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…
A bloody fantastic domestic thriller! Anna-Lou Weatherley absolutely got it right with this one! The Cedar Close community was the perfect setting for the plot of these insane characters! You know the saying, “you can’t make that up”, after hearing a story about something that seems so off kilter? Well….that’s exactly what Anna-Lou Weatherley did!
With the tap of the keys on her keyboard, she created a cast of characters that felt unreal and so real, sane and insane, normal and abnormal all at the same time! Cedar close sounded like the kind of neighborhood that looked great…from afar!
I don’t think I ever wanted to punch a character in the face as much as I wanted to punch Robert! Lying, cheating PIG! Laurie was accused of his brutal murder although she had no recollection of committing any such crime. (Who could blame her, if it were true, though!)
Ugh! Thank GOD for life long friends and neighbors like Monica. Honestly I didn’t know what Laurie would have done without her… she’s a hell of a lot better than that other nosey neighbor who keeps tabs on every move Laurie makes.
Weatherley’s creative craft using flashbacks to mysterious characters will keep you turning pages with fury. I have to be 100% honest, I figured out about half way through how the past connected to the events in the present….BUT…she cleverly stuck in some great twists that confirmed my love for this story. I LOVED it!!
Anna-Lou Weatherley was born in Hampshire and grew up in London where she still lives with her partner and two children. An award-winning journalist and women’s lifestyle writer for over fifteen years, she is the former editor and acting editor of J-17 and Smash Hits respectively and has written for all the major glossies including, Grazia, More, Company, and Marie Claire among others.
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Two Girls and a Book Obsession 