TOtimes Books: A MAN DOWNSTAIRS by Nicole Lundrigan

If you are looking for a flawlessly written psychological thriller with lots of clever twists and turns, A Man Downstairs checks all the boxes. This edge-of-your-seat thriller is written by Toronto author Nicole Lundrigan. It’s so good you may just want to stash this one away for a great, page-turning beach read this summer!  

After her divorce, Molly, a therapist, and her teenage son are looking for a “fresh start”. They head back to the small town where Molly grew up, to care for her 83-year-old father who had a stroke. Set in the 70s, the intricate plot revolves around Molly discovering that her childhood was different then she remembered. 

The focus is the murder of her mother, which four-year-old Molly witnessed. Her court testimony and the words “there was a man downstairs” helped put a young man in prison.  But now she’s haunted because she’s not absolutely sure of what she saw. The one thing she is sure about is that a piece of the “puzzle” is missing, and she’s determined to get to the bottom of it. Molly volunteers with the town’s “peer support” helpline.  Having a professional therapist answer the phone is a huge coup for the locals, but the tides change when suddenly she’s being targeted by a caller. 

The characters in this novel are linked well to Molly’s world. The dialogue flows naturally, colourfully and masterly.  A major theme in Lundrigan’s book is mental illness and substance addiction. She handles both with insight and empathy. The story can run from a nailbiter to a “lol” in a single page. It lifts Lundrigan to an elite level of page turning  storyteller. A great read–10 out of 10. 

A Man Downstairs by Nicole Lundrigan, Copyright © 2024 by Nicole Lundrigan. Published by VIKING, an imprint of Penguin Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Excerpted with special permission from Publisher. All rights reserved. 

About Author, Nicole Lundrigan

Nicole Lundrigan grew up in Newfoundland and now lives in Toronto. She is the author of several critically acclaimed novels including An Unthinkable Thing, The Substitute and Hideaway which was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel. Her work has appeared on “Best Of” selections from The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, NOW Magazine and Amazon.ca.

by Laurie Wallace-Lynch

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