Hey loves!
First up on the list for my November Readathon was The Stranger Diaries By Elly Griffiths which is out since 1st November so grab your copy here!
I'm a big fan of Elly Griffiths's writing, I enjoyed reading The Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries and The Stephens And Mephisto Mysteries. Elly Griffiths is one of my favourite authors and The Stranger Diaries is her first standalone novel.
Clare Cassidy is no stranger to tales of murder. As a literature teacher specialising in the Gothic writer R.M. Holland , she teaches a short course on them every year. Then Clare's life and work collide tragically when one of her colleagues is found dead, a line from an R.M. Holland story by her body. The investigating police detective is convinced the writer's works somehow hold the key to the case.
Not knowing who to trust, and afraid that the killer is someone she knows, Clare confides her darkest suspicions and fears about the case to her journal. Then one day she notices some other writing in the diary. Writing that isn't hers...
🌠First of all, I finished this book in a day (on Halloween!). I literally could not put the book down, I carried it with me everywhere even to the point where I didn't want to eat or do anything else just not to stop reading.
The Stranger Diaries is creepy and gripping. There were many moments where my heart would not stop pounding. Although to be honest, I was a bit confused in the beginning. It took me about 20 pages to actually understand what was going on but I quickly understood and started liking the story.
The story is told from 3 perspectives, Clare, her daughter Georgia and DS Harbinder Kaur. I LOVED the descriptions especially the setting. I could easily picture what was going on all along. The changing perspectives added more suspense to the story and were really effective. I kept on changing my mind about about who the killer was!
My favourite character definitely has to be Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur. I found some parts of her thoughts and perspectives so relatable! There were many LOL moments especially with her and her family's views on certain things.
I feel like the book contains the right amount of characters. The characters were very interesting. There was a small list of suspects. It was not overwhelming and difficult to make out as to who is who throughout the book.
The story is excellent and very intelligent. I enjoyed the gothic elements present in the story especially extracts from the Victorian writer R.M.Holland's short story "The Stranger" and his mysterious and intriguing family life.
A weird description of the story would be "intricately woven" but I'm not too sure it makes sense in this context but that's exactly how I felt about the story and plot while reading the book. The writing was AMAZING and the ending was unexpected!
The Stranger Diaries is dark, thrilling and quite spooky. I loved every bit of it! It's a perfect read.
If you haven't read any of Elly Griffiths's books then I HIGHLY recommend starting with this one. I promise it will not disappoint!
My Rating: 5 STARS 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Grab your copy of The Stranger Diaries here.
Thank you so much to Quercus Books for sending me a review copy!
🌠Next on my November Readathon list is Thin Air By Richard Morgan. The review will be up tomorrow.
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