The Stranger Diaries
The Stranger Diaries book cover

The Stranger Diaries

Kindle Edition

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Price
$11.99
Publisher
Mariner Books
Publication Date

Description

ELLY GRIFFITHS is the author of the Ruth Galloway and Brighton mystery series, as well as the standalone novels The Stranger Diaries, winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel, and The Postscript Murders . She is the recipient of the CWA Dagger in the Library Award and the Mary Higgins Clark Award.xa0She lives in Brighton, England. --This text refers to the hardcover edition. Praise for The Stranger Diaries International Bestseller Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel Named Best Crime Book of the Year by the Times A CrimeReads Most Anticipated Book of 2019 An iBooks Most Anticipated Book of 2019 A Crime by the Book Most Anticipated Book 2019 A Bustle Spring 2019 March Read "This lively whodunit keeps you guessing until the end." — People " The Stranger Diaries is an utterly mesmerizing thriller. If you like chilling thrillers, this is what you should be reading next." — Washington Book Review "An entertaining collision of spooks and modern manners...firmly among the finest of modern gothic." — BookPage "Griffiths’ exceptional standalone THE STRANGER DIARIES is a spring 2019 must-read...Griffiths masterfully blends Gothic influence with modern-day suspense sensibility, and the result is effortless, spine-tingling, page-turning fun...accessible and seriously entertaining, while remaining rich in atmosphere as well...I loved this book." — Crime by the Book "Packs its punches with the creepy factor." — The Genre Minx “The perfect Gothic suspense novel to snuggle with under the covers and with a cup of tea.” — Ludwig's Thrillers “Utterly bewitching. This atmospheric, intricate thriller, a pitch-perfect modern Gothic, chilled my blood and warmed my heart. As unforgettable as it is original.” — A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times -bestselling author of The Woman in the Window “My heart is still pounding after finishing Elly Griffiths’ The Stranger Diaries . As with her other books, this is fiercely intelligent, warm, human and at times, funny. But unlike her others, this is a stand-alone. Her first and I hope not her last. The Stranger Diaries picks up where the great Gothic thrillers of the past leave off.xa0 At once a homage to that great literary form, and a re-imagining.xa0 It is goose-bump spooky, smart, and haunting, in every sense.xa0 I loved this book!xa0 And you will too.” — Louise Penny, #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache mystery series "A multi-layered and splendidly creepy gothic tale...Cliffhangers and gothic tropes abound as the narrative baton is passed between Clare, her daughter Georgia and the former Talgarth pupil DS Harbinder Kaur, with Griffiths expertly ratcheting up the tension." — Guardian "Griffiths has gifted readers with a gripping homage to the gothic novel...An entrancing literary tour de force in which Shakespeare’s line, 'Hell is empty,' from The Tempest, cleverly connects past and present. Georgette Heyer fans will relish this, as will readers who enjoyed Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Taleu200b and Anthonyxa0Horowitz’s Magpie Murdersu200b ." — Booklist , STARRED review “ The Stranger Diaries can be described in one word: delicious! Who could resist the gothic tale from the past, the spooky old school (so like those we all attended in England) all beautifully blended with very real and compelling characters in the present. Top marks to Miss Griffiths!” — Rhys Bowen, New York Times -bestselling author of The Tuscan Child , In Farleigh Field and t --This text refers to the hardcover edition. ELLY GRIFFITHS is the author of the Ruth Galloway and Magic Men mystery series, and the standalone novel The Stranger Diaries . She is a recipient of the Mary Higgins Clark Award and the CWA Dagger in the Library Award. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Read more

Features & Highlights

  • International Bestseller Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel "This lively whodunit keeps you guessing until the end."
  • —
  • People
  • Death lies between the lines when the events of a dark story start coming true in this haunting modern Gothic mystery, perfect for fans of
  • Magpie Murders
  • and
  • The Lake House.
  • Clare Cassidy is no stranger to murder. A high school teacher specializing in the Gothic writer R. M. Holland, she even teaches a course on him. But when one of Clare’s colleagues is found dead, with a line from Holland’s iconic story “The Stranger” left by her body, Clare is horrified to see her life collide with her favorite literature. The police suspect the killer is someone Clare knows. Unsure whom to trust, she turns to her diary, the only outlet for her suspicions and fears. Then one day she notices something odd. Writing that isn't hers, left on the page of an old diary:
  • Hallo Clare. You don’t know me.
  • Clare becomes more certain than ever: “The Stranger” has come to terrifying life. But can the ending be rewritten in time?

