#185 in Thriller
Home Is Where the Bodies Are
- 279
- Pages
- about 5 h
- Reading time
- NYT bestseller · 3 weeks on the list, peaked at #6
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About the book
A New York Times and USA Today bestseller From #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Marriage and You Shouldn’t Have Come Here comes a chilling family thriller about the (sometimes literal) skeletons in the closet. After their mother passes, three estranged siblings reunite to sort out her estate. Beth, the oldest, never left home. She stayed with her mom, caring for her until the very end. Nicole, the middle child, has been kept at arm’s length due to her ongoing battle with a serious drug addiction. Michael, the youngest, lives out of state and hasn’t been back to their small Wisconsin town since their father ran out on them seven years before. While going through their parents’ belongings, the siblings stumble upon a collection of home videos and decide to revisit those happier memories. However, the nostalgia is cut short when one of the VHS tapes reveals a night back in 1999 that none of them have any recollection of. On screen, their father appears covered in blood. What follows is a dead body and a pact between their parents to get rid of it, before the video abruptly ends. Beth, Nicole, and Michael must now decide whether to leave the past in the past or uncover the dark secret their mother took to her grave.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 6.9 across 256 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 58% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Thriller average of 7.5. That is how 7.2 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 7.6 | 5 | 2% |
| Hardcover | 6.9 | 251 | 98% |
Reader voices
The most-liked reviews on Hardcover (credited to their authors).
“This was pretty entertaining. The concept for the story was interesting enough, but the writing itself wasn't good. This author loves corny clichés and unoriginal metaphors, and she spends a whole paragraph explaining the stupid metaphor to the reader. The “mystery” was also easy to figure out, which doesn't necessarily mean it was bad. But I figured out the main part of the mystery less than 100 pages in, and then most of the subsequent bits were pretty easy to solve. So the big revelation at the end wasn't very impressive.”
“Three siblings go home after their mom passes away, and end up trying to solve a mystery about something their parents did. This was a fast-paced thriller with a good plot. Chapters alternate between the POV of the siblings and their mom's journal entries. One of the siblings is an addict, and I feel like including that brings awareness to this important issue. There aren't a lot of twists in this book, it's more what happens along the way with a climax, but that was fine with me. I didn't guess what would happen towards the end and I was very satisfied with the ending.”
Frequently asked
What is Home Is Where the Bodies Are rated?
7.2 out of 10, from 256 reader ratings across 2 independent sources.
Is Home Is Where the Bodies Are worth reading?
Readers give it 7.2/10 from 256 ratings, which puts it ahead of 7 % of the Thriller shelf.
How long does it take to read Home Is Where the Bodies Are?
About 5 hours at an average reading pace — 279 pages.
Where does Home Is Where the Bodies Are rank?
#185 in Thriller on the current snapshot.
Was Home Is Where the Bodies Are a bestseller?
Yes — 3 weeks on the New York Times list, peaking at #6. Sales are shown here but never scored.
How long is Home Is Where the Bodies Are?
It has 279 pages — shorter than 87% of the ranked books in Thriller.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Thriller — with scores between 7.1 and 7.2, closest to this book.
