With quite a few characters to keep track of, Helen Cooper’s debut novel, The Downstairs Neighbor, is a book that the reader has to constantly pay attention to, but the intricate plot details and the twists and turns generously reward you for your time and patience.
Set in suburban London, a large home houses three separate families, and an untold number of secrets. On the basement level lives Chris, a driving instructor, and his wife Vicky who is a nurse. Their marriage is strained in what appears to be the same way many young marriages are – particularly money struggles and learning to communicate.
On the ground floor is Emma who has had to close her shop and is having financial problems of her own, and until recently, Zeb, who has just moved out. Emma often hears the sounds from the upper floors where Paul, his wife Steph, and their teenage daughter Freya live, and whom Emma believes to have a near-perfect family life.
When one day Freya doesn’t return home after school, everyone’s secrets start pouring out in an effort to figure who might know something that would help. No one seems to know their neighbors, their families, or even themselves quite as well as they thought they did.
Weaved into this current day mystery, Cooper has also included a missing child and a murder case, both from more than 20 years ago. Readers will be kept on their toes as they are constantly handed puzzle pieces with no idea how they will all ultimately fit together!
There are times when there simply feels like too many people to keep up with. Besides those listed above that live in the house, Vicky has two sisters that make appearances, Paul has work colleagues that fit into the story, and the characters from the stories that happened decades ago all make for a very crowded cast. Cooper does an excellent job of letting the reader know who they need to be paying attention to, though. In addition, a too-large cast in a mystery is much preferred over a too-small cast, as that often results in no “mystery” at all.
This book also alternates each chapter between the perspectives of most all of the key players. I know some people do not enjoy the shifting perspectives, but I love it as it keeps things exciting, and keeps the tension high. I am very excited to see what Helen Cooper does next!
The Downstairs Neighbor is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of February 16th 2021.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
An addicting and twisty debut about an apartment building devastated by the disappearance of a teenage girl–and by the secrets that won’t be kept behind each closed door–that will thrill fans of Lisa Jewell and Shari Lapena.
One House. Three Families. Countless Secrets.
From her downstairs apartment in suburban London, Emma has often overheard the everyday life of the seemingly perfect family upstairs–Steph, Paul and teenage daughter Freya–but has never got to know them. Until one day, she hears something that seizes her attention: Freya has vanished and the police are questioning Steph and Paul about their life. Do either of you have any enemies? Anyone who might want to harm or threaten you?
The effects of Freya’s disappearance ripple outward, affecting not just her parents, but everyone who lives in the building, including Emma and local driving instructor Chris, who was the last person to see the teenager before she went missing. Each character’s life is thrown into sharp focus as devastating mistakes and long-held secrets are picked apart and other crimes come to light–including a child gone missing 25 years before, and a shocking murder–that make clear that the past never stays where we leave it, and that homes can be built on foundations of lies.
