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The Other Woman's House (Spilling CID #6)
It's 1:15 a.m. Connie Bowskill should be asleep. Instead, she's logging on to a property website in search of a particular house: 11 Bentley Grove, Cambridge. She knows it's for sale - there's an estate agent's board in the front garden.
Soon Connie is clicking on the 'Virtual Tour' button, keen to see the inside of the house and put her mind at rest for once and for all. S...more
Soon Connie is clicking on the 'Virtual Tour' button, keen to see the inside of the house and put her mind at rest for once and for all. S...more
Published
(first published February 1st 2011)
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May 04, 2012
Lady Danielle aka The Book Huntress
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Fans of talky mysteries with dysfunctional characters
Shelves:
owned-copy,
mystery,
arc,
read-by-april-2012,
adc-reviews,
2012-sky-s-the-limit-club,
yearly-reading-challenge,
dysfunctional-characters-abound,
can-you-really-know-someone,
police-federal-agent-law-enforcemen,
sherlock-holmes-like-character,
thriller-suspense,
set-in-uk,
rather-talky-for-me,
gaslight-storyline
One of those "please get to the point" kind of books. Lots of chatty dialogue that had me wondering what the relevance was. I have to say it all came together very well, and the resolution had a wow factor.
I'd have to give it 3.5/5.0 stars as a result.
Reviewed for Affaire de Coeur magazine in the July issue: http://affairedecoeur.com
I'd have to give it 3.5/5.0 stars as a result.
Reviewed for Affaire de Coeur magazine in the July issue: http://affairedecoeur.com
Couldn't wait to finish reading it just to see WTF it was all about. Overwritten, overplotted, overexplained, overwrought... so over Sophie Hannah.
3.5 stars. This is the second literary thriller by Sophie Hannah I’ve read and it certainly won’t be the last. She has an interesting take, especially for a sometimes-procedural where the detectives themselves don’t feature all that prominently (which I like). This also has a deep psychological element, which is well-played. The basic setup is this: Connie Bowskill is looking at an online Cambridge, UK real estate listing in the middle of the night and sees a dead body in the virtual tour. When...more
I hated Scooby-Doo as a child. I spent every episode trying to solve the mystery, looking for every clue I could. But alas, every episode ended the same way; Velma reveals an variety of clues that you did not get to learn during the story, and solves the mystery. It infuriated me because no matter how hard I tried, I never got the chance to put the pieces together myself.
That is the way this book made me feel. The whole book is excellent and gripping, and every chapter you will put pieces toget...more
That is the way this book made me feel. The whole book is excellent and gripping, and every chapter you will put pieces toget...more
I'm not much for UK based mysteries--I just don't understand how it all works over there. But I do make an exception for Sophie Hannah--she keeps me too busy trying to figure out her very complicated characters and the even more complicated situations they find themselves in. Connie and her husband Kit, the main characters in "The Other Woman's House" are not exceptions. It starts out simple enough--Connie can't sleep so she's up looking at a house tour online when she sees a woman laying in a p...more
Why are the characters in so many of these British "Psycho-Mysteries" always so mean to each other? Our heroine Connie's family is totally nasty, Charlie and Simon are newlyweds who seem to have a non-relationship in which the husband plays an unkind trick on his bride and has no interest in pursuing intimacy with her. Connie and Kit are living a huge lie with Kit doing everything in his power to drive his wife over the edge of sanity. Parents disown children and no one has a kind word to say ab...more
A gripping story, but kind of an awkward read until the last few chapters. There are a lot of characters, most of them unlikeable, and a couple of whom were largely unnecessary, providing background for extraneous police officers who were more clutter than anything else. The full plot, when revealed, was intricate and provocative, and reasonably enough supported by the events that proceeded it, though I was still left with questions. I would grab another of her books if I were in the mood for a...more
I really enjoyed this book at first, and that momentum was what led me to finish the book. Overall though, the storyline was convoluted, confusing, and totally unbelievable. The lead female character became so irritating that I lost any sympathy or empathy that I'd initially felt for her. The supporting characters were also unrealistic, and at times just plain annoying. This is the first of Sophie Hannah's books I have read, and I'm afraid it will be the last.
