The New Neighbors

Dueling unreliable narrators drive this creepy psychological thriller from British author Lelic (The Facility). Married couple Jack and Sydney (aka Syd) have saved hard to buy a rundown London house, but they can barely afford it. From the beginning, Jack is bothered that the previous owner, a retiree who ran off to Australia to marry a woman he met on the internet, left behind all his junk, including a collection of stuffed birds. On the other hand, Syd “fell in love with the place right from the start.” A few weeks after they move in, Syd becomes intrigued by a mysterious neighbor, 13-year-old Elsie Payne, and Jack is unsettled to find a box of stuff a little girl would keep in the attic. Neither confides in the other about these developments. When someone is murdered just outside their house, the tension between them grows. That a dark past secret hangs over Jack and Syd gradually emerges. Readers expecting Gone Girl would do best to lower those expectations and just enjoy the intense ride. Agent: Caroline Wood, Felicity Bryan Associates (U.K.). (Apr.)