The Girl Downstairs – Iain Maitland

“Unsettling Thriller”

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The Girl Downstairs is a great book – if you like creepy, unsettling thriller type stories, this is for you! It’s not clear what motivates each character initially – which straight away makes you want to know more. The characters are intriguing and there are so many different pathways for the storyline to take, the only disappointment is that it never quite pushes as far as you actually expect it to! The end falls slightly flat for me, where a lot more could have been done to really ramp up the intensity. At one point the dog (Fluffy) disappears, and this is a moment that could have been really sinister and psychotic – but instead it goes down a strange cutesy route, which doesn’t fully match the vibe leading up to it. You are completely gripped thinking the worst, so when it isn’t that bad it feels like writer Iain Maitland has chickened out slightly from going all the way! The suspense is great though – a real page turner.