Book description
'I swear I didn't breathe the whole time I was reading it. Gripping, pacy, brilliantly twisty.' CLARE MACKINTOSH
'Creepy, intricate and utterly immersive: an excellent holiday read.' GUARDIAN
'A twisty and engrossing story of betrayal and redemption.' IAN RANKIN
____________________________
FROM THE #1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THEN SHE WAS GONE…
Why read it?
5 authors picked The Family Upstairs as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
The first line had me hooked: “It would be inaccurate to say that my childhood was normal before they came.”
That one sentence fired up my imagination, and the story kept me turning the pages late into the night. Libby, an adoptee, unexpectedly inherits a once-grand mansion in London’s Chelsea, only to discover it comes with a grim family history that’s nothing like the fanciful one she’d imagined.
I’m particularly drawn to novels like this one, with multiple narrators and intertwining timelines.
From Barbara's list on domestic thrillers unraveling dark family secrets.
Right from the very first page this book is enthralling. It was creepy and intriguing and enthralling – the characters are all fascinating and the plot is a stew of content from misplaced love, a bit of madness, actually quite a bit of madness, murder, redemption and hope, and a dog! There’s not much more you could want. I have read the sequel.
From Diane's list on when you want to dabble in crime with no risk.
I heard that Lisa Jewell had the idea for this book after seeing a woman sleeping on the beach in France with her children and wondering what her story was. If that’s true, it shows what an incredible imagination she must have to build such an original and intriguing plot from that one image! The story centres on a house in Chelsea, but is really the tale of a mix of extreme characters living together, causing a terrible event, and the one truly innocent person in it all unravelling the truth 25 years later. Told via two timelines, this is…
From Sarah's list on psychological thrillers with secrets from the past.
If you love The Family Upstairs...
Her Little Secret
If you’re intrigued by the psychology of relationships this is the novel for you.
Described as a modern-day Rebecca, this is a story of a bereaved man’s obsession with his deceased married lover, Michelle. Determined to find out all he can about Michelle’s life when she wasn’t with him,…
A con man, his wife, and two teenage kids move in with a wealthy family in their ominous mansion on the banks of the Thames. The con man takes over their lives, holding them hostage in their own home, until the kids plot a diabolical escape. No one portrays the corruption and dissipation of the British upper classes better than Lisa Jewell!
From S.W.'s list on mysteries with creepy houses.
A young woman inherits a multi-million-pound house where three people were found dead and four children missing. This was a really easy, smooth read and I couldn’t wait to untangle the past, which includes a toxic friendship and unrequited love, and see if my guesses were correct.
From Caroline's list on psychological thrillers with toxic friendships.
If you love The Family Upstairs...
Her Little Secret
If you’re intrigued by the psychology of relationships this is the novel for you.
Described as a modern-day Rebecca, this is a story of a bereaved man’s obsession with his deceased married lover, Michelle. Determined to find out all he can about Michelle’s life when she wasn’t with him,…
Want books like The Family Upstairs?
Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Family Upstairs.
Share your top 3 reads of 2025!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
1,340
readers submitted
so far, will you?
📚 If you like The Family Upstairs, you might also like...
Sins in Black
Sins in Black takes readers deep into Sinister Falls, a town built on secrets and silence.
When a young woman’s murder shakes the community, Detective Harlie Whitlock is forced to confront not only corruption and danger, but her own past.
What sets this mystery apart is its fast-paced storytelling combined…
The Day I Disappeared
Three months after four-year-old Holly Gebhardt was kidnapped, she was inexplicably returned to the same park from which she’d vanished…with no memory of the ordeal. Though a local handyman was convicted, suspicion also fell on his friend―Holly’s mother, Cecily. The troubling doubts about her involvement shattered the family, forever driving…
