I picked The Couple At No.9 by Claire Douglas up off a free local library bookshelf and with that had little expectations however this had me hooked. It turned out to be one of those books when I got to the really good bit at 11pm and had to force myself to put the book down instead of finishing it in the early hours.

The story follows a young couple, Saffy and Tom, who have moved into a house they have essentially inherited from Rose (Saffy’s Gran) via Lorna (Saffy’s Mum) and them looking to do some renovation works to make the kitchen a bit bigger but it’s safe to say they don’t exactly go to plan. The builders scarper after giving the police a statement because they went and found not one but two dead bodies buried in the garden. The rest of the book follows adds a number of characters and their perspectives as they try to piece together bits of the past and how it involves them and people they love (and hate). 

It could easily have become a bit overwhelming with all the different perspectives but it didn’t thanks to the careful writing and ensuring that it continued to flow fantastically with a similar writing style for each person. Despite this you were still able to imagine the emotions and through process of each person we are seeing things through in that moment and it helped to provide a little connection to some of the characters; Not a huge amount of connection but certainly enough to tug at your heartstrings and leave your heart in your mouth at times.

The way it is written also helps us, as the reader, to start to put pieces together and have us guessing alongside the characters about what happened and the further into the book you get with additional pieces of information dripped it leaves you gasping and questioning all of your assumptions. I managed to put some of the pieces together early on but other things I was completely wrong about and I loved going on that little wild ride!

Absolutely deserving of a 5/5 star review and it has left me wanting to read more books by Claire Douglas.