“The Family Inside” by Katie Garner

Title: The Family Inside
Author: Katie Garner
Publisher: Mira
Year: 2025
Genre(s): suspense
Part of a Series: No

Why I read it: Once Upon a Book Club pick

Summary: Facing eviction, Iris accepts her boyfriend’s invitation to move in with him. He has moved back to his family’s home as he renovates it. Iris and her teenage daughter Ellory struggle to fit in with his family and Ellory ends up running away. Worried about her daughter, Iris realizes that she is not safe in the house as dark secrets start to come to light. Will she ever find out the truth…or will blood prove to be thicker? 

Rating: 

Review: After The Turn of the Key, this was a good suspense read. It built the suspense appropriately and left me guessing until the very end.

We follow two stories – Iris as she settles into her new house with her boyfriend and then Ellory as she runs away from home. However, there are hints in her story that things may not be what it seems and the twist of her story was very good, in my opinion.

Ellory was an interesting character and one you felt sorry for, someone you wanted to see find her inner strength and to escape her situation. It was the same with Iris and the parallels between the two stories was very well done.

Garner used the isolate setting of the house very well and described the danger growing around Iris’ well. She never tried to pretend that Iris wasn’t a reliable narrator and I think depicted gaslighting very well. While Iris began to doubt herself, I never did. Like I did with Ellory, I hoped that Iris would find the strength to leave Hugh and get herself to safety.

Every so often, we would get a countdown to the discovery of a body (not much of spoiler since it’s revealed in the first chapter) and that really added tension as well. I think that was a great element Garner utilized.

I also liked how she crafted the characters of the supporting cast, whether they were friend or foe. They felt like individuals and it was easy to keep them separate. I never mixed any of them up, which I think is another credit to Garner.

Bottom line: A very good suspense read that will keep you guessing until the end.

Sex: Not really.

Moonlight Musing

Would you put up with a hostile family for love?