“When Ben was seven, his mother was murdered in the woods while he waited for her in their car.

The case made the front pages, but her killer was never found.

Thirty years later, Ben has a safe, grown-up life: a job, a ramshackle cottage and, most importantly, a happy marriage to Rebecca.

His mother has receded to the corners of his mind, lingering only in the nightmares that won’t quite go away.

Then Rebecca takes on a new job, painting a fairy-tale fresco for a wealthy businessman who starts asking questions about Ben’s mother . . .
Is it time for the truth to come out – and for Ben to face the questions he’s never dared ask before?”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to join the Random Things tour for The House at the Edge of the Woods by Rachel Hancox. The House at the Edge of the Woods was published by Century Books on 11th April 2024 and is available in paperback and digital formats. I chose to read a free ARC of The House at the Edge of the Woods but that has in no way influenced my review. My grateful thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for inviting me to join the tour and to the publisher for sending me a finished copy.

Seven-year-old Ben Swarbrick and his mother, Kirsty, are driving home one late August afternoon when the car they’re in starts to break down. Determined to get home before the car completely conks out, Kirsty pushes on. But before long it becomes clear that they need help from someone more qualified in car mechanics than she. Making the tough decision to leave her young son in the car, Kirsty tells Ben to lock the doors and to stay put. Kirsty makes her way into the woods to seek help and is never seen alive again. Thirty years later and now an adult, Ben rarely talks about his mother and that fateful Sunday afternoon. Pushing the horror to the recesses of his mind, reliving the trauma only in his nightmares. When Ben’s artist wife, Rebecca, is given a new commission – to paint a fairytale fresco on the ceiling of a wealthy businessman’s luxurious home – she cannot refuse such an exciting, elaborate and detailed job. But the businessman, Pieter, starts to ask probing questions about Ben. Whether Rebecca really believes Ben’s account of what happened that day. Whether Ben, a large, sturdily built seven-year-old at the time would be able to overpower his mother. Whether Ben has since suffered some form of amnesia, making him forget important details from that afternoon. Rebecca starts to doubt herself and her husband. How well does she really know Ben? Why is Kirsty’s own mother so disparaging of her own deceased daughter? And what is Pieter’s interest in a murder case from thirty years ago…?

I thoroughly enjoyed The House at the Edge of the Woods. Steeped in family drama, and woven through with lots of lovely suspense and bucketloads of intrigue. I liked Rebecca. She sees herself as a little odd, a little quirky, perhaps a little awkward. I warmed to her character over the course of the book. I particularly liked her when evidence of an event is presented to her and instead of bluffing or biding her time to think through the options, she goes all out on the truth. I thought that was rather refreshing! I really got a sense of how keen Rebecca was to discuss Ben’s trauma, talk about his mother in detail with him and how much she wanted to help him through the repercussions of that. But getting a foothold into that conversation felt virtually impossible. The more Rebecca discovers about Kirsty and the past, the closer to the truth she feels she’s getting and the greater her need for Ben to open up becomes.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. I very much enjoyed The House at the Edge of the Woods. I thought the intrigue was perfectly pitched. The characters are well-written and believable. The book does have a slightly slower pace but that’s never a problem for me. There are sections which are repeated but from a different point of view each time. We see things from Rebecca’s perspective (this was the voice I enjoyed the most), Ben’s perspective, and from Pieter’s perspective. With each new viewpoint, the reader gets to see things differently, slightly skewed. I enjoyed this approach. I liked how, through different eyes, things changed quite dramatically. All in all, I enjoyed this character-driven, suspenseful mystery. The intrigue builds and builds over the course of the book leading to an unexpected yet highly satisfying conclusion. I also enjoyed that the book is partly set in Oxfordshire, my home county (the first of three books I’ve read lately set in Oxon!!). Compelling storytelling with strong characters and an atmospheric feel. I’ll be keeping an eye out for more from this author. Recommended.

I chose to read and review a free ARC of The House at the Edge of the Woods. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

The House at the Edge of the Woods by Rachel Hancox was published in the UK by Century Books on 11th April 2024 and is available in paperback and digital formats (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | Foyles | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |

Rachel Hancox read Medicine and Social and Political Science at Cambridge, qualified as a doctor three months after getting married, and has juggled her family, her career and a passion for writing ever since. She worked in Pediatrics and Public Health for twenty years, writing short stories alongside NHS policy reports, and drafting novels during successive bouts of maternity leave. Rachel loves singing, cooking, gardening and pottery, and has five children, three dogs and a cat. As someone once said, she thrives on chaos.

She lives in Oxford with her husband and youngest children.