Cuckoo in the Nest by Diane Saxon
Genre: Psychological thriller
Read: 20th August 2025
Published: 12th August 2025
★★★ 3 stars
DESCRIPTION:
What secrets lie within?
I've moved into a shared house. My three new housemates aren't just reserved, there's a distinct chill in the air, an unspoken tension that makes me uneasy.
I'm not here to make friends, though.
I have my own secrets.
Nikki is like a sister to me and I'm here to find out what happened to her.
Where is she?
I'm convinced someone knows more than they're letting on. Is she simply missing? Or has something far more sinister occurred within these walls?
I'm not leaving until I find out if Nikki is alive or dead.
Diane Saxon's heart-pounding novel is perfect for fans of Freida McFadden, Valerie Keogh and TM Logan.
MY THOUGHTS:
One house...four tenants...one deadly secret...
I honestly don't know where to start with this one. I always enjoy Diane Saxon's thrillers but this one just left me feeling like something was constantly crawling on my skin. It was seriously creepy and uncomfortable which I guess was the aim of the story but I was just too creeped out and hated every person in the houseshare. They were all self-obsessed and arrogant prats. One rule for them and another for everyone else. And the end result was survival of the fittest. But then, it was about a cuckoo in the nest which is always an uncomfortable read.
I was more drawn in by the past timeline when Alex and Nikki were young and then teenagers growing up. I felt there was more to the story there and I was more invested in that than the one in the present day timeline.
In the present day, Alex has just moved into a houseshare with two females and one male - none of whom are considerate and all equally selfish. The only reason he is there is to uncover what happened to his friend Nikki who was their housemate previously and had mysteriously disappeared. The police had her down as having left of her own accord; she's old enough and just packed up and moved on. But Alex knows different. Nikki wouldn't leave her mum without a word. Besides, she had planned on moving back home with her. So where has she gone?
The alternating chapters in between begin in 2003 and 2004 with a few from Nikki's narrative in 2013 and 2014. They tell of Alex's harrowing story as a child, neglected and abused by his father before meeting sunny young Nikki at the playground one day and though she was five years his junior, they became firm friends - a friendship that lasted a lifetime. Alex is a genuine likeable character, despite his upbringing. Nikki is a delight also, but she features mainly in the past chapters so we get her either as a giggly little five year old or a giggly fifteen year old.
The story is journey through Alex's harrowing upbringing, finding a family who love and care for him right up to him in adulthood. As the story unravels and things begin to slot into place, we find him navigating a mystery that only he can unravel. And be Nikki's hero once again.
The pacing for this one was somewhat slower than Saxon's more pacier thrillers. And the unlikeable characters made it hard to connect with the story. If it weren't for Alex, Nikki and Julia, I probably would have shelved it without finishing...but for them, they made the journey worthwhile and I'm glad I stuck it out. The ending is rather shocking and unexpected to say the least! But I shouldn't be surprised as it is Saxon.
I would like to thank #DianeSaxon, #Netgalley and #BoldwoodBooks for an ARC of #CuckooInTheNest in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
After working for years in a demanding job, Diane gave it up when her husband said, “Follow that dream.” She subsequently has 12 Romances published for the U.S. market.
Inspired by her long, lonely walks in atmospheric woodlands, Diane has gone over to the dark side to write British psychological crime thrillers. With a four-book deal through Boldwood Books, her first in series Find Her Alive was published October 2019 followed by Someone's There in February 2020 and What She Saw is due in September 2020.
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