Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly she starts to realize that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life—and into her home.

Mrs. Rimmer. I am afraid I am calling you with some very distressing news. Please, tell me. Are you alone?” A: I do not believe that Henry will ever be healed, no, and in the corners of my mind I see a dozen more adventures for Henry to have in various guises. He could be a real Tom Ripley if I were prepared to revisit him. I also do still believe he could kill again, in certain scenarios! But I think I will leave him there, in the corners of my mind. It is time to move on from Henry now. Do you think Rachel and Lucy will continue to be friends, or do you think their bond in common is too painful for them to maintain a relationship?

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MY THOUGHTS: I am so grateful to Lisa Jewell for overcoming her dislike of writing sequels and penning The Family Remains. I admit to being underwhelmed by The Family Upstairs, but The Family Remains has cast it in another light, and I am sorely tempted to reread it to see if I feel any differently about it now. The book is purposefully convoluted but at times it just felt too disorienting. In the beginning, I debated abandoning this, but wanted to see how Jewel would bring it all together. I was impressed by the ending. It’s official!!! You are AWESOME!! This book is on 🔥🔥🔥🔥 Thank you so much @atriabooks @atriathrillers for putting this in my hands!! Pub date is right around the corner!! Out August 9th!!! 🥳🥳

And Michael Raimes found murdered brutally at his house in France , the very same man was married with Lucy Lamb: one of the victims who has been raped and abused at the mad house! From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell comes an intricate and affecting novel about twisted marriages, fractured families, and deadly obsessions in this standalone sequel to the “brilliantly chilling” (Ruth Ware, New York Times bestselling author) The Family Upstairs . Lisa Jewell is the Great Value Sharon Bolton. Yeah I said it. Whereas Bolton can masterfully craft some quirky characters (think of the gypsy fam from Dead Woman Walking) and slanted dialogue, Jewell is the Olympic diver who belly flops into the pool. She tries, but she just doesn't have the chops. I'm sorry.When Phin goes missing, Lucy reaches out to his sister, Clemency, who brings up Phin and Henry’s complicated relationship. Lucy thinks to herself “Twenty-six years is long enough for memories to grow cobwebby, abstract. Twenty-six years is long enough to doubt your recollection of things, to wonder if maybe things really did happen the way you think they happened” (69). Do you think Lucy’s questioning of her own memories is similar to Henry’s reimagining of the past? What are the similarities and differences in the ways Henry and Lucy Lamb deal with their past traumas? A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life. Do you think Henry will ever be able to live as his true self, without adopting anybody else’s personality traits? Why or why not? As always, Jewell does a fantastic job with characterization. I flew through this book in three days, as I needed to know more about Phin, Lucy, Libby, Rachel, Henry, and Michael.