a mother of a thriller

Helen Thorpe is not happy. She signed herself and her husband up for a prenatal class, and instead of joining her, he has to work late. She also thought that her brother Rory and his wife Serena were going to be there. They had all signed up together, since Helen and Serena were pregnant at the same time, so it made sense that they would take this class together, learn about the breathing, support each other, laugh together about the other couples.

Instead Helen is alone.

So when Rachel shows up, also alone (but she’d never planned it any other way), she immediately befriends Helen. Rachel jokes with her, helps her from feeling so alone. Helen finds her a little pushy, but she is lonely there, so she spends the evening with her.

Helen’s husband Daniel apologizes when he got home. But ever since he started working with Rory, he’d been taking on more and more of the workload, having to stay late at the office to get things done. Helen and Rory and Daniel and Serena had all become friends at Cambridge.

Rory and Helen and their younger brother Charlie grew up in a beautiful historic house in Greenwich Park. Their father was a renowned architect, and when he and their mother died, the house had gone to Helen. Their father’s architecture firm had gone to Rory. And Charlie had gotten cash. Now, Daniel and Helen were doing a renovation to the house. Rory and Daniel both worked at the company. And Charlie was a DJ at a hot club and dating a journalist named Katie who had grown up just down the street from the family.

It’s just days after that first prenatal class that Helen is out shopping, and avoiding the workers at home causing so much noise and mess, when she bumps into Rachel again. Rachel insists that Helen join her for a coffee, and Helen agrees. As the weeks go by, they become closer friends, meeting for coffee and going to their class together.

In truth, Helen is a little uncomfortable about Rachel, as she is still drinking alcohol and smoking despite being pregnant. But she feels abandoned by the rest of her friends—by her old work friends, who are all busy when she wants to get together; by Serena, who is busy with Rory and with her photography; and by Daniel, who is spending so much time at the office. So Helen spends time with Rachel. And when Rachel shows up on her doorstep with marks around her neck, saying she has nowhere to go, then Helen takes her in and lets her stay there, even though was supposed to be her anniversary dinner with Daniel.

But after a couple of days, Rachel won’t leave. And Helen finds some suspicious things in with Rachel’s possessions. Helen starts to wonder if Rachel had ulterior motives for coming to stay with them. She wonders if Rachel had come to that class looking for Helen specifically, trying to meet her and work her way into her and Daniel’s life together. But why? And when their bonfire and fireworks party gets out of hand and Rachel goes missing, Helen is relieved to be done with her.

But then the police show up, wanting to ask questions of Helen. As she tries to remember what happened that night, Helen tries to piece together what happened. But it turns out, everyone has secrets they’re trying to cover up, and the layers of deception go even deeper than anyone expected.

Greenwich Park is Katherine Faulkner’s debut novel, and it is filled with more stunning reveals than you expect. The characters are strong and crafted with care, with interweaving relationships that will make you question what you know about family, and the plot is tight. Secrets are revealed slowly, until the end of course, when it all comes oozing out from all corners of the world.

I have heard Greenwich Park compared to the runaway bestseller The Girl on the Train, but I’m not sure that’s a good comparison. The Girl on the Train is polarizing—most readers either love it or hate it (full disclosure here: I loved it)—and I don’t think that Greenwich Park has that same dynamic to it. I think readers will just love it, swept away on this roller coaster of a thriller. This is a beautiful novel, and I think fans of mysteries and dramas and thrillers will all find something to love in its pages.

Egalleys for Greenwich Park were provided by Gallery Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.