When you leave the original storyline on a pause, this is how the saga should unfold towards a satisfying ending. The first book closed on all sorts of cliffhangers, so it’s hard not to imagine how this sequel kicks off with the discovery of mysterious bag of bones.

Where the first novel presents the background of the four mysterious children and their secretive lives, this book is more focused on filling their individual backgrounds and what happened when they left the aforementioned house of horrors.

So, it’s no surprising that we hear the storyline from the perspective of different characters who are connected with the house by one way or another.

Although the story begins with Rachel, a successful jewellery designer from London who never had any connection with the family from Cheyne Walk, we soon discover that she is married to Michael Rimmer. That’s the same Michael who was part of Lucy’s life; they share a son. As we learn, Lucy, one of the four children who escaped from that fateful night 25 years ago from a dark and twisted family, is now stranded in France. She knows it’s about time to return to London with her two children as the ‘baby’ must have returned home to claim her inheritance at Cheyne Walk.

Similarly, Henry Lamb is eager to return to his childhood home in Chelsea as it presents his only opportunity to meet his childhood friend Phin Thomsen. Interestingly, Henry has been obsessed with Phin since their troubled but toxically shared childhood and is now trying to impersonate him in a psychologically alarming way. That completes three of the four children missing from that ill-fated night, but what has happened to Phin’s sister and his mother?

This question, along with finding out about the Lamb and Thomsen children, becomes paramount to the investigators who have just discovered Birdie Dunlop-Evers’ remains in the river. Therefore, Detective Samuel Owusu and his team need to investigate what exactly happened in that shuttered down house on Cheyne Walk 25 years ago, how those children became adrift, and what the dark secrets they have buried in their hearts that would give permanent closure to this intriguing case.

The author’s handling of building up the characters, giving each of them a distinct persona with in-depth backstories and eventual fates, is immensely admirable. It brings them to life with flesh-and-bone characteristics, making them more relatable while linking them fantastically to the first book.

There is Lucy, who had so much misfortune thrown in her way from such a young age and becomes the most tragic figure of this sordid murder mystery. Henry has become obsessed with Phin and is trying to track him down, no matter what. And then there is Libby, unaware of the obscurity surrounding her birth and abandonment. Indeed, all these aspects make this an intriguing and exciting read till the last page.

Considering the sadistic and abusive history of these children and their mangled childhood, this book might not be everyone’s cup of tea. But, if you want to explore dark undertones of human nature and suffering mixed with clever writing and a solid plotline, this novel is worth your time. You can read this as a follow-up to the first book called The Family Upstairs or on its own, as characters’ narrations repeat the history throughout this second book in the Cheyne Walk saga. Looking at the cliffhanger at the end of this story, there is a real chance of dropping a third book in this successful series. Let’s say, fingers crossed!