The Only Suspect: A 'twisting, seductive, ingenious' thriller from the bestselling author of The Other Passenger

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As always Louise Candlish has written a taut, unsettling, compulsive and ingenious novel with gasp-out-loud twists and fatally flawed characters forced into tragedy by circumstances. A beautiful young woman captured his heart and something else all those years ago, then she disappeared. If you like more slow drawn out thrillers that are very character driven definitely check this one out.

In some extents I can say yes – I did anticipate one or two of the revelations but, in fairness, they weren’t any that were going to spoil the surprises still to come. I didn’t like the main male character, Alex and then realised I wasn’t keen on any of the main characters. The storyline is complex but very clever, and although there are many twists, there’s one in particular that blew me away, I just never saw it coming.I was slightly disappointed with Candlish's latest release, though that's probably down to high expectations of really enjoying her previous novels. Alex never actively mingles with the neighbours, he steers clear of social media and, although not a loner, he does keep to himself. But he never quite anticipated just how disastrous his life would become after becoming embroiled in her personal problems.

A couple of threads didn’t quite resolve enough for me, but I suspect it would have been too neat if everything had been perfectly wound up. Tightly plotted and brilliantly written with twists so perfect they made me gasp out loud on more than one occasion. It’s psychological fiction or domestic noir with a deliciously surprising turn – just how I like it.The steps taken towards the close of The Only Suspect was masterful, I couldn’t predict where Louise Candlish was going with her latest release! He likes his privacy, doesn’t like to be paraded or have his picture taken, low key is his middle name.

Alex is not at all convinced that Zara Lloyd’s predicament is genuine, and wonders what her true agenda might be. He was kind and loving and ultimately acting in good faith, even if those around him were then able to play on his naivety a little too often. I do think this was a better 3-star than Our House, but the slow pace and the unnecessary Zara drama held the book back from being a 4-star. Now city friends Amy and Linus have bought a second home nearby and when the two families descend they plan lazy days at the beach and evenings sipping rosé and watching the sun set from Charlotte's summerhouse veranda. OUR HOUSE is the one you may know me for as it's on our screens as a major four-part ITV drama starring Martin Compston, Tuppence Middleton and Rupert Penry-Jones (watch the full series free on ITVX).That's until Beth announces the creation of a nature trail on a local site that's been disused for decades and suddenly Alex is a changed man. My brand-new thriller THE ONLY SUSPECT is out now and described by the Daily Mail as 'a perfect mix of nostalgia and menace'. If you thought you misbehaved in the nineties you've got nothing on the devious, duplicitous cast of this book.

Whilst the key action and the really dynamic and jeopardy laden parts of the story take place in the past, the chapter set in the present are important too. This story seemed like it was going to be slow paced but there were so many things that were not as it seemed. I felt the drama between Alex and Zara was inserted just to give some purpose to the present day scenes other than Alex spiralling with worry. Most of the neighbourhood is looking forward to this by Alex is terrified that a secret will be unearthed.

However, when Beth tells Alex about the development of a nature trail right behind their home, Alex becomes very anxious, because he has a very dark secret and the landscapers may inadvertently be about to reveal it! I picked PART of the twist quite early and was feeling VERY smug about it- but the ending still got me. Alex’s carefully cultivated existence is rocked by the development of a new nature trail in his local area. The characterisation is very good, there’s a good range, from one who is gullible, one who seems guileless, one to fear, one or two to clench your fists in irritation and one master duper. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.