The Book:
The New Couple in 5B by Lisa Unger
Published March 5, 2024 by Park Row
Date read: February 28, 2024
More March 2024 new releases here.
The Characters:
Rosie and Chad
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The Plot (from Goodreads):
Rosie and Chad Lowan are barely making ends meet in New York City when they receive life-changing news: Chad’s late uncle has left them his luxury apartment at the historic Windermere in glamorous Murray Hill. With its prewar elegance and impeccably uniformed doorman, the building is the epitome of old New York charm. One would almost never suspect the dark history lurking behind its perfectly maintained facade.
At first, the building and its eclectic tenants couldn’t feel more welcoming. But as the Lowans settle into their new home, Rosie starts to suspect that there’s more to the Windermere than meets the eye. Why is the doorman ever-present? Why are there cameras everywhere? And why have so many gruesome crimes occurred there throughout the years? When one of the neighbors turns up dead, Rosie must get to the truth about the Windermere before she, too, falls under its dangerous spell.
How did The New Couple in 5B end?
The Reveal:
Willa, the previous owner of Rosie’s apartment, was cheating on her husband with Abi the doorman. Her husband killed her when he found out and then killed himself.
Ella and Charles were so tied to the building because their son died falling into the elevator shaft. All the residents believed in ghosts. In the past, they sold Rosie’s apartment to Willa and Paul because they needed money, but they wanted it back. Ivan had bought it out from under them at auction and they were mad about that. Abi was their henchman, watching everyone in the building.
Rosie eventually was able to break into Abi’s control room, which is where her suspicions were confirmed. Ella and Charles drugged her and planned to kill her, Chad, and Olivia, after getting them all to sign a document signing their apartment over to them. They escaped, and Ella, Charles, and Abi were arrested. Rosie and Chad went on living in their apartment.
Chad was as devious as people were trying to warn Rosie, though. He really had killed his high school girlfriend and bribed her brother to take the fall. He coerced Ivan into leaving them the apartment when Ivan planned to leave it to Dana (who was going to sell it to Ella and Charles’ daughter Lillian, bringing it back into their family). Chad killed all the people the police accused him of (except maybe Xavier?), and then went and killed the brother of the high school girlfriend right before his court appeal.
The Ending:
When Rosie realized all this, the cops were already on their way. She tried to escape Chad but he chased her up to the roof. When he saw the police coming, he jumped rather than face them.
Rosie went back to live with her parents and sister.
I hope these The New Couple in 5B spoilers were helpful
The Review:
Thank you to @librofm for this gifted ALC.
If you loved Lock Every Door, add The New Couple in 5B to your TBR asap! It takes place in another historic apartment building filled with long-term tenants who all know each other, except for our main character, the one new youngster. She quickly realizes that not everything is as it seems!
It’s a bit of a slow burn, but the secrets of the quirky residents–including flashbacks to Willa’s POV in 1963–keep the reader entertained as the suspense builds.
The narrator Vivienne Leheny nailed the audio performance. I believe she does most of Lisa Unger’s books, but her performance really brought out the suspense in the halls of this creepy apartment building. It’s a fun listen that I certainly recommend.
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