Micke and his wife Bianca move from Stockholm to the small town of Köpinge in search of a quiet life for themselves and their two young children. They buy a house in an idyllic neighborhood where everything seems perfect for their little family to settle down. Micke is a teacher at the local school, Bianca is a stay-at-home mom, and their children are happy and well adjusted. But when Bianca is hit by a car outside their home, a car driven by a next-door neighbor named Jacqueline, the rumors start spreading – was it really an accident?
Bianca is rushed to the hospital and Micke follows in shock. While Bianca hovers between life and death, Micke finds himself at the edge of a dark abyss – how can he go on without his beloved wife? And what really happened to her? Everyone knows the relationship between Bianca and Jacqueline was tense, but was Jacqueline desperate enough to kill? The stakes are raised when Micke learns Jacqueline was not alone in the car on that fateful afternoon: her son Fabian was with her. And when Micke hears that Ola, a man with whom Bianca had grown unsettlingly close over the past few months, had also been spotted in the car – everything is turned upside down.
Told through shifting perspectives in the voices of Micke, Jacqueline and Fabian, the novel moves between the time before and after the accident, revealing a web of relationships and deception that surprises at every turn. The seemingly idyllic neighborhood is not so peaceful after all and violence is lurking just around the corner…
In The House Next Door, Mattias Edvardsson takes us on a suspenseful ride behind the closed doors of a suburban neighborhood where everyone seems to know everything about everyone, but nothing is actually as it seems.
Extra Materials
Czech Republic, Euromedia
Denmark, People's
Estonia, Eesti Raamat
Finland, Like
France, Sonatine
Germany, Blanvalet/Limes
Hungary, Partvonal/Lira
Italy, Rizzoli
Latvia, Latvijas Mediji
The Netherlands, Luitingh-Sijthoff
Norway, Gyldendal
Russia, Azbooka-Atticus
Serbia, Laguna
Slovakia, Ikar
Slovenia, Ucila
Sweden, Forum
Author
Reviews
“Mattias Edvardsson is a low-key and talented chronicler of contemporary society. He depicts group mentality in a way that brings out the chills and in the end you don’t know what to think. Was it really an accident that Bianca got hit by a car?”
Dagens Nyheter (SE)
“In this psychological crime novel it is the very fact of not knowing that creates unease. There is more than one crime and questionable human behavior is at the heart of the drama.”
Sveriges Radio, P4 (SE)
“The House Next Door is a quietly told crime novel that turns more thrilling and psychological by the minute and depicts what happens when the threat comes too close to you and your loved ones -without you really understanding what is happening…”
Borås Tidning (SE)
“The author behind the success A Nearly Normal Family returns with a claustrophobic story set in a suburban neighborhood. Suggestive ambience and wicked twists.”
Göteborgs-Posten (SE)
“As usual, Mattias twists and turns the order of the world. What is safety? Where is the delicate divide between right and wrong? How well do you know your neighbors? And what happens when the threat moves into your own home?”
Smålandsposten (SE)
“The novel is tremendous, it keeps you on your toes from the first to the last page. Not a single one of the characters can be placed in the category ’the good guy’ – they all have good and bad characteristics and the novel shocks you all the way to the end. Extremely good. Mattias really makes you think about your own neighbors and that you don’t get to choose who you live next door to. It creates a creepy feeling, something Mattias is highly skilled at.”
Podcast Deckardårarna (SE)
“Just like in A Nearly Normal Family, Edvardsson finds the perfect voice for each of his characters – not least the teenager Fabian – and splendidly depicts with claustrophobic nuance the different relationships that gradually become all the more tangled up and infected. He truly is a master at creating darkness and unease in the everyday, in situations we can all recognize. The House Next Door is a page-turner that makes you look at your own neighbors with a more suspicious eye […] further proof that Mattias Edvardsson is well on his way to establishing his very own niche in the Swedish crime genre.”
Skånska Dagbladet (SE)
“The House Next Door has a classic mystery plot, but Edvardsson tells the story with finesse, suspense, and drive. He has written a real nail-biting thriller of international class. For those who like Harlan Coben and Linwood Barclay – read it.”
BTJ (SE)
“What a page turner. You cannot put it down.”
Sommaröppet, SVT (SE)
“The author behind the success A Nearly Normal Family returns with a claustrophobic story set in a suburban neighborhood. Suggestive ambience and wicked twists.”
Göteborgs-Posten (SE)
“The author keeps you on your toes and ends the book with a twist. Well worth the read.”
Hamar Arbeiderblad (NO)
“Did you enjoy the TV-series Big Little Lies? Then this book is for you.”
Stavanger Aftenblad (NO)
“This is an intense, psychological domestic thriller with a shuddering feeling of suspense.”
