Book Review: ‘The Stranger Diaries’ Is A Thrilling Story With Many Twists And Turns

Clare Cassidy is a high school English teacher outside of London, England. The school is located in the house that use to belong to Gothic writer R.M. Holland, known for the ghost story The Stranger. Clare is also writing a book about his life. Not a lot is know about it other than he became a shut in toward the end of his life. When one of her fellow teachers and close friends Ella is found dead there’s a note pinned to her with a line from The Stranger.

No one can understand why someone would kill Ella. Everyone is a suspect at the school including Clare. There’s no clear cut suspect as the police start their investigation. There’s facts Clare isn’t telling them including Ella having an affair with there boss Rick, who had a crush on Ella at one point.

As Clare goes back and read her diaries from the weekend that Ella and Rick hooked up looking any type of clues. She finds something written at the bottom of the page.

Hello Clare. You Don’t Know Me. It’s the sign that someone has been in Clare’s house and read her diaries. Now she is scared and the police take the diaries looking for more clues. Soon Rick turns up dead and more writing’s have turned up in Clare’s diarers (old and new ones). The killings are similar and the police are still having no luck. With Clare’s life possibly in danger, she’s sent to her Scotland to her Grandmother’s house. But the killer is right behind them and the police figure out who it is and it could be someone close to Clare she never suspected. Will she be able to stay alive?

Author Elly Griffiths has written the book so it’s from multiple characters points of view so we know they are thinking and feeling. It works great here. The story itself has lots of twists and turns you don’t see coming leading up to the climatic finale and reveal. The killer even has their own backstory explaining things that has happened to this person as well. Just a well done page-turner of a story.

You can pick it up in stores on Tuesday, March 5th.