> Skip to content
[]
Play sample
  • Published: 6 October 2026
  • ISBN: 9781405978972
  • Imprint: Michael Joseph
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $24.99
Categories:

The Family Friend




A gift beyond your wildest dreams might just turn out to be your worst nightmare... The nail-biting new thriller from the Sunday Times Number 1 bestselling author of The New Neighbours.

When Imogen is told she’s inherited a country mansion near Bath, she thinks it must be a mistake. She last saw its owner, reclusive artist Dorothea Roe, sixteen years ago: a summer which changed her life for ever.

Once Imogen and her partner Josh settle into the house, she dares to hope that this is the start of a new life.Yet Imogen can’t stop wondering why a woman she barely knew would leave her everything.
And when she discovers a box with her name on it in the artist’s abandoned studio, she’s sure Dorothea was trying to send her a message before she died.

What if her death wasn’t an accident?
Could it be tangled in Imogen’s own dark family history?
And why is she feeling watched all of a sudden?

  • Published: 6 October 2026
  • ISBN: 9781405978972
  • Imprint: Michael Joseph
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $24.99
Categories:

About the author

Claire Douglas

Claire Douglas has worked as a journalist for fifteen years writing features for women's magazines and national newspapers, but she's dreamed of being a novelist since the age of seven. She finally got her wish after winning the Marie Claire Debut Novel Award, with her first novel, The Sisters. She lives in Bath with her husband and two children.

Also by Claire Douglas

See all

Praise for The Family Friend

Clever, humane, with gasp-out-loud twists, it’s a story that lingers in the mind long after the last page.

EVE CHASE

One of the most reliable names in unputdownable suspense.

iPaper

A pacy gripping thriller that fans will lap up

PRIMA

Dark and addictive... This thriller has got it all...you'll be hooked!

BEST