Книга - The Widow Next Door: The most chilling of new crime thriller books that you will read in 2018

The Widow Next Door: The most chilling of new crime thriller books that you will read in 2018
L.A. Detwiler


A beautiful house. A new beginning. The almost perfect neighbours…When newlyweds Jane and Alex Clarke move into an idyllic house on the quaint Bristol Lane, they are excited for a new beginning in what will be their ‘forever home’.And when an elderly neighbour brings them a pie to welcome them, she soon becomes a friend. But she grows a little too interested in the couple next door as she sits watching them, day in, day out, from the rocking chair in her window.Alex says it will be fine. After all, she’s a lonely widow who just wants some company. But when she invites Jane into her home, who knows what she’ll find there…A dark and gripping domestic thriller, perfect for fans of Shari Lapena and Paula Hawkins.** Praise for The Widow Next Door **‘This was a showstopper. I couldn’t put it down, and never wanted it to end. Will be looking for L.A. Detwiler’s next book!’ NetGalley reviewer‘This creepy thriller had me twisted up in knots of suspense … Fans of B A Paris will love this one!’ NetGalley reviewer‘It has me hooked from cover to cover. Such an incredible read!’ NetGalley reviewer‘This book was twisted and brilliant. It gave me chills down my spine.’ NetGalley reviewer‘A great book to read on the sofa with a cup of tea while it storms outside. I really love domestic psychological thrillers and this book did not let me down!’ NetGalley reviewer‘Creepy. Thrilling. Suspenseful. I could not put this down!’ NetGalley reviewer




















Published by AVON

A Division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2018

Copyright © L.A. Detwiler 2018

Cover design © Alison Groom 2018

Cover illustrations © Shutterstock

L.A. Detwiler asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Ebook Edition © November 2018; ISBN: 9780008324636

Version: 2018-10-30


To my husband, Chad.


‘There are some secrets which do not permit themselves to be told.’

– Edgar Allan Poe


Table of Contents

Cover (#u2da03aeb-2fbf-56d3-909f-c83ac12e96d7)

Title Page (#ucf605706-7fda-5153-9627-33ae454827d5)

Copyright (#u5ebca52d-9198-55c5-ba04-ed4d7f994271)

Dedication (#uc8a2fa65-2316-5658-9964-fd40b753bc38)

Epigraph (#uf12c9d3c-9af4-5de4-9ebc-029c708f583a)

Prologue (#ufdb26e11-bde0-58fa-8a3b-2f20bc9ead53)

Chapter 1 (#ub09c53eb-214b-59f6-9507-65074875cb26)

Chapter 2 (#ua67fe31e-df9a-586e-9e46-d1e2bd45e480)

Chapter 3 (#u0707d012-e05b-5c49-82c8-66af49cc3d15)

Chapter 4 (#u3953d658-1098-59f3-ab62-bc49c21ebcd6)



Chapter 5 (#ufd2e28a8-cfb7-5b82-a67e-331139c98c98)



Chapter 6 (#u95189cc9-7835-533d-b257-bec13f4a4ab8)



Chapter 7 (#ucac1b64a-4304-520b-927c-d840204cf877)



Chapter 8 (#uda4a605b-0a7d-5ec7-89c6-06db08ddd97f)



Chapter 9 (#u22abd46b-befc-5a4e-91f2-5bfdde2188ec)



Chapter 10 (#u02ef3391-4a8a-52ff-8ee6-7ec7bbfd1544)



Chapter 11 (#uf5740381-7704-5082-82f1-5801311baf3c)



Chapter 12 (#u82759bb4-da33-57e0-855b-bc71cf022bc1)



Chapter 13 (#ufcb04964-e267-5af8-a133-5b6ce73afc8b)



Chapter 14 (#u629592eb-b804-5ee0-9657-d8a28f92eee6)



Chapter 15 (#u67fc93e6-9bc0-5410-abef-33b53639b934)



Chapter 16 (#u4b187de4-b6ed-5291-b3d4-6dfcec1223a7)



Chapter 17 (#u555b7258-e606-5849-9637-333f41981972)



Chapter 18 (#ua79de500-29d2-5944-8865-65a65e8dadfe)



Chapter 19 (#ub60fadc4-6099-5d6e-baf2-9b7c73cecf58)



