The Neighbour by Fiona Cummins

The Neighbour 
By Fiona Cummins
Published by Pan Macmillan (4 April 2019)
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher

Publisher's description

FOR SALE: A lovely family home with good-sized garden and treehouse occupying a plot close to woodland. Perfect for kids, fitness enthusiasts, dog walkers . . .

And, it seems, the perfect hunting ground for a serial killer.

On a hot July day, Garrick and Olivia Lockwood and their two children move into 25 The Avenue looking for a fresh start. They arrive in the midst of a media frenzy: they’d heard about the local murders in the press, but Garrick was certain the killer would be caught and it would all be over in no time. Besides, they’d got the house at a steal and he was convinced he could flip it for a fortune.

The neighbours seemed to be the very picture of community spirit. But everyone has secrets, and the residents in The Avenue are no exception.

After six months on the case with no real leads, the most recent murder has turned DC Wildeve Stanton’s life upside down, and now she has her own motive for hunting down the killer – quickly.

My verdict
The Neighbour is creepy and twisty, gripping and shocking - exactly as I would expect from author Fiona Cummins, having read and loved her two previous books, Rattle and The Collector.

The Neighbour is yet another serial killer thriller but this time a standalone. It focuses on one particular suburban street, with its eclectic array of residents, all seemingly hiding secrets and 'not-so-perfect' lives behind their closed doors. And then there's the body count ... which keeps rising.

Short snappy 'just one more' chapters keep the story moving at a cracking pace, with plenty of new revelations to add to the intrigue. Fiona Cummins writes beautiful prose with some gruesome descriptions, and certainly manages to get right inside the minds of all of her characters - good or bad! There's a strong sense of unease throughout the book.

Just like the serial killer, I felt that I was snooping on these households. The Neighbour reminded me of a theatrical production, with each character getting their time in the spotlight. Keep an eye on the chapter headings, as these indicate which neighbour or neighbours are currently taking centre stage.

The Neighbour is certainly a chilling read and one that made me think about the claustrophobic nature of suburban life and how easy it is to know very little about the people around us. I don't think I'll trust my own neighbours ever again!

BEST OF CRIME with Fiona Cummins

Welcome to my latest BEST OF CRIME feature, looking at crime writers' top picks, from their favourite author and fictional detective to their best writing tip. 

Today I'm delighted to welcome 

FIONA CUMMINS

to share her BEST OF CRIME ...

... AUTHORS
There are so many brilliant crime writers out there it's almost impossible to narrow it down to one, but I know I must so I will choose Agatha Christie. She was my introduction to crime novels – I would, ahem, borrow my mum's library books and read them under the covers by torchlight, long after I was supposed to be asleep. Christie had an unrivalled talent for weaving a compelling story within an intricately crafted framework, all while making it seem effortless.

... FILMS/MOVIES
Gah, this is so difficult. But Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill had a profound effect on me. Is there anything more kick-ass than a bride who seeks to avenge the wrongs wrought upon her in the most brutal of ways? I know some will balk at the violence, but there is something incredibly powerful about a woman getting it done (or maybe it's only me who has dark revenge fantasies...).

... TV DRAMAS
I don't watch a whole lot of television but I loved American Horror Story, about a family who move into a house with a dark past. For me, it contained the perfect ratio of psychopathic killings and the supernatural. The opening credits were so creepy I had to fast-forward them, though. 

... FICTIONAL KILLERS
Dr Hannibal Lecter. No-one else comes close. 

... FICTIONAL DETECTIVES 
Hmmm. Tough one. By rights, I should say Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple, but I want to spread the love so I'm going to say  John Connolly's Charlie Parker, a private investigator and ex-cop with a tragic past, who has to confront supernatural foes as well as human ones.

... MURDER WEAPONS

Lamb to the Slaughter, a short story by Roald Dahl. Is there anything more genius than a housewife who kills her husband with a frozen leg of lamb and then serves up the murder weapon to the detectives investigating his violent demise? 

    

... DEATH SCENES
Initially, I was going to talk about the ice pick in Basic Instinct, but that got me thinking about the infamous rabbit scene from the 1987 film Fatal Attraction starring Glenn Close and Michael Douglas. Close's character Alex, who has a fling with happily married Dan (played by Douglas), places his family's pet in a pot of boiling water on the stove. It's not a death scene as such (well, I guess it is for the rabbit), but the threat is so implicit and so shocking that it spawned the phrase 'bunny boiler', dictionary definition: a woman who acts vengefully after having been spurned by her lover.

  

... BLOGS/WEBSITES
I often use forensic guides from individual police forces to help me with procedural elements, and the internet is the perfect research tool. That's how I discovered Dr Britt Raubenheimer, an oceanographer who answered some questions for me about tidal patterns in my second novel The Collector.

