Reviews

A Stranger in the Family by Jane Casey

meera01's review

relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Could the mystery part be better? Probably. I did not care. It was nice to be back with these characters and their drama. And the mystery did get better by the end. 

scknitter's review against another edition

4.0

It has been a long time since I read a Maeve Kerrigan novel but this one didn't disappoint and easily read as a stand alone. The mystery was quite involved as was the relationships between all of the characters. And, the ending!! I listened to the audio version from Libro.fm and highly recommend.

hanna321's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.75

wildx's review

This was hard to get into as someone who hadn't read any of the previous books in the series. I thought this was readable as a standalone, but while the mystery plot was interesting, overall this was a slog with too much of the other messy romance stuff between characters I was unfamiliar with and didn't care about.

kashcraft's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

emwerbeach's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

litwithleigh's review against another edition

3.0

writing: classic british crime writing | plot: had potential | ending: gwurl

my opinion

I won't lie, I was invested in this series solely because of the extra slow burn between Maeve and Josh. After the way #10 ended, I was champing at the bit to see what happened between these two, so it hurts me to say: KEEP IT.

I can't remember if Maeve was always this lovesick and whiny but OMFG GIRL STAND UP!!!!!!! I wouldn't have been surprised if she whipped out a daisy and started plucking its petals off going "he loves me, he loves me not." That's how tectonic plates down bad this girl was. Honestly I felt some of the feminism leave my body watching Maeve beg for a crumb of his attention, especially when you consider he had a whole ass girlfriend and was playing daddy to her son. Oh and he has his own son too. A MESS.

I nearly yeeted my Kindle into the stratosphere when homegirl was dry humping him at work to "prove" that he would always want to sleep with her and then said "but I don't want you to cheat on Melissa." HUH?????? If straddling another women's man isn't considered cheating then what the fuck is????

Anyways, other than Maeve being more focused on Josh than the case, it was... meh. The case itself had potential if there had been more of Rosalie/her family's pov and less closed caption ass "I put on my socks and then my shoes" or whatever the fuck Maeve was thinking. The sheer volume of filler in this book could've been considered a novella on its own. I read this book a week ago but I'm still wondering why the following was included:

"I listened to the second half of a grim news report on asylum seekers who were risking their lives and their children to get to the UK. The journalist was sympathetic, the politicians she interviewed less so. Not our responsibility was his message. We had enough problems without inviting more to join us. It made me think of my parents, and how they had kept a low profile when they arrived in England at first when an Irish accent could trigger anger and fear. Anyone could be arrested on the off-chance they were connected to the IRA. They had walked a careful line, keeping to themselves, safe within the Irish community. It hadn't been easy."

The story had nothing to do with Maeve's parents, Irish immigrants, asylum seekers, or the IRA?????????? Cool story but how is this relevant??????

Anyways, if you're invested in this series: read it. If you're not: read #9 instead.

pros & cons

pros: the flame has been lit between Maeve & Josh FINALLY (also a con lol), resolution to the case was interesting, prologue was BANGIN, liked the pov of Rosalie and her family the best

cons: hella long b/c of all the closed caption ass writing, maeve set feminism back at least 2 decades with her spineless behaviour, josh???????

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chrisheitz18's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

emma_kjw's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

3.75

corinne82's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

🎧 I love the Maeve Kerrigan book series but this one isn’t one of my favourites. I found it very slow paced and a little dragged out. It was an intriguing storyline but it just didn’t engage me and felt like it didn’t have enough going on to hold my attention. Now as for Maeve Kerrigans and Josh Derwents relationship that’s a whole other story that I can’t get enough of. I love them as characters, detectives and colleagues and they just bring their own awesomeness. Really hope we don’t have to wait too long for the next instalment. 

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for the opportunity to read #AStrangerInTheFamily