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BY FAR Sophie Hannah’s best one yet. Relatable, funny, high concept and so satisfying I watched in awe as the pieces fell into place’ GILLIAN McALLISTER Sophie Hannah is an internationally bestselling writer of psychological crime fiction, published in 27 countries. In 2013, her latest novel, The Carrier, won the Crime Thriller of the Year Award at the Specsavers National Book Awards. Two of Sophie’s crime novels, The Point of Rescue and The Other Half Lives, have been adapted for television and appeared on ITV1 under the series title Case Sensitive in 2011 and 2012. In 2004, Sophie won first prize in the Daphne Du Maurier Festival Short Story Competition for her suspense story The Octopus Nest, which is now published in her first collection of short stories, The Fantastic Book of Everybody’s Secrets. Six couples are seated for dinner at six different tables an equal distance away from the others. One of the couples receives a note stating that they should beware of the couple seated the nearest to them. Who could they mean? When a death follows the note's arrival it seems that its contents were truthful and the race in discovering who the sender is and who they were referring to is on.
Sophie Hannah is a renowned thriller author who I have only sampled one or two books from before. Her name, my previous enjoyment of her work, and this title's intriguing synopsis prompted me to loan this book from the library, despite not ordinarily bonding well with police detective series. In The Couple at the Table, a woman is murdered at a couple's only retreat. She was sent to warning letters prior to the murder, one saying "Beware of the couple at the table nearest to yours" but all the tables were as close to one table as they are to another. Why would you send someone a warning letter that does not assist them? I also am very fond of the Culver Valley series. But oh, dear this was AWFUL! I had to force myself to finish it. What I love most about Sophie Hannah is that she takes an outrageous premise and lures you in with it as you NEED to know how it pans out. She then slowly and without fanfare teases the story out, leaving clues and red herrings aplenty and then delivers an ending which you will rarely see coming but gives you great satisfaction. Jane also managed to upset everybody else at the resort, so there are plenty of suspects for Waterhouse and Zailer to investigate, although as everyone has an alibi, getting to the bottom of the matter proves rather difficult indeed.You'll also be added to Sophie's 'Readers List', so you'll be the first to know next time Sophie is giving something away. OK, so it's a closed room murder - someone died - every possible suspect ruled out yada yada. Here we go, let's settle in to see how this unfurls. Next, Sophie takes you through the case which is being investigated by DC Simon Waterhouse (the best detective in crime writing IMO). Simon is not a charismatic, loveable, rogue detective. He is miserable, introverted and dislikes people in general, but more than anything he does not let anything go as we can see when this murder is still unsolved after six months. Honeymooners at a posh resort receive an ominous warning with deadly consequences in the latest gripping, twisty psychological thriller from New York Times bestselling author Sophie Hannah.
Of course it is entirely possible but it will bug you as to the solution right up until it is revealed...so addictive, beautifully written and full of red herrings. I don't know what happened here. It wasn't even that well written, it all seemed very grey and muffled - not her usual style at all. What a shame! I will continue to look out for her books though, maybe a blip? Let's hope so!who they are. I’ve no idea how to approach doing something so strange, but I’ll have to figure it out as I go along because I need to write this down. The Couple at the Table seemed like a sure thing as the premise intrigued me and I loved The Understudy - a collaborative effort by the author and three other writers. BY FAR Sophie Hannah's best one yet. Relatable, funny, high concept and so satisfying I watched in awe as the pieces fell into place' GILLIAN McALLISTER Suspenseful, spellbinding, and filled with Agatha Christie-like slightly twisted, tongue-in-cheek characters, I thoroughly enjoyed The Couple at the Table. Told in two timelines through multiple narrators so that we see the complete picture, it even finishes up with a group meeting where the murderer is revealed. And to top off the classic feel in this very modern novel, a map of the scene of the murder is included within the story (only thing missing for the trifecta is a character list). The twisty thought processes of Sophie Hannah strike again in this brain bending mystery featuring Simon and Charlie, a holiday and an Impossible murder.
This book sounded SO unique and fun... You're on your honeymoon at an exclusive, couples only resort. One night at dinner, you receive a note warning you to beware of the couple across from you. Dotted all around you are couple sitting at an equally distanced table from you. Who is the note referring to? You're about to be murdered - but you don't know it. Once you're dead, all the evidence seems to imply that no one at the resort had anything to do with it.
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It took a few chapters before I settled into this one but once caught up in the tangled lives and stories, this became hard to put down. I'd say that in comparison with the earlier books in the series, this is lighter, without the same intensity of trauma and troubled characters. The motive and identity of the murderer, when it eventually came, was a complete anti-climax, and the final part, written from the point of view of the victim was just bizarre.
When someone, however, is discovered dead within hours of dinner, it appears the threats weren’t empty after all. To top off the oddness surrounding the case, it becomes evident to the police that no one from outside could have committed the murder and all of the guests have alibis. This leaves the detectives spinning their wheels as they try to figure out the impossible. Who is the murderer? And are the remaining guests potential victims or perpetrators? This is the second book I've read by Hannah and a second 2-star read. The summaries are so tantalizing but I am just not loving it (perhaps the ones I've chosen are just the middlers). Funnily enough, I had sworn off Hannah after I read the first book but saw her in a mystery writer's discussion last year and found her so funny and charming that I felt like I needed to give it another go. I'll try another at some point but fear she may need to go on the same list I keep Ruth Ware books on (as in, "It sounds fantastic but I just know disappointment awaits. But do give the summary writers ALL THE APPRECIATION because they almost sold me!") I cannot believe I'm giving a Sophie Hannah novel one star. I love her writing - read everything she's written and thoroughly enjoyed them all (though Haven't They Grown not so much) as she creates gripping thrillers with a fantastic - and intriguing - core premise. Read her short story The Octopus Nest to see this at its best. I read a lot of crime novels, but somehow, for a long time, Sophie Hannah eluded me. I’ve seen her talk at events, watched as fans have queued to pay homage while having their books signed, and yet still hadn’t gotten around to reading any of her books. I didn’t realise going into this that it was book 11 of a series but it really did not matter. It is the police characters of Simon and Charlie that were recurring but this can easily be read as a stand alone.The Couple at the Table reads like an old-fashioned murder mystery and a psychological thriller rolled into one. The plot is simple in terms of the murder, however, the investigation and the toing and froing between the characters and timeline make sure you have to read the book slowly and take everything in as at times it comes across as a little confusing. You've madly in love, newly married and at an exclusive resort. You receive a note warning you to 'Beware of the couple at the table nearest to yours.' There are five other couples. Any of them might have murder in mind. I’m a newcomer to Sophie Hannah’s work but have heard good things, so was keen to read The Couple at the Table, despite it being the latest book featuring series characters Detective Constable Simon Waterhouse and his wife Sergeant Charlie Zailer. In this outing they find themselves at the centre of a murder investigation as someone offs Jane Brinkwood at the luxury couples-only Tevendon Resort while Waterhouse and Zailer are there as guests. Hannah sets up an impossible-to-solve mystery that wouldn’t feel out of place in the works of Conan Doyle or Christie. However, I couldn’t connect with the writing here. It’s difficult to explain, but I couldn’t interpret the author’s logic. It felt like someone babbling in my ear with nothing discernable reaching me. I was lost and had to give up. No rating.
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