09/12/2022
In bestseller Hannah’s subpar 11th Spilling CID procedural (after 2019’s The Next to Die ), it’s been six months since Jane Brinkwood, only daughter of Lord Brinkwood, was fatally stabbed at her father’s Tevendon Estate Resort, a British couples-only venue. Curmudgeonly Det. Constable Simon Waterhouse, who was vacationing there at the time with his long-suffering, more socially adept wife, Sgt. Charlie Zailer, took over the murder investigation. He concluded that the culprit must be among those staying at the resort, but no more than that. Lucy Dean, a fellow guest and the ex-wife of Jane’s widowed husband, badgers Waterhouse into vigorously renewing his inquiries. Jane is revealed to have been a thoroughly unpleasant person, who managed to offend and/or threaten everyone within snarling distance. For Waterhouse, who rightly describes Tevendon as “full of psychos,” the question becomes not so much who killed Jane as who wouldn’t want to. Too many daft theories, tenuous motives, irritating suspects, red herrings, and lies weigh down the plot. What starts as an irresistible puzzle becomes a disjointed, repetitive muddle. Hannah has done better. Agent: Peter Straus, Rogers, Coleridge & White (U.K.). (Nov.)
A cause for celebration. The Couple at the Table has everything you want in a mystery—a cryptic threat, a murder, a closed circle of suspects and an unguessable solution. Completely ingenious, entirely satisfying—a delight from start to finish.” — Alex Michaelides, New York Times bestselling author
“A wise and witty portrait of modern marriage and murder.” — Times (UK) on The Couple at the Table
“Part whodunnit, part psychological thriller, this one will leave you looking over your shoulder and a little less trustful of those around you.” — CrimeReads (Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2022) on The Couple at the Table
“Hannah builds on her suspenseful premise with well-placed clues and a superb sense of timing, all the way to a crash-and-burn ending.” — New York Times Book Review on Perfect Little Children
“No one writes twisted, suspenseful novels quite like Sophie Hannah.” — Liane Moriarty #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Hannah’s plots are like intricate jigsaw puzzles whose pieces you cannot believe will fit together, until you see the completed picture… The fun in reading The Next to Die …isn’t in learning whodunit, but in following the labyrinthine byways of its author’s peculiar worldview and the twisted motives of her characters.” — New York Times
“Sophie Hannah... has clearly mastered the psychological methodology [of] Gillian Flynn or Tana French. Her unreliable narrator commands our attention and even our sympathy.” — NPR
The Couple at the Table has everything you want in a mystery—a cryptic threat, a murder, a closed circle of suspects, and an unguessable solution. Completely ingenious, entirely satisfying—a delight from start to finish.”
New York Times bestselling author Alex Michaelides
A wise and witty portrait of modern marriage and murder.
Times (UK) on The Couple at the Table
A cause for celebration. The Couple at the Table has everything you want in a mystery—a cryptic threat, a murder, a closed circle of suspects and an unguessable solution. Completely ingenious, entirely satisfying—a delight from start to finish.
No one writes twisted, suspenseful novels quite like Sophie Hannah.
Liane Moriarty #1 New York Times bestselling author
Sophie Hannah... has clearly mastered the psychological methodology [of] Gillian Flynn or Tana French. Her unreliable narrator commands our attention and even our sympathy.”
Hannah’s plots are like intricate jigsaw puzzles whose pieces you cannot believe will fit together, until you see the completed picture… The fun in reading The Next to Die …isn’t in learning whodunit, but in following the labyrinthine byways of its author’s peculiar worldview and the twisted motives of her characters.”
Narrator Julie Maisey takes listeners on a twisty journey to discover who killed Jane at a luxe couples resort in England. Maisey’s performance range is highlighted by a suspect list composed of locals and visitors from afar. Jane and William are on their honeymoon when Jane is killed. Also there are William’s ex-wife, Lucy, and her boyfriend. But evidence suggests that this couple could not have killed Jane, nor could have the four other couples at the resort. So was it an intruder? Or is a crucial clue eluding the detectives? Indignant, angry shouts from Jane and a pleading, desperate tone for William ramp up the drama. Maisey’s transitions between accents aren’t always smooth, but her nuanced delivery evokes emotion. A.L.C. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Narrator Julie Maisey takes listeners on a twisty journey to discover who killed Jane at a luxe couples resort in England. Maisey’s performance range is highlighted by a suspect list composed of locals and visitors from afar. Jane and William are on their honeymoon when Jane is killed. Also there are William’s ex-wife, Lucy, and her boyfriend. But evidence suggests that this couple could not have killed Jane, nor could have the four other couples at the resort. So was it an intruder? Or is a crucial clue eluding the detectives? Indignant, angry shouts from Jane and a pleading, desperate tone for William ramp up the drama. Maisey’s transitions between accents aren’t always smooth, but her nuanced delivery evokes emotion. A.L.C. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
