Queen Bee Anya is relaxing in a bath and contemplating how to end things with her current boyfriend when the attic door creaks open and a masked man drops down. Seconds later, Anya no longer has to worry about anything because she’s dead in Andrea Mara’s latest novel, SOMEONE IN THE ATTIC.

After an incident in the States involving her teenage daughter, Julia moves back to Dublin, Ireland, with her ex-husband and two children. They’ve just settled into a luxury rental home in Brentwood when Julia’s daughter alerts her to an online video showing their house and a man descending from the attic. It is chilling to view, but Julia believes the video is fake and part of the #THELOFT social media trend. Julia’s son, Luca, hears breathing at night and swears there is someone in the attic; however, when they look, no one is there. Julia is further dismayed when she learns of Anya’s death. Julia, Anya, Donna, and Eleanor were all childhood friends until one died in an accident. Now Julia and Eleanor have reconnected and are wondering if the videos, which keep appearing online, are connected to something in their past. Julia has her hands full with her disgruntled children, a secretive ex-husband, nosey neighbors, and the constant threat they are being surveilled. Can Julia figure out what is going on and keep her family safe in this gated community that somehow feels like a trap?

SOMEONE IN THE ATTIC is a chilling, unsettling suspense novel expertly crafted to heighten tension, mislead, and then deliver a clever ending with all the pieces fitting into place. There is a lot going on in this novel that will keep readers guessing as to who is making the videos, what is their motive, and how we miss certain clues entirely. There’s a childhood tragedy, current affairs, hidden cameras, a missing neighbor, a teenage social media fiasco, and job-related stressors that add to the possible motives and suspects. Julia is a likeable narrator, putting together the clues, fumbling at points, but eventually working it all out with the help of her friend, Eleanor. SOMEONE IN THE ATTIC is told in short punchy chapters filled with red herrings, subplots, and cliffhangers. There’s never a dull moment in this hair-raising, entertaining novel that will have readers checking their homes and listening for footsteps overhead.