A new Jewell in my reading crown

I always get excited when I find a new author with a full catalogue that I can work my way through, having gotten on board with their writing from the outset. Lisa Jewell, prolific and best-selling British psychological thriller writer, is an author I have wanted to try out for some time. I took up a friend's Instagram recommendation to take the plunge. This post is my review of the four titles from Lisa Jewell's collection that I read in quick succession. You can also check out my review of None of this is true, Jewell's 2023 book.

What do I like about Jewell's books? The writing draws me in and I feel connected to it from the very first pages. Lisa Jewell writes clever thrillers that have a psychological dimension without being completely unbelievable. She does not go for shock value, but rather constructs an intricate plot that unfolds at an even pace, willing the reader to keep turning the pages to make it to the conclusion. After reading a bunch of books with bonkers endings, I have enjoyed my dip into Jewell's books, feeling satisfied at the end that I had read something of value that kept me engaged with the characters and the story development. The endings are multilayered, with some things a surprise and others not so much. I do not need a bonkers ending to enjoy a thriller as I think the creativity lies in the intricate details and the ability to weave a complex story.

Jewell's power also lies in her characters and the weighty subjects that she deftly tackles while crafting clever and complex thrillers. She takes time to flesh out all the characters so that the reader is invested in them and in the outcome of the story. The characters feel authentic and unique, even when there are a lot of characters (and multiple narrators and timelines) with whom to come to grips. Each book I review in this post has left a lasting impression on me.

The family remains | Published July 2022 | Read January 2024

The first book I read of Lisa Jewell's was The family remains. It is the sequel to The family upstairs (reviewed below). The books are touted as standalones, but I strongly suggest reading them in order as things are revealed in the second book that then make the first book less surprising.

The family remains spans multiple timelines and narrators. It begins with DCI Samuel Owusu's investigation into the discovery of bones on the Thames shore that are later linked to a cold case. Twenty-five years ago, three people were found dead in a Chelsea mansion and the other occupants of the house have been missing ever since. The story of what happened in the Chelsea house is the subject of The family upstairs, the first book in the series.

As DI Owusu tries to find out the identity of the bones, he is drawn into the bizarre world of the Lamb family. Henry, the older brother, is searching for Phin who was a key part of his childhood in the Chelsea mansion. Henry is obsessed with Phin and still feels a strange connection to him, despite not having seen him for 25 years. Henry's sister, Lucy, has returned to London after some time abroad, determined to buy a home and make a life for her children after a traumatic and nomadic existence in Europe. There is a parallel story told by Rachel Rimmer, whom we meet at the start of the story after she receives a call that her husband, Michael, has been found dead in his house in France.

I was glued to The family remains and ploughed through it quickly. The complex web that connects the characters together is super interesting to read. Lisa Jewell creates fascinating characters in Henry, Rachel and Lucy. I was impressed with the way that their respective stories are slowly revealed to be connected. While Rachel's story is hard to read at times (trigger warning: emotional abuse and coercive control), I warmed to her immediately and loved the female empowerment element to the book overall. It is quite a dark and intense read, but compelling in its characterisation of a huge cast of players. The expert weaving together of the separate threads is so clever. I won't say anything further about the story so as not to spoil, other than I urge you to read it. Just make sure you read The family upstairs first if you want to enjoy a spoiler-free read of the first book in the series.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Invisible girl | Published October 2020 | Read January 2024

Invisible girl certainly made me feel things as I was reading it. The book has left a lasting impression on me for those feels.

I felt sorry for Owen Pick, a mid-30s socially-awkward man living with his aunt in her spare bedroom in a rundown house in a posh part of London. His mother died and his father rejected him years ago. His aunt is nasty to him, banning him from the living room of the house, and his life is lonely and isolating. Owen is suspended from his job as a geography teacher after allegations of sexual misconduct. Life gets worse for Owen after he becomes the chief suspect in the disappearance of teenager, Saffyre Maddox, largely because he is weird. Circumstances are against Owen, including an initial cry for help that leads him to stupidly seek out an online incel forum. Owen also has frequent memory blackouts that do nothing but make him look guilty. On top of all that, Owen looks good for the perpetrator of a series of sex crimes in the area.

