Thrillers & Suspense
![Lisa Jewell - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B001IO9ULM.jpg)
The Family Remains: A Novel
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
"Other authors are at a ten out of ten, for me, and Lisa is a solid hundred." -Gillian McAllister, TheSunday Times (London) bestselling author of Wrong Place Wrong Time
The #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell weaves a "simply masterful" (Samantha Downing, internationally bestselling author) thriller about twisted marriages, fractured families, and deadly obsessions in this standalone sequel to The Family Upstairs.
Early one morning on the shore of the Thames, DCI Samuel Owusu is called to the scene of a gruesome discovery. When Owusu sends the evidence for examination, he learns the bones are connected to a cold case that left three people dead on the kitchen floor in a Chelsea mansion thirty years ago.
Rachel Rimmer has also received a shock-her husband, Michael, has been found dead in the cellar of his house in France. All signs point to an intruder, and the French police need her to come urgently to answer questions about Michael and his past that she very much doesn't want to answer.
After fleeing London thirty years ago in the wake of a horrific tragedy, Lucy Lamb is finally coming home. While she settles in with her children and is just about to purchase their first house, her brother takes off to find the boy from their shared past whose memory haunts their present.
As they all race to discover answers to these convoluted mysteries, they will come to find that they're connected in ways they could have never imagined.
In this masterful standalone sequel to her haunting New York Times bestseller The Family Upstairs, "Lisa Jewell is a superb writer at the top of her game" (Karin Slaughter, New York Times bestselling author) with another jaw-dropping, intricate, and affecting novel about the lengths we will go to protect the ones we love and uncover the truth.
"Other authors are at a ten out of ten, for me, and Lisa is a solid hundred." -Gillian McAllister, TheSunday Times (London) bestselling author of Wrong Place Wrong Time
The #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell weaves a "simply masterful" (Samantha Downing, internationally bestselling author) thriller about twisted marriages, fractured families, and deadly obsessions in this standalone sequel to The Family Upstairs.
Early one morning on the shore of the Thames, DCI Samuel Owusu is called to the scene of a gruesome discovery. When Owusu sends the evidence for examination, he learns the bones are connected to a cold case that left three people dead on the kitchen floor in a Chelsea mansion thirty years ago.
Rachel Rimmer has also received a shock-her husband, Michael, has been found dead in the cellar of his house in France. All signs point to an intruder, and the French police need her to come urgently to answer questions about Michael and his past that she very much doesn't want to answer.
After fleeing London thirty years ago in the wake of a horrific tragedy, Lucy Lamb is finally coming home. While she settles in with her children and is just about to purchase their first house, her brother takes off to find the boy from their shared past whose memory haunts their present.
As they all race to discover answers to these convoluted mysteries, they will come to find that they're connected in ways they could have never imagined.
In this masterful standalone sequel to her haunting New York Times bestseller The Family Upstairs, "Lisa Jewell is a superb writer at the top of her game" (Karin Slaughter, New York Times bestselling author) with another jaw-dropping, intricate, and affecting novel about the lengths we will go to protect the ones we love and uncover the truth.
Editorial Reviews
Praise for Lisa Jewell
"Utterly gripping" -LUCY FOLEY
"Enthralling" -RUTH WARE
"Insane suspense" -LEE CHILD
"Brilliant" -SARAH PINBOROUGH
"Excellent" -GUARDIAN
"Engrossing" -IAN RANKIN
"Stupendous" -RUTH JONES
Praise for The Family Remains
"Other authors are at a ten out of ten, for me, and Lisa is a solid hundred." -GILLIAN McALLISTER, Sunday Times bestselling author of That Night
"[A] triumph." -ERIN KELLY, Sunday Times bestselling author of Watch Her Fall
"Lisa Jewell is, simply, outstanding." -ALEX MARWOOD, author of The Poison Garden
"Compelling, ingenious, breath-stopping. No one creates characters as complex, real and utterly human as Lisa Jewell." -TAMAR COHEN, author of When She Was Bad
"[A]nother masterclass in thriller writing from the current queen of psychological suspense." -MARK EDWARDS, author of The House Guest
‘[T]his is Lisa Jewell at her absolute best. I loved it!' -PAUL BURSTON, author of The Closer I Get
"Utterly gripping" -LUCY FOLEY
"Enthralling" -RUTH WARE
"Insane suspense" -LEE CHILD
"Brilliant" -SARAH PINBOROUGH
"Excellent" -GUARDIAN
"Engrossing" -IAN RANKIN
"Stupendous" -RUTH JONES
Praise for The Family Remains
"Other authors are at a ten out of ten, for me, and Lisa is a solid hundred." -GILLIAN McALLISTER, Sunday Times bestselling author of That Night
"[A] triumph." -ERIN KELLY, Sunday Times bestselling author of Watch Her Fall
"Lisa Jewell is, simply, outstanding." -ALEX MARWOOD, author of The Poison Garden
"Compelling, ingenious, breath-stopping. No one creates characters as complex, real and utterly human as Lisa Jewell." -TAMAR COHEN, author of When She Was Bad
"[A]nother masterclass in thriller writing from the current queen of psychological suspense." -MARK EDWARDS, author of The House Guest
‘[T]his is Lisa Jewell at her absolute best. I loved it!' -PAUL BURSTON, author of The Closer I Get
Readers Top Reviews
The Cookster
Read the first one and this one back to back. So so so good!! Thriller that I didn’t want to end.
