Other People’s Houses by Clare Mackintosh

Other People’s Houses is the third and most recent DC Ffion Morgan novel by Clare Mackintosh. It was published in hardback in February 2025 and I waited very patiently to read it until I found a paperback copy in Sainsbury’s recently.

In North Wales, DC Ffion Morgan recovers the body of a young estate agent from a lake. Over the border in Cheshire, her partner DS Leo Brady is investigating a series of burglaries in The Hills – an exclusive housing development. Leo’s ex-wife lives, Allie, just around the corner from The Hills with their son, Harris. A shameless social climber, Allie is desperate to befriend her wealthy neighbours.

But as the crimes on The Hills escalate, it doesn’t feel like a safe place for anyone to be.

Meanwhile, Ffion has had enough of estate agents. Her own house purchase is hanging by a thread, while the victim and her colleagues made themselves very unpopular in the area on a team-building weekend away.

As the two cases begin to collide, Ffion questions if she is finally ready to commit and settle down with Leo – even though she still hasn’t been allowed to meet his son.

Ffion is a brilliant character, who is terrified of commitment and whose moods veer from grumpy to angry to negative, but is still highly likeable. Allie is a truly vile character, but in the end I started to feel a bit sorry for her.

I can’t say much more about the plot, other than that there are a huge number of twists, and I spent the last 20 pages or so of the book in tears.

Other People’s Houses is my favourite Ffion and Leo novel to date. Clare Mackintosh really is a fantastic writer and her characters and dialogue feel so true to life.

If you like a detective story, you really need to read the Ffion Morgan books. You could read Other People’s Houses as a standalone novel, but why wouldn’t you want to start at the beginning with The Last Party?