The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewel is a well-written thriller that not only contains a mystery but is also loaded with lots of family drama.
Libby Jones, who at age 25 is happy with her simple life, working to sell kitchen remodels, finds herself pulled into discovering her past when she inherits a $7 million dollar home from her biological parents who died in a suicide pact when she was 10 months old. Told from many characters’ perspectives, we learn that the Chelsea house in London has a history that is dark and disturbing. The book continually switches between the past and present, dropping juicy clues right and left, leaving you to figure out what happened to the family that lived there and how and why Libby was left alone in a crib the day her parents died.
This is the second Lisa Jewell book I have read (following Then She Was Gone – which I loved) and I can honestly say The Family Upstairs does not disappoint. After a slow start, the pace picks up and really takes off. The development of the characters is top-notch, to the point of where you can understand their perspectives and experiences and why they made the choices they did. The storyline is not predictable and I found myself genuinely surprised at many points throughout the book. I always love a book that I can’t put down and keeps me thinking about long after I’ve finished, and The Family Upstairs did that for me.