A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena

by Shalini, posted in Book Reviews

My review 

The story starts with an accident, a car plunging into an utility pole and a bewildered husband, Tom Krupp, searching for his lost wife, Karen. With the door unlocked and dinner half prepared, Karen has disappeared without her purse or cell phone. Her car is also missing. And then the Police appear at the door, Tom fears the worst…. Karen is alive but amnesiac. She alleges that she has forgotten the accident and the hours preceeding it… Has she really or is she faking it?? She seems to remember everything else and everybody including best friend/ neighbour, Brigid. 

Adding to this confusion, there is a murder, in the neighborhood of Karen’s car accident. Who is the murder victim and is Karen a murderer??? 

Thus begins a roller-coaster of doubt, suspicion and wariness between Tom and Karen, with Brigid thrown in the midst. Karen seems to remembers nothing about the accident, Tom seems to have a shaky alibi and Brigid seems to want to know everything.. 

The story revolves around these three characters, their connection to each other and to the murder victim. Tom and Karen drift apart, when they should have been supportive, the lies, the unanswered questions and hurt gaining space between them. Brigid as a friend/ neighbour is the counterfoil. The police detectives soon start joining the dots, there are allegations cast, doubts raised, arrests and search warrants, anonymous tips, all that make a good police investigative story. 

This is Shari Lapena’s second book after “The Couple Next Door” . She has written well. The story appears deceptively calm, reading like a routine murder mystery, cruising on, till the last few pages where the whole story reaches a different unexpected twist.  The ending is simply fabulous … I loved it.. I loved the intelligence, the cunningness of the ending, totally worth a read.

The book is fast paced, I  finished it in a few hours, easy reading; where Karen is scared yet strong and calm, Tom appears spineless yet shows a rare loyalty, Brigid is supportive yet sly. A totally entertaining book where pages just seem to keep turning. It’s not a psychological thriller or a dark suspense, it’s just a different murder mystery like the calm before the storm… 

I received an ARC from NetGalley and publisher Random House, UK, Transworld Digital and this is my honest and unbiased opinion. 

My rating : 4 stars 

About the Author 

Shari Lapena worked as a lawyer and as an English teacher before turning to writing fiction. She has written two award-winning literary novels, and her suspense debut, The Couple Next Door, was a New York Times and an international bestseller. A Stranger in the House is her second thriller.

Book Blurb 

A new thriller, featuring a suspicious accident, a wife who can’t account for herself and unsettling questions that threaten to tear a couple apart. 

You come home after a long day at work, excited to have dinner with your beautiful wife. But when you walk through the door, you quickly realize that she’s not there. There is a pot on the stove, and vegetables on the counter, abandoned. Her cellphone and her purse are still in the house. It looks like she’s left in a blind panic. You fear the worst, so you call her friends and then you call the police. 

The police tell you that your wife’s been in an accident. They found her in the worst part of town, after she lost control of the car while speeding through the streets. But why would she go to that neighbourhood? And why was she driving so fast? Was she running toward something? Or away from something? The police think your wife was up to no good. You refuse to believe it, at first.

Then, as the stories and facts don’t line up, and your wife can’t remember what happened that evening, you start to wonder. You’ve been married for two years and you thought you knew her better than anyone else in the world . . . but maybe you don’t.

Product Details 

Publication date : 27th July 2017

Publisher : Penguin Random House,                         Transworld Digital

Language : English 

Available on Amazon 

A Murder mystery & a twist


45 thoughts on “A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena”

    1. Hi Jay… You had gone to the spam folder… Dont ask me how that happened and I did not even know that there was a spam folder till someone explained to me and gave me a step by step explanation of how to find it… Hahahahaha

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      4. I love your answer… Thank you… You are my first friend on wp who made me feel so welcome.. I cant thank you enough… I am definitely going to support you as a writer will read your book and interview you on my blog even if I have to stand in line for that interview… Hehehe

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Pingback: Liebster Award! – My Random Ramblings

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