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 … 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?
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5 out of 5 creepy strangers!
Clare Cassidy teaches English at Talgarth High School former home of famous author R.M. Holland and his beloved wife Alice who met her untimely death from a fall or perhaps a push? It is said that sometimes you can see the Lady in White as she roams the school. Clare also happens to be writing a novel about the author. R.M. Holland is known for one short story “The Stranger” and was said to have hated it.
One Fall day shortly before Halloween Clare’s best friend and fellow teacher Ella is found dead. She was murder and “Hell Is Empty, and All the Devils Are Here “. Just like what is written in Holland’s one famous book.
This is the perfect book leading up to Halloween. It’s is a lovely blend of Gothic Victorian writing and a contemporary mystery sure to capture you and not let you go. I have never read an Elly Griffiths novel before but she has a new fan. Her writing is beautiful. You can picture the old, Victorian school Clare teaches at. You feel as if you are creeping up the dark stairs leading to Holland’s study. The university campus Clare and her daughter visit is written so well you can almost smell the Autumn air.
My favorite part of the book though is definitely the characters. They are written so beautifully that you hear each and every voice. Georgie definitely sounds like a teenager. An extremely smart one but still a teen. You will love meeting D.S. Harbinder Kaur and her parents as well. Each voice is distinctive.
I would recommend listening to the audio version if you can. There is a book within a book and the narrators are so good.
Her first book was her best. All downhill from there. Too much perseveration on peripheral characters. Plus, can’t the mIn character ever make a decision?
Wow! This is a very spooky, gothic novel. Reminded me of Shirley Jackson. Read it! It is a real treat!
Took way too long to get interesting. A reader shouldn’t have to get past page 200+ (out of only 338 pages) for a book to pick up speed.
Been reading this author for many years, this is a new topic. I enjoyed reading it and trying to figure out the mystery who dun it?
The Stranger Diaries had me hooked from the opening line. Of course you can tell me a story! And it just took off from there. It had a lot of the elements I love in a novel – mystery, likeable characters, a story within a story, literary references, a gothic atmosphere – the book really fires on all cylinders! I have to admit I was a little dismayed when the POV changed the first time but as I read further, the switching between the three narrators really added depth to the story. Fantastic novel and I can’t wait to read more books by Elly Griffiths.
I’m a big fan of Ellie Griffiths. Not only is she a nice person, she has one of the sharpest wits around. She’s sort of like Joan Rivers (was) but not mean because she has a keenly observant eye. This was a totally enjoyable book. I hated to put it down!
The ending was a little bit of a let down after the spooky build up, but a very enjoyable read
Loved it and the characters. Good mystery with lots of background info.
The story begins in the previous century with a man in a carriage telling a story. This story, The Stranger, has a dark tone, but it’s barely started when one of three other narrators begin. The narrators are a teacher who is a big fan of the gothic writer who once wrote The Stranger. His home is the old the library where she teaches and she is writing his biography. She also keeps a diary. The second narrator is a detective because of course we need someone to solve the murders. The third narrator is the teacher’s daughter. At first it isn’t obvious why her narration would be important, but eventually, she becomes more intriguing. Murders, mysterious passages from the gothic novel appearing in the teacher’s diary, rumors of ghosts, and characters that keep you guessing. A clever story to read on Halloween!
3.5 stars
I’ll admit, I was swayed by the overwhelming number of high reviews for Stranger Diaries. And while I did enjoy it, it was not held in such high esteem for me.
Stranger Diaries has everything I love about suspense books. 1- Book in a book format. 2- Gothic suspense / slight supernatural undertones and 3- a classic who-dun-it mystery. The story is told in 3 different POV- Clare, Georgie (Clare’s daughter) and Harbinder (DS) and interspaced throughout are snippets of The Stanger, the fictional ghost story that is a favorite of Clare’s.
The book is fast paced with a well-developed plot and I was certainly surprised by the ending. I really enjoyed the Stranger Diaries and it was my first book by Elly Griffiths. I will definitely be keeping my eye out for her books.
Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for my copy of this book via NetGalley
Prior to this, I only knew Elly Griffiths from the Magic Men series. This book could not have been further from that in style or scope, but as I’ve always enjoyed the writing in those, I thought this seemed like a great way to break into her contemporary work. I did still enjoy the writing, although not quite as much – and the back and forth perspective shifts that included the presentation of overlapping events from the perspective of various characters was interesting but did require more page flipping back and forth than I suspected or, to be frank, enjoyed. Still, the underlying mystery of the murders was interesting and I particularly enjoyed the way the RM Holland short story was interspersed with the text to provide a terrifically eerie and Gothic setting for everything that was going on.
This was a well-paced mystery with just the right amount of misdirection and secret-keeping, and the characters were a decent balance of personalities, albeit not as robustly developed as I’d come to expect in her writing. I’ll admit it wasn’t my favorite of her pieces, but I did enjoy it – particularly the tongue-in-cheek wryness of Harbinder and, as mentioned, the interplay of the short story as mood setter.
My review copy was provided by NetGalley.
This author pulls you into whatever world the books are set and you instantly care about the characters, often even minor ones.
I’m a big fan of Elly Griffiths and really enjoy her series with Ruth and Nelson, so I was looking forward to reading this stand-alone. I’m also a fan of gothic horror – this book references one of my favourites, the Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.
This book has a strong story and solid characters, all set in a school with a strange short story at its heart.
It’s not a strict gothic horror, she writes detective stories and there’s a lot of that in this book too, so its a bit of a twist to the genre. Highly recommended.
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