Iain Maitland – The Girl Downstairs

An Inkubator published book is always a book I want to read. This is the first time I have read anything by Iain Maitland but the cover, blurb and title piqued my curiosity. So off I went to read this psychological thriller. Let’s check out the blurb before I tell you what I thought.

Rosie is homeless and winter is closing in. So she can’t believe her luck when a total stranger, Mr. Adams, invites her to stay. 

But Mr. Adams has a secret. He has chosen Rosie because she reminds him of someone very special from long ago. Maybe she can even help him recapture that distant happiness. 

Of course, she might need a little encouragement, but that’s fine…

What he doesn’t realise is that Rosie has a secret too, a secret that will have horrifying consequences for them both. 

So instead of the heaven he had hoped to find, Mr. Adams finds himself fighting to escape the special kind of hell created by… the girl downstairs. 

The Girl Downstairs – the stunning psychological thriller, perfect for fans of Mark Edwards, K. L. Slater, Miranda Rijks.

A tense, twisty and atmospheric thriller. Felixstowe where the story is set, was so well described. I could actually place myself there.

We meet Mr.Adams. a man who lives alone with his dog Fluffy. He befriends Rosie, a homeless girl because she reminds him of someone else. The biggest issue is that Mr. Adams has a secret…what he doesn’t know is.. So does Rosie.

A book that I find hard to effectively put into words just how uncomfortable and creepy this story actually is. Mr Adams plays a massive part in those feelings. He is a character that has you glued to the page. A man who disturbed but transfixed me. I even felt like I played some part in this, just as if I was present. Iain Maitland has created him very skilfully, he draws you into the book, even though you are repulsed.

Rosie is another unreliable character also. I spent the time with these two, switching and changing my opinion constantly. This makes for a proper tense and uncertain story. I got a strong feeling of claustrophobia throughout, which got worse with the snow surrounding the cottages.

This is a dark, shocking and complex book that brings issues such as homelessness, family, the need for love, addiction and makes the reader face these things we push under the carpet and ignore.

Thanks to Zoo Loo’s Book Tours and Inkubator Books for the copy of the book to give you my thoughts.