The Girl Upstairs: An absolutely gripping psychological thriller debut with a jaw-dropping twist from a stunning new voice in crime fiction

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The Girl Upstairs is a spine-tingling psychological thriller of grief and obsession, by debut novelist Georgina Lees. My only hang up was the end and the twist; it was a good shock factor but I like to have some solid reasoning behind some actions; senseless motivation isn't something that sits well. Suzie is annoyed by Emily's loud music and constant banging of pans as well as a party that keeps her up all night. This book was very different than a lot of thrillers that I've read lately but I couldn't get enough of it.

When Emily goes missing, Suzie becomes a detective determined to unlock the secrets behind Emily’s sudden departure.If anything, when my horrible neighbors go out or don’t come back for a few days, I’m not worried, it’s sheer bliss. The Police and her family are doing enough to find the girl, and Suzie decides that she needs to find out what's happened.

There’s not sufficient personality on display or emotions conveyed powerfully enough for you to care very much and so it just feel rather flat and monotone. I can't see any trees, just blunt shavings in the ground, weeds rising and arching over the stubs like gravestones. Suzie, our protagonist, complains to the Council about the anti-social behavior of her upstairs neighbour Emily.She is constantly annoyed by her upstairs neighbour Emily who leaves things in the hallway and plays her music too loud. She likes to hear the hustle and bustle outside but also doesn't like noise especially from Emily in the flat upstairs.

Suzie becomes angry with all of the commotion from her upstairs neighbor and eventually lodges a complaint. Suzie Arlington is cloaked in the claustrophobic intensity of London with all its dark secrets and seedy edges. I am writing my honest review for an arc, thank you netgalley, Harper Collins, One More Chapter for this. MY THOUGHTS: While I didn't find this to be an absolutely gripping psychological thriller, it is an interesting and compelling debut novel that I would put firmly into the domestic thriller camp.This is the kind of thriller that gets people taking, and I also believe that this one would make a great movie. I was intrigued by what happened to both characters, but most of the time it felt too linear especially in Suzie’s POV. The Girl Upstairs by Georgina Lees is a thriller seen through the eyes of Suzie who lives alone and is dealing with grief.

This was a unique play on the "something weird is going on with my neighbor" genre and I greatly enjoyed it. The mysterious clues end up a bit more prosaic than expected in the end and I found myself just a tiny bit disappointed at the reason behind everything. Eventually we will hear from Emily as well-but although these chapters tell us why Emily moved to London, the things shared don’t have much bearing on what transpired after, and we didn’t need several chapters to explain this choice. While certain areas could have used more development, I enjoyed Georgina Lees’ writing style and found myself glued to the narrative.For the first half of the book I was all the time wondering if she was a narrator that I could trust.