Tödlicher Zweifel

by Hilary Norman, Bianca Güth (Übersetzer)

Von dem Tag an, da Matthew Gardner das Haus seiner neuen Frau betritt, beginnt er zu ahnen, dass das Leben mit ihr alles andere als harmonisch verlaufen wird. Denn zwei ihrer Töchter aus erster Ehe - Flic und Imogen - begegnen dem Stiefvater mit Hass und Ablehnung. Und was Matthews Frau als normales Verhalten pubertierender Mädchen interpretiert, wird für ihn zu einem Spiel auf Leben und Tod - scheint Flic und Imogen doch jedes Mittel Recht, um sich des ungeliebten Stiefvaters zu entledigen...

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Crime, Suspense, Mystery

575 pages, Paperback

First published June 27, 2002

About the author

Born and raised in London, loved reading but deeply lazy about writing at school, preferring drama. A brief acting career, then moved into the production side at the BBC's radio drama department - later at London's Capital Radio, by which time the writing "switch" had been flicked on. Spent as much time as possible travelling in the US, working and writing. First novel, IN LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP published in 1986 after five years of writing. Wrote sagas with big dramatic finishes in the early days, and then, as the body count rose, made the move into psychological suspense and thrillers. Last book LAST RUN soon out in trade paperback, and the latest (and 20th) -RALPH'S CHILDREN - out soon in hardcover.
Living in London with husband Jonathan, and dog Poppy.

Reviews

[Paula Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matthew Gardner meets Caro Walters and it's love at first sight. In fact, they get married within two weeks! Matthew moves into her home in England, along with Caro's three daughters, Flic, Imogen and Chloe. Unfortunately for Matthew, Flic (16) and Imogen (14) are budding, unrepentant psychopaths who hate him being in their lives, and will go to absolutely any measures to get rid of him!

Enjoyable thriller that keeps up a consistent pacing from start to finish. Although we know from the start who the villains of the book are, the plot still manages to deliver some surprises, and I certainly wasn't expecting Flic and Imogen to go to the lengths that they did! Indeed, they're the sort of villains you love to hate, which keeps you firmly on Matthew's side as they continue to escalate their vendetta against him.

One weakness is the trope of nobody believing Matthew when it's clearly obvious what's going on (even his best friend and his older brother don't give him the benefit of the doubt! I mean, come on!) The other is Matthew's TSTL behaviour in respect of not getting the hell out of dodge when the going was good - not once, but over and over again! I had trouble believing that any level-headed person would put up with Flic and Imogen's bullshit for longer than a second necessary particularly after Caro is killed less than half way into the book. Why on earth was he hanging around?!?

But that's par for the course for this sort of thriller, I suppose. It delivers a well-paced, suspenseful thriller that still delivers a surprise or two despite its otherwise straightforward plot.

[Sondra Casser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing how a writer can conjure up youngsters that can be so evil. This book definitely had my attention. Fast reading..

[Autumn Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very frustrating at times but also had me hooked in the last 200 pages for sure. The first part felt very boring and like an overused hated stepparent trope, but it gets much much darker as you continue on. The ending felt a little abrupt after so much build up but it was still more than decent. A good beach read, but perhaps not the most satisfying or realistic suspense novel.

[Sabine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matthew lernt im Skiurlaub die bezaubernde Caroline kennen und verliebt sich in sie. Auch Caroline ist von ihm sehr angetan und schon bald heiraten die beiden. Nach seinem Einzug in ihrem Haus fühlt sich Matthew jedoch sehr unwohl: Flic und Imogen, die beiden Töchter aus Carolines erster Ehe – begegnen ihm mit Ablehnung und Hass. Und schon bald geschehen merkwürdige Dinge, die Matthew immer mehr in einem schlechten Licht stehen lassen…
Ich fand es spannend! Die Idee der Geschichte hat mich angesprochen, doch einiges fand ich etwas weit hergeholt und nicht wirklich glaubwürdig, aber trotzdem war das Buch sehr spannend und hat mich gut unterhalten. Da verzeihe ich auch das unglaubwürdige – oder mir unverständliche Handeln der Protagonisten. Das Buch liest sich flüssig durch den einfachen Schreibstil, die Kapitel hatten für mich genau die richtige Länge. Und durch den stetig ansteigenden Spannungsbogen habe ich das Buch auch innerhalb weniger Tage ausgelesen bzw. verschlungen.
Matthews Verhalten konnte ich jedoch meist nicht nachvollziehen – bei dem, was er alles mitmacht, hätte ich großes Verständnis gehabt, wenn er früher das Handtuch geschmissen hätte und seine Konsequenzen gezogen hätte. Doch er ist ein durch und durch guter Mensch und steht zu seinen Versprechen: sich in jeder Situation um die Kinder zu kümmern – egal, was auch passiert. Caroline fand ich eher blass gezeichnet, mit ihr wurde ich leider gar nicht warm. Dass sie sich hin und her gerissen fühlt zwischen ihren Kindern und ihrem geliebten Mann, kann ich gut verstehen, aber dennoch – jedes Verhalten hat Grenzen. Und dass sie sich ohne Nachzudenken vor ihre Kinder stellt, ehrt sie zwar, doch muss sie dafür auch teuer bezahlen. Flic und Imogen sind beide einfach nur unverschämt und krank. Unglaublich, was in deren Köpfen vor sich geht und was die beiden für Pläne geschmiedet haben – und das nur, damit Matthew das Haus wieder verlässt. Doch dafür wird ein hoher Preis gezahlt. Sympathisch war mir eigentlich nur Sylvie, Carolines Mutter – sie hat das Herz am rechten Fleck und setzt ihr Köpfchen ein. Dabei scheut sie keine Konflikte und lässt sich weder von dem einen noch dem anderen einfach einnehmen.
Die Idee des Romans fand ich wirklich gut und auch wenn die Geschichte im Verlauf immer abstruser wurde und mir die Charaktere nicht wirklich gefallen haben, war das Buch spannend und hat mich gefesselt. Kein Buch, über das man noch lange nachdenkt, doch wenn man ein bisschen Ablenkung wünscht und spannende Unterhaltung sucht, ist man mit diesem Buch gut beraten.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

