The Beresford by Will Carver

It's always a pleasure (if that's the right word!) to read a Will Carver book because you never know quite what you're going to get! Today is my stop on the blog tour for The Beresford, his latest, and it's another dark, twisted offering. Huge thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part and to Orenda Books for my review copy.

The Blurb

Just outside the city – any city, every city – is a grand, spacious but affordable apartment building called The Beresford.

There’s a routine at The Beresford.

For Mrs May, every day’s the same: a cup of cold, black coffee in the morning, pruning roses, checking on her tenants, wine, prayer and an afternoon nap. She never leaves the building.

Abe Schwartz also lives at The Beresford. His housemate Sythe no longer does. Because Abe just killed him. In exactly sixty seconds, Blair Conroy will ring the doorbell to her new home and Abe will answer the door. They will become friends. Perhaps lovers.

And, when the time comes for one of them to die, as is always the case at The Beresford, there will be sixty seconds to move the body before the next unknowing soul arrives at the door. Because nothing changes at The Beresford, until the doorbell rings...

The Beresford is out today, published by Orenda Books.

My Review

Oh man, where do I even start with this?! It's the third book I've read of Will's after Nothing Important Happened Today (which blew my socks off) and Hinton Hollow Death Trip and I think I've started each review in the same way! His books do that. 

The Beresford is a majestic old building, slightly out of place in a modern city. Comprised of eight floors, it has some history - some unexplained tragedies. Split into two parts, here we're focusing on the flats on the bottom two floors, owned by Mrs May. The apartments are large and airy, tastefully decorated and furnished and very reasonable to rent. No wonder there is always someone ready to fill an empty flat. The building itself is very much a character here - majestic, imposing and downright creepy. And Mrs May, the sweet, eccentric landlady, pruning flowers that have no need of pruning, always keen to welcome in new tenants, and always keen to tidy the old ones away. And her prayers? Well, they're something else! There is something unsettling about Mrs May. 

The book opens with an obituary, followed by the immediate aftermath of a murder, but not of the person mentioned in the obituary. And with this, we are thrown right into life at The Beresford. Full of exquisitely drawn characters. Sweet, helpful and reliable Abe. Blair, escaping from overly zealous parents. Gail, escaping an abusive relationship. And Mrs May, of course. Each is so beautifully described. Life at The Beresford is leisurely and calm. Until the door bell's due to ring. Then it's not a safe place to be at all. Things turn very dark. 

The Beresford is a dark, twisted and unique piece of work which brought to mind (but is very different from) Hotel California by The Eagles. It's evil and eerie, whilst being beautifully written, populated with fully rounded, engaging characters. Written in Carver's direct style it doesn't pull any punches or waste any words. It looks at the big issues, and perfectly observes the minutiae of everyday life. And it asks us what we want. What we really want. And just how far we'd be willing to go to get it. Hopefully, not as far as the front door of The Beresford! Loved it. 

The Author

Will Carver is the international bestselling author of the January David series. He spent his early years in Germany, but returned to the UK at age eleven, when his sporting career took off. He turned down a professional rugby contract to study theatre and television at King Alfred’s, Winchester, where he set up a successful theatre company. He currently runs his own fitness and nutrition company, and lives in Reading with his two children. Will’s previous title published by Orenda Books, Hinton Hollow Death Trip was longlisted for the Not the Booker Prize, while Nothing Important Happened Today was longlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year and for the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell. Good Samaritans was a book of the year in Guardian, Telegraph and Daily Express, and hit number one on the eBook charts.