ShortBookandScribes Paperback #PublicationDay #BookReview – The House Across the Street by Lesley Pearse @LesleyPearse @MichaelJBooks @ed_pr

I’m a huge fan of Lesley Pearse and I first reviewed The House Across the Street in September last year. Today is paperback publication day and it has a gorgeous new cover, so I’m sharing my review again. Congratulations, Lesley!


Is there a murderer across the street?

It’s 1964 and twenty-three-year-old Katy Speed is fascinated by glamorous Gloria and the goings-on at her house over the road.

Who are the mysterious women that keep coming and going in the strange black car?

Then one night, Gloria’s house burns to the ground. Bodies are found in the wreckage.

And Katy’s horror turns to disbelief when her own father is arrested and charged with murder.

Determined to prove his innocence, Katy sets out to uncover the truth about the mysterious house across the street and find the real murderer. But that means risking her own life . . .

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I’m a massive fan of Lesley Pearse’s books so I couldn’t wait to read The House Across the Street which seemed to have a really intriguing storyline.

Katy Speed is a lovely young woman, one whom her parents should be really proud of. Her father most definitely is, but her mother is rather unpleasant, disapproving and snipes all the time. Katy often finds herself looking out of the window at the house across the street where Gloria lives. Gloria owns a dress shop and is forward-thinking. Her views and feelings are quite different to most of the residents of sleepy Bexhill and Katy finds her quite fascinating.

When a tragedy occurs, Katy’s lovely father, Albert is blamed for it and Katy desperately wants to find out who is really responsible. I must admit that I thought the story was going one way at this point that I thought seemed really obvious, but I was wrong. The direction it did take was even more thrilling and led to some shocking scenes. For this is, overall, a thriller, but it’s also a story of domestic life and relationships.

I loved Katy. She’s so strong, so mature for a 23 year old, so caring and kind. I was rooting for her to succeed in clearing her father’s name, even though she was putting herself in incredible danger to do so. I also liked Albert, and Katy’s best friend, Jilly, who is bubbly and fun. There’s another character called Charles, who I thought was just wonderful in every way. I won’t go into who he is as you can find that out for yourself. What I’m trying to say though is that all the characters are just so well-drawn. Lesley Pearse has a real way of writing characters to care about and love as well as ones to dislike or even hate.

I loved the story and the setting too. Katy’s home in Bexhill is the epitome of 1960s suburbia, whereas London, where she finds herself later on in the story, is cosmopolitan and exciting. The contrast is marked and I thought very well-portrayed.

Lesley Pearse is a consummate storyteller, a weaver of the most addictive tales.  This is her 26th novel and she’s celebrating 25 years of being published. I hope for many more fabulous books from her in the years to come. I honestly can’t get enough of them. She writes with such warmth and her stories and characters are so genuine. The House Across the Street comes highly recommended by me. I flew through it and enjoyed every minute I spent reading it.


Lesley Pearse was told as a child that she had too much imagination for her own good. When she grew up she worked her way through a number of jobs, including nanny, bunny girl, dressmaker and full-time mother, before, at the age of forty-nine, settling upon a career that would allow her gifts to blossom: she became a published writer. Lesley lives in Devon and has three daughters and three grandchildren.

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Author photo (c) Charlotte Murphy 2014

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