Lucie Whitehouse

When her husband disappears during a business trip to the U.S., Hannah, who believes she has married the perfect man, begins to have doubts when his co-workers tell a different story, prompting her to dig into his life, which unexpectedly leads her to a place of violence and fear.

A Novel

Before We Met

Following his uncle's suicide, Lucas Heathfield inherits Stoneborough Manor in Oxfordshire, which he and his best friend Joanna plan to use as a gathering place for their circle of close friends, but the house begins to have a strange effect on everyone who stays there, revealing dark secrets of the past, destroying friendships, and changing lives forever. A first novel. 35,000 first printing.

The House at Midnight

One stifling night in a bar in Soho, Kate meets Richard - powerful, sensual Richard. Going home with him that night is reckless and exhilarating, their connection electric. Now, eighteen months later, Kate is fleeing London for an old coastguard's cottage on the Isle of Wight, determined to forget Richard for ever. In winter, however, the island is locked down, wary of outsiders, and there is little to distract her from her memories. Within days, a local woman, Alice Frewin, goes missing from her boat, and though no body is found there are whispers of suicide. Kate is quickly drawn into Alice's world but all the time Richard - powerful, unstable Richard - looms larger and larger over her own … A tense and atmospheric tale of jealousy, obsession and betrayal, The Bed I Madeestablishes Lucie Whitehouse as a master of her genre.

The Bed I Made

From the author of Before We Met, another brilliantly twisting psychological thriller about old friends and family secrets.

Keep You Close

'Even now I can remember the first time I saw the house as clearly as if there were a video of it playing in my head.' Lucas, Danny, Michael, Rachel, Martha and Jo met as undergraduates at Oxford University and have been a tight-knit group of friends ever since. The novel opens on New Year's Eve as, now in their late-twenties, they arrive at Stoneborough Manor, a stately pile that Lucas has inherited after the suicide of his art-dealer uncle. Best friends since university, Lucas and Jo have lusted after each other for years and finally risk their friendship to begin a relationship but Lucas is haunted by the deaths of his parents and uncle and becomes obsessed by cinefilms of them at Stoneborough twenty years earlier. Within the claustrophobic confines of the house over a hot, decadent summer, sexual tensions escalate, shattering the group's friendship and changing all their lives irrevocably.

The most dangerous lies are those closest to home: a taut and gripping psychological thriller by the author of the TV Book Club pick The Bed I Made

A missing girl. A murdered friend. No one left to trust. 'Seriously good suspense ... trust me, you'll need to know what happens' Lee Child 'Superb characterisation, humour and galloping plot' Susie Steiner 'This is that deeply satisfying thing, a strong, deft thriller with real depth' Tana French

Second City

A missing girl. A murdered friend. No one left to trust. ‘Seriously good suspense ... trust me, you’ll need to know what happens’ Lee Child ‘Superb characterisation, humour and galloping plot’ Susie Steiner ‘This is that deeply satisfying thing, a strong, deft thriller with real depth’ Tana French

Critical Incidents

The gripping new crime thriller from the bestselling author of Before We Met and Critical Incidents

Risk of Harm

On an icy winter weekend, seven friends celebrate New Year’s Eve at Stoneborough, a grand manor in the English countryside. They’ve been brought together by Lucas Heathfield, a young man who recently inherited the property after the tragic death of his uncle Patrick. Though still raw from the loss of his last family member, Lucas welcomes this tight-knit group of friends to the estate he hopes will become their home away from home–an escape from London where they can all relax and rekindle the revelry of their college days. Lucas’s best friend, Joanna, finds herself oddly affected by the cavernous manse, with its lavish mythological ceiling mural and sprawling grounds, and awakened to a growing bond with Lucas. Much to her surprise, he reveals that he’s loved her for years. But as they begin to find their way from friendship to romance, Joanna can’t shake the feeling that the house is having its own effect on them. Back in London, Joanna is stunned when Lucas announces that he and their impetuous friend Danny are moving into Stoneborough full-time. Her concern seems justified as Lucas, once ensconced, becomes completely ensnared in the turbulent past that seems to haunt the house–a past that is captured in old movie reels featuring Lucas’s now-dead family: his charismatic uncle Patrick, his lovely mother, Claire, and his golden-boy father, Justin. Over one decadent, dramatic year, as the friends frequently gather at the shadowed residence, secrets slide out and sexual tensions escalate, shattering friendships and forever changing lives. And all the while, the house cradles a devastating secret. By turns taut and sensual, mesmerizing and disturbing, The House at Midnight is a gripping psychological novel that pulls the reader into the thrall of its ominous atmosphere. Newcomer Lucie Whitehouse has written a tense and captivating story that will linger long after the final, shocking pages.

Even now I can remember the first time I saw the house as clearly as if there were a video of it playing in my head. --From The House at Midnight It was the house that changed everything. After the suicide of his uncle, a successful art dealer, Lucas Heathfield inherits Stoneborough Manor, a stately property in Oxfordshire. He imagines it as a place where he and his tight-knit group of friends from Oxford can spend time away from London. Soon after their first reunion at the manor on New Year's Eve, Lucas reveals his feelings for Joanna, a woman he has long pined for, and the new pairing pleases everyone. But Joanna senses that the house is having a strange effect on Lucas. He is haunted by the death of his uncle and seems obsessed with home movies his uncle's friends made at Stoneborough 30 years earlier. The old gang of friends in those films is disturbingly similar to the new set, revealing a side of Lucas's family that he has never seen before. Over a hot, decadent summer within the claustrophobic confines of the house, past secrets emerge and sexual tensions escalate, shattering the group's friendship and changing their lives forever. The House at Midnight is a compelling union of The Big Chill with The Secret History, cut through with Grey's Anatomy. An eerie story of compulsion, desire and betrayal, it heralds the arrival of a major new talent on the literary scene.

