Look in the Mirror
the addictive, heart-pounding thriller from the author of Something in the Water
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4.2 • 91 Ratings
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- £5.49
Publisher Description
'Addictive, thrilling, intoxicating' LISA JEWELL
'An utter white-knuckle ride of a plot' LUCY FOLEY
'A must-read' SARAH PEARSE
In this paradise you won't like what you see . . .
When Nina's father dies, she inherits a gleaming dream vacation home in a balmy tropical paradise - one she had no idea existed. The house is extraordinary: state-of-the-art, all glass and marble. How did her sensible father ever have enough money for this? And why not tell her about it? Desperate to uncover why he hid such a big secret, she decides to visit.
Maria, once an ambitious medical student, is now a nanny for the super-rich. The money's better, and so are the destinations - like this new assignment in the British Virgin Islands. But when her wards never show, Maria begins to make herself at home, spending her days luxuriating by the pool. There's just one rule: Don't go in the basement. But her curiosity might just get the better of her. And soon, she'll wish her only worry was not getting paid.
As both women's timelines intertwine, dark secrets start to unravel and one thing quickly becomes clear - nothing could have prepared them for what they are about to encounter.
'Sinister, stylish and shocking' CHRIS WHITAKER
'It will leave you breathless' JANE FALLON
'A seductive, expertly plotted page-turner' LOUISE CANDLISH
'An utter white-knuckle ride of a plot' LUCY FOLEY
'Smart and spinge-tingling' HARRIET WALKER
'Engaging, twisty and highly original' PETER JAMES
'Utterly compelling, twisted and original' LUCY CLARKE
'An astonishing adrenaline rush of a novel' DANIELLE TRUSSONI
'Addictive, thrilling, intoxicating' LISA JEWELL
READERS LOVE CATHERINE STEADMAN
***** 'Love, love, love this book'
***** 'Can't wait for her next one' 5* reader review
***** 'Literally couldn't put it down' 5* reader review
***** 'Absolutely gripping' 5* reader review
***** 'So many twists and turns' 5* reader review
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Imagine the scenario. Your father passes away, and leaves you a stunning British Virgin Islands mansion overlooking a private beach—one you knew nothing about. That’s the situation Something in the Water author Catherine Steadman places British academic Nina Hepworth in—and takes great pleasure in unspooling a deliciously twisty thriller as the house proves itself too good to be true. It’s not just Nina’s plight we’re concerned with here, too. Steadman takes us back to the recent past to introduce us to Maria, a young nanny hired for work at the house. Both find themselves embroiled in Caribbean nightmares as the secrets of Nina’s father begin revealing themselves, and the greatest pleasure here comes from the link between the two women finally revealing itself.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A British academic receives a shock from beyond the grave in Steadman's propulsive but ultimately disappointing latest (after The Family Game). Nina Hepworth, 34, teaches literature at Cambridge and has lived most of her life in the shadow of her brilliant mathematician father, John. After John dies of natural causes, Nina learns that he owned a piece of prime real estate in the British Virgin Islands, which he's left to her. Stunned, she flies to the Caribbean to inspect the premises, a glass-and-steel mansion overlooking a private beach. Soon, however, Nina's elation is tempered by her discovery that the house is rigged with all sorts of unsettling surveillance technology, prompting questions about what her father was up to. In a parallel story line set in the recent past, a young nanny named Maria takes a live-in gig at the same house, only to be ghosted by the people who hired her. She happily sticks around, but before long, she begins to suspect that she's being watched. Toggling back and forth in time, Steadman briskly builds toward the bloody revelation linking Nina's and Maria's stories. Unfortunately, it's an implausible letdown. This fails to stick the landing.
Customer Reviews
🎼Accentuate the positive …
Aged 84, was actually afraid that my very healthy heart might give out, so tense was I.
By contrast, annoyed minimally by author’s occasional use of a few somewhat hackneyed phrases, thus reducing my (snooty !) esteem.
Juliet Widdowson
Rustington, W.Sussex
Excellent
A very different thriller to the norm
Was it a dream?
Things made sense from the start. And even not wishing to follow a linear structure, I got to a point where I was guessing. Towards the last part I was completely lost. Mainly it was the jumping between action in an unusual setting and references which made me think about dreaming which got me completely lost. I wasn’t in the story at all.