I'm a reluctant Sophie Hannah fan and I'll tell you why. I cannot stand the relationship between Charlie and Simon. I don't understand it. It reminds me of how I used to try and make sense of boys when I was a young, awkward maiden chicken. And to see a woman, a former cop no less, deal with a grown man who is so confusing and painful for her makes me want to scream. You just married him, you're on your honeymoon and you still don't understand what his sexual dysfunction is? Well find the hell o...more
Hmm...I guess this is the sixth book in the series by this lady, but it's the first one I've read. I thought it was pretty interesting, but I have to say I was a bit TOO confused in the middle. In the end it all made sense (I think) but the mystery was so confusing that I didn't even have any theories. In suspense/thriller/mysteries, I usually like to be able to grasp the problem enough to at least have a hypothesis about solving the mystery. In this book, though, I had no idea. I never once tho...more
This book is the author’s sixth featuring detectives Charlie Zailer (a female) and Simon Waterhouse. The two are now married, although from what I can see of their relationship in just this one book, I have to wonder why. They don’t seem to know each other very well, they don’t have much in common, and aren’t even very physical. Nevertheless, they provide a bit of relief from the growing psycho-ness of the main characters, Connie and Kit Bowskill.
Late at night when Connie can’t sleep, she has ta...more
Late at night when Connie can’t sleep, she has ta...more
Connie Bowskill can not sleep. She decides to get up and check out check out houses for sale. Connie already knows before the website has finished loading which house she is going to look at. It is 11 Bentley Grove. Connie is obsessed with this house. Although, Connie already knows every detail about this house, she decides to take the virtual tour. The first slide is of the kitchen and then the next slide is of the lounge. This is where Connie spots her. The woman lying in a pool of blood. At f...more
I chose this book because I spent approximately 99% of my conscious hours 3 doors away from where it's set. While there's something surreal in finding out that fictional murderers shop in the same Waitrose as you, this familitarity had its downsides too: the main sense of tension I experienced when reading this entire book was worrying about whether Cambridge Waitrose's awesome salad bar would be fairly represented within the text.
That seems a bit wrong in a 'psychological thriller' where nothin...more
That seems a bit wrong in a 'psychological thriller' where nothin...more
Apr 09, 2011
Jane
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
borrowed,
i-need-my-own-copy
Oh Sophie!
Writing about mysteries is always difficult. It is so important that facts are revealed, characters are uncovered, in the right order and at the right pace, and just one stray point could spoil the book for another reader. And that is particularly true for books like yours. They are so gripping as they twist and turn on quite extraordinary ways.
But I think it would be safe for me to explain the scenario, wouldn't it?
In the early hours of the morning Connie is lying awake. She gets up,...more
Writing about mysteries is always difficult. It is so important that facts are revealed, characters are uncovered, in the right order and at the right pace, and just one stray point could spoil the book for another reader. And that is particularly true for books like yours. They are so gripping as they twist and turn on quite extraordinary ways.
But I think it would be safe for me to explain the scenario, wouldn't it?
In the early hours of the morning Connie is lying awake. She gets up,...more
This is the first Sophie Hannah book ive read but ill definately be picking up more.....
I was totally engrossed in this story from the get go, it's a definate page turner!
There are a lot of complex characters and each of them were interesting and weird in their own way. The whole time i was pulled in trying to figure out what was going on? and why he/she was acting like that......
If i had to complain about something it would be the end conclusion, i was thinking "really?! that's what it was all...more
I was totally engrossed in this story from the get go, it's a definate page turner!
There are a lot of complex characters and each of them were interesting and weird in their own way. The whole time i was pulled in trying to figure out what was going on? and why he/she was acting like that......
If i had to complain about something it would be the end conclusion, i was thinking "really?! that's what it was all...more
What a world Sophie Hannah has created. Mid way through this book you begin to think, like the main character Connie, that nothing is certain and what you think you know is indeed not true.
