Do Not Disturb
A Novel
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3.6 • 5 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
From
the award-winning author of The Sisters, Local Girl Missing and Last
Seen Alive, comes a taut psychological thriller in
which family secrets and hidden pasts build to a violent climax in a
guesthouse among the idyllic Welsh mountains.
Following a traumatic event in London, Kirsty Woodhouse packs up her
family and moves back to her native Wales. There she sets up her new home
with her husband and two young daughters, and goes into business with her difficult
mother managing a guesthouse in the Brecon Beacons.
But
when the guesthouse is ready to be occupied, Kirsty encounters the last
person she ever expected to see: her estranged cousin Selena. It has been
seventeen years since they last talked—when Selena tore everything apart
between them.
Why
has she chosen now to walk back into Kirsty's life? Is Selena running from
something too? Or is there an even darker reason for her visit?
As
Kirsty becomes increasingly concerned for the safety of her daughters, her
dream home begins to feel like her worst nightmare.
Kirsty
knows that once you invite trouble into your home, it can be murder
getting rid of it . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The decision of Kirsty Whitehouse and her troubled husband, Adrian, to move with their two school-age daughters from London to Hywelphilly, Wales, has fatal consequences in this disappointing thriller from British author Douglas (Last Seen Alive). Kirsty hopes that converting their new home, the Old Rectory, into a guest house will bring a fresh start following Adrian's recent suicide attempt. But renovation of the Old Rectory costs more and takes longer than expected, even with the financial help of Kirsty's controlling mother, Carol Hughes, who will also live there. The guest house has barely opened when items are mysteriously moved and a small noose is hung in the hallway, an apparent allusion to Adrian's suicide attempt. The tension rises after Kirsty's estranged cousin, Selena Perry, and other relatives come to stay at Carol's invitation. The early-morning discovery of a body doesn't help business. The low-boil action, which focuses on Kirsty's anxieties, including being overwhelmed by the work required to run a guest house, offers little suspense. Two twists at the finale compensate only in part for the clich -ridden plot and irritating characters. Douglas has done better.