... WRITING TIPS
Keep going.

... WRITING SNACKS
Biscuits. Or crisps. Or both.

About FIONA CUMMINS

Fiona Cummins is an award-winning former Daily Mirror showbusiness journalist and a graduate of the Faber Academy Writing a Novel course. Rattle, her bestselling debut novel, received international critical acclaim when it was published earlier this year. It is also in development as a six-part TV series by the producers of Kick-Ass and Miss Sloane. Her second novel The Collector will be published in February. Fiona lives in Essex with her family.

Find Fiona Cummins on Twitter - @FionaAnnCummins

About RATTLE

Publisher's description

A serial killer to chill your bones

A psychopath more frightening than Hannibal Lecter.

He has planned well. He leads two lives. In one he's just like anyone else. But in the other he is the caretaker of his family's macabre museum.

Now the time has come to add to his collection. He is ready to feed his obsession, and he is on the hunt.

Jakey Frith and Clara Foyle have something in common. They have what he needs.

What begins is a terrifying cat-and-mouse game between the sinister collector, Jakey's father and Etta Fitzroy, a troubled detective investigating a spate of abductions.

Set in London's Blackheath, Rattle by Fiona Cummins explores the seam of darkness that runs through us all; the struggle between light and shadow, redemption and revenge.

It is a glimpse into the mind of a sinister psychopath. And it's also a story about not giving up hope when it seems that all hope is already lost. 

Rattle was published in paperback by Pan on 24 August 2017.

Look out for more BEST OF CRIME features coming soon.

Click here to read more BEST OF CRIME features.

The Collector by Fiona Cummins - VERY EARLY REVIEW

I don't usually do such early reviews. So apologies. This isn't out until 2018 but I couldn't wait to read it. Now I've read it, I couldn't wait to review it. If you haven't read Rattle, Fiona Cummins' first book, I suggest you buy it now (out in paperback on 24th August). Then the wait for The Collector won't seem quite so long.

The Collector
By Fiona Cummins
Published by Pan Macmillan

Publisher's description

Jakey escaped with his life and moved to a new town.
His rescue was a miracle but his parents know that the Collector is still out there, watching, waiting...

Clara, the girl he left behind, is clinging to the hope that someone will come and save her.

Life has fallen apart for Clara’s mother as she starts to lose hope.

The Bone Collector has a new apprentice to take over his family’s legacy. But he can’t forget the boy who got away and the detective who had destroyed his dreams

Detective Etta Fitzroy’s life collapsed when the Collector escaped. With Clara still missing, and a new wave of uncannily similar murders beginning, will she be able to find him again?

The Collector is back and this time he has nothing to lose . . .

My verdict
Fiona Cummins is one of the most talented crime writers I've stumbled upon in recent years. Not only is she a plotting genius, but her writing is sublime. I loved Rattle - an outstanding crime thriller - and couldn't wait to read The Collector. Well, not only has Fiona done it again but she's totally surpassed herself.

The Collector is harrowing, gruesome, chilling, terrifying, horrific, gripping, compelling... I could go on. This is a very dark plot, and descriptions may turn your stomach, get right under your skin and (dare I write this) rattle your bones. BUT the horror is dabbled with moments of tenderness and hope, with characters to believe in and invest in. This is a return to old characters and an introduction to new ones. Could this be read as a standalone? Probably. Yet why do so, when you can read Rattle too?

The plot moves at a cracking pace, with short concise chapters - I barely took a breath all the way through. This is a book that's hard to put down once you've started reading. It tackles all of your senses in one go, with such powerful writing in every word, every sentence, every paragraph, every page...

Fiona Cummins' books are perfect for fans of top authors Mo Hader and Thomas Harris. I suspect in years to come, though, that Rattle, The Collector and many more of Fiona's books themselves will be on the lists of crime fiction masterclasses to study pace, tension and creepiness.

The Collector is, without doubt, going to be a top recommendation of mine for 2018, just as Rattle has been this year. I can't wait to see what Fiona Cummins writes next - unfortunately, I suspect I'll have to wait a while, considering this book isn't out for several months.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher.

Here's the link to my review of Rattle: http://off-the-shelfbooks.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/rattle-by-fiona-cummins.html

Rattle by Fiona Cummins

Rattle
By Fiona Cummins
Published by Macmillan (26 January 2017)
ISBN: 978-1509812264

Publisher's description

A psychopath more frightening than Hannibal Lecter.

He has planned well. He leads two lives. In one he's just like anyone else. But in the other he is the caretaker of his family's macabre museum.

