The Insect House
 By
 Shirley Day 

 The Insect House is a mystery novel that is not all what it seems. In her debut mystery novel Shirley Day introduces us to Helen, a housewife who lives in an ambling old house in East Anglia. Helen is waiting for her brother to arrive after a 24-year absence. What appears to the return of the prodigal son turns out to be quite different in this ever twisting, but sometimes tedious, account of a family that is being torn apart by its own secrets.

 Helen the protagonist presents herself as hard done by having to care for a her sick mother, tolerating a neglectful husband, and longing for her long absent younger brother. As the novel continues we slowly see quite different Helen emerge. There is an evil in the house that seems to be consuming Helen and her family, but as the story unfolds we realize that the evil is coming from a completely different direction.

 Day does a masterful job of holding the family secrets away from the reader until the concluding pages of the story. I enjoy the twist at the end, but I have to say that it is a hard to get into the book initially. There are many details introduced that are difficult to put into context until the very end and I find it all a bit confusing. I feel the development of the husband Tim, the American Carla and the Mother are all a bit shallow. However, the character development of Helen and her brother Gareth are exceptional.   I recommend this book to people who enjoy waiting for the twist at the end of the story, but I personally only give it a 3 on 5 because I feel that the wait is too long and tedious.

 I want to thank NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.