The fourth author on our December panel is Sam Carrington. Sam will be joining us from her home in Devon. The Open House is Sam’s sixth book and will be published on the 10th December. Before I give you my review, here’s the blurb.

The Blurb

Everyone’s welcome. But not everyone leaves…

Nick and Amber Miller are splitting up and selling their Devon family home. But despite the desirable location, the house isn’t moving. Not a single viewing so far.
 
When their estate agent suggests an open house event, Amber agrees, even as she worries about their gossiping neighbours attending and snooping around their home.
 
But Amber has more to worry about than nosy neighbours. Because thirteen people enter her house that afternoon, and only twelve leave.
 
Someone doesn’t want the house to sell, and is willing to do anything to stop it…

My Review

Moving house is supposed to be one of the most challenging and stressful tasks you can undertake. But before you even move, you may have a property to sell. After splitting from her husband, Amber Miller is facing that problem and it appears no one wants to buy her house despite the best efforts of her estate agent. In desperation she agrees to hold an open house where several prospective buyers wander round the property. Watching on her smart doorbell app, she counts thirteen people in but only twelve out. At least she thinks so. As strange things start to happen in the house, Amber wonders if maybe she hadn’t miscounted after all. As much as she wants to sell her home, Amber’s not going to be forced out of it and begins to investigate.

Sam Carrington has done what she does best and takes an ordinary situation to a whole new dimension. Having strangers look at your house is bad enough but thinking they might still be there is beyond weird. I was starting to feel as creeped out and paranoid as Amber was.

The story is told by three people – Amber, her mother-in-law, Barb and a mystery narrator. As much as Amber wants to leave, Barb is doing her best to make sure Amber and the grandchildren stay in what had previously been her house. And the mystery narrator? Well that person is seeking the truth, regardless of the cost.

There are plenty of twists and turns in this book and the tension steadily builds. As I was reading I had a few ideas about it all and one of them was partially right. The ending still took me by surprise though.

Overall this is another fantastic psychological thriller by Sam Carrington.

You can pre order The Open House here. Or buy from your local bookshop from the 10th December.

Don’t forget to join us on Monday 7th December at 7.30pm GMT on our Facebook page when I’ll be chatting to Sam Carrington, Deborah Masson, Susi Holliday and A.K. Turner.

 

The Author

Sam Carrington lives in Devon with her husband, two border terriers and a cat. She has three adult children and a new grandson! She worked for the NHS for fifteen years, during which time she qualified as a nurse. Following the completion of a psychology degree she went to work for the prison service as an Offending Behaviour Programme Facilitator. Her experiences within this field inspired her writing. She left the service to spend time with her family and to follow her dream of being a novelist.

SAVING SOPHIE, her debut psychological thriller, published in September 2016. It became a Kindle eBook bestseller, with the paperback hitting The Bookseller Heatseeker chart at #8. Sam was named an Amazon Rising Star of 2016. Her second psychological thriller, BAD SISTER, published in 2017 followed by ONE LITTLE LIE in July 2018. THE MISSING WIFE published in June 2019 and her fifth, I DARE YOU published on 12th December. Sam’s sixth psychological thriller THE OPEN HOUSE will be publishing in December 2020.

You can find out about Sam’s novels, upcoming events and book news at samcarringtonauthor.com