The Stranger Diaries
Adult Fiction
Reviewed by Linda from the Winkler Branch
Clare Cassidy's life is starting to feel somewhat settled after her divorce. She has a tolerable job teaching English at a high school and in community classes. She has shared custody of her daughter, Georgie and with a few friends, a biography to research and write, and a beloved dog, things are all right - or at least as all right as they can be when your daughter is being a typical teenager. Added bonus: the school she's teaching at has a connection to the subject of the biography she's writing, gothic writer RM Holland. Holland wrote Clare's favorite short story, "The Stranger," a moody horror piece that she ends up referring to in all her community writing classes.
It's after one of these classes that the police arrive at Clare's home to inform her that her coworker and friend, Ella, has been killed and a note was found with her body. Clare recognizes the line on the note: it's from "The Stranger." Clare has her reasons for not mentioning this and staying out of the police investigation, but in trying to make sense of Ella's death for herself, she comes across an entry in one of her old journals. It's not in her handwriting and it says "Hallo, Clare. You don't know me." It gradually becomes clear that whatever is going on with this murder, "The Stranger" and Clare are somehow both involved...and gothic stories don't have happy endings.
The Stranger Diaries is a dark moody thriller that makes full use of its settings - the creepy Old Building that houses RM Holland's study and the abandoned factory near Clare's home, as well as the darkness of an empty house that no longer feels safe. The story is told from three perspectives: Clare, the investigating officer DS Kaur, and Clare's daughter Georgie. Each of them has knowledge they're missing and secrets they're keeping, and the balance between them keeps the tension high. I think I suspected everyone at one point or another, and the reveal at the end still caught me by surprise. The Stranger Diaries is a great read, and I'm please to see that it's the first in a new series about DS Kaur. I've enjoyed Griffiths' other series, Ruth Galloway and Magic Men; each of the three series has a different feel to it, and they're all well worth reading.
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