The Devil Upstairs

By Anthony O’neill, Black & White Publishing, £12.99

Continuing with the satanic theme, The Devil Upstairs is the new thriller by acclaimed Dr Jekyll and Mr Seek author Anthony O’neill.

The novel is set in modern day Edinburgh, where the protagonist Cat Thomas, a brilliant fraud investigator from Florida, relocates, having received death threats due to her job back in her native Miami.

Keen for a fresh start, away from the troubles of her old life, she moves into her dream 18th Century flat in the idyllic Deans Village area.

O’neill, who moved to Edinburgh from Australia, manages to capture the beauty of the capital’s architecture through Cat’s expressions of delight at living in such a picturesque city.

However, her new-found state of contentment is soon disrupted by her upstairs neighbour who makes an insufferable amount of noise. Delirious from lack of sleep, Cat conjures up ways of getting rid of the neighbour from hell, and is driven to the most extreme measures by her friend Agnes, who draws her into joining a satanic conclave.

While the plot line sounds a little far-fetched – and admittedly I had my own reservations – O’neill very cleverly manages to draw on the mystique and eeriness of Edinburgh and its history as a haunted city through the narrative, conveying an all-too realistic scenario that pays homage to Edinburgh’s history with the occult.

Once I started to read, I was utterly hooked. I particularly enjoyed the unpredictable turn of events, which showcases O’neill’s prowess as a writer and storyteller. He infuses his narrative with a gripping level of suspense. Each section leaves the reader on the verge of discovery, an irresistible cliff hanger.

The plot does not veer into the ridiculous, but forces the reader to question the truth – has the protagonist lost her mind as a result of her delirium, or is suffering from some sort of mental health issue, or are the events that she experiences in fact a reality? As a reader, it is difficult to be passive with this novel, as O’neill’s exquisite attention to detail forces you to actively follow each thread of the story, inevitably making their own conclusions as they do so.

As a macabre thriller, this exciting, slightly unsettling novel held my attention from start to finish, but has put me off walking around Edinburgh in the dark for life!

Review by Hollie Bruce.