There Should Have Been Eight

By: Nalini Singh

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

In this chilling thriller from New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh, a remote estate in New Zealand’s Southern Alps hosts a reunion no one will ever forget.

Seven friends.

One last weekend.

A mansion half in ruins.

No room for lies.

Someone is going to confess.

Because there should have been eight. . . .

They met when they were teenagers. Now they’re adults, and time has been kind to some and unkind to others—none more so than to Bea, the one they lost nine long years ago.

They’ve gathered to reminisce at Bea’s family’s estate, a once-glorious mansion straight out of a gothic novel. Best friends, old flames, secret enemies, and new lovers are all under one roof. But when the weather turns and they’re snowed in at the edge of eternity, there’s nowhere left to hide from their shared history.

As the walls close in, the pretense of normality gives way to long-buried grief, bitterness, and rage. Underneath it all, there’s the nagging feeling that Bea’s shocking death wasn’t what it was claimed to be. And before the weekend is through, the truth will be unleashed—no matter the cost. . . .

©2023 Nalini Singh (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Singh writes with gripping passion and an acute eye for social commentary, all while delivering a divinely engaging mystery."—Entertainment Weekly

"Singh (Quiet in Her Bones, 2021) excels at creating atmospheric scenes, evoking dusty secret passageways and the dangers of the freezing weather to create a sense of dread. Told from Luna's perspective, this story of friendship and obsession unfolds gently at first, then at a breakneck pace until it reaches a shocking conclusion. Give this excellent thriller to readers of Megan Miranda's The Only Survivors (2023)."—Booklist, starred review

Good story but first person narrative was too granular

I wanted to like this book. I read Nalini Singh’s two other crime novels and consider them in my top 10 reads of all time. But it was hard to understand the motives of the main character in this book. Her character could have used some more contextual background that would perhaps help the reader understand her obsession with the muse in the story. I was bored by the main character by mid-book. Her myopic first person narrative was exhausting.

A classic trope

This story is what you get when a great author decides to write in a classic mystery trope of "friends/strangers vacation at a mysterious house and one or multiple are murderers" ala And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie or the most recent Glass Onion movie.
Sadly as a mystery fan this book fell short for me. Fir me it started with the first person POV. I don't want to be in the head of a grieving friend who is dealing with a recent disability diagnosis. Also the mystery wasn't much of a mystery but more a predictable whodunnit.

Story line and conclusion. Loved the narration.

Loved both the story and narration. One or two more chapters would have been great, but Thai just me.

Great book from one of my favorite authors

I loved I could not figure out who it was. I generally can do that it the first couple of chapters. It started a little slow but don’t give up. I highly recommend.

Good narrator!

I’m not a huge audiobook fan, but I enjoyed the narrator in this. This author is from New Zealand, so her thrillers are based there, I should have assumed the narrator would have an accent as well! One thing I don’t get is why nobody on this little vacation thought to check the weather forecast.

Suspenseful and scary

This was a very different story than what I’m used to from Nalini Singh, but it was also a very interesting mystery and I loved it!

Twists and turns, some you're ready for, some so surprising!

A vacation getaway at an expansive estate, with long time friends, what could go wrong?

Excellent

This book was a true gothic mystery with all of the elements necessary for a thrilling experience from start to finish.
Each character is throughly well developed.
This is a complex and well thought out mystery that delivers completely.
The location and atmosphere are truly palpable, one feels transported.
And it’s a true mystery, it’s quite difficult to solve this one prior to the end which is a rare treat.
I love this author, her work is compelling, unique, and always entertaining,
The narration is exquisite/pitch perfect.
I wouldn’t change a thing.
Definitely worth your time and a credit :)

Twisty and atmospheric!

Luna and her friends are reuniting at a remote estate, getting together after years apart, but one of them isn’t part of the group. Bea Shepherd, Darcie’s younger sister, died eight years earlier and it still doesn’t make any sense to Luna. Bea was a bright star in the group, with her magnetic personality, everyone loved her. Luna can’t forgive the way Darcie handled her death, brushing it and the details under the rug.

Luna has struggled with the loss, but now has an added reason to finally get answers about Bea’s death. She’s going blind and wants to be able to look her friends in the face, see their reactions to her questions. She wants the truth, even if her questions stir up anger and bitterness.

Their meet-up turns dangerous as a winter storm cuts them off from civilization, trapping them at the estate while things start going wrong. Tensions grow while they struggle to survive long enough to escape.

Oh, this was a twisty, atmospheric mystery! It took a little to get into it, getting to know the characters and history, but as soon as strange things started happening, I was hooked! The characters stuck together at a gothic-like, creepy estate upped the tension! There were a couple of surprises as all is revealed! I’m still thinking about the story!

Narration was top notch. I listened at my usual 1.5x normal speed.

Mediocre

I'm not big on 1st person POV. This book was no exception. We spend a LOT of time hearing about her medical issues, which never come to anything during the story, neither revealed to her friends or even personally dealt with.

I never really got to care about the characters. I think this was also a result of the choice of POV. It would have been much better to be in 3rd person and give us a bit on each of the friends. Instead, we get everything from Luna, so we don't care about anyone more than she does, and other than her dead friend Bea, it ain't much. Ever her bestie is only a shadow character.

I knew the basic gist half-way through the book. There were some aspects that I didn't know, but you couldn't really call them surprising. I stuck through the book as I love NS so much. Her Psy/Changeling is one of my favorite series. If she tries this genre again, I will probably check it out, but my expectations will be lower.

Definitely not on the to be re-read list.