Now the time has come to add to his collection. He is ready to feed his obsession, and he is on the hunt.

Jakey Frith and Clara Foyle have something in common. They have what he needs.

What begins is a terrifying cat-and-mouse game between the sinister collector, Jakey's father and Etta Fitzroy, a troubled detective investigating a spate of abductions.

My verdict
I loved Rattle and can't praise it highly enough - the writing is brilliant, the plot is brilliant... in fact, everything about it is brilliant. There aren't many serial killer books around at present, so it's certainly very different to other crime novels too.

The plot is chilling - children are going missing and it seems that there is a serial killer on the loose. He's evil, creepy and certainly someone to avoid - but that's not easy when you have something he wants and he'll do anything to get it.

Fiona Cummins writes atmospheric chilling prose - vivid descriptions of people and places that made my skin tingle - and has created a gripping plot filled with action, intrigue and believable characters. I held my breath for many of the final chapters. The book has clearly been well researched and I found the medical background fascinating (possibly because of my own interests in health and medicine). This is a crime thriller with unbelievable depth.

Rattle is stunning. I couldn't put it down - yet didn't want it to end. Just as well there's a sequel in the pipeline!

I received an Advance Reader Copy.

Fiction versus non-fiction - a guest post by author Fiona Cummins

I would like to welcome Fiona Cummins to my blog today. Fiona's book Rattle is being published by Pan Macmillan in January 2017. 

FICTION VERSUS NON-FICTION 

AKA HOW THE F**K CAN I SQUEEZE IN ALL MY WORK  *AND*  FINISH MY NOVEL?

On the day my children went back to school after the Christmas holidays, I was out of the door at 8am, heading into London to work on a magazine for a supermarket client.

   Exactly twelve hours later, I fell back through the door, read my sleepy-eyed lovelies a bedtime story and collapsed on the sofa.

   Of course, the last thing I felt like doing was writing, every ounce of creativity squeezed from me by a day of train journeys and the confines of an office, dreaming up different ways to describe Easter eggs.

   But fuelled by a bottle of beer and a bowl of stew, I opened up my laptop and the word document currently called Book Two, and met up with some new friends (and no, I don't mean on Twitter).

   Last week, I found myself at a children's birthday party, one of a handful of parents whose little ones wanted them to stay. As soon as my five-year-old was pass-the-parcelling with gusto, I opened up a memo on my mobile and started working on this blog.

   Fiction versus non-fiction. Novels versus journalism. How does one juggle two very different disciplines amid the chaos of family life?

   The answer, for me at least, lies in the scenarios I have outlined above.

    I don't.    

   Instead, I juggle my time in a flippin'-heck-this-piece-is-due-in-two-days-better-get-my-head-down kind of way.

   In newspapers (I worked at the Daily Mirror for 12 years), deadlines have a way of focussing one's mind which is all well and good if an article is, say, 1000 words long, but what happens when the word count is 100,000, the deadline several months away?

   In truth, I'm still finding out.

   Yes, I've scaled back my journalism since signing a two-book deal for my début crime thriller RATTLE and its sequel, thanks to generous advances from Pan Macmillan and my foreign publishers.

   But so many writers never get beyond their first deal, and it's the terrifying prospect of a book that doesn't sell that keeps me working for a handful of clients.

  In my fantasy life, I wave my kids off at the school gates, work on my novel for three hours or so, and head to the gym at lunchtime. Afternoons are spent dealing with admin, social media and my non-fiction commissions until it's pick-up time, when I'll play educational games and cook a nutritious meal.

  In reality, I gaze into space for quite a long time. I go on Twitter. I eat biscuits. I tap out a few lines. Then I realise I have to collect my children in ten minutes and I've forgotten to buy any dinner. Fast-forward a few hours, and I'm working until midnight.

  Oh, and I've put on two stone.

  But every day I'm discovering more about the way I write: that my fiction is freshest in the morning, when tiredness, the drought that sucks me dry, has lifted, and the words fall like rain; that interviews and news stories, with their ready-made content and dialogue, their rhythm and structure, are easier to write at the end of a long day than complex plots and made-up characters; that I tend to write my books in the gaps between my life, on a winter Sunday afternoon, a snatched hour after tea, in the hushed darkness of a cinema, a car, a train carriage, a café.

    I guess what I'm saying is, like most writers, I'm just trying to find my way, and fiction or non-fiction, novel or newspaper, as long as the words deserve their place on the page, the route doesn't matter.

 

About Fiona Cummins

Fiona Cummins is an award-winning former Daily Mirror showbusiness journalist who writes for national publications and corporate clients. Her début novel RATTLE is published in January 2017.

Find Fiona on Twitter - @FionaAnnCummins