Buyer Beware by Catherine Ryan Howard
Would you buy a haunted house? Some people might, while others would get back in their cars and race off at the first spooky sound. Sometimes people will buy a house for its historical significance, like a castle or manor that dates back several centuries. There is also a rule about full disclosure; the seller must reveal to the buyer any relevant incident from its past, like a fire, a murder or a ghost. That is the price for buying a property that’s already built. The only way to avoid the property’s past is by getting a new one — and hoping no workers died in the construction process.
In the case of Catherine Ryan Howard’s new novel, Buyer Beware, there is a house that is for sale, number 1 Delaney Row — but instead of a full disclosure, the unaware buyers get a full load of secrets.
A Troubling Past
We first meet Ellie, a young woman who just bought her first house. Ellie is running away from her mysterious and dangerous past, and hopes that the secluded property on Delaney Road will give her the privacy she seeks to bring her life back to normal, or a new normal if needs be. Except right after moving in, weird things start to happen, from strange visitors to stains, and Ellie gets the feeling that the house has a history — and perhaps even some forgotten crimes — of its own.
While we get to know Ellie in the present, we see alternate points of view with Erin and Hanna’s perspectives as we discover their story in the past, from teenagers to young adults, and learn of their decision-making and consequences, their mistakes … and the crimes that happened there on Delaney Row.
Embrace the Eerie Atmosphere
That house itself, with its omniscient presence, is a worthy character as well. At one point it is noted for “its chilly damp, its gloomy corners, its aggressive ugliness … the air felt heavy, the atmosphere oppressive.” That’s a description that would make almost anybody scroll past its listing. Buyers beware indeed!
Ellie’s past comes crashing against the house’s secret on a twisty road of backstory and revelations that makes for an entertaining read while sitting outside with a nice cup of tea, a pint of ale or some Irish whiskey, neat. In fact, the suggested drinking companions would also work in succession as you read through the novel.
Catherine Ryan Howard is an award-winning, #1 bestselling thriller writer from Cork, Ireland. Her work has been shortlisted for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best Novel, the UK Crime Writers Association John Creasey/New Blood and Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Awards, and the An Post Irish Crime Fiction Book of the Year multiple times.
Her novels have been included in The New York Times Best Thrillers of the Year, The Washington Post’s Best Mysteries and Thrillers of the Year and The Sunday Times (London)’s Best Thrillers of the Year. She is published in twenty languages, and a number of her titles have been optioned for the screen.
Catherine’s fifth novel, 56 Days, won the An Post Irish Crime Fiction Book of the Year and was longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, the world’s most valuable annual literary prize. A screen adaptation starring Dove Cameron and Avan Jogia debuted exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in early 2026.
Prior to writing full time, Catherine worked for a travel company in the Netherlands and in Walt Disney World, Florida. She lives in Dublin.