Having seen a seemingly impossibly murder scene on an innocuous property website 360 tour Connie's life then becomes a tangled maze of who, what, where, when, why and even if. Her "faithful" husband Kit, her suffocating family, the house and the woman she has become dangerously obsessed with - who is at fault...more
Having seen a seemingly impossibly murder scene on an innocuous property website 360 tour Connie's life then becomes a tangled maze of who, what, where, when, why and even if. Her "faithful" husband Kit, her suffocating family, the house and the woman she has become dangerously obsessed with - who is at fault...more
Book Review & Giveaway: I’m a bit of a sucker for psychological thrillers, even though they often scare me silly, so I had to pounce on The Other Woman’s House by bestselling and award-winning English author Sophie Hannah. I’m glad I did. Not only was I mesmerized by the story but I won a trade paperback copy, which I can now pay forward in a giveaway for one of you to win. This novel features police detectives Charlie Zailer and Simon Waterhouse, who have appeared in prior Sophie Hannah cri...more
I took this book on holiday, otherwise i would have given up on it halfway through. The opening scenario is compelling, a woman suspecting her husband of leading a double life is looking on an estate agent's virtual house tour and sees a dead body in one of the rooms. However, when she gous back into the site there is no body there. The trouble with the book is that it is over-written, the plot is almost too cumbersome to maintain any interest , and the writing is uninspiring. I have given it 1...more
I had a hard time with my rating for this book. In some ways I'd give it a 2, in other ways a 3 or 3.5. The story was unique and intriguing and I did have an intense desire to see how it all would end. On the other hand, some of the writing was convoluted, overdone, too loose, and ultimately could have been streamlined for a better read. With about 100 pages left, I was ready for it to be over but my interest was piqued enough to keep reading. Still can't decide if I liked the ending, but I can...more
I feel as if I have very happily just "discovered" Sophie Hannah's psychological suspense/mystery books. Although this is the 6th in her series. Of course, coming in a bit late left me a bit uncertain to some of the character references and backgrounds, however that does not detract from one really great story that is strong enough to stand on it's own.
The idea of a woman finding a dead body on a real estate website one night wrapped up in the questions of her husband's dishonesty is expertly c...more
The idea of a woman finding a dead body on a real estate website one night wrapped up in the questions of her husband's dishonesty is expertly c...more
There was a point in reading this book, probably about 3/4 of the way through, where I thought I would give it four stars. After all, I was intrigued enough to spend my entire day yesterday reading it. Hannah had a good hook; I needed to know if the main character was as batshit insane as she seemed to be. Or was she just a basket case? There is a difference. The former is a killer. The latter just makes everyone around them miserable. At least that's my take. Definitions may vary.
When I finishe...more
When I finishe...more
Connie Bowskill is obsessed with a house in Cambridge that has just been put up for sale. Late one evening, she waits for her husband Kit to fall asleep, creeps into their study, and checks it out on a real estate database. Taking a virtual tour, she clicks on an image of the lounge room and is stunned to see a woman lying in a pool of blood. When Kit, responding to her hysteria, clicks on the same image, the woman is gone. The lounge room is exactly the same, but pristine—there’s no body, no po...more
After my disappointment with the fifth book in the Spilling CID series, A Room Swept White, this sixth book proves a marked improvement. This is series is definitely not a typical one but there is just something very interesting about the convoluted plots and rather odd characters that Hannah features. When a murder scene is first viewed by an unsuspecting woman on a real estate website’s virtual tour, the plot unfolds from there in some quite unpredictable turns. It is one of the series’ more c...more
Kit and Connie are living the perfect life…until Connie finds a different address programmed into Kit’s GPS as “home.” Since that day Connie’s life hasn’t been the same. She watches the house in an attempt to see her husband and catch him living a double life, and when the house goes up for sale Connie knows exactly what she has to do, go online and see what it looks like on the inside. Once on the real estate website Connie sees a dead body in the middle of the lounge and starts a crusade to fi...more
This is #6 in a series featuring characters Charlie and Simon. In this installment of their story, they are newly married and on honeymoon for a large portion of the book.
