The Family Remains returns to the lives of the characters from The Family Upstairs. A body has been found washed up in the Thames and in a house in Antibes. Will the detectives be able to unravel the mystery and find out what really happened all those years ago?

I absolutely loved The Family Upstairs, unfortunately this sequel didn’t have quite the same tension and atmosphere that I loved so much in the first book. The pacing felt slower, more of a police procedural than an edge of your seat thriller. It became a little repetitive after a while, I just wanted everything to hurry up. That being said, it was always going to be difficult to live up to the first book for me! 

I love Jewell’s ability to create such incredibly complex characters. Henry is one of the most interesting characters I’ve ever come across. I love taking a dive into his psychology and really enjoyed the depth this book gave to his character. I still have absolutely no idea how I feel about him, and that is fine by me. I also found myself getting a little emotional near the end, I really liked how Jewell wrapped this up, although it may not be to everyone’s tastes. I also loved that some incredibly important issues were tackled in this book, but they were handled with sensitivity. There was a real sense of female empowerment which warmed my heart. I definitely can’t wait to read more by this author, even if I didn’t love this one quite as much as the first book.

I would recommend this to fans of police procedurals or anyone who enjoyed the first book (although you don’t need to have read the first one to follow the storyline in this sequel). I want to thank Najma Finlay, Penguin Random House and Lisa Jewell for allowing me to read a copy of this book in exchange for my personal thoughts.