WHAT happens when a man comes out of prison 19 years after being convicted for the murder of his wife?

The return of Anton to the marital home has far reaching effects on his neighbours – both those who were there at the time and others blissfully unaware of the potential danger in their midst.

Who really killed flirtatious, manipulative Charlotte on the night of the fateful house party? Her husband, a stranger or someone close to home?

Karen Perry’s follow-up to Your Closest Friend is just as gripping and disturbing, again building the tension to a violent climax.

As with all suspense thrillers there are twists, but Perry prefers to focus more on the psychology of the characters, their fears and motives, than weaving a clever and complex plot.

She tells the story from the viewpoint of three people, in third person rather than first: Anton himself, still protesting his innocence, as he painfully adapts to life outside prison; Leah, the young woman who unwittingly moves into Anton’s basement and grows increasingly close to him; and Hilary, the woman across the road who played a major role in the events of the murder night.

The story switches between the three of them, and it is clear they all have secrets: you’ll change your mind more than once on who actually committed the killing all those years before.

Come a Little Closer moves a little slower than the average-profile suspense thriller set on a British residential street, but it’s all the better for it, drawing the reader in as Perry builds up the layers and increases the menace.

David Knights