The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell on August 9, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Thrillers / Domestic, Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense, Fiction / Women
Pages: 384
Format: Audiobook, Hardcover
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The Family Remains is a twisted family mystery! I don’t think you have to read The Family Upstairs to enjoy this one but I think if you do, you’ll understand the characters better.
This one starts out at the end. Rachel is called about her husband, Michael, being found dead. Michael was also previously married to Libby. A body & bones are found in the Thames that are a 25 years old unknown female. A mud larker found the body. DI Samuel Owosu is called in to investigate. This is told in back and forth clips so we get a few characters POV’s. We get to hear Henry Lamb’s POV, as with the first book. In this book, he takes on a creepy vibe and I was always suspicious of him.
And Michael Raimes found murdered brutally at his house in France , the very same man that was married to Lucy Lamb: one of the victims who has been raped and abused at the cult house! But he is now married to Rachel, the jewelry designer.
But those mysteries unfolded so slowly! The reason you’re so drawn into this sequel: your desire to find out what happened to those characters!
Meanwhile, Lucy and her two children move in with her brother Henry. Lucy reconnects with her daughter, Libby, who she also had received a sum of money from, along with Henry. Libby would like to meet her biological father, who is Phineas. So they track him down in Botswana and they all plan to visit him there. Only, he disappears days before they get there. Henry, being the obsessive one he is, tracks him down on his own. Will they have a happy reunion? Will Libby get to meet her dad? And who murdered the dead body found outside the house Libby inherited?
The Family Remains was such a page-turning, twisty book. In my opinion, I was glad to have some resolutions to The Family Upstairs. The characters in this were so complicated and unique. The plot never got boring. This was one that you had to pay attention at all times or you might miss an important detail. I highly recommend reading this if you read The Family Upstairs.
I agree with Michele on the 4-star review! I loved the Family Upstairs and was so excited to get into this one! The characters are so complex and interesting. I could not put this book down. I NEEDED to know what was going to happen next! Lisa Jewell has written a spellbinding conclusion to her family drama that is surprisingly tense in places, leaving me holding my breath, heart pounding. Jewell is a solid thriller author. I have never been disappointed with her work, though I loved the suspense of this one, the way it ended was slightly lacking luster for me, which is why I rated it 4 stars.