The Fall by Gilly Macmillan
Genre: Pscyhological thriller
Read: 10th June 2023
Published: 25th May 2023
★★★★ 3.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
The Manor House was the perfect place to live. Until the body was found...
Anna Creed and her husband spent many happy years in The Manor House before he died unexpectedly five years ago. Her friends Sasha and Olly are only too happy to fill in as lodgers.
Tom and Nicole just bought the state-of-the-art Glass Barn nearby, following a life-changing lottery win. They have everything they've ever dreamed of, but two years on they still feel like outsiders.
Housekeeper Kitty is the second generation in her family to work in The Manor - the place is in her blood and she knows every nook and cranny of the estate.
When Tom is found dead in the grounds, it shatters the small community.
Everyone is keeping up appearances. But each home hides its own secrets.
Who among them is capable of murderer?
MY THOUGHTS:
Once you're on top...it's a long way down...
Having won ten million pounds on the lottery, Tom and Nicole Booth's lives are changed overnight. They build their dream home on the Lancaut peninsula from the old barn ruins once belonging to the Manor House from which they purchased the land and remains. After months of planning and waiting, the Glass Barn - a smart home glass monstrosity - is born. For Nicole, it's their dream. For Tom, it's the beginning of the end.
They thought the win would be a good thing but it turns out that they no longer fit in with their old friends but as they didn't earn their money they didn't fit in with the rich either. So where did they fit? Childhood friend Patrick has tried hitting them up for cash in the beginning and as a gesture of goodwill they decided to gift him a fair amount to get himself a flat and land himself on his feet. Unfortunately, Patrick doesn't see it that way and instead looks on his friends as his new bank. Tom and Nicole decide to cut off all contact with him.
Once settled in their new home, the couple have tried making friends with their neighbours in the Manor House, Olly and Sasha, but Tom can't warm to them. Nicole just wants to fit in. Still, if it makes Nicole happy then he's happy.
But what makes Nicole happy is Tom and as she arrives home from the County Fair to the booming sounds of opera blasting from every single hidden speaker inside the house, she goes in search of her husband. But the music is so loud it is deafening. She tries to silence it with voice commands to which is fails to respond. Curse this smart home and Tom for wanting every high-spec tech gadget on offer. She can't even open the blinds in her window! Trying to tune out the blaring music, Nicole searches the house for any sign of Tom. Upon reaching their bedroom suite and seeing no sign of him she's about to turn when she sees his lifeless form in the pool below. And she screams.
In a panic, Nicole runs through the woodland to the Manor House to seek help from Olly and Sasha and their housekeeper Kitty. Tom is dead. What is she to do?
The police are duly called and Detectives Hal Steen and Jen Welsh are tasked with the investigation into Tom's death. Is it an accident? Or something m ore suspicious? And what of the strange dynamics at Manor House? What is truly going on between these two houses and how much of it has any bearing on the truth?
THE FALL begins with a slow build, its setting a character all of its own. Although this is not really a mystery as such it is a good psychological thriller that does keep you guessing where it will lead. It may seem predictable in parts but there are a few surprises that I didn't see coming and thought they made an excellent flourish to the tale. There are certainly some tense and creepy moments with the gothic Manor House creating such an atmosphere that was almost chilling.
The characters are somewhat questionable. Gulliable even. But it all rounded off nicely with a nice little twist at the end to complete the tale.
An enjoyable read, on the whole, THE FALL takes gaslighting and coercive control to the extreme.
I would like to thank #GillyMacmillan, #Netgalley and #CenturyBooks for an ARC of #TheFall in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
A former art historian and photographer, Gilly grew up in Swindon in Wiltshire and also lived in Northern California in her late teens. She studied at Bristol University and the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. She lives in Bristol, UK, with her husband and three children.
Her first novel, WHAT SHE KNEW, was a Target pick, a LibraryReads pick, an Indie Next pick, an Edgar award nominee, and an International Thriller Writers award finalist. THE NANNY is a Spring 2020 Richard & Judy WHSmith Book Club pick.
Gilly’s novels have appeared on the New York Times, Sunday Times, Globe & Mail and Der Spiegel bestseller lists and have been translated into over 20 languages. She’s been described as ‘one heck of a good writer’ (Wall Street Journal) and her novels have been praised as ‘nuanced, completely addictive’ (People), ‘riveting’ (Publishers Weekly), and ‘visceral, emotionally charged…heart-wrenchingly well told’ (The Daily Mail).
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