Published 5th September 2019 by Black and White Publishing.
Read September 2019.
From the cover of the book:
In a quiet corner of Edinburgh, Cat Thomas is going through hell.
She’s tried everything. He respects nothing.
If your neighbour was making your life hell ...
Would you call upon the devil?
Cat Thomas, a brilliant fraud investigator, has just relocated from Florida to a dreamy flat in historic Edinburgh. Everything seems perfect. Everything seems serene. Except for the unbelievably noisy wannabe rockstar upstairs.
Soon Cat’s blissful new life is in ruins. Desperate, she's willing to try anything. When all else fails, she makes an appeal ... to Satan.
And suddenly everything is eerily quiet. But her nightmare has only just begun ...
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This book was so much fun. with just the right mix of horror, mystery and pitch black humour to make it a hugely entertaining read.
Cat Thomas, fraud investigator from Miami, goes back to her Scottish roots by relocating to Edinburgh for what she hopes will be a quiet life, but her dreams are quite literally smashed to pieces by the presence of the noisy neighbour from hell in the flat upstairs. Night after night with very little sleep leads Cat to think some extremely dark thoughts about the fate of Mr Noisy Neighbour, and pushed to the very edge she embarks on a course of action that will take her on an unexpected, dangerous and violent journey... but no spoilers in this review.
Cat makes for a very likeable protagonist, and her work-mate, self-confessed witch, Agnes is an absolute hoot. There are also some gritty bad guys, not the least of which is Mr Noisy upstairs, as Cat finds herself on the trail of some crafty criminals as well as trying to resolve her own personal issues.
The story runs at full tilt, as the pages fly by, and all the threads work themselves out in a most enjoyable way - with the kind of ending that I did not see coming, but found most delicious. There is an undeniable feel of Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby, weirdly entwined with a vein of Neil Gaimanesque macabre humour that I found eerily diverting, and somehow that dark and tormented story feels right at home in Edinburgh.
As a connoisseur of excellent book titles, I also have to say that this a corker - very clever Mr O'Neill!
There is scope here for a sequel that could be most intriguing, and I would dearly love it if Anthony O'Neill decided to take up his pen and write more for Cat, and the adorably foul-mouthed Agnes, as they could have a rollicking time together setting the world to rights!
The Devil Upstairs is available to buy now from Amazon UK , or your favourite book retailer in hardback and ebook formats.
Thank you to Black and White Publishing for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Kelly Lacey of Love Books Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the author:
He was born in Melbourne and now lives in Edinburgh.
He is the author of seven novels including The Dark Side and Dr Jekyll & Mr Seek, recommended by Ian Rankin as 'clever, gripping and reverent'.
Great review Sue ♥️
ReplyDeleteThank you, Chloe! x
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