A Man Downstairs

Description

What if the childhood you remember isn’t really what happened at all?

From the acclaimed author of An Unthinkable Thing and Hideaway, a breath-stopping novel of suspense about a woman tormented by memories of the past and threatened by long-held secrets in the present.

Molly Wynters has moved back to her small hometown to care for her father, recently felled by a stroke and no longer able to communicate. She is ready to make a fresh start with her son after her divorce, but is haunted by both old events and new realities in her childhood home.

What Molly recalls of her young life with her father is full of love and care, even though a violent trauma defined her childhood: when she was a young girl, she witnessed her mother’s murder, and her testimony – “There was a man downstairs” – sent a teenager to prison. This tragic episode is still very much alive in the culture of the town, and the more Molly remembers, the more she fears that what she said on the stand all those years ago might not have been the whole truth.  

After Molly, a trained therapist, volunteers for a local helpline, the threats begin. At first they seem random, but soon Molly realizes that she is a target, and even those closest to her seem suspicious, especially as unsuspected links between them emerge. More than one life was destroyed on that horrific long-ago day, and now someone intends to hold Molly accountable.

With its gripping descent into the shadowy corners of the human psyche A Man Downstairs is both an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride and a masterful exploration of the fragile nature of memory.“A gripping story of troubled relationships, mental illness and buried secrets with a murder at its heart—who really killed young mother Edie Wynters in the small town of Aymes almost forty years ago? Her now grown daughter is about to find out. . . . A Man Downstairs is a clever, twisty and chilling read.”
—Shari Lapena, international bestselling author of Everyone Here is Lying

“A sharply observed, layered mystery about obsession, desperation, and the dark secrets small towns keep to protect their own.”
—Robyn Harding, bestselling author of The Drowning Woman

“Combining sharp, assured prose with boundless humanity, this deftly plotted novel is a triumph. I stayed up all night racing toward a conclusion that provided more than just the deep satisfaction of a whodunit solved—it gave me chills, and made me think. Now all I want is another Nicole Lundrigan novel to become addicted to!”
—Marissa Stapley, New York Times bestselling author of Lucky

“Lundrigan is that rare breed of thriller writer who can weave a cunning plot twist while mesmerizing us all with her language.  A Man Downstairs is a taut psychological nightmare with a poet’s soul.”
—Roz Nay, bestselling author of Our Little Secret and The Hunted

“A dark, disturbing drama suffused with gritty suspense, A MAN DOWNSTAIRS is gorgeously written. With astute and terrifying insights into the human condition, Nicole Lundrigan expertly weaves a gripping tale about fractured relationships and the secrets swirling around a small community, rocked by a decades-old murder. The multiple POVs are mesmerizing and the prose is poetic in this intensely captivating and unforgettable read.”
—Samantha M. Bailey, USA Today and #1 national bestselling author of A Friend in the DarkNICOLE LUNDRIGAN is the author of several critically acclaimed novels, including An Unthinkable Thing, Hideaway, which was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel, and The Substitute. Her work has appeared on “best of” selections from The Globe and Mail, Amazon.ca, Chatelaine, NOW Magazine, and others. She grew up in Newfoundland, and now lives in Toronto.CA

Additional information