Sharon The Cook
4 1/2 stars I did not even realize I needed a sequel to The Family Upstairs until Lisa Jewell wrote The Family Remains and now I am like how did I live for 3 years without this sequel LOL In this book we again follow the Lamb family as they navigate their lives after the events of the first book. I loved getting to see them again, especially Henry, he was just as quirky and messed up as he was in the first book and I loved him. We also have a couple of murders that are being investigated in this book. In the present-day, bones have been found in the Thames. And we also have a murder that took place a couple of years ago and in that timeline, when the police called Rachel, the wife of the man that was found murdered, she rolled over and went back to sleep after she got off the phone. Well, I guess there was no love loss there LOL! I don’t really think there is too much I can say as to how these events are connected because I don’t want to spoil anything. But I will say that I couldn’t wait to find out how they were connected, and Lisa Jewell did not disappoint on the twisty journey she takes her readers on to piece everything together. I was hooked from the first to the last page and I want to thank Lisa Jewell for giving me this sequel I didn’t know I needed. I was fully invested in the Lamb family again as well as the new characters introduced in this book. I especially loved Rachel and really enjoyed following her story. If you liked The Family Upstairs (and seriously how could you not lol) then I definitely recommend the Family Remains, you will not be disappointed.
AlyshiaAzyamarieS
2 years. 2 years ago I read The Family Upstairs. Since then I'd been through a BUNCH of Lisa Jewell's books and I just love them so much. I didn't even realize that there was basically a second one to The Family Upstairs. I read it without returning to The Family Upstairs first, and honestly, I didn't need to. When it's necessary that you remember something from the first book, she writes it into this story so that you can know exactly where the characters head space is coming from in that moment. I loved the big conclusion to the overall story, HOWEVER... I hated Henry and I'm not really impressed that it seems like it was left open-ended for him to continue doing what he was doing and not getting the help that he needs, and perhaps get another story. Overall I would suggest this as an Interconnected Standalone. You don't really need to read The Family Upstairs, but I definitely recommend it because that's a wild ride.
J. MargesonAlyshi
Lisa Jewell's novels always keep me on my toes. It was fast-paced and twisted - while I didn't particularly connect to any of the characters, I thought they were well developed.
Laurel-Rain SnowJ
Early one morning on the shore of the Thames, DCI Samuel Owusu is called to the scene of a gruesome discovery. When Owusu sends the evidence for examination, he learns the bones are connected to a cold case that left three people dead on the kitchen floor in a Chelsea mansion thirty years ago. Rachel Rimmer has also received a shock—news that her husband, Michael, has been found dead in the cellar of his house in France. All signs point to an intruder, and the French police need her to come urgently to answer questions about Michael and his past that she very much doesn’t want to answer. After fleeing London thirty years ago in the wake of a horrific tragedy, Lucy Lamb is finally coming home. While she settles in with her children and is just about to purchase their first-ever house, her brother takes off to find the boy from their shared past whose memory haunts their present. As they all race to discover answers to these convoluted mysteries, they will come to find that they’re connected in ways they could have never imagined. In this masterful standalone sequel to her haunting New York Times bestseller, The Family Upstairs, Lisa Jewell proves she is writing at the height of her powers with another jaw-dropping, intricate, and affecting novel about the lengths we will go to protect the ones we love and uncover the truth. My Thoughts: As we begin the journey with The Family Remains, we are introduced to characters that are connected to events from the past, and in some ways, their lives have intersected. At first, we meet Henry Lamb whose past centered around an old house where terrible things happened. We slowly meet other characters connected to him, most of whom are apparently hiding things. And Henry is diligently searching for someone from his distant past, who keeps eluding him. The story also begins with the discovery of a body in the Thames, which seems to be tied to that same old house. How will all of these characters finally come together, and what do their secrets tell us? How did their lives go wrong, and how did they all manage to keep their pasts at bay? The stories unfold in different timelines, and in many ways, they were convoluted, but as we learn more about how the characters are connected, we are intrigued. A sometimes confusing story, this one earned 4 stars.
