The Visitors by Miranda Rijks

 

Most would say that Hannah has it all.  She lives in a large house in the English countryside with her husband, Daniel, and her two children.  Prior to her marriage she was a music teacher and she still has a few students she teaches on her grand piano.  But it's not enough.

She wants a project and Daniel agrees to let her turn the barn into a guest cottage, one that she plans to rent out.  She creates a lovely space and the first guests love it.  Everything is going well when her second guests arrive.

Nadia and Mike are very different from her first guests.  They arrive in a beat up car with their daughter.  They are loud and as Hannah soon finds out, messy and demanding.  They expect Hannah to keep their daughter whenever they leave.  When they take Hannah's daughter on a quick outing with them, they don't return or answer calls for hours.  When Hannah looks inside, her beautiful renovation is trashed; garbage everywhere, cushions in the floor.  Mike demands new bedding even though what is there is new.  Then he trips and breaks his ankle and they insist they need to stay another week so he can be treated.  Since they are hinting at a lawsuit, Hannah and Daniel agree.

But things don't improve.  Soon Nadia and Mike have changed the locks on the doors and don't give Hannah a key.  They invite themselves on Hannah and Daniel's family outings and are loud and rude in public.  Surely something has to give....and it does.

Miranda Rijks is an English author.  I listened to this novel and the narrator did an excellent job, helping to build the tension that Rijks increases bit by bit.  Although the tenants are unreasonable, she makes Hannah's actions seem logical although she needs a bit more backbone as she is way too polite as she hopes to build a successful business.  There are also hints that all is not well with Hannah and Daniel and those hints continue to accumulate throughout the book.  Rijks has written scores of psychological thrillers and this one is a great beach book or one to read while staying in an AirBnB.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.