The Therapist

Alice Dawson has recently moved to London. Her new home is in a development called the Circle. Alice previously lived in the rural area of Harlestone. After an 18-month long-distance romance, she is living with her partner, Leo Curtis. Alice is often alone in their new home, as Leo works away for most of the week, returning home on Thursday evenings.

Alice worries she will not make friends in the Circle. So far, she has briefly met one neighbor—Maria Conway. She has also seen an elderly couple taking the delivery of their shopping. Alice watches two female residents standing outside: One has a blond pixie cut, and the other has red hair. Alice overhears their conversation as Eve, the blond woman, suggests they introduce themselves to the new neighbors. Her friend, Tamsin, vehemently refuses. On impulse, Alice invites the Circle’s residents for drinks on Saturday evening.

Leo is dismayed when he learns about the drinks party. However, he goes next door to introduce himself to Eve’s husband, Will Jackman. Meanwhile, Alice meets Eve and finds her friendly and likable. Most of the residents accept the invitation. Maria explains that either she or her husband Tim will try to attend while the other babysits their three boys. Elderly couple Edward and Lorna Beaumont apologetically make their excuses.

On Saturday evening, most of the guests have already arrived when Alice answers the door to a good-looking man. She assumes he is Tim and shows him upstairs when he expresses interest in the layout changes Leo has made. The 12 houses in the Circle are identical, but Leo has knocked two of the bedrooms into one large room. At one point, Tim refers to his wife as Mary. When Alice questions the discrepancy, he claims it is his pet name for his wife, as she attended a convent school. Alice leaves her guest in the kitchen and joins the others outside.

Alice meets some of the residents for the first time. Eve comments on Alice’s bravery in coming to live there. The evening goes well, and Alice likes everyone except Tamsin and her Scottish husband, Connor. Tamsin is hostile, and although Connor compliments Alice’s dress, she takes an instant dislike to him. When the guests have left, Alice suggests having their neighbors around for dinner. Leo protests, asserting they do not need other people in their lives.

Thirty-five-year-old Alice met Leo after a minor car accident. Leo introduced himself as a risk-management consultant, and they exchanged numbers. Before moving in together, Leo visited Alice in Harleston at weekends. One day, Eve saw a woman approach Leo outside her home, and she overheard him telling her to leave. When Alice asked about the incident, Leo claimed the woman was inquiring what living in the village was like. Leo does not believe in marriage, but after six months, Alice agreed to live with him. The decision marks her first commitment to a relationship.

The day after the drinks party, Leo reveals he has been invited to a Residents’ Association Meeting, followed by a drink at Connor’s house. Leo is generally a loner. He is estranged from his parents and has only one close friend—Mark. Alice is envious of the invitation. Her best friend, Debbie, lives in Harlestone, and her only other friend in London is Mark’s wife, Ginny.

In the early hours of the morning, Alice is woken by Leo shouting. He insists that there was someone in the bedroom, but when he searches the house, there is no sign of a break-in. 

When Leo leaves for work on Monday morning, Alice realizes she does not like her new home. When she was on holiday, Leo was shown the property by Ben Forbes—a real estate agent recommended by Ginny. Leo loved the house and sent photographs to Alice. He explained it was located in a gated community of 12 houses surrounding a square. The gates of the community were controlled by a security-coded panel with a video link to every property.

Alice noted the area was Finsbury Park—a part of London Leo had previously dismissed as too expensive. However, Leo revealed that the house had been empty for some time and was priced accordingly. He pointed out that the bargain price would mean Alice could keep her cottage in Harlestone and rent it out. Alice remained unconvinced when she visited the Circle, noting the exteriors of the houses were all identical. She told Leo she loved the house to please him.

Alice is accustomed to living in a 200-year-old cottage. She finds the new house bland, except for her ground-floor study, which has pale pink walls. Attempting to inject character into her home, she covers the fridge with photographs, including pictures of her parents and sister. Alice’s decision is significant, as she does not usually display family pictures, fearing people will ask questions about them. Noticing that Leo has placed their “New Home” cards face down, she assumes it is a joke. She looks for the white sundress she wore to the drinks evening but cannot find it. While searching in the large wardrobe, she notices her shoes, which were neatly aligned, are disordered.

