A Tidy Ending
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3.7 • 9 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
‘Devastating, deceptive and darkly funny’ SARAH WINMAN
‘It had me holding my breath!’ MARIAN KEYES
’I loved this novel. It was perfection. Highly recommend’ CECELIA AHERN
‘A stupendous novel… complicated, dark, funny and very human’ FERN BRITTON
MEET LINDA.
Linda lives a nice, normal life, on a nice, normal street with Terry, her perfectly ordinary husband.
Linda’s not like everyone else, she keeps herself to herself. But she’s good at solving puzzles and there are times she sees things other people might have overlooked.
Because nothing on Cavendish Avenue is quite as it seems. People have started to go missing in the neighbourhood and Linda will soon discover that some secrets can’t stay buried forever…
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‘Genuinely haunting’ THE TIMES, Thrillers of the Year
‘A curtain-twitching, darkly funny tale with a gloriously sinister twist’ OBSERVER
‘Joanna Cannon creates a world that is so real, so parochial and stifling… Then adds in a killer. Glorious’ JANE FALLON
‘Not just a twist-laden mystery, but a keenly observed slice of life. Her best yet’ CLARE MACKINTOSH
‘A darkly funny and delightfully sinister read’ MAIL ON SUNDAY
‘Compelling… combines pathos with lovely flashes of humour and a wholly unexpected ending’ GUARDIAN
‘Jo’s writing is as delicate and precise as tapestry and Linda is a character you’ll never forget’ JILL MANSELL
Readers are LOVING this book:
‘Outstanding’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Unforgettable’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Wonderfully complex’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Fabulously quirky’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘I couldn’t get Linda out of my head’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Left me reeling’ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
‘So shocked’ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
‘I was completely wrong-footed’ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
‘Jaw-dropping twists’ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
About the author
Joanna Cannon’s first two novels, The Trouble with Goats and Sheep and Three Things about Elsie, were both Sunday Times bestsellers and Richard and Judy picks. She worked as a hospital doctor before specialising in psychiatry, and lives in the Peak District with her family and her dog.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A Tidy Ending is not your average murder mystery. And though there are plenty of clues throughout to keep you guessing along, the book retains its ability to surprise right to very the end. As woman after woman is found dead, the story unravels in the voice of Linda Hammett, who lives with her inattentive husband, Terry. Her mother, with whom she moved to the area after a series of shocking events in her childhood, is never far away. This singular narrator shares gossip, discontents, and her burgeoning obsession with the life of Rebecca, the seemingly ultra-glamorous previous occupant of the house Linda and Terry now call home, whose existence appears entirely unlike Linda’s own prosaic life. It is a novel full of humour, with wry observations about life in a small community, as well as plenty of intrigue.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Linda Hammett, the unreliable narrator of this sublimely structured and darkly witty novel from British author Cannon (Three Things About Elsie), works in a charity shop and has recently moved with her husband, Terry, to an English housing estate. The flower beds are a tiny bit wider, and "Terry had more room to park his filthy van," but they "still lived the same life." That is, until the clothing catalog filled with elegant models and addressed to Rebecca Finch, the house's former occupant, arrives. With Terry working odd hours when he's not glued to the telly, Linda begins to daydream about the life she imagines for Rebecca. If only she could locate Rebecca, Linda is sure they could become friends. Then a young woman is found strangled, and the estate is abuzz with suspicion: someone local must be responsible. Linda's search for her new potential friend runs parallel to the police investigation. The author does a superb job misdirecting the reader as Linda seems to misinterpret the motives of those around her. Through Linda's voice, even a trip to the mall becomes fascinating and wryly amusing, and the multilayered plot offers genuine surprises up to the final revelation. Cannon has raised her game with this one.
Customer Reviews
A long and winding tale.
You think you know what is going to happen, then you think it couldn’t, and then, well it’s a clever story