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(3.6K)
★★★★
25%
(3K)
★★★
15%
(1.8K)
★★
7%
(833)
★
23%
(2.7K)

Most Helpful Reviews

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Great new book!

I've read all the Ruth Galloway books but none of the Magic Men. I like Ruth but tire of her disdain for the Christian faith and the waffling relationship between Ruth and Nelson so i was intrigued by a stand alone by this author.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The characters have just enough depth to hold interest and keep you guessing but not so much depth that you feel like you're drowning in their inner dialog.
I also liked the different points of view/narrators. Many authors can't pull that switch off without blurring the characters and causing confusion but Elly Griffiths certainly can!
I was surprised by who the culprit turned out to be so that's another sign of good writing.
I really,really enjoyed this book.
I think it would be fun to see more of DS Kaur- she's a good character and could be developed in interesting ways.
114 people found this helpful
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Keeps you guessing...

from first page to last. Dour detective Harbinder Kaur is dealing with a full plate even before the murders begin. She’s a thirty-five year old closeted gay Sikh living with her parents who want nothing more than for her to find the right man, marry, and start producing grandchildren. When an English teacher at her former high school is brutally murdered, she has a faculty full of suspects, volumes full of literary references, and a short story that seems to be providing the murderer inspiration. A charming and fun read for all and especially for the mid-Victorian lit nerd.
55 people found this helpful
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I liked it

I read this book because I'm such a fan of Ruth Galloway (and Elly Griffiths). I was disappointed in the Magic Men series and hoped that The Stranger Diaries would rise to the level of the Galloway series. I was not disappointed. The character development and first-rate plot are Elly Griffiths at her best. I enjoyed the construction of the story, told in several voices, and the interpolation of the
43 people found this helpful
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Great read

I love the Ruth Galloway books and therefore this author (although I can’t stir up any interest in the magician books). The story is solid, creepy and intriguingly told in multiple first person accounts. I can see the female detective as a lead in other books. I hope that that’s in the plans.

So few people write good gothics these days, with genuine mystery and a bit of the supernatural. I hope it starts a trend. Good work Miss Griffith!
33 people found this helpful
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Very good mystery suspense

This book started off slowly. It began with a character, Clare, who was writing in her diary the kind of simple banal stuff we diarists write. And then she mentions that a friend of hers has been murdered. She’s horrified but really not that horrified. I actually didn’t like Clare, she seemed very cold and self-absorbed.

Then a second character takes over the narrative, one of the detectives on the murder case, Harbinder Kaur. I liked her a lot better, she explained what was happening with the murder (I mean, if one is reading a mystery, it’s because one wants to know about the murder!) And she is a fun character, Sikh, lives at home with her parents, doesn’t understand some of the niceties of Clare’s life (her opinion of diarists is so funny.) She becomes quite friendly with Clare and Clare’s daughter Georgie who becomes the third narrator.

Georgie is 15 years old, a good writer, and very involved with a creative writing group with three other teens. They are mentored by a teacher at the sixth form school, who professes herself to be a white witch. One thing that surprised me was the Georgie had a 21 year old boyfriend, Ty. Clare seems to be quite cavalier about it all although she rather desultorily writes from time to time that Ty is too old for her.

Those are the main characters with a few that hover in the background; one of these minor characters gets murdered and another attacked before the murderer is finally caught. I thought I had the puzzle solved three quarters of the way through the book but the ending actually surprised me. Griffiths threw a couple of red herrings in and I was taken in.

