British suspense novelist Haynes' latest asks the question: How well do we know our neighbors? Initially, this book appears to be a routine murder mystery, but it evolves into a provocative examination of a controversial issue: the right to die. The story begins when Annabel, a police analyst, follows a strong odor into the home of her neighbor, who she thought had moved out long ago, only to come upon a horrific discovery: the woman's decomposed body. She is aware that a number of dead bodies have been discovered in her part of town, so she analyzes the data and concludes that there has been a radical spike in these numbers. She believes an investigation is in order, even though all signs indicate that the victims died of natural causes. The ensuing story is told from the points of view of Annabel, who feels unappreciated at work, and Colin, who perceives himself to be a liberator of people whose lives have become empty of all but misery. Interspersed are chapters that juxtapose newspaper articles about the discovered bodies with the voices of the deceased, articulating why they wanted to end it all. An artfully woven tapestry of stories that delves into what familial disapproval, social rejection, infidelity, abandonment, loneliness and lack of self-esteem can do to people.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Police analyst Annabel is shocked when she discovers her next-door neighbor dead of starvation. How could she not have noticed her absence? Occupied with her job and her elderly mother, Annabel hadn't seen the woman for some time, and neither had her other neighbors. At work, her colleagues are too busy on other cases to think this death was anything more than a suicide. But similarly decomposing bodies begin turning up around the tiny village of Briarstone, and Annabel decides to investigate on her own. Clearly these deaths are more than mere coincidence, but Annabel's investigation gets derailed when her mother dies suddenly. Overwhelmed by her own loss, Annabel herself nearly becomes a victim of a creepy guy who for his own perverted entertainment encourages lonely and depressed people simply to go to bed and await death. VERDICT The darkest of Haynes's thrillers (Into the Darkest Corner; Dark Tide) to date, this disturbing and compelling novel offers a sad commentary on a society so distracted and self-absorbed that the absence of friends and neighbors goes unnoticed. While it earns high marks on the "creepometer" and is certain to generate reader buzz, Haynes's latest work, using alternating narrators, lacks the smooth plot development and depth of characterization of her previous books, leaving the reader exhausted, unsettled, and less satisfied. [See Prepub Alert, 3/4/13.]-Susan Clifford Braun, Bainbridge Island, WA (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Alternating first-person accounts tell a disquieting tale. Annabel Hayer leads a solitary life with her cat, her only activity outside work being to help out her widowed, housebound mum. Meanwhile, virtually friendless Colin Friedland combines his obsessions with sex and death with a growing interest in neurolinguistic programming (NLP), forging an all-consuming avocation. Annabel also is a crack police analyst who spots an alarming increase in the number of bodies found in their homes in various states of decomposition in the town of Briarstone, causing police to start looking for connections between the recently dead (but not murdered) and the local newspaper to launch a Love Your Neighbour campaign, urging residents to check on those living nearby. Inevitably, the two narrators connect after an unexpected event plunges Annabel into a depressed state, and Colin's methods and his keen interest in putrefaction are spelled out in greater detail. Occasionally stomach-turning, as in the describing of the decay of human remains, this unusual thriller is, overall, a compelling story of obsession descending into madness.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2010 Booklist

British author Haynes's third crime novel effectively explores the dark corners of the human psyche. Soon after Annabel Hayer, a civilian crime analyst for the Briarstone police, discovers a neighbor's moldering body, she realizes that an astounding 24 such bodies have been discovered in Briarstone borough during the first nine months of 2012. The authorities didn't bother to investigate in a number of cases because the deaths weren't considered suspicious. Meanwhile, psychopath Colin Friedland preys on individuals who are ready to give up on life. Hayer, who manages to get senior officials to take the deaths seriously, is in danger of becoming another of Friedland's victims. Haynes (Into the Darkest Corner) does a good job detailing the multitude of painful circumstances that make people susceptible to Friedland's manipulations, as the contest between Hayer and Friedland plays out in surprising fashion. Agent: Adrian Weston, Adrian Weston Literary Agency. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.