The Crooked House

November 2, 2015
In this haunting if flawed standalone from British author Kent (A Florentine Revenge), the former Esme Grace, now living in London under a new legal identity as Alison, is slowly building the semblance of a normal life. Somehow, she has managed to survive the slaughter of her family when she was 14 in the Essex village of Saltleigh—but now a promising romance forces her back to the village. Though awakening the traumatic memories she has struggled so long to repress is the last thing Alison wants, she fears that if she refuses to accompany her older lover, Paul Bartlett, to the wedding of Morgan Carter, his former flame, in Saltleigh, the relationship is doomed. Little does Alison realize that much graver dangers await, such as her discovery of evidence that casts a startling new light on her long-ago trauma. This psychological thriller falters down the homestretch under the weight of too many unbelievable plot twists, but until then this is a suspenseful ride with a gutsy heroine. Agent: Victoria Hobbs, A.M. Heath (U.K.).

October 1, 2015
Thirteen years later, a young woman who survived the slaughter of her family returns to the scene of the crime. Her name was Esme, and she was nearly 14. She had a mum and a dad, 8-year-old twin sisters, and a big brother named Joe]until the night she went down from her bedroom and found them all shot with a rifle. Now her name is Alison. She works in accounting at a publishing house in London and has no family at all, except a father in an institution]a vegetable after the botched suicide attempt that followed the murders. Kent's (The Killing Room, 2015, etc.) latest psychological thriller opens as Alison's boyfriend, Paul, invites her to attend a wedding in her old hometown of Saltleigh. " 'The wedding's on Saturday but I thought we'd go a few days ahead of time. Tuesday, ' said Paul, his voice warm now, reassured. 'Make a, you know, a little holiday of it.' " It won't be much of a holiday, actually, as the many dark secrets of this "poxy little dump" of a village spill out and new crimes begin to pile up as soon as they arrive. Alison's tragedy was one of many: there was a baby who died in an electrical fire, a boy killed in a hit-and-run, a girl with leukemia, a pedophile, an assortment of drunks and suicides. As soon as Alison gets to town and her cover begins to crumble, she runs into her old best friend, the detective who investigated the case, and other townspeople who pop in to offer clues and accusations. Just about everyone knows things about Alison's family that she does not. Meanwhile, her boyfriend has a disturbingly close friendship with the bride-to-be. Bleak, suspenseful writing keeps the momentum high despite a surfeit of characters and contrivances.

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Starred review from October 1, 2015

What's not to love about a chilling psychological thriller featuring a claustrophobic English seaside town, the heroine the sole survivor of a family massacre, and her intriguing relationship with an older, slightly dominating man? Comparisons to Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca are apt for Kent's ("Sandro Cellini" mysteries) most recent stand-alone novel. Alison (formerly Esme) lives quietly in London, connecting with few people and drawing little attention to herself, having changed her name after her family's murder a decade before. Her relationship with Paul is the longest she's had, in no small part because she asks him no questions about his personal life, and expects from him the same. When he invites her to a former girlfriend's wedding in her old hometown, she does her best to dodge the invitation but can't quite manage. The backstory is delivered piecemeal, and Alison's memories of the night her family was slaughtered by her father haunt the atmosphere, lending a fully satisfying air of menace. VERDICT Improbable, grim, disturbing fun--highly recommended for fans of the genre.--Victoria Caplinger, Durham, NC

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