Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

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I binged #TheStrangerDiaries by #EllyGriffiths today. This is very much one of the styles of police procedural I like. Strong characters, great mystery, plenty of dropped hints (all of which I missed) and a satisfying conclusion.
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This is book one featuring DS Harbinder Kaur. She's an Indian, Sikh, lesbian who still lives at home. She loves her mums cooking and has a bitchy internal monologue that makes her really endearing. I'm very glad I've got the second book as I'll be reading it very soon.

I am in charge of the senior library and work with a group of Reading Ambassadors from 16-18 to ensure that our boarding school library is modernised and meets the need of both our senior students and staff. It has been great to have the chance to talk about these books with our seniors and discuss what they want and need on their shelves. I was drawn to his book because I thought it would be something different from the usual school library fare and draw the students in with a tempting storyline and lots to discuss.
This book was a really enjoyable read with strong characters and a real sense of time and place. I enjoyed the ways that it maintained a cracking pace that kept me turning its pages and ensured that I had much to discuss with them after finishing. It was not only a lively and enjoyable novel but had lots of contemporary themes for our book group to pick up and spend hours discussing too.
I think it's important to choose books that interest as well as challenge our students and I can see this book being very popular with students and staff alike; this will be an excellent purchase as it has everything that we look for in a great read - a tempting premise, fantastic characters and a plot that keeps you gripped until you close its final page.

The Stranger Diaries is a standalone thriller from ms Griffiths and I really enjoyed it. I haven't read much by her, but when I do, I am always pleasantly entertained. Recommended.

Wow I absolutely loved this book. First one by this author had me completley gripped from the Start. It was creepy and just kept me wanting more will definetley be reading more by this author.

I've given this novel 4 stars but it's probably nearer 3.5 stars. It's a fairly gripping but not entirely ground-breaking thriller. It's told by 3 narrators - a format that is getting a little stale - but it more or less works. The suspense and sense of danger aren't exactly at nail-biting level and the killer is pretty obvious, despite red herrings, from early on. That said, the quality of the writing makes it compelling reading and it's undemanding but entertaining bedtime reading. I enjoyed the Gothic elements introduced via the short story The Stranger and also the dynamic and the developing relationship between the MC and the female police officer. The ending is a little underwhelming. Worth reading but there are other whodunits out there that have more suspense.

I read this a while ago but have prevaricated about reviewing it as I didn't like it.
I've previously enjoyed Elly Griffiths' work, but both the Ruth Galloway, and the Stephens and Mephisto series are 'detective' or 'whoddunit' novels. The Stranger Diaries is a departure into psychological thriller territory - not something I'd normally read - and it didn't suit me.
The whole premise didn't seem believable, I didn't warm to the characters, and figured out the villain was quite early on, so really only finished the book to see if I was right. Maybe if I were a fan of this genre, I'd have felt differently, as enough people seemed to be raving about it.

A really disappointing book considering the others of hers I've read. The writing seemed quite simple and it felt like the author was trying to demonstrate her knowledge of English literature. I also wasn't keen on the first person, present tense pov. I thought that the gothic short story which was told in snippets throughout the book would offer some insight into the modern storyline but it didn't.

I've read all of Elly Griffiths's Ruth Galloway books and loved them so was interested to read a different style of book from her. This did not disappoint, a creepy, gothic thriller with many twists and turns which kept me riveted until the end! Different from her other books but well worth a read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Old buildings, Old writers, a twist of gothic horror and a modern day murder mystery. All of the perfect ingredients for an exceptional mystery that keeps you gripped.

A standalone from her serial characters, you don't need to have read anything by Griffiths before to enjoy this for the read that it is

The story is told from the alternating points of view of Clare, DS Kaur and Georgia, between which are extracts from ‘The Stranger’ itself. It works well.

This book has terrific characters which add to the spooky atmosphere of the story and which flit through your mind as you read and try to figure out who, if anyone, killed Clare’s friend Ella.

The book will send chills up your spine and the added intertwined extracts ramp up the scariness. Still it has a fine detective strand running through and DS Kaur’s character comes into her own with some inside knowledge of the school. She’s a character who could well be given another story or two.

Elly Griffiths tells a terrific story, with good characters – not just the main ones, many of the ‘lesser’ ones too – which are well rounded and add something to the storyline.

It’s a well-written, atmospheric book which I thoroughly enjoyed and would say is well worth reading.

Do read the full ‘The Stranger’ story at the end for another shiver up your spine and another wonderful twist to this terrific book.

Thanks

My thanks to Quercus via NetGalley for an eCopy of The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths.

What can I say about Elly Griffiths writing that hasn't already been said by so many? I absolutely adore her Dr Ruth Galloway series and was breathless with anticipation to read The Stranger Diaries. I was right to be; what a sublime book, full of Ms Griffiths unique flourishes with words. The characters were, as always, beautifully drawn, each with their own, definite personality and quirks. The dialogue was perfect and completely credible. The story drew me in from the first word, the history behind JM Holland, the school, the dynamics between the staff and pupils, all so intricately woven into a magnificent tapestry. There were so many possible perpetrators, and as we examined each one in turn, I willing followed the path Ms Griffiths was laying out before me, until ultimately I ended up at a dead end. When the villain was revealed I was staggered. How does she do it? The scoundrel was hidden in plain sight but not for one instant had I given them any consideration. It's all smoke, mirrors and misdirection and nobody does it better than Elly Griffiths. The Stranger Diaries is a masterpiece of a book and I recommend you read it now. You can always thank me later.