Chapter 20 (#u89da7c68-ed59-5af7-b589-e02f4b0d4d62)



Chapter 21 (#uef99f212-a2f7-5bb3-be21-c1d8d7fb9af7)



Chapter 22 (#u7eb1fa92-127a-5dcc-9d7e-640fea284068)



Chapter 23 (#ufb0d532f-78ed-5e25-a035-47511bd6f7e7)



Chapter 24 (#ufa8e4a3e-521a-5a1c-b5b3-9cb6f93ff549)



Chapter 25 (#u5b0abd5b-afc2-5934-a226-a915039dcd74)



Chapter 26 (#uae99eef8-b507-5081-a057-be30d75f326f)



Chapter 27 (#u9a2a841d-bede-5ae8-9e3a-c6ef013c1793)



Chapter 28 (#u903b9bd2-0077-5502-9526-734579570750)



Chapter 29 (#ue22f9145-e270-5a88-8138-f82544b8cefe)



Chapter 30 (#u36278323-dca6-5d3d-bffa-f064d892fe10)



Chapter 31 (#u1fd72881-4008-5922-89c9-ed73e376909b)



Chapter 32 (#u95b7e5df-5dfb-59cc-b7ed-26ef17d0dbb7)



Chapter 33 (#ue9188e34-0ebd-5c64-862e-3ff836555da8)



Chapter 34 (#uee4f4a04-4c6b-51d1-a2d7-f3b92c86afa2)



Chapter 35 (#uce665145-08c3-56a6-9ba7-726fcff98e4f)



Chapter 36 (#ucd6be5f4-3cc2-5ea1-8d20-240c7809f18f)



Chapter 37 (#u12c0adec-5621-5757-b5a2-4b1f5f4a0967)



Chapter 38 (#u26ddac08-309b-57b5-8adf-b7cf2ad5287c)



Chapter 39 (#ua8a72ef3-9cf8-59da-8f16-d89d32426737)



Chapter 40 (#u5feefd26-6422-5641-87f6-9e8d9a71fb61)



Chapter 41 (#u04326fe2-dc4f-5cc2-b90f-63757e315ded)



Chapter 42 (#uc0a5422d-3658-5b79-a0dd-3c1947c3d060)



Chapter 43 (#u85fa2441-33d1-56fd-8163-7ae630cc39ba)



Epilogue (#u60bb765a-d266-55d5-aed1-2a3b01485c62)



Acknowledgments (#u8e11d569-decf-5249-b829-0a1c38eb8e56)



About the Author (#u859cd29e-fea3-50a1-b9d3-ad9601797567)



About the Publisher (#u2e426e4c-af54-5ea6-a8b4-19051142a0ad)




Prologue (#ue5de1f00-7d0e-5bcf-a826-0ce68200d0c4)


Looking back, there were warning signs. Flickers of who she was hiding, what they were hiding. I just didn’t want to see. Maybe I didn’t want the fantasy world I’d created to disappear. Maybe I wanted to keep believing their love story was perfect, would be my comfortable company for my final years. Maybe I hoped it would remind me of my own early love story, of that swooning feeling, of those first-kiss moments. Maybe I just missed him, and I was soothing that pain by watching them.

Whatever it was, I know this – things are changing now.

They’re changing.

They’re breaking.

I think it started as tiny cracks, almost unnoticeable signals of them coming undone. The angry gesture on the front porch over some argument I couldn’t hear, smoothed by a kiss on the cheek and what looked like an apology. Abandoned dinner one night in the kitchen, a screaming match ensuing as she stormed out … followed by a sweet, tender embrace at breakfast the next morning.

I thought they were running their course, fighting like couples do. I thought maybe the honeymoon years were just wearing off because we all know they do wear off.

I thought they were okay. Maybe they thought that too.

But as the weeks go on, I realise something I hadn’t before.

Something’s not right. Something’s not right at all. In fact, something’s so grotesquely wrong and hideously tainted, I don’t know if there will be any turning back.

Things haven’t been right for a while now, I’m starting to realise. Behind that bubbly smile, that sunshine yellow, she’s not perfect. Not even close.

Why with all bright stories is there a monster, unseen, that festers beneath the boiling surface?

As the weather gets colder, the frost settling in, it’s clear that maybe I didn’t really know my neighbour from 312 Bristol Lane at all.





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