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About The Book

THE NEW CAUTIONARY TALE OF OBSESSION, LOVE, JEALOUSY AND DECEPTION FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF OUR HOUSE AND THE OTHER PASSENGER

Wrong time. Wrong place. Wrong man.

Alex lives a comfortable life with his wife Beth in the leafy suburb of Silver Vale. Fine, so he’s not the most sociable guy on the street, he prefers to keep himself to himself, but he’s a good husband and an easy-going neighbour.

That’s until Beth announces the creation of a nature trail on a local site that’s been disused for decades and suddenly Alex is a changed man. Now he’s always watching. Questioning. Struggling to hide his dread . . .

As the landscapers get to work, a secret threatens to surface from years ago, back in Alex’s twenties when he got entangled with a seductive young woman called Marina, who threw both their lives into turmoil.

And who sparked a police hunt for a murder suspect that was never quite what it seemed. It still isn’t.

No one else could have done it. Could they?

‘The best Louise Candlish novel yet’ Lisa Jewell

'I'm blown away by how good it is. A gripping tale of love, secrets and deception - it's the best psychological thriller I've read in a long time' Mark Edwards

About The Author

(c) Neil Spence

Louise Candlish is the internationally bestselling author of fifteen novels, including The Other Passenger, The Heights, and Our House, which won the Crime & Thriller Book of the Year at the 2019 British Book Awards. It is now a major four-part TV drama starring Martin Compston, Tuppence Middleton, and Rupert Penry-Jones, available to stream on CBC Gem. Louise lives in London with her husband and daughter. Connect with her on Twitter @Louise_Candlish, Facebook @LouiseCandlishAuthor, and Instagram @LouiseCandlish.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK (February 1, 2023)
  • Length: 432 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781398509726

Raves and Reviews

Louise Candlish has done it again! The writing is exquisite and I devoured every succulent twist and turn on my way to the wholly satisfying conclusion -- Russ Thomas

A superstar of psychological thrillers -- Daily Mail

Candlish controls the drip feed of information and ramps up the tension to great effect -- The Guardian

[Candlish] confirms her reputation for unsettling, well-carpentered plots -- Sunday Times

You’ll have a delightful sense of disorientation on the long road to discovering how the two storylines are connected, before arriving at the immensely satisfying conclusion -- Daily Express/Daily Mirror

Candlish has a distinctive take on the contemporary psychological thriller. She skilfully mixes a droll portrayal of middle-class London suburban life with some extremely cunning plots -- Mail on Sunday

This dual-timeline, domestic-noir tale is a tense, read-in-one-sitting thriller -- The Sun on Sunday Fabulous Magazine

The plot is clever, the characters are unpleasantly credible and the revelations give the tiniest sense of reassurance -- Literary Review

When it comes to mind-blowing twists, award-winning author Louise Candlish knows her stuff -- Woman & Home

I’m a huge fan of this thriller writer’s clever, serpentine stories. When the waste ground behind his house is approved for development, it spells trouble for Alex, who is hiding a big secret – but what? Just when I thought I’d figured it out, along came another twist! -- Good Housekeeping

From an author who really does know how to knock it out of the park with her gripping plots… taut and tense, this is fabulous -- Prima

Tense, taut and twisty. Candlish is a master of her craft -- Plantinum

Just when you think you’ve got this twisty thriller sussed, the rug gets pulled yet again -- Crime Monthly

Expect twists and double twists from the queen of the domestic noir thriller -- Red

The queen of mind-blowing twists, Louise Candlish has done it again with her latest can’t-put-it-down thriller -- Woman’s Weekly

A compelling, nerve-tingling treat

– Nicci French

A twisting, seductive, ingenious thriller from the consistently brilliant Louise Candlish. I'm a huge fan

– Chris Whitaker

Incredibly tense. Louise Candlish is one of my favourite writers and this is her best book yet

– Clare Mackintosh

Completely addictive and devilishly clever - the queen of the killer twist strikes again!

– T. M. Logan

Such a vivid sense of place, a gripping plot, elegantly told, and a twist that left me reeling - brilliant!

– Sarah Pearse

Psychological suspense has a new adjective - pure Candlish

– Cara Hunter

I'm blown away by how good it is. A gripping tale of love, secrets and deception - it's the best psychological thriller I've read in a long time

– Mark Edwards

I loved The Only Suspect: a heady dose of mid Nineties nostalgia, with trademark whiplash twists and satire. Louise Candlish has surpassed her own, always high standards. Quite possibly her best yet

– Sarah Vaughan

The Only Suspect is a suspenseful, thrilling and breath-taking mystery about the dark secrets that live in the past, and the paralysing fear that they'll be uncovered. If you thought you misbehaved in the nineties you've got nothing on the devious, duplicitous cast of this book. Gripping, unpredictable and tense, it'll keep you guessing all the way through

– C. L. Taylor

I was completely pulled in by the story and the layers of clever plotting; the twists and turns - though well set up, took me completely by surprise and I found myself staying up late to finish it, utterly absorbed by the excellent story telling

– Jane Shemilt

The Only Suspect kept me guessing all the way through. It’s the book version of a Rubik's Cube with so many unexpected twists and turns. An adrenaline burner for sure!

– Liz Nugent

As good as I hoped it would be. Messy relationships, deception and some big surprises. Loved it!

– Jane Fallon

WOW. As always Louise Candlish has written a taut, unsettling, compulsive and ingenious novel with gasp-out-loud twists and fatally flawed characters forced into tragedy by circumstances. I LOVED it!

– Isabelle Broom

I was sucked in from the beginning, hooked and hoodwinked. A masterclass in psychological thriller writing

– Diane Jeffrey

I couldn't put it down

– Shari Lapena

I couldn't put it down! Fantastic characters, a trip down memory lane into '90s London and I honestly didn't see that ending coming AT ALL. Deliciously dark and devastating

– Nikki Smith

Tense, taut and twisty. Candlish is a master of her craft

– Adele Parks

A nerve-shredding plot that kept me guessing to the finish. Another triumph!

– Fiona Barton

I absolutely adored The Only Suspect. Tightly plotted and brilliantly written with twists so perfect they made me gasp out loud on more than one occasion. The story was so tense I couldn’t stop turning the pages, desperate to know the outcome. My favourite Louise Candlish book so far. Highly recommended

– Claire Douglas

An incredible page-turner…An absolute must-read. Get this on your 2023 wish list

– BA Paris

The Only Suspect is a heady pleasure from the very first page. It's both a page-tearing mystery and a pitch-perfect 90s period piece. Shimmers with mystery, tension, and dirty glamour

– Abigail Dean

This book should come with a warning: you won't speak to anyone until the last page

– Celia Walden

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