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The Family Upstairs

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The Family Upstairs

By: Lisa Jewell
Narrated by: Tamaryn Payne, Bea Holland, Dominic Thorburn
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

PREPARE TO BE HOOKED
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'A twisty and engrossing story of betrayal and redemption.' IAN RANKIN

'Rich, dark and intricately twisted, this enthralling whodunnit mixes family saga with domestic noir to brilliantly chilling effect.' RUTH WARE

'Really good, gripping. I couldn't bear for it to finish... I don't want to move onto the next book too soon as it feels like a betrayal.'
OLIVIA COLMAN
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FROM THE #1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF INVISIBLE GIRL


In a large house in London's fashionable Chelsea, a baby is awake in her cot. Well-fed and cared for, she is happily waiting for someone to pick her up.

In the kitchen lie three decomposing corpses. Close to them is a hastily scrawled note.

They've been dead for several days.

Who has been looking after the baby?

And where did they go?

Two entangled families.
A house with the darkest of secrets.
A compulsive thriller from Lisa Jewell.
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Readers are obsessed with The Family Upstairs:

'I read so many books in the crime/mystery genre that it becomes harder to find a book that stands out. This one succeeded!! Hooked from page one'
'I totally adored this book. All of Lisa Jewell's books are fabulous, but something about this one is extra special.'
'Absolutely absorbing ... thoroughly enjoyed it'
'Kept me captivated from the very beginning ... Definitely worth reading - as long you like reading into the night!'
'What a book. Clever would be an understatement. And those last pages left me with chills. The concept had me intrigued and the execution had me captivated. I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN!'
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'You don't read a Lisa Jewell book, you fall into it. It takes huge talent to establish a whole world in the turn of two pages.' ERIN KELLY

'I swear I didn't breathe the whole time I was reading it. Gripping, pacy, brilliantly twisty.' CLARE MACKINTOSH

'Creepy, intricate and utterly immersive: an excellent holiday read.' GUARDIAN

'I had an unrelentingly pleasurable and thrilling for-God's-sake-tell-me-what-happened sensation in my stomach for the entire read ... Stupendous!' RUTH JONES

'Absolutely brilliant. Great characterisation, a fascinating and dark set up and a great conclusion. She's always great but this is next level stuff.' SARAH PINBOROUGH

'Few writers of psychological suspense devise such swift, slippery plots; fewer still people their stories with characters so human and complex. Lisa's Jewell's The Family Upstairs glitters like a blade and cuts even deeper.' AJ FINN

'Whenever I pick up a Lisa Jewell novel I know I'm in for a compelling, immersive and unputdownable read and The Family Upstairs is one of her very best' CL TAYLOR

'I had hoped to save The Family Upstairs for my holiday, but failed miserably ... I was hooked from the first page' ALICE FEENEY

'Utterly compelling. Deliciously dark and twisty with characters who live on in your head. Lisa Jewell just keeps getting better and better.' JANE CORRY

'It's absolutely bloody brilliant and I can't tell you much I wish I'd written it.' TAMMY COHEN

'I loved The Family Upstairs!' SARAH JESSICA PARKER

#1 Bestseller in the UK, Sunday Times, August 2019

© Lisa Jewell 2019 (P) Penguin Audio 2019

Crime Fiction Domestic Thrillers Genre Fiction Psychological Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Crime Exciting Scary Thriller

Critic Reviews

I swear I didn’t breathe the whole time I was reading. Gripping, pacy, brilliantly twisty.
Rich, dark and intricately twisted, this enthralling whodunnit mixes family saga with domestic noir to brilliantly chilling effect.
Twisty and engrossing story of betrayal and redemption. Reminiscent of Donna Tartt in scope and quality
Few writers of psychological suspense devise such swift, slippery plots; fewer still people their stories with characters so human and complex. Lisa’s Jewell’s The Family Upstairs glitters like a blade and cuts even deeper.
Creepy, intricate and utterly immersive: an excellent holiday read.
The Family Upstairs was a great read! Loved this page-turner by Lisa Jewell.
I had an unrelentingly pleasurable and a thrilling for-God’s-sake-tell-me-what-happened sensation in my stomach for the entire read ... Stupendous! (Ruth Jones)
The perfect poolside read. The perfect anywhere read, to be honest. This book is riveting, moving, and out in August. Highest possible level of recommendation. (Sophie Hannah)
Absolutely brilliant. Great characterisation, a fascinating and dark set up and a great conclusion. She’s always great but this is next level stuff. (Sarah Pinborough)
Rich in mystery from the very first page and Lisa Jewell’s best book yet.
All stars
Most relevant
I loved it so very much, almost always on the edge of my seat. I will say it is a very emotionally heavy book definitely not for the light-hearted reader. Amazingly written, the author definitely has talent!

thrilling mystery

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It started out slow and was second guessing why I picked this book. but got addicted about half way through!

Enjoyable

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I was hooked from the very beginning. Highly recommend this book - each chapter kept you guessing.

Loved it!

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The story itself was very compelling & well written. It’s interesting how things turned out. The story had no real loose ends, which often happens with mysteries that jump back and forth in time.
The narrator for Lucy’s chapters voiced the 12yo boy like he was a surly dwarf, which was distracting. And her American male accent for Michael was annoyingly bad as well. I’m finding more and more that English narrators can’t do American accents for shit.
For Libby’s chapters, I didn’t like Miller’s accent or voice either. And the male narrator for Henry’s chapters made Martina seem like a European drag queen in my head.
I’m still new to audio books and I get annoyed with the non-English accents done by English narrators, and when the men do female voices. It just takes me right out of it.
Other than those annoying voices, the narrators were very good though. They are good voice actors and read well. It’s just those particular character voices...

Brilliant Story

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Loved listening to this whilst laying in bed with Covid. The suspense, the voices of the different characters, the story all perfectly captured my attention.

Great thriller

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