Cate and Roan Fours live across the road from Owen with their son, Josh, (sweet boy who loves his mother) and daughter, Georgia (obnoxious and spoilt teenager). Sadly, the Fours judge Owen for his anti-social behavior, labelling him as creepy, especially after Georgia claims he follows her home from the station one night. I understood why the Fours felt that way about Owen, but their reaction to Owen was hard to read. I found reading about Cate made me cranky, too, as she is passive, weak, and completely taken for granted by her husband and daughter. Cate's husband, a child psychologist, is a complete twat who engages in some nasty gaslighting of his wife. That said, he does seem to have helped Saffyre (a character I loved) as her therapist for three years. Saffyre, still dealing with a traumatic incident when she was ten, feels abandoned by Roan when he ends her treatment, so to keep connected to him, she shadows him, learning more about the Fours family than she bargained for.

Invisible girl is the perfect title for the book! It is much more than a thriller as it explores the way people are often judged for being different to the norm (whatever that is😉). It also explores how quick assumptions can be made about people based on behaviours that seem odd, when all the while, seemingly decent people are the real monsters out there. Both the outcasts and the normal people are invisible in their own ways. Lisa Jewell creates a clever and provocative story in Invisible girl with well-fleshed out, fascinating characters and a powerhouse ending. The story moves at a cracking pace and I could not wait to get to the end.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The night she disappeared | Published July 2021 | Read January 2024

The night she disappeared involves two timelines and three points of view. One story is set in 2017 and told from the perspective of Tallulah, a 19-year-old single mother. Tallulah and Zack, the father of her baby, do not return home one evening. They are last seen at a party at a posh mansion near the woods known as Dark Place. The 2017 story takes the reader through the events that lead to their disappearance.

Two years later, Kim, Tallulah's mother, has never given up the search for her daughter. No trace has ever been found of Zack or Tallulah and no one seems to know anything about that fateful night.

Sophie is a crime writer who moves to the town. She is living in a cottage near Dark Place with her partner who has just started at the nearby boarding school as Head Teacher. Sophie finds a note stuck to a tree near the cottage that says, "dig here". The note sets Sophie off on an amateur investigation into the disappearance of the two teeangers that leads to further evidence that eventually reopens the case.

Like the other Lisa Jewell books I have read to date, I was gripped by The night she disappeared. The plot is not unique to the thriller genre; after all, it is a seemingly simple story of a girl gone missing and her mother's unrelenting quest to find her. It is the characterisation of Tallulah and Kim that makes the story come to life. They are both so vividly drawn. I felt the pain of Kim's loss and her struggle to make sense of the disappearance of her daughter. I felt Tallulah's struggles with her identity, the challenges of juggling motherhood and her studies, and the horror of her increasingly controlling boyfriend's grip on her life.

It does take some time to build up to the end and find out what happened to Tallulah and Zach. It is compelling and intriguing journey, though, so well worth the effort. Lisa Jewell writes another powerful ending, both shocking and heartbreaking, although slightly unbelievable and a tad rushed. That said, I loved getting to know Tallulah and can appreciate Jewell's storytelling abilities and the important subjects that she tackles within the crime.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐[Marked down from five stars for the ending.]

The family upstairs | Published August 2019 | Read March 2024

As I noted above, I'd suggest reading The family upstairs before reading The family remains. The two books do standalone, but because I read the second in the series first, I knew what was going on in The family upstairs. This meant the reading experience for me was about understanding the backstory to the second novel. I knew the twist, but I still enjoyed reading about what led to the events in The family remains.

The family upstairs follows two timelines and three protagonists. In the present, Libby is about to turn 25 and discovers that she has inherited a multi-million pound abandoned Chelsea mansion. Together with journalist, Miller Roe, she pieces together the real story of her birth and of the house's occupants 25 years ago. Lucy Lamb is currently surviving on the streets of Nice with her two children until a reminder that "the baby is 25" sends her back to London. Someone is in the Chelsea house, seemingly leaving clues for Libby to uncover what happened all those years ago and where she fits into the story.

In the past timeline, Henry Lamb narrates the disturbing events of the previous inhabitants of the Chelsea mansion, once owned by the Lamb family. The house is later taken over by a Svengali-like figure, David Thomsen, who proceeds to strip the family of their possessions and their personal agency, creating a cult-like commune in the house that ends in tragedy. Henry's telling of the origin story is chilling and gripping, and I raced through the novel to reach its conclusion. The cruel, authoritarian atmosphere in the house is clearly conveyed, showing the ever-increasing hold that Thomsen gains on the family, traumatising the children and the surviving adults.

Jewell creates compelling characters in The family upstairs and while the book may be confusing to some readers at first, she manages to give depth to all of the players and slowly reveals how their stories are connected. This dark and twisted tale deserves five stars. I've only rated it down to four stars as I knew what was going on from reading the second book, so it was less suspenseful for me than if I'd read it first.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