Anna Fox is an agoraphobic psychologist who drinks too much and fills her days giving on-line advice and watching her new neighbours the Russells through a camera zoom lens. She has a husband and child who live elsewhere; for reasons that become clear later in the book.
The new neighbour, Jane, comes to Anna's rescue when she ventures outside and is overcome by a panic attack. Some time later Anna is sure she sees Jane with a knife in her chest, through the window of the Russells' front room.
The police are called and find no evidence of Jane and tell her that Mrs Russell is elsewhere and safe.
Days later the mother Mrs Russell appears: a completely different woman. Anna is seen as an unreliable witness, due to her mental health issues and her drinking habit.
To add to the Hitchcock association, Anna is a film buff with a preference for black and white film noir. She also belongs to an on-line chat group for agoraphobics where she uses her skills as a psychologist to help others as well as receiving support from fellow agoraphobics.
Author A.J. Finn (a pseudonym for Daniel Mallory) is an experienced editor for William Morrow Publishing Company. He has clearly been paying attention to how to write a stunning thriller with lots of satisfying twists, and a nail-biting ending.
The Woman in the Window is a real page-turner and even though the title annoyed me (so - just put girl or woman in the title and people will think of Gone Girl or Girl on the Train, right?) it is one of the best examples of this genre I have read for a while.
Reviewed by Katrina Hinton
Catalogue link: The Woman in the Window
Catalogue link ebook: The Woman in the Window
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