The USA Today bestselling author of The Au Pair
returns with another delicious, twisty novel--about a grand estate with
many secrets, an orphan caught in a web of lies, and a young woman
playing a sinister game.
1988. Beth Soames is fourteen years
old when her aunt takes her to stay at Raven Hall, a rambling manor in
the isolated East Anglian fens. The Averells, the family who lives
there, are warm and welcoming, and Beth becomes fast friends with their
daughter, Nina. At times, Beth even feels like she's truly part of the
family...until they ask her to help them with a harmless game--and
nothing is ever the same.
2019. Sadie Langton is an actress
struggling to make ends meet when she lands a well-paying gig to pretend
to be a guest at a weekend party. She is sent a suitcase of clothing, a
dossier outlining the role she is to play, and instructions. It's
strange, but she needs the money, and when she sees the stunning manor
she'll be staying at, she figures she's got nothing to lose.
In
person, Raven Hall is even grander than she'd imagined--even with damage
from a fire decades before--but the walls seem to have eyes. As day
turns to night, Sadie starts to feel that there's something off about
the glamorous guests who arrive, and as the party begins, it becomes
chillingly apparent their unseen host is playing games with
everyone...including her.
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What I thought about The Perfect Guests
When Beth arrives at Raven Hall in 1988, she's not sure if she wants to stay... or run. She's in a bit of a tenuous place, having lost her family in an accident and with an aunt who travels, Raven Hall and her new family is better than living in the group home. So she gives it a chance. Markus and Leonora's daughter Nina is nice most of the time, but there are some odd goings on at Raven Hall that concern her.
Fast forward to 2019. Actress Sadie Langton is invited to play a part at a weekend murder mystery party set at... Raven Hall. Turns out it has just been renovated from a mysterious incident. The money is good and Sadie is all-in until things start getting weird starting with thinking she may be poisoned and the faint smell of smoke and the strange participants in the weekend game.
Told in alternating story lines, Nina and Beth's story is gradually revealed. At first, it doesn't seem too complicated and I was wondering what I was missing. Most of the good stuff happens in the final chapters of the book, and the rest is a meandering visit through time. My head is still reeling from the reveals in this book, and I may need to make a chart to figure it all out!
I liked this story and the strange characters and like good mystery and suspense tale, I want to go back and re-read so I can find all the clues that I missed along the way. I did think the pace of the first half was a bit slow for me and all the great reveals came at the end as the group unravels the story for themselves. That part I did like -- I felt I was right along side the characters figuring out what was going on.
If you like a good family-oriented mystery/thriller with lots of secrets set in a spooky old gothic location, you might just like this story. I did!
An ARC was provided by the publisher. This is my honest review.
About the Author
Emma Rous is the USA Today bestselling author of The Au Pair. She grew up in England, Indonesia, Kuwait, Portugal and Fiji, and from a young age she had two ambitions: to write stories, and to look after animals. She studied veterinary medicine and zoology at the University of Cambridge, and worked as a small animal veterinarian for eighteen years before starting to write fiction. Emma lives near Cambridge in England with her husband and three sons, and she now writes full time.
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