Finders, Keepers by Sabine Durrant - suspense thriller

Verity has new neighbours. They get off to a rather abrupt start when the husband Tom

appears on her doorstep and pretty much demands that she trim the trees and bushes

in her garden as they “don’t want them propagating into theirs”. They mellow (or at

least Tom does for a while) and Verity goes over for a drink and things calm down.

She helps the son with his English and makes friends with Ailsa the wife. We go back

to when they first moved in and now that Verity has Ailsa  living with her who is

tagged. This was part of the bail condition and the case is for murder- we know very

little. Most of the story is when the family were living together and tell of the

relationship between them and Verity. Each chapter begins with an object and a

definition. An object- I won’t spoil why and the definition as Verity works for the

Oxford english dictionary and has an interest in lexicography. I liked and felt for Verity-

an eccentric with her heart in the right place and one whose life had almost passed

her by. She told of a love that “didn’t work out” and spent much time looking after

her mother in her later years. This is a well told tale ( as ever!) and there is a tension

when Tom appears and you feel for Ailsa who is nervous in his presence and

appears to want everything right in fear of anything displeasing him.WIth a mention of

coercive control and someone not knowing or believing they matter this struck

chords. A very clever, brilliant read.

For more reviews please see my blog http://nickibookblog.blogspot.co.uk/

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‘Exquisitely gifted at nuanced characterisation. And even more so at plots.’ Marian Keyes ‘Sabine Durrant is master at turning the secret anxieties everyone holds into page-turning, nail-biting drama.’ Erin Kelly ‘Durrant really is the queen of suspense.’ Lucy Atkins ‘One of our finest thriller writers.’ Sunday Mirror ‘Sabine Durrant writes fabulous endings.’ Daily Mail ‘Durrant has a ruthlessly sharp eye.’ Grazia Brilliantly creepy and completely absorbing, Finders, Keepers follows the growing obsession between two neighbours and shines a ruthless spotlight on the vanities of modern middleclass urbanites. Ailsa Tilson moves with her husband and children to Trinity Fieldsin search of the new. New project - a house to renovate. New people - no links to the past. New friends - especially her next-door neighbour, the lonely Verity, who needs her help. Verity has lived in Trinity Fields all her life. She’s always resisted change. Her home and belongings are a shield, a defence to keep the outside world at bay. But something about the Tilsons piques her interest. Just as her ivy creeps through the shared garden fence, so Verity will work her way into the Tilson family. And once they realise how formidable she can be, it might well be too late For more information, please contact Jenny.Platt@hodder.co.uk / 0203 1226 248
Sabine Durrant is the author of four psychological thrillers, Under Your Skin, Remember Me This Way, Lie With Me, a Richard & Judy Bookclub selection andSunday
Times paperback bestseller, and Take Me In. Her previous novels are Having It and Eating It and The Great Indoors, and two books for teenage girls, Cross Your Heart, Connie Pickles and Ooh La La! Connie Pickles. She is a former features editor of the Guardian and a former literary editor at the Sunday Times, and her writing has appeared in many national newspapers and magazines. She lives in south London with her partner and their three children.


‘I love Sabine Durrant’s writing and Finders, Keepers is my new favourite. Verity’s interactions with her new neighbours, the Tilsons, are both heart-breaking and horrifying – and so very real. A masterly slow-burn gripper’ Louise Candlish ‘A masterfully-plotted page-turner: Finders, Keepers is human, funny and deeply moving. Durrant’s wry observations and pitch-perfect dialogue conjure characters so real, they could be living next door to you’ Erin Kelly ‘Beautifully written and stupendously addictive’ Deborah Moggach ‘Utterly immersive and compulsive. Pace, place, characters, plot ... It’s a masterclass’ Gill Hornby ‘(A) gloriously unexpected and explosive conclusion in this wonderful combination of social satire and psychological drama’ Daily Mail ‘Deliciously sly yet also profoundly moving – a twisty game of cat and mouse that keeps the reader guessing at every step’ JP Delaney ‘Pitch-perfect. I absolutely loved it’ Lucy Dawson ‘Elegant and astute, Finders Keepers is truly gripping’ Louise O’Neill ‘Riveting from the first page to the last. No one creates characters like Sabine Durrant. I was completely enthralled’ Clare Mackintosh ‘An absolute belter. Utterly engrossing, astute, disturbing and so believable. Just fantastic’ Sarah Hilary ‘Totally immersive, brilliantly written and creepily plausible’ Claire McGowan ‘Extraordinary ... a beautifully written, gripping cross between Notes from a Scandal and Gone Girl, with a dash of Eleanor Oliphant. Ridiculously good’ Mark Edwards ‘Such rich psychological portraits, smart construction, precise prose - not to mention an unreliable narrator to equal Notes on a Scandal’s Barbara Covett. I loved it’

Sarah Vaughan ‘Chillingly gripping’ West End Lane Books