Those People

April 1, 2019
British author Candlish follows her well-received debut, 2018’s Our House, with a cannily plotted if disappointing domestic thriller. After moving into 1 Lowland Way in South London, in-your-face auto mechanic Darren Booth and his equally pugnacious romantic partner, Jodie, create a dusty, noisy, rubble-strewn eyesore with their DIY renovation. The unrelenting stress and nocturnally blasted heavy metal music quickly take a toll up and down the street, especially on a couple who, with their six-month-old son, live on the other side of a shared wall, as well as on an elderly divorced woman dependent on B & B income to make ends meet. Tempers flare, hostilities escalate, and formerly upstanding residents start to entertain murderous fantasies. Then there’s a fatal scaffolding collapse. Only it’s not Booth who’s killed. Though Candlish skillfully juggles multiple narrators and frequent flashbacks to maximize suspense, the book’s first half, before the plot grenades detonate in earnest, may frustrate readers expecting more action. Hopefully, she’ll return to form next time. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents/ICM Partners.

April 1, 2019
An upscale London neighborhood becomes the setting for escalating class warfare in Candlish's (Our House, 2018, etc.) acidly funny and disturbing novel of domestic suspense. With a structure reminiscent of Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies, Candlish's latest opens with a teaser about the horrific, unexpected death of an unidentified character and then backtracks eight weeks to examine the events that precipitated that death on a quiet little block of Lowland Way. Here live upwardly mobile Ralph and his take-charge wife, Naomi, Ralph's slightly less successful brother, Finn, and his reticent wife, Tess, stressed young parents Ant and Em, and determined Sissy, who has turned her home into a bed-and-breakfast after her husband's decampment. Into this uncertain Eden arrives unrepentant commoner Darren, who promptly turns the house he has inherited from his Aunt Jean into a "disaster zone" of a construction site, blasting hard rock at all hours, taking up valuable parking spaces with the used cars he sells, and generally tampering with "the solid, unassailable respectability" of the neighborhood. Soon enough, he and his "other half," Jodie, have gotten on the last nerve of everyone on the block, and every neighborhood conversation turns to a heated discussion of ways, legal and ethical or not so much, to get rid of him. Candlish slyly examines the primitive urges behind her supposedly civilized characters as the novel inexorably turns from light comedy of manners to something much darker. While some of the turns of the plot strain credulity, and some of the characters are better developed than others, Candlish convincingly portrays the effects of pressure on this social microcosm as fault lines open both within the characters and in their relationships. Although Darren is not, like the others, seen from the inside, Candlish allows the reader to glimpse the complicated man behind the caricature his neighbors create. A nicely paced, wryly intelligent novel with sharp insights into human behavior.

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 1, 2019

Lowland Way is the perfect street in a perfect South London neighborhood. The homes are spotless, the lawns immaculate, and the neighbors get along. So much so that they have "Play Out Sundays," in which they close the street so the kids can have some fun. All this perfection ends when Darren moves in and immediately starts rehabbing his house. If the construction noise wasn't enough, Darren plays loud metal music at all hours and is possibly running an illegal car dealership. Worst of all, Darren refuses to respect Play Out Sundays. When attempts to reason with him fail, the neighbors turn to the council and the police. When these efforts come to naught, the community takes matters into its own hands. With callbacks to Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, Candlish's thriller examines suburban perfection and what happens when someone questions and disturbs this ideal. VERDICT While no character can be described as likable, readers will be able to identify with their struggle and increasing desperation. As in her previous title, Our House, Candlish adds some last-minute twists to produce a solid domestic thriller.--Lynnanne Pearson, Skokie P.L., IL

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2019
Candlish's latest thriller is sure to keep readers turning pages late into the night. The tale is set in Lowland Way, on the outskirts of London, a neighborhood that the residents believe is pretty much perfect. Yet the perfectly homogeneous community is disrupted when new owners, who don't fit the mold, join the block. The murderous mosaic of suburban characters will have readers envisioning similar situations in their neighborhoods and pondering how quickly their own neighbors might turn to violence. The multiple perspectives create a tapestry that effectively weaves together the intricately plotted yet fast-paced story line. This fiendishly twisty and suspenseful tale of secrets, lies, jealousy, and intrigue keeps readers guessing until the very end. Fans of Celeste Ng and Leila Slimani will be pleased with this contemporary take on families and violence.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)