When Lucas inherits Stoneborough Manor after his uncle's unexpected death, he imagines it as a place where he and his close circle of friends can spend time away from London. But from the beginning, the house changes everything. Lucas becomes haunted by the death of his uncle and obsessed by cine films of him and his friends at Stoneborough thirty years earlier. The group is disturbingly similar to their own, and within the claustrophobic confines of the house over a hot, decadent summer, secrets escape from the past and sexual tensions escalate, shattering friendships and changing lives irrevocably.

Those who love Girl on the Train, The Good Liar and The Widow will love this thrilling new novel from acclaimed author Lucie Whitehouse. They said it was a tragic accident. She knows better... The brilliant young painter Marianne Glass is found dead in her snow-covered garden. Rowan Winter, once her closest friend, knows it wasn't an accident. Marianne had vertigo, paralysing vertigo. She never would have gone that close to the edge...

*FREE EBOOK EXTRACT, available to download* Who can you trust when your world goes up in flames? ‘Seriously good suspense ... trust me, you’ll need to know what happens’ Lee Child A gripping, sensational new crime drama, from the bestselling author of Before We Met.

Critical Incidents (free sampler)

«Un thriller che ti incolla alla lettura ben oltre l’ora di andare a letto.» Library Journal Autrice del bestseller Dimmi il tuo segreto Tutti pensano sia stato un tragico incidente. Solo lei conosce la verità... Quando la giovane artista Marianne Glass muore, i giornali parlano di un tragico incidente. Ma Rowan Winter, che un tempo è stata la sua migliore amica, sente che qualcosa non va. Marianne e tutti i Glass, infatti, sono stati per Rowan una seconda famiglia. E la loro casa piena di affetto, stimoli intellettuali e incoraggiamento è stata un rifugio sicuro. Almeno finché la sua amicizia con Marianne non si è raffreddata. Sono passati dieci anni da quando i loro rapporti si sono allentati e tutto quello che Rowan sa di Marianne l’ha appreso dai giornali: la brillante ascesa nel mondo dell’arte londinese, la relazione contrastata con il suo gallerista... Ma adesso Rowan non si dà pace. Vuole a tutti i costi scoprire la verità sulla sua morte. E ci sono alcune domande che le tolgono il sonno: qualcuno ha fatto irruzione in casa dei Glass? Chi è l’uomo che ogni notte si intravede dietro il vetro della finestra di fronte? Più scava a fondo e più si convince che c’è qualcosa che non va. Ma è vero che alcuni segreti dovrebbero rimanere sepolti... Bestseller internazionale Tradotto in 14 Paesi Ai primi posti delle classifiche inglesi «Una lettura emozionante che trascina verso un finale intenso.» Publishers Weekly «Una storia avvincente e intelligente che ti entra nella testa e resta lì. Davvero terrificante.» Heat «Un thriller è riuscito se, dopo aver letto l’ultima pagina, si ha voglia di tornare immediatamente alla prima, per controllare tutti gli indizi che abbiamo ignorato. In questo caso si è spinti a farlo grazie a una trama elegante, una brillante caratterizzazione dei personaggi e un colpo di scena sorprendente.» The Sunday Mirror Lucie Whitehouse è nata nel 1975 e cresciuta nel Warwickshire, in Inghilterra. Ha compiuto studi classici alla Oxford University e ha cominciato a lavorare nell’editoria, dedicando ogni singolo momento libero alla scrittura. Attualmente vive a New York. Collabora con importanti testate, tra cui «Times», «Sunday Times», «Independent» ed «Elle». La Newton Compton ha già pubblicato Dimmi il tuo segreto.

Morte sospetta

Eine perfekte Lüge

Gdy malarka Marianne Glass ginie, spadając z dachu swojego domu, wszyscy postrzegają jej śmierć jako nieszczęśliwy wypadek. Jedynie Rowan Winter, niegdyś jej najbliższa przyjaciółka, podejrzewa, że prawda jest zupełnie inna. Marianne od zawsze cierpiała przecież na paraliżujący lęk wysokości. Nigdy nie podeszłaby tak blisko krawędzi dachu. W młodości Marianne i jej rodzina były dla Rowan, osieroconej przez matkę, namiastką świata sławy i nieskończonych możliwości. Gdy drogi dziewcząt się rozeszły, Rowan mogła śledzić życie dawnej przyjaciółki tylko na okładkach magazynów opisujących jej błyskawiczną karierę w londyńskich kręgach artystycznych i romans z właścicielem galerii sztuki. Teraz czuje, że jeśli chce zrozumieć, co naprawdę przytrafiło się Marianne, musi wiedzieć znacznie więcej. Czy artystka zmagała się z depresją? A może groziło jej jakieś niebezpieczeństwo? Im głębiej szuka, tym bardziej niebezpieczny obrót przybierają sprawy. Tajemnica z przeszłości Marianne, którą znała tylko Rowan, nagle sprawia, że dziewczyna zaczyna martwić się o własny los… „Doskonały thriller psychologiczny o decyzjach, które na zawsze nas definiują.” − Kirkus Review „Lektura obowiązkowa dla wielbicieli Dziewczyny z pociągu!” − Amanda Eyre Ward „Pasjonujący, pełen zwrotów akcji thriller psychologiczny, który rozgrywa się na granicy pomiędzy miłością a obsesją.” − Booklist

Lucie Whitehouse

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