Our House - Louise Candlish

Our House by Louise Candlish

First Paragraph(s):

Friday, January 13, 2017
London, 12:30 P.M.

She must be mistaken, but it looks exactly as if someone is moving into her house.
     The van is parked halfway down Trinity Avenue, its square mouth agape, a large piece of furniture sliding down the ribbed metal tongue.  Fi watches, squinting into the buttery sunlight--rare for the time of year, a gift--as the object is borne shoulder high by two men through the gate and down the path.
     My gate.  My path.
     No, that's illogical; of course it can't be her house.  It must be the Reeces', two down from hers; they put their place on the market in the autumn and no one is quite sure whether a sale has gone through.  The houses on this side of Trinity Avenue are all built the same--redbrick double-fronted Edwardians in pairs, their owners united in a preference for front doors painted black--and everyone agrees it's easy to miscount.

My Thoughts:

Our House isn't actually available in the US until next week, but since it's been out in the UK for a couple of months, fair game.  Hmmm....what to say about this one.  Definitely kept my interest.  I was trying to imagine what I'd feel if I turned onto my street and noticed a moving truck in front of my house and being unloaded.  First of all, I'd likely think there were robbers or thieves.  Unloading though.  Maybe my husband surprised me with something?  This is not the situation in the story that Fi is telling.  She and her husband are separated, sharing custody of their sons.  She was supposed to be gone for another day.  If she hadn't come back early, she'd not have seen the movers.  Why is someone moving into her house?  Her house was not for sale - that she knew of.

I liked this book, though I did figure out several different aspects of it.  And it was populated with some not-so-likable characters.  Fi and Bram were both hiding things - him more than her.  The story is told from various points of view and I liked that.  There were multiple twists and turns - also liked that.  It was well written, but the tale itself had me a bit incredulous.  Could this actually happen?  Maybe.  I do know that it has made me want to take a look at Louise Candlish's backlist.  My final word is that if you are not sick to death of domestic thrillers - pick this one up.  It's got some curious and inventive twists. 

Blurb:

There's nothing unusual about a new family moving in at 91 Trinity Avenue. Except it's her house. And she didn't sell it.

When Fiona Lawson comes home to find strangers moving into her house, she's sure there's been a mistake. She and her estranged husband, Bram, have a modern coparenting arrangement: bird's nest custody, where each parent spends a few nights a week with their two sons at the prized family home to maintain stability for their children. But the system built to protect their family ends up putting them in terrible jeopardy. In a domino effect of crimes and misdemeanors, the nest comes tumbling down.

Now Bram has disappeared and so have Fiona's children. As events spiral well beyond her control, Fiona will discover just how many lies her husband was weaving and how little they truly knew each other. But Bram's not the only one with things to hide, and some secrets are best kept to oneself, safe as houses.