The House of Mirrors

Erin Kelly does it again! An auto-buy/request author for me, and an absolute thriller powerhouse if I may. I couldn’t believe it when I realised I hadn’t read The Poison Tree, but wanted to when I realised this was a bit of a sequel (although it can be read as a standalone although much more enjoyable if you’ve recently read The Poison Tree in my view!). Well what a treat for me getting to read that, followed by The House of Mirrors.

This one picks up when Alice is all grown up, owning a vintage clothes shop in London, supported by her adoring parents, Karen and Rex. Alice starts to receive strange notes, calls, and visits to the shop, and instantly thinks what they all (well nearly all) think when anything kooky is going on - BIBA.

Genuinely, I did not see a lot of the twists coming and oh they kept on coming! I couldn’t put it down, gasped out loud a few times, and the very last part of the book OMG!

An easy five stars from me. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review.

What a fabulous unpredictable read this was. Sophisticated psychological thrillers with realistic, unlikeable characters are what Erin Kelly excels at. I had no idea this novel was a sequel - this was revealed in the afterword and didn't say what it was a sequel to! - but from other reviews I found out that it follows The Poison Tree, the author's debut. I read that in 2016 but although I remember enjoying the book, none of its details lodged in my mind. The House of Mirrors therefore works perfectly well as a standalone. Set mostly in London and Suffolk, it's a suspenseful tale of family and dark secrets, with interesting ventures into vintage designer fashion and eco-warriors. Some of it is narrated by Karen Clarke, a cautious middle-aged woman who is hiding something, while the story is also told by her headstrong daughter Alice, who is starting to question the truth of the events which led to her father being imprisoned and her aunt going missing. I thought the epilogue twist was great. I've read nearly all of Erin Kelly's thrillers and I think this is one of the best.

[Review to be posted on my blog, 14th March]

This is one of the best books I've read so far this year. I hadn't read The Poison Tree so I read that first and I was glad I did as I was completely invested in all the characters in this book. I felt the author did a magnificent job showing the now adult Karen and why she the person she is today. All the characters were very realistic in their actions and reactions and I absolutely love how all the threads came together. I really enjoyed the different narrative voices as well. The plot itself kept me engrossed, with no idea how it would all end. Or perhaps not end! A really great read.

The Poison Tree is one of my favourite books of recent years, so I was thrilled to see a follow up from Erin Kelly on NetGalley.. I don’t think there are enough superlatives to describe how good this book is. Rex and Karen are living a quiet life after his release from prison. Their daughteR Alice has just set up her own business selling vintage clothing and is blissfully ignorant of the existence of her Aunt Biba and much of her parents’ histor.y, until fate intervenes…
An amazing book. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC copy and the opportunity to read it.