An American architect who lives in Berlin meets a woman on holiday in Switzerland and falls in love. Within TWO WEEKS they get married. She has three teenage daughters (whose father has passed away) who REALLY don't approve (I don't blame them).
From the moment Matthew (said American) arrives in THEIR home a full-on hate campaign is rigorously implicated by the two older girls.
All perfectly well understood so far - what was the Mother thinking? Alarm bells are ringing after only a few pages.
Now, when I say hate campaign I mean HATE with all guns blazing in a kamikaze stylee - this campaign escalates to monumental proportions that are truly dreadful.
The author is not afraid to go for big shockers and for that I admire her. However, I found the book very uncomfortable to read in places. The sexual abuse and then the sexual 'attack' are particularly hard.
The extent to which these girls will go to get rid of Matthew are unbelievable...and yet he STAYS...wow that is truly insane.
Nobody understands anybody else in this story - why did the 'parents' get married so quickly and expect the girls to be happy about it? Why does Sylvie think that the girls still want Matthew around after everything that has happened? These are my two main questions but there are many others! I can only conclude that they are all self obsessed people who don't possess an ounce of empathy.
I can't say I enjoyed the book but it packed a punch and deserves some credit for handling shocking situations albeit in a very strange way.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a gripping 'read', though I 'read' this in audiobook format I listened this in a week mainly just listening on my way to work and back. It was chilling in places and does leave you wondering at the authors source of inspiration for the characters. Some of the scenes were a little unbelievable in that in reality no-one would stay around after all that provocation. However, things were tied up very neatly. Well worth the read and I would not hesitate to read other books by this author.

[Cleopatra Pullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this one after receiving a recommendation from Amazon. I'd not heard of this author before so thank you Amazon as I will be seeking out more of her books. The story progresses well and just about stays on the right side of being credible.

A woman marries after a whirlwind romance but it would appear that her 3 daughters are cautious about the man she has brought into their home. What follows keeps you reading. Be warned the story sucks you in and takes some very nasty turns along the way!

Great one for dark cold evenings under the duvet.

[Bill Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just an okay holiday read. Caroline and Matthew marry. 'Caro' has kids in the family home from a previous. The kids are loyal to the dead father, and will stop at nothing - literally - to ensure Matthew leaves the family home. There is some good characterisation in this book, and the genre is psychological, but a great deal of suspension of disbelief is required. No matter what the kids do to get rid of him, and is gets fantastical towards the end, Matthew will never leave. What a man. Just too much at the end but by that time, you are probably hooked and want to know how it ends.

[Helen Gazzara · Rating 4 out of 5]

After having read the much touted 'The Girl on the Train', this was the next book I chose to read. While the former is typical of an emerging genre, Hilary Norman simply tells a story- but an engaging and, at times, unbelievable story at that. While many other commentators have posed the question about Matthew's not leaving, I think that his loyalty and sense of honour, which, as we find later, contrasted with the girls' perceptions of their late father, became both his and their undoing. A great read for those a little disenchanted with some later offerings.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 STARS

"From the day he sets foot in the house that belonged to his new wife's first husband, Matthew Gardner begins to realise that life with Caroline is going to be infinitely rougher than he'd hoped. Two of her three teenage daughters - charming to him in public - are determined to get rid of him." (From Amazon)

Reminds me of an old thriller...it is more psychological than action based.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

O.M.G.
At first I was very sceptical, first couple of chapters were quite mediocre, written in a non-superb way. But once the story reached the first big plot-twist I was mind-blown. I couldn't stop reading even though I've predicted second plot-twist. Still it's a very entertaining book to read. I can recommend it to everyone who likes thrillers with a bit of psychology.

[Lisa Greer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good thriller. After I read it, I read all the Norman thrillers I could get my hands on. If you like psycho siblings, this one's for you. :)

[Suzannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

What worries me is that the writer has to think this plot up before writing it. Chilling.

[JenniferB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well Written, good suspense. Set in Hampstead

[Leah B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow