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title: The Psychopath Next Doorauthor: Mark Edwards
published: 1.25.2025
publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Source: Kindle Unlimited
genre(s): thrillers
pages: 331
format: eBook
buy/shelve it: Amazon | B&N | BookBub | BookHype | StoryGraph | Goodreads
rating:
the blurb
In this mesmerising thriller from the bestselling author of Keep Her Secret, a family’s fresh start is just the beginning of their nightmare…
Ethan Dove’s family has moved to a new home in a safe community, and it’s exactly the fresh start they need. Not only is his marriage to Emma hanging by a thread, but his son, Dylan, and twelve-year-old daughter, Rose, deserve to have a happy childhood.
After Rose is bullied by the boys across the road, Ethan is relieved when the woman who lives next door steps in. Fiona Smith has come into their lives at just the right moment, and when she offers to look after Rose during the school holidays, Ethan and Emma can’t believe their luck.
Which is exactly what Fiona wants. Because, far from being the perfect neighbour, Fiona is the last person you should trust with your child. With a vicious plot for revenge, Fiona is happy to train Rose to be her accomplice, especially when she begins to suspect that Rose might not be as innocent as she appears…
The Psychopath Next Door is a gripping and twisted psychological suspense thriller set in the terrifying world of Mark Edwards’s bestselling The Magpies universe.
a few notes
❗trigger warnings: ❗infidelity, murder, assault
POV: multi
setting: England
keywords/phrases: psychopathy, family, non-sexual grooming
tropes: unlikable victim, ticking clock, high stakes, crime in the family, stalking
spice: 0/5
language: 2/5
mood reading: in the mood for a chilling story!
bonus points: Dylan… the smartest and most observant one of them all
my review
This novel had all of the elements that I enjoy in a thriller. Deeply disturbing moments and characters, multilayered and complex storylines and characters, and plenty of psychological chills and thrills.
The story is told from the dual perspectives of Ethan and Fiona, which makes for an interesting juxtaposition of personalities. Ethan’s are more thoughtful as he worries about his struggling marriage and the effects it’s had on his family, his worries for his daughter, and even his attraction to Fiona. Her chapters are very different, absolutely chilling at times as her past, present, even future, unfolds.
And while Fiona is a terrifying character with her almost total lack of care, compassion, or conscious, she somehow shows a mere hint of maternal caring for Rose. Rose, who is truly the most terrifying character of them all. Rose is the one who truly gave me the shivers. So young and so utterly devoid.
This can be read as a standalone, as I did, but it set in the same universe as The Magpies series.
About Mark Edwards
Mark Edwards writes psychological thrillers in which scary things happen to ordinary people.
Mark has sold over 5 million books since his first solo novel, The Magpies, was published in 2013 and has topped the bestseller lists numerous times. His other novels include Follow You Home, Here To Stay and The Psychopath Next Door. He has also published six books co-authored with Louise Voss. His next novel, The Wasp Trap, will be published in the UK/Australia in July 2025 and the US/Canada in September 2025.
Mark lives in the West Midlands, England, with his wife, their three children, two cats and a golden retriever.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2026 52 Books Reading Challenge
- 2026 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge
- 2026 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge: Author Edition
- 2026 Barnes & Noble Reading Challenge
- 2026 Linz the Bookworm & Logophile Reading Challenge
- 2026 Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge
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