A review by laurieb755
The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths

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

4.0

Elly Griffiths has written a wonderfully suspenseful murder mystery dressed as a modern day gothic tale. After arriving home from the Library with the book in hand I noticed that one of my favorite authors, Louise Penny, has a blurb on the back cover. She succinctly and accurately sums up my sense of the book so here are her words instead of mine (because why reinvent the wheel. ;-))

My heart is still pounding after finishing The Stranger Diaries…Fiercely intelligent, warm, human, and, at times, funny…It is goose-bump spooky, smart, and haunting in every sense. I loved this book! And you will too. Louise Penny

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was delighted that it wasn’t till almost the very end that the solution presented itself to me, indeed, it was at the same time that Harbinder, a Detective Sergeant, found the evidence that confirmed her suspicion of the culprit.

This was mostly Clare’s story, she being an attractive divorced English teacher with a teenage daughter, Georgia, who lives with her during the week and usually - but not always - spends weekends with her Dad (who remarried and has two young children.) In addition to teaching English (and the assorted extra responsibilities that come with the territory) Clare is working on a book about R.M. Holland. Holland not only wrote one of Clare’s favorite stories, The Stranger, but also happened to live in the building that forms one part of the school where Clare teaches. Holland is long-since dead but his attic office was kept intact and often receives tours. There were rumors that Holland’s wife, Alice, died by jumping from the upstairs to the floor below, as well as questions about whether or not Holland had a daughter. Apparently, given the right opportunity, one just might run into Alice’s ghost haunting the upstairs hall…

The story unfolds through four narrators – Clare, Harbinder, Georgia and The Stranger. As a reader we are treated to two stories, the “real” one and the short story by R.M. Holland (who, as far as research shows, is completely fictitious, as is his/this short story). The Stranger is by far and away the more gothic, spine tingling of the two tales. However, should you read this book, the question may arise in your mind as to whether or not you are reading one or two gothic tales…
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