#BlogTour- ‘The Couple on Cedar Close’ by Anna Lou Weatherley

This is a wonderful blogtour for Bookouture , who  are promoting psychological thriller, ‘The Couple On Cedar Close’ by Anna-Lou Weatherley and today is my turn.

‘The Couple On Cedar Close’ is published as an eBook on 18/01/19.

Link to buy is at the bottom of the page!

The story behind the eponymous couple is as follows-

One sunny August afternoon, the residents of Cedar Close throw their annual summer barbecue. Children play in the cherry-tree lined street, tables are laden with food, and the wine is flowing. For Laurie Mills, it’s her first time meeting the neighbours. And it’s the first time she discovers her husband Robert is having an affair.

Cedar Close has always been a nice place to live – a quiet suburban street where everyone looks out for one another and bad things don’t happen.

Until late one evening, when Robert Mills is found dead in his bedroom.

Downstairs, in their beautiful kitchen, his wife Laurie sits alone in the dark with her head in her hands.

She can’t remember the last few hours, but she knows she didn’t kill Robert.

The trouble is, no-one believes her…

An utterly gripping page-turner about the dark secrets that lie behind closed doors. Perfect for fans of JP Delaney’s The Girl Before and Gone Girl, The Couple on Cedar Close will keep you reading late into the night.

My Review

Reclusive new neighbours to Cedar Close, Laurie and Robert haven’t been seen much since they moved into Cedar Close to make a fresh start for their marriage.

Hints are given about a tragedy that have left Laurie almost agoraphobic ,so the Cedar Close BBQ seems like the ideal opportunity to finally show her face.

Popping back to her house to bring Robert out, she overhears a conversation that destroys her world.

Dashing out of her house, she publicly ruins her marriage and her position in he neighbourhood so no one is really surprised when 3 months later , Robert is dead and it looks like Laurie did it.

Dan Riley,investigating officer, however,is not so convinced…

In Dan, Anna Lou Weatherley has created a flawed and believable detective whose personal tragedies are so sad, yet he is never less than professional in his investigations.

His narrative alternates with Laurie’s as she tries to work out how her life went so badly wrong, and a third narrator, a girl called Kiki in the 80’s/90’s who is living in the foster home from hell.

I guessed ‘whodunnit’ early on, but it is a testament to Anna Lou’s plotting and writing skills that I just kept turning the pages at speed! With thrillers , for me, it’s not the feeling of working the killer out,but the way that the story is constructed. This book is so well plotted, it feeds you drips of storylines and moves things forward at speed, but not too quickly that it’s a struggle to keep up or having to re-read parts.

Who is to blame is only a tiny part of the story-lies, manipulation and toxic behaviour are used to entrap and coerce women into relationships and cause great psychological damage. It begs the question, ‘Did Robert deserve this?’ and then has the reader thinking about justice and support for women-and men-who are trapped in these situations and what they will do to extricate themselves.

‘The Couple on Cedar Close’ is a twisting, turning, psychological thriller that has made me want to read book 1 in the Dan Riley series and hopefully there will be a book 3(and more!)

Thanks again to Bookouture for having me as part of the blog tour.

About the Author

Anna-Lou Weatherley was born in Southampton and grew up in London where she still lives.
An award-winning writer for over ten years, she is the former editor and acting editor of J-17 and Smash Hits respectively and has written for magazines including New Woman, Company, B, Glamour, Marie Claire, Grazia and More (where she was their no nonsense agony aunt). She has also contributed to titles such as Arena, FHM, Loaded and NME.

Link to buy-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Couple-Cedar-Close-absolutely-psychological-ebook/dp/B07L4NTTQR/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1547244075&sr=8-1&keywords=anna-lou+weatherley

Article on toxic relationships by Anna Lou Weatherley

https://www.femalefirst.co.uk/books/anna-lou-weatherley-things-should-know-about-toxic-relationships-new-book-couple-cedar-close-1180192.html