Orchard View

by Deborah J. Miles

Digging in the garden, builder and current owner, Bill Maynard, discovers some old bones. He worries that the discovery will upset his plans for renovating and selling the house. Fortunately, his neighbour tells him the whole area was a burial site at the time of the Black Death and finding bones is commonplace. "Well, as they're so old and the museums have enough bones already, I suppose we can ignore them. It's not like there's been a murder and we've just found the body," he justified his decision. But had they? His discovery sets off an chain of unfortunate events.

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 2017

About the author

I am a book blogger and indie author. I enjoy reading other indie authors’ work and have learned a lot from this community.

I live in Kent with my long suffering husband.

My debut novel, Orchard View, is about a house where a murder took place some thirty years earlier, and I am currently working on two more stories, a Christmas romance and another dark tale of avarice with murder.

Find me online:

Blog: https://againsttheflowpress.blogspot....
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/against_the...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/deborah_mi96286

Reviews

[Yawatta Hosby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this contemporary fiction book. I loved that the house, Orchard View, was actually a character. Giving the home human characteristics was interesting.

The story foreshadowed that Etta may know a dark secret about those buried bones. The mystery motivated me to keep reading. Once the suspense built up with that twist…chapter four presented a backstory of Etta’s marriage and their neighbors. Then chapter after chapter showed the different residents of Orchard View. Some took care of her, some took advantage.

Chapter Fourteen brought the suspenseful present back. The circumstances made me wonder who out of Bill and Etta would win. It seemed like every character, especially the neighbors, had a dark secret.

I also wondered why the author stopped the action in chapter three to give all that backstory of Orchard View’s past. I guess because I love suspense and thrillers so much. My favorite part of the book was the ending when multiple characters went buck wild, trying to keep their secrets buried.

I recommend this book to read.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

After purchasing the once grand Orchard View, builder, Bill Maynard, has his heart set on making a profit by converting it into bedsits. What he doesn’t bargain on is the discovery of human bones under the patio. After being told that the area was a burial site during the time of the Black Death, he has a decision to make – inform the police of his findings and risk losing money or cover the remains up and pretend they were never there. Whatever he decides to do, the discovery has set in motion a chain of events that will change the lives of many…

Recently, on the BBC, there was a television series detailing the history of 62 Falkner Street in Liverpool. This programme traced the people who had lived at the house from when it was built, telling their stories and linking them to the local and national events of the time. It was this programme I thought of while reading Orchard View, which tells the story of the house and its various residents. Although much of the tale is told from the perspective of the inhabitants, it was also a novel concept to give the house itself a voice. Like any reader, the house had its favourite characters and it was fascinating to see what it thought of the people who lived within it.

The story could have become very disjointed due to the different people living there over the years, so it was a clever to idea to have a constant character, a neighbour, who would remain there throughout. This provided a link between each of the stories and also gave the book a definite edge. You will have to read Orchard View to find out more about this though!

It is hard to say too much about the plot without giving too much away, but what I will say is that it is an intriguing look into the private lives of people and definitely a case of how we don’t always know what goes on behind closed doors. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I began reading, but I found that I soon couldn’t put Orchard View down as I was desperate to see what tragedy would befall each resident. There was certainly a lot of death and misery for one house!

I would like to thank the author for giving me the opportunity to read this book and I thoroughly recommend it. A super read!

[Samantha Henthorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

My overall view of this book was that it gave me that wonderful feeling of wanting to carry on reading. The house, Orchard View tells her own story of people that have lived within her walls, judging their various misdemeanours whilst revealing her own quirks - who doesn't love a mention of crazy paving? I enjoyed being taken back to 1980s aspiring suburbia here! Deborah J Miles has an intriguing and wonderful style, some of the chapters were almost stories within the story (I love that), chapters of the house's life going back in time but brought together by the present; (set in the mid-90s) when builder Bill Maynard buys Orchard View and plans to convert it into bedsits the neighbours get involved, and here, the story unfolds into a web of drama that I dare not spoil but trust me it is a good read.

[Marina Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable, well written book with a distinctive, slightly retro feel to the writing. Good characters and storyline, would recommend and read more by this author.

[Dave Holwill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very different approach to a surprisingly dark tale of jealousy and murder, in which the houses themselves get to be characters.
Really liked it.

[☕Brenda Loves Books☕ · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting little suspense that spans decades.
I've always thought houses had personalities, and this one certainly does.
Give it a read and discover the secrets.

[Veronica Strachan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant read

A great eye for detail and evil lurking in the suburbs. Things are not what they seem at Orchard View.