The Neighbour

The Neighbour (also titled The Family Next Door) is the third novel by award-winning British journalist and author, Fiona Cummins. While the house at Number 25 The Avenue may have been a bargain purchase, for the Lockwood family the move to this Essex village from their rambling former vicarage in Cheshire is a reluctant downsizing. And on the afternoon they move in, police have flooded the village coordinating the removal of a corpse from nearby Blatches Woods, the fifth victim of a serial killer the press have dubbed "the Doll Maker".

For the police team working the case, this fifth murder is a real blow: the victim is DI Adam Stanton, one of their own, who was working on this very case. But for DS Wildeve Stanton, this effect is horribly magnified, because Adam was her husband. Apart from the post-mortem mutilation and decoration, the five victims appear to have nothing in common: how and why they were murdered remains a mystery, and the case is at a standstill.

The arrival of the Lockwood family seems to serve as a catalyst for a number of dramatic events in the village. All the villagers are concerned about the murders, perhaps wondering about their neighbours. While the elderly couple next door is obviously benign, with his greenhouse and her popular chocolate brownies and celebrated Dundee cake, the reclusive man in the toy shop, handcrafting dolls to order, has attracted the adverse attention of the local teens.

Armed with his notebook, telescope and camera, the man in Number 26 claims to be interested in cloud formations, but where else might he be pointing that telescope? And the Postman seems to be hanging around The Avenue quite a lot: what's that about?

The story is told from multiple perspectives and, initially, the narrative from the murderer's perspective feels a bit vague, but it is worth persisting, because as soon as the other characters have been established, it all becomes very intriguing. The astute reader will have the murderer pegged about a third of the way in, but the how and why of it keep the pages turning, and there are several red herrings to create doubt before the final, brilliant twist. A riveting read.