Arbeidets Rett (NO)
“Edvardsson offers a carefully constructed, suspenseful read.”
Maasedun Tulevaisuus (FI)
“Addictive plot, short chapters, realistic characters. (…) Edvardsson is skilled at portraying everyday life.”
Kodin Kuvalehti (FI)
“A detective story or psychological suspense? The twist in the last pages takes it closer to the first, but I rather see The House Next Door as a novel – an extremely intense family drama.”
Kansan Uutiset (FI)
“Edvardsson’s writing dives deep into the workings of the human mind. He can put into words different levels of emotion and action and combine them into a strong whole. In this respect, Edvardsson’s writing beats many high-quality suspense novels.”
Sotkamo-Lehti (FI)
“Mattias Edvardsson, a master of portraying character-psychology and relationships, is now releasing The House Next Door. The story of Micke and Bianca is told through a thrilling psychological.”
Break (SK)
“The House Next Door is a thrilling and clever psychological novel. It exposes how thin the line is between right and wrong. It emphasize the safety you normally feel in your own neighborhood, and how misleading that feeling can be.”
Pravda (SK)
“The House Next Door is another hit. […] One of my biggest reading experiences last year was A Nearly Normal Family by the Swedish author Mattias Edvardsson. I was captivated by his storytelling and the ingenious plot. In The House Next Door, Mattias Edvardsson uses the same storytelling technique, but the split between perspectives is not exactly the same. Now we are spun into the story by moving through different perspectives and timelines with each chapter. ’Spun’ is a well chosen word for it. Because Mattias Edvardsson truly spins a spider’s web. Not only am I completely caught by the plot, but he spinns me, like a spider, round and round until I cannot let go, or breathe. The character are caught in the same wild web, and keep spinning, too. Until the unthinkable happens. (…) Mattias Edvardsson has written another masterpiece.”
Horsens Posten (DK)
“Mattias Edvardsson has in his new novel created a psychological thriller out of every day life situations, a setup designed to come close and crawl beneath the skin of most of us. In The House Next Door nothing is black or white, instead the drama plays out in a perpetual grey zone. […] Mattias Edvardsson shines in both his use of language and in his ability to depict the psychological urges of the human mind.”
Johannas Deckarhörna (SE)
“One of this year’s most highly anticipated books and expectations were sky high. And Yes! So good! Mattias Edvardsson has yet again written a clever and skillfully constructed psychological drama of the highest order. After I started reading, I couldn’t stop. […] This novel is probably one notch better then his last one. I think its so nicely done – both the structure, the content and the language. […] I hope that this novel gets nominated to Book of the Year, next year! It will at least be one of my favorites from this year.”
Malins Blogg (SE)
“The House Next Door is just as good as A Nearly Normal Family. It’s well written and has a smooth flow – a page-turner. I appreciate the structure of the novel, that in every new chapter you follow different characters’ thoughts, both before and after the accident. The book is at once thrilling and not predictable at all. I could not put it down, I highly recommend it.”
Bims Blogg (SE)
“Mattias Edvardsson delivers once again a skillfully written psychological crime novel. […] Once more the author creates a fantastic set of characters, who feel real and unpredictable and where they all have both good and bad in them. In other words, just like all of us.”
Romeo And Juliet (SE)
“Edvardsson has a drive to the story and soon you will be in the state of mind of ’-just-one-more-chapter’ – it’s so difficult to put down. I enjoy how you gradually get under the characters’ skin and the complexities of the characters grow far beyond what you thought from the beginning.”
Litteraturkvalster (SE)
“Those who enjoyed Mattias Edvardsson’s last novel, A Nearly Normal Family, and have had big expectations on the follow up, need not worry. You will recognize the craft and voice in the plot from the last book. The story follow the classic dramaturgical model where the suspense slowly builds, to let up just a touch, just the amount that make you as a reader relax just a bit, and then, when you are not expecting it, the story hits you at full force, making you completely lose your breath.”
Just nu just här (SE)
“Mattias Edvardsson belongs in the cohort of my favorite authors. It might even be that he is at the top of that list. Mattias Edvardsson shows yet again how amazing he is at creating psychological suspense that gets underneath the skin of the reader. The House Next Door is at its core a creepy read, but it’s so masterfully created that you must keep reading. […] That I’m already longing for the next book is no surprise. If you have not read anything by Mattias Edvardsson yet I highly recommend you do so. Immediately!”
Lottens Bokblogg (SE)
“The House Next Door has forever destroyed by romanticized view of the phenomenon neighbors, and I love it. It’s dreadfully uneasy from page one, and completely impossible to put down. Flashbacks are skillfully combined with the present and three separate perspectives tell the horrid, addictive and brilliant story. Mattias Edvardsson does not disappoint!”
Tusen Sidor (SE)