The House Swap by Miranda Rijks
Genre: Domestic suspense, Psychological thriller
Read: 7th December 2024
Published: 4th December 2024
★★★ 3.5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Two perfect families. Two beautiful homes. A one-way trip to hell.
When two families organise a house swap, it seems like the perfect holiday arrangement.
The Browns will exchange their London townhouse for a stunning chateau in the south of France, the perfect place to relax and rekindle their flagging marriage.
And the Lesters are looking forward to showing their son, Rafael, around their old haunts in the British capital.
Sounds wonderful. Except for one thing - both families are hiding dark secrets, and secrets have a way of coming out...
In France, there’s a mysterious break-in at the chateau. Then the Browns discover that a woman who lived there disappeared and was never seen again. Instead of feeling rested and relaxed, they now feel isolated and vulnerable.
Then, in London, 17-year-old Rafael vanishes without a trace.
As the tension mounts to an unbearable pitch, both couples are forced to face their darkest demons. Someone won’t be coming home…
MY THOUGHTS:
Two perfect families. Two beautiful homes. A one-way trip to hell...
So who's fancied a house swap at some point or another? I mean, we've all secretly wished we could literally swap houses...but I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with strangers staying in my space. And I'm not entirely sure I'd be all that comfortable in theirs either. But never fear, this book will put that idea to bed quick smart!
Elodie and husband Lewis live in the very affluent area of Knightsbridge in London and their house is simply to die for. While Lewis runs a string of semi-successful (but not really) gyms, Elodie is in the prestigious real estate business with her best friend Niall. Together they own and run Hutchinson Brown, marketing prestigious properties both in the UK and Europe to affluent clients. As part of the business, the pair decide to branch out in a new venture of house swapping. And Elodie and Lewis guinea pig the trial with similarly aged couple Piers and Susan Lester who own a crumbling villa in Provence, with the sole intention of renovating it.
From the first moment, it is obvious that the Lesters have landed firmly on their feet as they take in the stunning home they are to inhabit for the next two weeks with their 17 year old son Raf, who would much rather have holidayed at the seaside. While Elodie and Lewis have drawn the short straw in this house swap. And from that first moment, Elodie wonders if this really was a good idea after all. Especially when she begins to see photos of her home plastered all over Susan's social media.
The first morning in France, Elodie and Lewis are woken by construction workers who have been employed by the Lesters to work on the renovations. It's obvious as soon as you set foot inside the villa that it is tired, old, run-down and in serious need of some renovating. But this is meant to be a holiday. While the Lesters are living it up in their luxurious home back in England, they have been sold a lie and have to deal with constant noise and discomfort. This isn't quite the holiday they had hoped for.
Meanwhile, Susan and Piers are enjoying the luxury of the Brown's stunning home. Only Raf is a fish out of water here. Though he was born in London, he has spent most of his life in France and England is foreign to him. And while Piers thought this would be the holiday that would bring the family together, Susan is out every day till all hours shopping up a storm. That is when she's not quietly trying on Elodie's designer gowns and stunning clothes. Piers tries his best to make his wife happy but there's something not quite right. And then his visit to Harley Street brings news that shakes his world and everything he thought he knew to the core. When Raf suddently goes missing, Piers and Susan are out of their minds with worry...but things are about to get a whole lot worse.
Back in France, the quiet solitude Elodie had been hoping for is but a pipe dream. Strange things start happening - someone keeps trying to break into the house, there's a strange smell that seems to emanate from somewhere and Lewis is constantly going out for bike rides leaving Elodie by herself. And then she discovers something shocking and begins to question everything.
The story unfolds through Elodie and Piers' respective narratives with the odd chapter through Raf's POV peppered throughout. It was fast paced for the most part though it did take a while to get going. There's a whole lot of drama and plenty of baggage that these families are carrying around. But in the end, the tale was relatively entertaining, a little OTT, filled with secrets, lies and deception. I guessed the two major lot twists quite easily though to be fair they weren't immediately easy to spot. They were just random guesses on my part.
Overall, an entertaining tale though I'm still not a huge fan of continent-based tales and prefer them to be in miserable old blighty. lol
I would like to thank #MirandaRijks, #Netgalley and #InkubatorBooks for an ARC of #TheHouseSwap in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
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After a degree in Law, Miranda worked in marketing in London and Eastern Europe before setting up businesses in the horticultural, leisure and retail sectors. Along the way, she got a masters in writing and wrote the self-help book, ‘How Compatible Are You?’ and biography, ‘The Eccentric Entrepreneur’. In 2018, Miranda wrote ‘Don’t Call Me Brave’, a novel very loosely drawing upon her experiences of having a rare bone cancer.
She feels extremely lucky to be living the dream, writing psychological thrillers full time!
Miranda loves connecting with her readers, so feel free to drop her a line.
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