In my mind, she is bracketed with Celia Dale, whose marvellously sinister domestic noir, A Helping Hand, was one of my favourite reads from last year . With rare exceptions such as bank holidays, the book group meets on the first Wednesday of every month at 7.

With two sisters full of neuroses and issues, Meg sees no other option but to go and sort out their problems. The tension was still sky high, particularly during the isolation at the cottage, and I still found the book difficult to put down at bedtime. With the greater emphasis on personal rather than parental relationships, this is perhaps why Uncle Paul failed to resonate with me quite so much as The Hours Before Dawn. So, with the hapless Isabel struggling to calm Mildred down, Meg feels pressured into making the trip to the coast to sort everything out.Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without written permission from this blog’s author is prohibited.

The characters have the voice of common sense telling them their imaginations are playing tricks – and yet… It’s obviously a speciality of hers so I really must get round to reading this one! It’s very well constructed, and the balance between tension and domestic dramas works surprisingly well. Celia Fremlin was recommended to me by a good friend (Lynn) on here ages ago and I've only just got round to reading my first of her novels. Meg joins them on holiday by the sea, where Mildred is staying in the cottage where she found out her husband, Paul, had tried to murder his first wife over fifteen years ago. But in Fremlin’s hands, the story takes on a more sinister dimension, tapping into the siblings’ fears of murder and revenge.As the novel opens, Meg receives a telegram summoning her to the seaside resort where Isabel and her family are holidaying in a caravan. Yes, this book is entertaining, there are some funny moments and it's clever, but still I ask myself - the point? She is good at making ordinary domestic situations frightening by slowly turning up the tension and playing on all our fears. Not wanting to repeat that experience, I made sure to finish the last 50ish pages the next day during the daylight hours.