The Couple at No.9

A kitchen extension is underway in a small town in the west country when bodies are found under the patio! Over the next few months a twisty tail is revealed dating back some 40 years and involving three generations of the same family, long hidden secrets and much swapping of identities.

This is told over multiple time periods and from several points of view - while this might sound confusing the author executes it well, this is obviously a carefully and cleverly plotted novel which reads and “hangs together” well.

My main concern is that the multiple viewpoints leave us without a main protagonist that we can invest in (and in this respect the poor husband of the couple gets very short shrift and doesn’t get to contribute much at all apart from being supportive). I did like the fact that all involved kept the police fully informed (as I think is likely) despite them being threatened and told not to tell the cops. They always immediately did and it urns out to be the right thing to do (well, apart from the final reveal, but by then it doesn’t really matter so again is a plausible reaction).

So a good story, well told but without an obvious single protagonist I couldn’t really get deeply engaged. Still worth reading however.