The People Before
- Author Charlotte Northedge
- Narrator Kristin Atherton, Kitty Kelly
- Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
- Publish Date 10 November 2022
- Run Time 9 hours and 55 minutes
- Format x-book®
- Genre Classic crime and mystery fiction, Contemporary horror and ghost stories, Family life fiction, Modern and contemporary fiction, Psychological thriller, Thriller / suspense fiction.
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What to expect
An eerie new psychological thriller from the author of The House Guest
‘I adored it! I found it moody, propulsive, gripping and so terrifying you’ll need the lights on. GILLIAN McALLISTER
‘Charlotte Northedge turns the psychological thumbscrews with relish’ THE TIMES
‘I read through the night to finish this thriller… Spooky, tense, richly atmospheric and profoundly moving’ ERIN KELLY
–––––––––
What if your dream house became your worst nightmare?
Jess and her husband need a new start. So when the chance to buy a rambling old house in the Suffolk countryside comes up, they leap at it.
But not everyone in Suffolk is welcoming. The locals know a secret about the Maple House, and soon, Jess realises they’ve made a huge mistake.
Something bad happened in that house. Something nobody wants to talk about.
Something to do with the people before…
–––––––
‘This is every bit as accomplished as Northedge’s debut The House Guest, with the same precise and finely tuned use of language, by no means always a given in the genre.’ FINANCIAL TIMES
‘Charlotte Northedge creates a riveting psychological study of self-deception and creeping dread.’ THE SUNDAY TIMES
‘Creepy, atmospheric and cleverly plotted, an excellent winter read.’ CATHERINE COOPER
‘Twisty, claustrophobic and deliciously dark, this is the perfect winter chiller’ ELLERY LLOYD
'A tense, paranoid atmosphere and a satisfying and unsettling conclusion.’ DAILY MAIL
‘Tense and threatening, this is a great follow-up to Northedge’s debut, The House Guest.’ OBSERVER
'This taut new psychological mystery feels particularly timely.' MARIE CLAIRE
‘The author does a great job of creating a creepy atmosphere.’ GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
Critics Review
‘This is every bit as accomplished as Northedge’s debut The House Guest, with the same precise and finely tuned use of language, by no means always a given in the genre.’ FINANCIAL TIMES
n‘Charlotte Northedge creates a riveting psychological study of self-deception and creeping dread.’ THE SUNDAY TIMES
n‘Creepy, atmospheric and cleverly plotted, an excellent winter read.’ CATHERINE COOPER
n‘Twisty, claustrophobic and deliciously dark, this is the perfect winter chiller’ ELLERY LLOYD
n‘This twisty thriller is jam-packed with tense moments and a growing sense of unease’ GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
n‘Northedge is good at portraying the distinction between the real insecurities of some young women and the minor problems of the privileged type’ DAILY MAIL
n‘Charlotte Northedge turns the psychological thumbscrews with relish’ THE TIMES
n‘Full of twists, The House Guest spirals towards its dark conclusion, wrong footing the increasingly uneasy reader at every turn.’ THE OBSERVER
n‘The tension slowly builds up to a heart-racing end.’ WOMAN’S OWN
n‘This is ace. Very acute on class, aspiration, women and status and all those agonising negotiations and anxieties’ SARAH PERRY, author of THE ESSEX SERPENT
n'The House Guest is that delicious kind of novel, a slow-burn thriller that carefully draws the reader in, catches fire in the middle and burns with an intensity until the end' FIONA CUMMINS
n‘A dark and intriguing debut that simmers with tension and unease’ LUCY CLARKE
n‘Dark, smart and classy – I was totally gripped’ GILLIAN MCALLISTER
n‘A deliciously dark and totally twisted look at the lengths some people will go to project a perfect life’ ERIN KELLY
nUser Reviews
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