You would think that inheriting a million-dollar mansion in London’s fashionable Chelsea neighborhood would be the most exciting thing to happen in a young woman’s life. But when Libby Jones, 25, finds out that she is the sole inheritor of the abandoned home where three dead bodies were found decades before, it’s only the start of the roller-coaster ride her life will become.

Along with the home comes a mystery: How did the previous owners die, and where did the four children who used to live there go? While one story line follows Libby’s quest for answers, and another follows a woman named Lucy and her two children, a third tells the story of what actually happened in the house, as narrated by Henry, one of the original children in the home.

Through his eyes, the reader watches how his parents are manipulated by David, a cult-like leader who has moved his family into the mansion under the pretense of helping Henry’s ill father. As David begins to exert his power, it leaves both the children and the reader feeling helpless as the family becomes more and more isolated, and their punishments more severe.

This novel is addicting and there are many layers to unravel. Author Lisa Jewell doles out information bit by bit, leaving the reader anxiously trying to figure out how all the pieces fit together. The measured pacing of the story adds to the mounting terror, and her use of Henry, an odd and rather stilted narrator, provides the perfect voice to convey the suffocating feel of growing up in a prison of his parents’ making. Part murder mystery, part gothic horror story, and part psychological thriller, The Family Upstairs offers all the suspense a reader could want—and also serves as a cautionary tale about just whom one should let into their home.