Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: August 7, 2018
Source: Review copy from the publisher
Rating: ★★★★

On a bright January morning in the London suburbs, a family moves into the house they’ve just bought in Trinity Avenue. Nothing strange about that. Except it is your house. And you didn’t sell it.

When Fiona Lawson comes home to find strangers moving into her house, she’s sure there’s been a mistake. She and her estranged husband, Bram, have a modern co-parenting arrangement: bird’s nest custody, where each parent spends a few nights a week with their two sons at the prized family home to maintain stability for their children. But the system built to protect their family ends up putting them in terrible jeopardy. In a domino effect of crimes and misdemeanors, the nest comes tumbling down.

Now Bram has disappeared and so have Fiona’s children. As events spiral well beyond her control, Fiona will discover just how many lies her husband was weaving and how little they truly knew each other. But Bram’s not the only one with things to hide, and some secrets are best kept to oneself, safe as houses.

OUR HOUSE is a creative domestic thriller, about a wife, a husband, and their obsession with their fabulous and expensive home. When their marriage crumbles, they decide on “bird’s nest custody” of their children, where the parents take turns living in the house so their sons’ lives are minimally disrupted. Yeah, but wasn’t it really about their love of the house?

Anyway, Fiona comes home one day and is shocked to discover another family moving into their house. She can’t get a hold of her husband, Bram, and these strangers are insisting they are the rightful owners. Can you imagine having your home sold without your knowledge? What’s going on?

This intriguing story is told in a unique way, including Fiona doing a podcast of the dilemma (with comments from listeners), and Bram writing up a document, though we’re not sure who for. There’s a lot of twisty back and forth about what lead up to the shocking discovery. There were parts that felt slow-ish or repetitive, but overall this crazy mystery kept me hanging on. A fun read, though also unsettling!

Oh, my. This book’s ending. I was yelling no, no, no! Don’t do it! And then, what comes next? I guess that’s up to the reader to decide.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.