Published June 18th, 2026 by Michael Joseph
Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller
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ABOUT THE BOOK:
In this family, some secrets are worth killing for…
‘Ingenious and chilling in equal measure‘ M.J. ARLIDGE
‘Backstabbingly brilliant with twist after twist’ JOHN MARRS
‘Relatable yet nerve-shredding… a master of the page-turning twist’ CHRIS CHIBNALL
The outstanding new psychological thriller from Mark Edwards, the 5 million copy-bestselling author of The Wasp Trap, Here to Stay and The Magpies
*****
Holly seems like the perfect girlfriend. Clever, funny, beautiful – Patrick feels like he’s hit the jackpot.
Until he meets her family.
Her dad has a mysterious new girlfriend. Her sister is unwelcoming. Her brother is clearly lying about something. And Patrick gets the sense all of them share a dark secret – even Holly.
When he finds out about the body that was found nearby on their last family holiday, Patrick sets out to find the truth.
But as skeletons tumble out of the family’s closet, Patrick realises he needs to be careful. Because in this family, loyalty is everything – and at least one of them is willing to kill to keep their secrets…
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MY REVIEW:
Mark Edwards never fails to deliver a tense, twisty and totally gripping thriller where terrible things happen to ordinary people, this time taking the everyday ‘meeting the parents’ situation and turning it into a nightmare. Because if you think your family has problems, then just wait until you meet the Grant family…
Patrick and Holly are on their way to Scotland to spend Hogmanay with her family. It’s the first time he’s met her family but the tension between them is evident from the moment they arrive. Not only that, Holly’s father, Charles, has a new and much younger girlfriend who is a bizarre doppelganger of his late wife, her brother, Lewis, is lying about something, and Patrick is sure that the whole family are hiding a dark secret. Then, Patrick learns about the body that was found nearby a year ago and sets out to discover what happened to him, truths are slowly revealed that seem to lead back to the Grant family. Patrick knows he must watch his back, because someone in this family is willing to kill to keep their secrets hidden…
I love a locked-room thriller, especially when people are trapped by a snow-storm. So this was right up my street. Add in that it’s written by one of my favourite thriller authors and you’ve got the perfect thriller. Expertly written, cleverly plotted and perfectly paced, there’s a dark, unnerving tension that permeates the pages and kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. And it’s not easy to predict, keeping me guessing until Mark made my jaw drop as the shocking truths were revealed.
I’ve seen this book described as Succession meets The Traitors and that is a perfect description. This family is backstabbing, dysfunctional and the perfect example of the adage “money doesn’t buy happiness”. This is a family teeming with secrets, lies and distrust. Patriarch Charles expects fierce loyalty but for Patrick their secrets are too terrible for him to agree to keep them, which puts him in danger. Other than Holly I didn’t like anyone in this family. They are all awful people who are only out for themselves and don’t care who gets hurt so long as they are protected but Mark writes them brilliantly, making their malice leap from the pages.
A nerve-shredding, first-class thriller, this is a must-read.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮.5
Thank you Michael Joseph for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest reivew.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Mark Edwards writes psychological thrillers about scary things happening to ordinary people. He has sold more than five million copies of his books and topped the bestseller lists numerous times since his first solo novel was published in 2013.
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Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxxx
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