The Couple at the Table (Zailer & Waterhouse Series #11)

by Sophie Hannah, Julie Maisey (Read by)

Overview

Honeymooners at a posh resort receive an ominous warning with deadly consequences in the latest gripping, twisty psychological thriller from New York Times bestselling author Sophie Hannah.

Jane and William are enjoying their honeymoon at an exclusive couples-only resort…

…until Jane receives a chilling note warning her to “Beware of the couple at the table nearest to yours.” At dinner that night, five other couples are present, and none of their tables is any nearer or farther away than any of the others. It’s almost as if someone has set the scene in order to make the warning note meaningless—but why would anyone do that?

Jane has no idea.

But someone at this evening meal will be dead before breakfast, and all the evidence will suggest that no one there that night could have possibly committed the crime.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798212038669
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	11/01/2022
Series:	Zailer & Waterhouse Series , #11
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 5.70(h) x (d)

About the Author

SOPHIE HANNAH is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous psychological thrillers, which have been published in 51 countries and adapted for television, as well as The Monogram Murders, the first Hercule Poirot novel authorized by the estate of Agatha Christie, and its sequels Closed Casket, The Mystery of Three Quarters, and The Killings at Kingfisher Hill. Sophie is also the author of a self-help book, How to Hold a Grudge, and hosts the podcast of the same name. She lives in Cambridge, UK.

Julie Maisey has appeared at Hampstead Theatre and The Royal National Theatre, as well as on television in The Bill, Eastenders, and various sit-coms, including Birds of a Feather and Holding the Baby. Her voice-over highlights include the BAFTA-nominated and British
Animation Award winning Dad’s Dead
and People’s Britain, along with a number of cartoons for the AIR scheme with Channel 4.

Editorial Reviews

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.)

Publishers Weekly

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

From the Publisher

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.

Alex Michaelides

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.” 

NPR

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

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

JANUARY 2023 - AudioFile

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

JANUARY 2023 - AudioFile