Short Excerpt Teaser
Chapter One ONE
JULY 2018
Groggy with sleep, Rachel peered at the screen of her phone. A French number. The phone slipped from her hand onto the floor and she grabbed it up again, staring at the number with wide eyes, adrenaline charging through her even though it was barely seven in the morning.
Finally she pressed reply. She drew in her breath. "Hello?"
"Bonjour, good morning. This is Detective Avril Loubet from the Police Municipale in Nice. Is this Mrs. Rachel Rimmer?"
"Yes," she replied. "Speaking."
"Mrs. Rimmer. I am afraid I am calling you with some very distressing news. Please, tell me. Are you alone?"
"Yes. Yes, I am."
"Is there anyone you can ask to be with you now?"
"My father. He lives close. But please. Just tell me."
"Well, I am afraid to say that this morning the body of your husband, Michael Rimmer, was discovered by his housekeeper in the basement of his house in Antibes."
Rachel made a sound, a hard intake of breath with a whoosh, like a steam train. "Oh," she said. "No!"
"I'm so sorry. But yes. And he appears to have been murdered, with a stab wound, several days ago. He has been dead at least since the weekend."
Rachel sat up straight and moved the phone to her other ear. "Is it-Do you know why? Or who?"
"The crime scene officers are in attendance. We will uncover every piece of evidence we can. But it seems that Mr. Rimmer had not been operating his security cameras and his back door was unlocked. I am very sorry, I don't have anything more definite to share with you at this point, Mrs. Rimmer. Very sorry indeed."
Rachel turned off her phone and let it drop onto her lap.
She stared blankly for a moment toward the window, where the summer sun was leaking through the edges of the blind. She sighed heavily. Then she pulled her sleep mask down, turned onto her side, and went back to sleep.
JULY 2018
Groggy with sleep, Rachel peered at the screen of her phone. A French number. The phone slipped from her hand onto the floor and she grabbed it up again, staring at the number with wide eyes, adrenaline charging through her even though it was barely seven in the morning.
Finally she pressed reply. She drew in her breath. "Hello?"
"Bonjour, good morning. This is Detective Avril Loubet from the Police Municipale in Nice. Is this Mrs. Rachel Rimmer?"
"Yes," she replied. "Speaking."
"Mrs. Rimmer. I am afraid I am calling you with some very distressing news. Please, tell me. Are you alone?"
"Yes. Yes, I am."
"Is there anyone you can ask to be with you now?"
"My father. He lives close. But please. Just tell me."
"Well, I am afraid to say that this morning the body of your husband, Michael Rimmer, was discovered by his housekeeper in the basement of his house in Antibes."
Rachel made a sound, a hard intake of breath with a whoosh, like a steam train. "Oh," she said. "No!"
"I'm so sorry. But yes. And he appears to have been murdered, with a stab wound, several days ago. He has been dead at least since the weekend."
Rachel sat up straight and moved the phone to her other ear. "Is it-Do you know why? Or who?"
"The crime scene officers are in attendance. We will uncover every piece of evidence we can. But it seems that Mr. Rimmer had not been operating his security cameras and his back door was unlocked. I am very sorry, I don't have anything more definite to share with you at this point, Mrs. Rimmer. Very sorry indeed."
Rachel turned off her phone and let it drop onto her lap.
She stared blankly for a moment toward the window, where the summer sun was leaking through the edges of the blind. She sighed heavily. Then she pulled her sleep mask down, turned onto her side, and went back to sleep.
