Review: A Noise Downstairs by Linwood Barclay

Title: A Noise Downstairs by Linwood Barclay
Publisher: William Morrow
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 368 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss

Summary:

The New York Times bestselling author of No Time for Goodbye returns with a haunting psychological thriller that blends the twists and turns of Gillian Flynn with the driving suspense of Harlan Coben, in which a man is troubled by odd sounds for which there is no rational explanation.

College professor Paul Davis is a normal guy with a normal life. Until, driving along a deserted road late one night, he surprises a murderer disposing of a couple of bodies. That’s when Paul’s “normal” existence is turned upside down. After nearly losing his own life in that encounter, he finds himself battling PTSD, depression, and severe problems at work. His wife, Charlotte, desperate to cheer him up, brings home a vintage typewriter—complete with ink ribbons and heavy round keys—to encourage him to get started on that novel he’s always intended to write.

However, the typewriter itself is a problem. Paul swears it’s possessed and types by itself at night. But only Paul can hear the noise coming from downstairs; Charlotte doesn’t hear a thing. And she worries he’s going off the rails.

Paul believes the typewriter is somehow connected to the murderer he discovered nearly a year ago. The killer had made his victims type apologies to him before ending their lives. Has another sick twist of fate entwined his life with the killer—could this be the same machine? Increasingly tormented but determined to discover the truth and confront his nightmare, Paul begins investigating the deaths himself.

But that may not be the best thing to do. Maybe Paul should just take the typewriter back to where his wife found it. Maybe he should stop asking questions and simply walk away while he can. . . .

Review:

A Noise Downstairs by Linwood Barclay is a riveting mystery that is quite eerie.

Several months after catching fellow colleague and friend Kenneth Hoffman disposing of the bodies of two murdered women, college professor Paul Davis is still dealing with anxiety and PTSD. Barely surviving the ordeal, he is suffering from nightmares and the residual issues of a traumatic brain injury.  Trying to put the incident behind him once and for all, Paul decides to write about what happened to him and talk to Kenneth to understand what drove him to murder. To inspire him, his wife Charlotte gives him a vintage typewriter and soon after, a series of troubling events make Paul doubt his sanity. With the help of his therapist, Dr. Anna White, he tries to make sense of what is happening to him. Is the typewriter haunted by Kenneth’s victims? Is Paul experiencing a mental break of some kind?  Or could their a far more ominous reason for these harrowing occurrences?

Before Kenneth’s attack, Paul is well-liked professor who enjoys his career. But the months since the fateful night with a murderer, he has struggled with short-term memory loss, frustrating hallucinations and horrible nightmares. With his return to teaching on the horizon, Paul wants to put the incident behind him for good. To achieve his goal, he tracks down newspaper articles which detail Kenneth’s murders. However, understanding what turned Kenneth into a killer remains elusive.

Charlotte is extremely supportive of her husband’s efforts to recover from the life-changing event. However, her gift of the typewriter sets off an unforeseen chain of incidents that greatly worry her.  Growing increasingly concerned, Charlotte reaches out to everyone in Paul’s life in an effort to help him. But will she be able to save him from whatever is haunting him?

A Noise Downstairs is a very clever mystery with an imaginative plot and an atmospheric setting. Paul is a very well-defined character whose behavior is somewhat irrational but understandable under the circumstances. Anna is a compassionate and caring therapist who is struggling with issues of her that she tries to keep from interfering with her professional life. With very clever red herrings and misdirects,  Linwood Barclay obscures the truth about what is happening to Paul and why until the novel’s twist-filled, jaw-dropping conclusion.  A suspenseful read that will delight fans of the genre.