The Family Home

The Family Home by Miranda Smith
10/3/22; 292 pages
Bookouture

The Family Home by Miranda Smith is a highly recommended psychological thriller.

Lillian and Mathew are divorced and have an amicable relationship. For the sake of their daughter Mabel, and their finances, they share the family home. This means that Mabel stays in the house, while Lillian and Matthew take turns between staying at the house or in an apartment that they also share. It's an unconventional agreement that works for them. They trust each other, especially after the secret they share.

After celebrating Mabel's birthday, which is also Lillian's birthday, Lillian heads home to the apartment when she is asked out for a drink by a mutual friend. When Lillian finally makes it back to the apartment, she falls asleep on the sofa. When she wakes up later, she heads to her bedroom only to discover a dead body in her bed. First she calls Matthew, and then she calls the police. Lillian is immediately a suspect.

The characters are not memorable as they are standard caricatures, types of people, put into place to propel the plot forward. This doesn't really matter as the plot is the focus and purpose of the novel. Admittedly, the first part of the novel was stronger than the resolution, but the plot holds together and includes plenty of secrets. The dual timeline following the present day and a year ago works well with the plot as does the alternating point-of-view in the narrative. This is a fast paced psychological thriller that will immediately grab your attention and hold it right to the ending.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Bookouture via NetGalley.