seem nice. Henry is a retired surgeon and Marielle, a socialite, in short,a respectable couple.

One evening,whilst recording sounds for Rufus's Film Studies course, she accidentally records her neighbours arguing about a seemingly criminal activity.

Or is it?

Her curiousity leads her to investigate and her present collides with her past in a dramatic way.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph Publishing for the chance to read and review this book

Lena - newly separated from her husband, mother of a teenage son - finds her life becoming more complicated than ever thanks to - you've guessed it - the new neighbours. Retired couple Henry and Marielle Morgan - formerly a surgeon and a university lecturer - seem respectable enough, but a fragment of overheard conversation sets Lena wondering, and she's soon in far deeper than would be strictly advisable.

Meanwhile, a client of Lena's at Citizens Advice is worried about his missing sister - could there be a connection to the Morgans? And why did Lena really give up her midwifery career without even completing her training?

I've really enjoyed some Claire Douglas books, but this was just okay. The resolution to the plot was unlikely and none of the characters quite engaged me. That said, it was well plotted and unpredictable, with several red herrings along the way.

Thanks for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy!