Keep You Close

Rowan hasn’t talked to her former best friend Marianne for ten years. When Marianne dies after falling off the roof of her house, Rowan gets back in touch with Marianne’s family. Was Marianne’s death really an accident?
Keep You Close reminded me of being in a traffic jam. When I started, the pace was good. In fact, the prologue was gripping and I thought I’d be in for quite a ride. But then it just slowed down. At 25% there was a brief stretch where I thought, here we go, we are moving forward. But it ended just as abruptly and another slow stretch followed. Stop and go. If it hadn’t been for the last 20%, I would have regretted setting out on this journey. Fortunately, that last stretch was worthwhile.
This wasn’t a bad book show more by any means. I think it falls into the category "it’s me, not you”. I didn’t find the characters very relatable. I thought they were mainly pretentious and dull. They were well-drawn characters combined with a solid character-driven plot, but I just found it hard to get invested in any of it.
The backstory was too big a part of the entire plot and it failed to hold my attention. However, I can see that this will appeal to a lot of readers, especially because of the twist and the descriptive style of writing. Great if you want to expand your vocabulary.
Overall, a solid mystery but it didn’t captivate me.

I received a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks, Bloomsbury USA. show less

This is one of those books that is slyly written and then comes together at the end. You may even think it is too slow but trust me, the pay off is there. Whitehouse is a smart writer and she can describe a piece of artwork where you feel like you are standing in front of it, absorbing emotions from the fictional artist. Clues are dropped carefully like breadcrumbs and if you miss one, you lose your way. Pay attention, take your time and enjoy this smart mystery/thriller.



Provided by TLC Book Tours and the Publisher

Although I have two of Lucie Whitehouse's three previous novels in my book collection, Keep You Close is the first one I have read. I did find it a little difficult to get into but it was well worth persevering.

Marianne Glass is a famous artist who is just about to exhibit in America when she is found dead in her garden after an apparent jump from the roof of her house. With only Marianne's footprints in the snow, the police believe it is suicide but Marianne's family and her estranged schoolfriend, Rowan, know that Marianne had vertigo and would never have gone near to the edge of the roof. Rowan and Marianne's brother, Adam, try to put the pieces together of Marianne's last movements to prove that she didn't jump. Rowan, however, has show more a slightly different agenda as she tries to keep the secret buried that drove her and Marianne apart all those years ago.

I love books with a deeply buried secret and Lucie Whitehouse has brilliantly built up the tension as layer after layer is unwrapped of Rowan and Marianne's friendship. Rowan was so close to Marianne's family when they were younger, so we wonder what on earth could have happened to drive them apart. Was it a silly schoolgirl argument or something more sinister? You will just have to read Keep You Close to find out for yourself.

Keep You Close surprised me at every turn as nothing is quite what it seems. It is a goosebumpy examination of a friendship and a scary account of just how far some people will go to protect themselves in the guise of protecting those they claim to love.

I received this book from the publisher, Bloomsbury, in exchange for an honest review. show less

Emerging artist Marianne Glass dies in what is presumed to be a suicide, jumping from the roof of her house in Oxford. However former best friend Rowan isn't convinced, she knows that Marianne suffered from crippling vertigo. Going back to Oxford, Rowan has to confront the past and all the secrets that holds.

For the first three-quarters of this book I was not particularly engaged. It is a standard suspense book with a complicated family and friendship group and told partly in the present and partly as recollection. Then suddenly the twist kicks in and it elevates this book to another level. Yes, I'd sussed the twist but the manner in which the book pivoted was brilliant. I found myself devouring the last quarter of the book and didn't show more really care that it didn't always make sense in terms of details. A clever ending and a cleverly plotted book, it just sags a little in the middle show less

When Rowan Winter receives word that artist Marianne Glass has fallen to her death, she is convinced that her friend’s death is not the tragic accident everyone believes it to be because she knew Marianne suffered from severe vertigo. Although she hasn’t seen Marianne in a decade, she is determined to unravel the mystery of the artist’s death. But secrets lie in the past and bringing them to light could be dangerous . . . .

The twisting plot manages a surprise or two despite the lack of suspense and the story is well-written. But a slew of virtually unlikeable characters populate the narrative; angst-ridden Rowan, often given to tortuously introspective contemplations, is particularly vexatious.
Astute readers will unravel most of show more the mystery before the final page, but are likely to find the many sudden jumps into flashbacks to be off-putting. show less

3.5 Rowan was once part of the Glass family or as close as she could get without family blood. Best friends with their daughter Marianne, though they hadn't seen nor been close to each other foremen years. When she learns that Marianne has been found dead, after falling off her roof, Rowan doesn't believe it. Marianne had always suffered from severe vertigo.

Although this didn't immediately draw me in, I was intrigued enough by the characters and the story to continue reading. The last half of the book pulled me in big time, it was suspenseful, constant revelations and missteps, and turned into a very good thriller. Fooled me too, which is the hallmark of a good story. Some very strange occurrences happen in this book, which keeps the show more plot moving. Good story.

ARC from Netgalley. show less

I've enjoyed this author's previous books and recommended her work to others who have unfortunately not shared my my opinion.

This particular story captured my attention early on although this waned from time to time as the timeline flitted back and forth.

Others have summarised the plot so I needn't repeat the full story here but I would love to know other readers' thoughts as to who the initial murderer really was. There were so many red herrings swimming around that I could really not put just one in the frame.