This is a good light read. Yes, it is suspenseful and there is a ghost story in it. As I said, I felt it started rather slowly but that could be because I have read Griffith’s other books and it is quite different from them.
20 people found this helpful
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Not what I thought

I am an avid fan of thrillers, therefore I am pretty harsh on books that lead you to believe you are buying one thing and you end up getting another. With this said I felt the suspense part of this book was lacking. There were several "leads" that could have been developed and ended up just going nowhere. The characters were interesting but in the end the suspense was lacking.
20 people found this helpful
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Unbelievable and not exciting

Now that I have finished this book, the numerous 4 and 5 star reviews leave me feeling puzzled. I feel like the author tried to check too many boxes under the diversity, equity and inclusion section with her lead (gay, Sikh, female) detective. While it is mentioned many times that Harbinder is gay, the only romantic interest that is repeatedly mentioned is her high school ex-boyfriend. Clare is supposedly a very smart English teacher with an unexplained large budget for designer items (clothes, perfumes, candles...) but she's not smart enough to be worried that her 15yo is dating the sketchy 21yo bartender? And she scoffs at her ex-husband who is a little concerned over this? Clare actually says she felt Georgie was "safe" dating an older man. Is Clare just completely negligent? i guess so. And the fact that she's not completely freaked out over her friend's stabbing death, or the written notes in her private diary left me scratching my head. In fact, she was so unaffected by these events that she decided to enter the school grounds late at night with her date to visit the RM Holland's rooms at the school. Who does that when there is a killer on the loose who is sending you private messages in your own diary? And the final decision to seek shelter from the murderous madman in 90yo grandma's home in rural Scotland (with bad mobile phone service, no less) is just nonsensical. Read the book, it won't kill you, but you will finish it and wonder how this ever won an Edgar Award.
12 people found this helpful
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The dog was the best character in the book

I was disappointed. I really wanted to like it but all the POV characters were basic & without depth. The story was not original. And it was hard to understand a mother being totally OK with a 21 year old, who she has no background information on...dating her 15 year old.
6 people found this helpful
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Needs Character Focus

One benefit of holidays is the chance to read more. I had the chance to read this book over the weekend and thought I would share my thoughts before they fizzled out (or disappeared).

The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths is a new, standalone murder mystery by one of my favorite authors. I devoured her Ruth Galloway novels about a murder mystery solving archeologist set in the mysterious Norfolk salt marshes. I also love her Magic Men mysteries series (see The Vanishing Box review) and was excited to read this book.

The book opens with a section of a short story- The Stranger. We meet Clare Cassidy, an English teacher who is studying the mystery behind the creepy story and its even creepier author. She teaches creative writing in the actual building (great Gothic atmosphere) where R.M.Holland lived and wrote which is supposedly haunted by his dead wife (did she kill herself or was she killed?) and his perhaps daughter.

Clare is a divorced mother of a teenaged girl. She is shocked when she finds out her best friend, Ella, also a teacher, is found murdered. There seems to be a link between The Stranger story and the murder and Clare quickly realizes her own life may be in jeopardy. In addition to figuring out who the murderer is, Clare is challenged to figure out the mystery behind the story.

The book alternates between the character’s points of view-a trend I am noticing in many modern books and don’t particularly care for. The story is told by Clare-the teacher/writer along with Clare’s diary entries (which tend to repeat what we just read before, so I don’t understand the need for these), Harbinder-the lesbian detective who doesn’t like anyone or trusts anyone, and Georgia, the teenage daughter of Clare. Dispersed among the chapters are bits of The Stranger short story.

Because the story is told by each character it does repeat itself in several sections. I found this to slow the story down and takes away from the atmosphere of the story. I prefer my murder mysteries to be in one voice-usually the main character as in her Ruth Galloway series- or maybe two, the other one being the killer. It was jarring for me to realize it wasn’t to be a story completely in Clare’s viewpoint or even Harbinder’s.

The ‘spooky’ atmosphere this one strived for didn’t quite gel for me. The stock character of the mystic friend is introduced, as in her other stories, but this one didn’t quite have the strength of character her Cathbad has. The mystic/ghostly/spooky elements of this novel did not work for me, but seemed to be just thrown in.

I am not sure if the author is going to make a series out of these characters. Who would be the main one? Harbinder? She could carry it off, I think. This is not one of my favorite books by this author. I find the alternating POV off putting. I will always read her Ruth Galloway books and the Mystery Men series but I will pass on this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the chance to read the ARC of this book.

I rate it 3 out of 5 stars.
6 people found this helpful
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Awful

What a waste of time. A ridiculous ending and a very poor motive basically made half the plot lines unnecessary and pointless.
5 people found this helpful

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