If you like mystery novels with a creepy vibe, check out “Someone in the Attic” by Andrea Mara. It has very short chapters, moves along with a good pace and kept my interest on a cold snowy afternoon.
Julia, her ex-husband Gabe, and her children, Isla and Luca have just moved to Dublin, Ireland from the U.S.(The reason for the move has something to do with Isla, but doesn’t become clear until almost the end of the novel. Julia has plans to meet up with her high school friends, Eleanor and Anya, when she gets the news that Anya has died. (The 3 women share a secret involving a friend who died when they were young.) Julia has lots on her plate – a new move, a sullen teenage daughter, a new home with creepy sounds that she hears in the night and a son who keeps telling her someone is living in the attic! There is also a new TikTok trend of videos showing a masked man coming out of attics and actually being in people’s homes. Is Julia falling for the hype and imagining creepy scenarios, or is someone really in her house?
By the time I was halfway through “Someone in the Attic,” I could not put the book down! There are a few slow spots and the characters were a little superficial, but the premise of the story and the twists and turns were fun. I thought I knew ‘whodunit’ and was completely wrong! This novel was pretty entertaining and also a quick read.