The Downstairs Neighbor by Helen Cooper is a 2021 G.P. Putnam’s Sons Publication.

When Freya goes missing it throws everyone into a nervous fit of fear and anxiety- her parents, naturally, are beside themselves- but so are their neighbors- two other families who all have secrets, including Chris who was the last known person to have seen Freya alive. Meanwhile, as the investigation deepens, an old crime floats to the surface- that of a missing girl and a murder that took place over two decades ago- Could there be a connection?

This is a deeply absorbing mystery with several threads going at once, some in the present and some in the past. While normally this setup would drive me nuts-as it involves too many characters and can be hard to keep everything and everybody straight, for some reason I had no trouble keeping up and did not have to go back and reread passages to try and make sense of it. That is not to say that I understood fully why we are going back into the past to examine a group of people who seemingly had nothing to do with the current day situation, but it did finally start to dawn on me where this all might be heading. Still, I will have to say that some threads were compelling, but not all together necessary, except perhaps to add to the murkiness and build the tension- which I suppose was the intention.

It will depend on the reader as to how the conclusion will land- as it was a bit morally ambiguous. I admit, I’m still mulling it over. On one hand I was okay with the complicated outcome, but it is not exactly an ‘all’s well, that end’s well’ scenario, as there are some shocking revelations that prevents one from being wholly satisfied with how things worked out for some of the characters, and I didn’t know how to feel about it- still don’t. But it is always a good sign when I find myself thinking about a book long after I’ve turned the last page…

Overall, a solid mystery suspense novel. All the suspects under one roof, unreliable narrators, and a story that makes you wonder how well you really know the people you are closest to…

4 stars ( )

The Downstairs Neighbours is a thriller I picked almost as an afterthought. I had no expectations going in and I ended up being surprised—in a good way! Cooper’s debut is a captivating read, featuring mystery and secrets in equal measure.

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This is Helen Cooper’s debut novel…and I really can’t wait to see what she comes up with next. It was very well-plotted plus it had believable characters. Emma, didn’t mean to hear her upstairs neighbors, but once she heard a little she became enthralled…and very worried. All of the tenants, including Emma, had secrets. All of the inhabitants of this house had made many mistakes. Not malicious, but mistakes born from misunderstandings, guilt, and misguided, life-altering decisions. Some mistakes just keep growing and soon take on a life of their own…including another missing child from 25 years ago. The story is filled with deceptions…family secrets….sacrifices… and choices that turned disastrous. It a really excellent read by this new author. ( )

Helen Cooper has written a page-turner of a debut. When 17-year-old Freya does not return home, there are so many possible suspects. The police ask the parents if they have have any enemies who might want to harm Freya. And while both parents deny it, their actions show otherwise. And then there is the single woman on the ground floor, whose teenage son has disappeared, Freya’s driving instructor who lives in the basement apartment. As the suspects struggle with what is going on, there is a second plot taking 25 years earlier when a young girl accidently kills her mother’s boyfriend. Both stories collide at the end and the ending is totally unexpected. ( )

I'm somewhat torn on this book. It's absorbing, well-written, and the characters are deeply developed. And who isn't swept up by the emotional reverberations of a missing child? It's told in a variety of voices, and in two time frames, but each character is unique and fully three-dimensional and though it's not clear for some time how the past and present connect, it's easy to time-jump and hold it all together. But . . .

The plot depends on every major character hiding a dark secret from their loved ones, and none of them have ordinary, boring lives. With four families shaped by deep dark secrets all intersecting It began to feel a bit contrived and as if we were taking notes for a sermon on the theme of how important it is to be honest with your family. The pile-up of people withholding information and everyone suffering as a result became a bit too much for me and began to feel manipulative.

That said, the writing is lovely, the characters are distinctive and for the most part believable even if they're doing daft things, and the pacing never drags. Shame the plot demanded that some characters weren't allowed to be more human and less dramatically fallible. It's like eating a meal with great ingredients and beautiful presentation but too much seasoning.