The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths

The Stranger Diaries
By Elly Griffiths
Published by Quercus (1 November 2018)
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher

Publisher's description

A dark story has been brought to terrifying life. Can the ending be rewritten in time?

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...

My verdict
Elly Griffiths has written a compelling and entertaining modern-day gothic mystery.

The Stranger Diaries is a spooky mix of police procedural and psychological thriller, linking murders in a secondary school to a creepy Victorian story (which is revealed in snippets throughout the book and then in full at the end). The plot moves at a fast pace, building up the suspense, with cliffhangers at the end of each chapter leading to 'just one more'. The author's lyrical writing flows beautifully, with plenty of rhythm within her prose, leading me to read much of the book out loud.

All three narrators - teacher Clare Cassidy, her teenage daughter Georgie and police officer DS Harbinger Kaur - seemed authentic and believable. I particularly loved DS Kaur, with her wit, bluntness and warmth, and hope she will appear in another Elly Griffiths book in the future. Using different narrators means that although we get inside their heads, we also see each character from someone else's point of view (often in a different light so maybe trust them a little bit less). We also experience events and conversations from multiple sides, which can be unnerving and slightly disorientating, adding to the supernatural feel of the book.

The Stranger Diaries is cleverly plotted, mixing past and present and dropping in red herrings and false leads, playing games with the reader's mind. It certainly kept me on my toes. I tried very hard to guess the whodunnit but failed!

The Story Keeper by Anna Mazzola

The Story Keeper
By Anna Mazzola
Published by Tinder Press (26 July 2018)
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher

 

Publisher's description

Audrey Hart is on the Isle of Skye to collect the folk and fairy tales of the people and communities around her. It is 1857 and the Highland Clearances have left devastation and poverty, and a community riven by fear. The crofters are suspicious and hostile to a stranger, claiming they no longer know their fireside stories. 

Then Audrey discovers the body of a young girl washed up on the beach and the crofters reveal that it is only a matter of weeks since another girl disappeared. They believe the girls are the victims of the restless dead: spirits who take the form of birds. 

Initially, Audrey is sure the girls are being abducted, but as events accumulate she begins to wonder if something else is at work. Something which may be linked to the death of her own mother, many years before.

My verdict
The Story Keeper was a joy to read - magical and mythical, creepy and addictive, intriguing and tense. Anna Mazzola has carefully woven together dark fairytales and folklore with crime and social history to create a brilliant gothic mystery.

Set in 1857, The Story Keeper felt authentic from the start, with vivid evocative scenes, an atmospheric, claustrophobic setting, beautifully written descriptive passages and realistic dialogue. Audrey Hart is a well-rounded protagonist - determined and focused, inquisitive and sensitive, with an unsettling past of her own. I felt like I was on the Isle of Skye in the mid-19th century, visiting those crofter cottages alongside her, learning about the locals, their culture and their beliefs and prejudices.

I loved everything about this book with its subtle (and not so subtle) twists and turns. A haunting sense of unease flowed through the pages, enchanting me and sending shivers down my spine. I held my breath at various moments and gasped at others. At times, I had no idea what to believe and who to trust.

Does magic exist? Through Anna's amazing writing, it certainly does. Buy the book and discover the magic for yourself!

The Craftsman by Sharon Bolton

The Craftsman
By Sharon Bolton
Published by Trapeze (3 May 2018)

Publisher's description

Devoted father or merciless killer?

His secrets are buried with him.

Florence Lovelady's career was made when she convicted coffin-maker Larry Glassbrook of a series of child murders 30 years ago. Like something from our worst nightmares the victims were buried...ALIVE.

Larry confessed to the crimes; it was an open and shut case. But now he's dead, and events from the past start to repeat themselves. 

Did she get it wrong all those years ago? 

Or is there something much darker at play?

My verdict
The Craftsman was creepy and unsettling from the start. A combination of crime, horror and gothic mystery - a page-turning 'chiller thriller' - this is a throwback to Sharon Bolton's earlier novels (Sacrifice, Blood Harvest and Awakening), which I first discovered and fell in love with several years ago.

The book is set in 1969 and 1999. Assistant Commissioner Florence Lovelady has returned to Pendle Witch County to witness the funeral of the man she convicted of a series of child murders 30 years earlier - a case that not only consumed her every waking moment at the time, but one that nearly ended her own life. She's a wonderful character - quirky and feisty, courageous yet vulnerable, determined but soft-centred - with a highly compelling narrative voice. Needing to prove herself in a male-dominated environment in her early days as a junior detective, she was prepared to battle every step of the way to solve the case.

The Craftsman was a one-sitting read. I felt spellbound to keep turning the pages. The writing is suitably bare but beautifully descriptive, with realistic dialogue that keeps the plot flowing at a cracking pace. I really couldn't put the book down until I'd discovered all of its secrets. I did have an inkling about what was going on, and was right about a few things, but there were so many secrets to be discovered.

This is certainly one of the creepiest books I've read. Just holding the book makes my hands tingle with anticipation, as I know that I'll be diving into it again (at least once).