Connie and Kit live a few hours outside of Cambridge, England. The own a charming cottage, own their own business, and live suffocatingly close to Connie's family. Once upon a time, they had hoped to move to Cambridge, but that didn't work out for them. Or did it work out for Kit alone? One night, Connie happens upon a virtual...more
Connie and Kit live a few hours outside of Cambridge, England. The own a charming cottage, own their own business, and live suffocatingly close to Connie's family. Once upon a time, they had hoped to move to Cambridge, but that didn't work out for them. Or did it work out for Kit alone? One night, Connie happens upon a virtual...more
I finished it - but on more than one occasion I almost put it to one sideto start something new. The storyline was odd and just seemed to go round in circles. I can put up with unbelievable plot lines but this didn't really seem to go anywhere and seemed quite disjointed. Can't say I warmed to any of the characters. Only my 2nd Sophie Hannah book - but I suspect it might be the last I'm afraid.
I do not know what happened, I started out loving this book, the suspense factor was high and then by page 300 I was wondering if this book was ever going to end. By the time I reached page 350, I just closed the book and I had no interest in even reading the last chapter to see how it all worked out.
It is the middle of the night and Connie Bowskill cannot sleep, she doe not want to bother her husband so she slips out of their room and heads to the computer. Clicking onto a realtor site, Connie...more
It is the middle of the night and Connie Bowskill cannot sleep, she doe not want to bother her husband so she slips out of their room and heads to the computer. Clicking onto a realtor site, Connie...more
A novel FULL of OMGWTFs.
As always, Hannah's latest is chock full of twists and turns and edge-of-the-seat WTFs. And with the recurring characters Charlie and Simon, those are both WTF-is-WRONG-with-these-people types as well as WTF-I-wasn't-expecting-that types.
You should know that unless you start at the beginning of the series the Charlie+Simon relationship will make no sense. Nor, I suppose, will a lot of the side comments about others at the police station, come to think of it.
However, if yo...more
As always, Hannah's latest is chock full of twists and turns and edge-of-the-seat WTFs. And with the recurring characters Charlie and Simon, those are both WTF-is-WRONG-with-these-people types as well as WTF-I-wasn't-expecting-that types.
You should know that unless you start at the beginning of the series the Charlie+Simon relationship will make no sense. Nor, I suppose, will a lot of the side comments about others at the police station, come to think of it.
However, if yo...more
This is my third Sophie Hannah book. At first they were exciting, the story lines drew me in and I was always keen to find out the twist at the end (no matter how convoluted). But as I have read on I found myself more and more annoyed at the characters. Everyone of them is irritating. The women characters are either psychologically disturbed or mean and harsh and swear incessantly (cheap language and cheap literature). The characters all claim to be close to their families but speak to them in s...more
I wanted a quick, entertaining read before I went back to my very long book on the Russian revolution. When I saw this book on the book table at Costco, it looked like just the thing. This was such a lazy book: a mystery story full of holes, explained away by dull detectives and a boring murderer in the final pages.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book Haven: Win The Other Woman's House by Sophie Hannah | 1 | 5 | Aug 22, 2012 10:03am | |
| The Indie Exchang...: Win The Other Woman's House by Sophie Hannah | 1 | 5 | Aug 22, 2012 10:02am | |
| Book Bloggers Ano...: Win The Other Woman's House by Sophie Hannah | 1 | 1 | Aug 22, 2012 10:01am | |
| Creative Reviews: Win The Other Woman's House by Sophie Hannah | 1 | 2 | Aug 22, 2012 10:00am |
Sophie Hannah is a bestselling poet and novelist, who regularly performs her work both nationwide and abroad. Her poetry is studied at GCSE, A-level and degree level across the country. She was born in Manchester in 1971 and lives in Low Utley, West Yorkshire.
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“We manufacture anger to give ourselves the illusion of power when we feel weak and helpless.”
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“Why treat the people closest to you like strangers?”
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