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A Novel
From the bestselling author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep and Three Things About Elsie, a delightfully sinister novel about a married woman living a nice, quiet suburban life—but things aren't always what they seem...
Linda has lived in a quiet neighborhood since fleeing the dark events of her childhood in Wales. Now she sits in her kitchen, wondering if this is all there is: pushing the vacuum around and cooking fish sticks for dinner, a far cry from the glamorous lifestyle she sees in the glossy magazines coming through the mail slot addressed to the previous occupant, Rebecca.
Linda's husband Terry isn't perfect—he picks his teeth, tracks dirt through the house, and spends most of his time in front of the TV. But that seems fairly standard—until he starts keeping odd hours at work, at around the same time young women in the town start to go missing.
If only Linda could track down and befriend Rebecca, maybe some of that enviable lifestyle would rub off on her and she wouldn't have to worry about what Terry is up to. But the grass isn't always greener and you can't change who you really are. And some secrets can't stay buried forever...
"Sublimely structured and darkly witty...the multilayered plot offers genuine surprises up to the final revelation. Cannon has raised her game with this one." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Cannon's story is chock-a-block with punch-in-the-gut twists, wry humor, tragedy, and heartbreak...The ending, which will leave readers gasping, is more stunning than 'tidy.'" - Booklist (starred review)
"What are the salient details in this story? Cannon, a master of obfuscation, makes it hard to tell...An exercise in red herrings." - Kirkus Reviews
"I absolutely loved it. A serial killer, a traumatized woman, the quirkiest of characters, such perfect observational writing--Joanna Cannon is a superstar." - Sarah Pinborough, author of Behind Her Eyes
"Devastating, deceptive, and darkly funny." - Sarah Winman, author of Still Life
"A compellingly crafted and compulsive read, full of twists—and twists on twists—that keeps you guessing until the last page. It's a book that is always at least two steps ahead—though not in the direction you suspect—and deliciously mixes, as only Joanna Cannon can, suburbia and the sinister. A joy and a triumph." - Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
This information about A Tidy Ending was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Philippa Gedge
Joanna Cannon is a psychiatrist with a degree from Leicester Medical School. She lives in England's Peak District with her family and her dog. She is the author of Three Things About Elsie and The Trouble with Goats and Sheep, a top ten bestseller in the UK.
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