The Fall

by Gilly Macmillan

First published 2024

Nicole and Tom hit the lottery jackpot and trade their ordinary life for a high-tech Glass Barn on the grounds of Lancaut Manor in Gloucestershire. The money buys them luxury cars, expensive pastimes, and a lifestyle beyond their wildest expectations. Then Tom dies in their swimming pool. Nicole loses her anchor, her partner since childhood. The smart home technology meant to make life easier seems to work against her at every turn. She finds herself isolated in the countryside with only a few neighbors for company: a young couple in the main house, their middle-aged housekeeper in the Coach House, and an old school friend of Tom's who arrives to console her. Nicole begins to suspect Tom's death wasn't accidental. The wealth that promised freedom now feels like a trap. She's exposed and vulnerable in her glass house, surrounded by people whose motives she can't read.

Genres: suspense, mystery, contemporary, psychological-thriller

Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking

Tropes: fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator

Setting: Gloucestershire, Lancaut Manor

Period: contemporary

464 pages · Paperback · Penguin (Cornerstone)

Content warnings: anxiety, death

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