Alice is a freelance translator. She considers visiting Eve, as she knows her neighbor also works from home as a beauty-product blogger. However, she decides to explore the area instead. Outside the Circle, Alice is immediately overwhelmed by the bustle of London. When she returns, she sees Maria and mentions Tim’s presence at the drinks party. Puzzled, Maria says they both stayed at home with the children. When Tim emerges from the house, he is not the same man who attended the party.

Alice describes the man whom she mistook for Tim. Maria and her husband do not recognize the description. Alice realizes the man did not introduce himself as Tim but went along with her assumption. Maria suggests it could have been a fan of Eve’s husband, Will, who is an actor. A few intruders have breached the security gate since Will began starring in a television series.

Alice calls Leo and tells him about the unidentified gatecrasher. Concerned, Leo worries that the stranger may have sneaked upstairs and seen confidential information in his office. Alice admits she showed a few guests upstairs to show them the layout changes, including the stranger. On Leo’s advice, Alice checks for stolen valuables, but nothing is missing.

That evening, Alice checks with every house in the Circle, but no one else saw the gatecrasher. However, Lorna apologetically admits she let a man through on the intercom. 

Alice calls Leo, who reminds her to lock the doors before going to bed.

Unnerved, Alice sleeps in her downstairs study for two nights. When she returns to the bedroom, she finds her missing sundress in the wardrobe, smelling freshly washed. Seeing Eve, Tamsin, and Maria returning from a shopping trip, Alice feels lonely. When she goes out to join them, she overhears Tamsin expressing surprise “that it doesn’t seem to bother her” (54). When the women see Alice, they swiftly change the subject. Eve and Maria agree to come in for coffee, but Tamsin claims she is busy.

Alice discovers more about the residents of the Circle from Eve and Maria. Maria is a speech therapist, and her husband is a psychologist. Tamsin used to be a model but is now training as an accountant. The women reveal they take Wednesday afternoons off to go to yoga with Tamsin. Alice also learns that Edward and Lorna’s only child was killed in the Gulf War. The couple moved to the Circle three years earlier for a fresh start after the loss of their son. For a while they were quite active, but now they rarely leave the house. Alice confides that her parents and older sister died in a car accident when she was 19. Her parents were picking her sister up from the airport when the tragedy occurred.

Later, Alice is shocked when the gatecrasher from the drinks party appears on her doorstep. She threatens to call the police, but he explains he is a private investigator, Thomas Grainger. Thomas claims that he is investigating the murder of Nina Maxwell. His client believes that her brother was unjustly accused of Nina’s murder. Alice remembers the case, as her sister was also called Nina. She refuses to believe the private investigator when he claims the murder took place in her house.

Alice researches the crime, finding news articles from February 2018 reporting Nina Maxwell’s murder. Photographs show that 38-year-old Nina was an attractive blond woman. The articles confirm she was murdered in the Circle.

Alice speaks to Ben Forbes, who claims that Leo knew about the murder and understood this was the reason for the property’s bargain price. Leo assured him the house’s history was not a problem.

Alice is furious at Leo. She realizes that the other residents must assume she knew about the murder and moved in regardless. Reading more articles, she discovers that Nina was strangled in her bedroom. Before being killed, she was tied to a chair, and her hair was cut off.

When Alice sees Eve, she reveals what has happened. Eve explains that Tamsin found Alice’s arrival distressing, as she was Nina’s best friend. She even mistook Alice for Nina when she first saw her, as they look alike. Eve reveals that Leo told Will he had changed the bedroom layout to exorcise the past. He also asked Will to spread the word that talking about the murder might upset Alice.

When Eve asks how Alice found out about Nina’s death, Alice claims a reporter called asking how it felt to live at the scene of a murder. She reasons that the lie is justifiable, as she suspects Thomas Grainger may be a journalist. Resolving to confront Leo on his return, Alice is adamant that she cannot stay in the house. Eve invites her to stay with them.

Alice learns from Eve that Nina was a therapist and yoga instructor who went out of her way to help other people. Her husband, Oliver, seemed similarly caring and loved his wife. Eve reveals that the residents only accepted he was the killer when he died by suicide. It later emerged that Oliver had lied about his movements on the evening of the murder.