The story begins with a teaser about the horrific, unexpected death of a character that is not immediately identified, and then travels back eight weeks to the events that was the reason for that death on the quiet little block of Lowland Way....a pricy, and until Darren moved in, quiet London neighborhood. This is where Ralph and his "take-charge" wife, Naomi; Ralph's less than successful brother, Finn, and his wife, Tess; the overly stressed young parents, Ant and Em, and the determined Sissy, who has turned her home into a bed-and-breakfast after her husband's departure. Into this uncertain 'Garden of Eden" arrives the unrepentant commoner Darren, who promptly turns the house he has inherited from his Aunt Jean into a “disaster zone” of a construction site, blasting away at hard rock at all ungodly hours, taking up valuable parking spaces with the used cars he sells, and generally turning the "solid, unassailable respectability” of the neighborhood upside down. Soon he and his “other half,” Jodie, have upset and turned upside down the very last nerve of everyone on the block. Every neighborhood conversation turns to a heated discussion of ways, legal and ethical...and some unethical...to get rid of them. The story soon turns from light comedy to something very much darker. While some of the turns the plot takes strain credulity, and some of the characters are much better developed than others, the author convincingly portrays the effects of pressure on this social habitat as fault lines begin to open; both within the characters and within their relationships. Although the Darren character is not, like the others, Candlish allows the reader to glimpse this complicated man behind the persona that his neighbors have created. Unless you live under a rock, the issues raised will certainly resonate with readers who live in a "nice" neighborhood and want to keep it that way. ( )

Une entente entre voisins se retourne contre eux ... ( )

3,5* ( )

Uh. Why did I read this? Well, I read a few chapters and then took to reading just the beginning of the chapter (the police report), skimmed through the rest of the chapter, and finished it. I couldn't stand any of the characters and the plot was tedious. Not worth reading. ( )

The perils of home ownership are many, and in Those People, Louise Candlish raises the stakes to an excruciating level. In London’s suburbs, the families living on the gentrified street called Lowland Way are used to getting what they want. Many, like Ralph and Naomi Morgan of number 7, have purchased one of these older homes and invested in extensive renovations. They and their immediate neighbours, which include Ralph’s brother Finn and his wife Tess, enjoy the kind of neighbourhood solidarity most folks dream of, with everyone getting along and assured that when they finally sell up, their improvements will reap for them a significant profit. Lowland Way is child- and pet-friendly, and Noami in particular wants to keep it that way. She is proud of a program she organized called “Play Out Sunday,” a scheme in which residents move their cars from the street so children can safely play outdoors, which has received public recognition and acclaim. But Lowland Way is in for a serious shake up. When elderly, long-time resident of number 1, Jean, dies, her house goes to her next-of-kin, Darren Booth. Darren moves in with his partner Jodie, and almost immediately the trouble starts. Darren, a handyman and mechanic, does not adhere to the prevailing philosophy of Lowland Way and doesn’t care what anyone thinks. In short order, number 1 resembles a disaster zone, the house a noisy and unsightly construction project, and the grounds home to Darren’s used car business. He hogs parking spaces on the street with his jalopies and can’t be bothered moving them for Sunday play time. Darren and Jodie like to drink and play their death-metal albums late at night and very loud, which becomes more than simply an annoyance for their closest neighbours, Ant and Em Kendall, who have an infant son. And across the street, Sissy, who lives alone, runs a B&B. But it turns out her guests are less than enamoured with the goings-on at number 1, and when her ratings and reviews suffer, she’s forced to shut down her business. Candlish’s novel pivots on a tragic death that raises questions in the reader’s mind: Who’s responsible? What are the police going to do about it? And as time goes on, and Darren becomes more entrenched and defiant, and the situation escalates, the others plot ways to get rid of him. How far are they willing to go? The story, told from multiple points of view, is closely observed and filled with surprising twists. A gripping and stylish entertainment, Those People presents a homeowner’s nightmare scenario, one that leads to murder. But be careful who you root for. ( )