Keep It in the Family

Product Information

We start with Mia and Finn moving into a new house. A derelict house that they bought, snaffled up from under the noses of Finn's parents, as a doer-upper! Previously not blessed by children and, well, pretty much having given up on that dream, during renovations Mia unexpectedly discovers she is pregnant. So the race is on to get the house completely finished for the baby. But things take a dark turn when Mia discovers a chilling message pointing her to the attic. An attic they have yet to investigate. An attic that will yield up a walled off secret area which will itself, well, what's there is for you to discover, in all its gory detail... Disclaimer: if you like popcorn/commercial thrillers, this will probably work for you. Still give it a try. I think it could work as a mindless vacay read, or if you're new to the genre.

Keep It in the Family is, ultimately, a story of lies, deception, revelations, familial drama, depravity, suspicious personalities, manipulation, violence, and murder. It’s a clever, tight, disturbing thrill ride that had just the right amount of twists, turns, and surprises to keep me thoroughly engrossed from start to finish. It’s also surprisingly the first novel I’ve read by Marrs, but I can guarantee it won’t be my last. Nevertheless, kudos to Marrs for finding a successful way to set this book during the current pandemic! This is not an easy feat which many authors are still struggling to work out. The characterisation is excellent, with plenty of detail and history. The writing style involves lots of thoughts and inner-dialogue and we share their fears and dreads.

Featured Reviews

Mia and Finn haven't been married very long and are living with Finn's parents, Debbie and Dave when they buy their dream home in an auction. They know it needs a lot of work doing to it, but Finn and Dave will do the majority of the renovations. Not long into the refurb, and after many failed attempts, Mia is surprised to discover she's pregnant, so it's even more important to get the house finished. When she's seven months into the pregnancy, she discovers a sinister message on one of the skirting boards; I WILL SAVE THEM FROM THE ATTIC, intrigued as to what it means they venture up there and the discovery they make turns their dream into a nightmare.

Finn and Mia will have to move in with his parents, Dave and Debbie, while the detectives investigate and try to give names to the skeletons of the missing children from many decades prior. Another great book by John Marrs! This one was all over the place (in a VERY GOOD way)…and it really had me thinking. I would make predictions and think “Nah! That seems too obvious so it can’t be that person” but then I had a pretty good suspicion who the killer was. (Especially since my friend and I were buddy reading it and we put our heads together making guesses…FYI this is a fantastic book to buddy read or add to a book club). I don’t really know how to explain my feelings about the characters without giving away spoilers. All I can really say is that I didn’t like any of them 😂 BUT it didn’t affect my feelings on the book or storyline itself. I can’t go into detail or I’m afraid it will sway your opinion before you even start the book. Mia and Finn buy a fixer upper sight unseen and are excited to start fixing it up. When they arrive, it is worse than they imagined. But Finn and his dad, David, can do much of the work themselves. Admittedly, it was the cover that sold the story for me, since I had previously read a book by this author (The One) and as I was not particularly fond of that one, I didn't have too high expectations in advance.In the wake of their traumatic discovery, the baby arrives and Mia can’t shake her fixation with the monstrous crimes that happened right above them. Haunted by the terrible things she saw and desperate to find answers, her obsession pulls her ever further from her husband. I loved how Marrs weaves Mia and Finn’s married life, the challenges in their relationship, the rapport Mia shares with her in-laws into the storyline. I was really invested in all these characters, could feel their emotions and understand their mind-sets. So Mia and Finn buy a n old abandoned house set on renovating it but of course things never go plan and when investigating a strange message saying “ I will save them from the attic “scratched into the woodwork of a bedroom they have to investigate and oh boy what they find is not at all what they expect and from then on in this story is filled with twist after twist that I can only say is you need to Read THIS BOOK it’s amazing it completely blew me away !! i was expecting something more suspenseful and thrilling like THE ONE or THE PASSANGERS but this was far from it. from the synopsis, i was expecting a haunted house vibe like HOME BEFORE DARK or THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS but when the plot got going, it gave me THE WHISPER MAN and PRETTY GIRLS vibes… if ya know what i mean 🫣😅🫠😦😱🔪

Definitely a book to read if you like dark mysteries, serial killers, and want to be drawn in a very twisted story.The information comes in bits and pieces, but we are essentially going around in circles, with each character having its POV [Mia, Finn, Dave (Mai’s father-in-law), and Debbie (Mia’s mother-in-law]. We know many of them are hiding something but what? It gets revealed later. KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY is a twisted and delicious dark unnerving read that is chilling to the core. It makes you wonder what goes on in the author's mind to be able to conjure up such macabre plots! He did say in his note at the end that this story was the result of a dream and that you wouldn't want to be inside his head at the best of times let alone at night! During renovations they unearth what the home has kept hidden for decades and all of their lives begin to spiral out of control because of a connection to the old home.

I am usually a big fan of John Marrs books but this one feels a little short for me. The premise was a good one, Mia and Finn buy a house unseen, never a good plan but especially so in their case. They don’t have much money but embark on the renovation project as best they can until things become more rushed when they find out Mia is pregnant, think Grand Designs and almost every project on there! They go through many twists and turns as they piece things together and there is danger at every turn. The final section went on a little bit too long for me, and the inner-dialogue style can slow things down a little. This is a crafted and very detailed novel, with a lot of layers and history to be discovered.When Finn met Mia in London, he was already engaged to his long-time sweetheart. But Mia was so different – outspoken, funny, confident, independent – that he married her instead. Debbie and Dave, Finn’s parents, loved Emma, sweet and pliable, and they can’t warm up to Mia. Despite several years of marriage and fertility treatments, she’s yet to carry a baby to term, which is a kernel of misery for both the would-be mother and grandmother. Thrillers tend to have unlikeable characters. Here, except for Mia (with exceptions again), the rest are pretty much unlikable. DC Mark is cool, though (he has very limited space in the book and is not explored at all). The plot grabbed my attention right from the get-go, hooking me, keeping me speculating, and wondering whom to trust.