I have to say that this was not really my cup of tea. There is a bit of the unreliability of the narrator switch combined with the letter multi-level plot and the sort of book within a book which made me a bit disconnected. However this was also very genuinely creepy and that plot unfolds very tightly. Even if you sometimes feel like the characters should really step back and think about what they do before they freaking do it and that in part is why Griffiths is such a wonderful writer to read. Her characters are extremely flawed but that makes them extremely real.

A fabulous read, start to finish. Full of gothic suspense, edge of your seat twists and turns and so beautifully written. Couldn't put it down.

Well-loved author in the bookshop and I can see why! Thoroughly enjoyed this spooky read and what a mystery! Loved the introduction of another book that links throughout.

Ooh, love a bit of gothic crime, and Elly Griffiths is clearly a master at her craft. Lots of dark and twisty things to get caught up in.

This book is kind of a gothic murder mystery, hard to explain really, a haunted school and a murder and a mystery!

Clare’s a teacher and one of her friend is Murdered and the killer leaves a book next to the body by RM Holland one of Clare’s favourite authors and stories.

Lots of other mysterious events begin and we start to believe Clare may be the next victim, and that’s the story; it’s a bit of a weird one to be honest but I did enjoy it.

Everyone knows that Elly Griffiths can write a good crime series. The Ruth Galloway series proves that. This book, for me, was no different. If not better. While she stuck with the crime storyline, there’s also a touch of Victorian Gothic thriller feel to it. There was tension, suspense, second guessing and shocks.

Clare Cassidy is our leading lady. To begin with I liked her, but towards the end of the book I found her irritating. She was repetitive, especially when it came to her daughter Georgie. I found her quite predictable with how she was going to react. Her sections in the book dragged slightly for me. She did have her fair share of drama and action though. It left me grippd though. It left me wanting to read more, and then with more questions.

Harbinder and Georgie were also drama filled when it came to their parts. I didn’t really know what to make of Georgie. She wanted to come across as a sterotypical teenager, but even when she was trying hard at that, I found it didn’t really work. I think I probably had more of a connection with Harbinder than any of the characters. She could see that all of them were holding things back, that there were secrets.

The addition of the story from R.M Holland was a nice touch. It added a touch of mystery and suspense. The whole book felt like this dramatic ghost story if anything. I liked the way the book read, leaving me wanting more even when I was finding it a little boring in places. I guessed who our murderer was early on, but occaisionally I doubted it although I knew it wasn’t right to be doubting.

Overall thoughts. While it was dramatic, thrilling, suspenseful, I did find it a little predicatable with how people were going to react, and who the murderer was. Giffiths writing style made this book a lot more bareable than if it was another author. She definitely knows how to write a story.

Clare Cassidy is an English teacher at Talgarth High, specialising in Victorian Gothic literature. She is an avid diary keeper, committing her deepest feelings to the pages of her journals.
The school where she teaches has an unusual history, because it is built in the grounds of the former home of one of her favourite Gothic authors, R.M. Holland, and it encompasses the old creepy manor house itself, including the author's study. Stories of spectral goings on at Talgarth have cropped up over the years, with some students and staff claiming to have actually seen the ghost of R.M.Holland's wife, who may have committed suicide there.
Clare is fascinated with R.M. Holland, especially his most famous, Gothic horror The Stranger, and has ideas to eventually publish a book about him - indeed, the connection with The Stranger is what attracted her to Talgarth High in the first place.

When one of Clare's fellow teaching staff, and close friend, is found murdered, with a line from The Stranger left by her bloody corpse, Clare is horrifed to discover that real life is echoing the story-line of her favourite book. This will not be the last murder.
The police suspect that the killer may be someone Clare knows, and this suspicion becomes a real possibility when she finds some writing in her diaries - writing that is not her own.

Can the mystery be solved before time runs out?

I have not read one of Elly Griffiths' books before, but I am mightily impressed with this one.
The story is told from three perspectives - Clare herself; Georgia, Clare's daughter; and Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur, who is leading the murder inquiry - and is interspersed with consecutive excerpts from The Stranger, which relate to each stage of the contemporary murder investigation. I really liked that The Stranger is also repeated at the ending of the book, this time in its entirety, so you get to read the terrifying conclusion of the tale - very Shirley Jackson/Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected it is too.

This is a delicious mix of Gothic horror and contemporary murder-mystery, that will keep you guessing until the triumphant end, and I could not put it down once I had started.
I will certainly be looking out for more Elly Griffiths books in the future.

Highly recommended for those who like a murder-mystery with supernatural undertones, The Stranger Diaries is recently out in paperback, so go pick up a copy now!

Written by Elly Griffiths — She’s one of crime writing’s most versatile authors, creator of the hugely popular Dr Ruth Galloway series and four Stephens and Mephisto mysteries. Elly Griffiths also has a number of romantic novels written under her real name, Domenica de Rosa. Now she’s come up with a spooky standalone, perfectly timed for the dark winter nights to come.

Clare Cassidy is something of an expert on the work of Gothic writer RM Holland, whose most famous story, The Stranger, has a central role in this book. She’s also an English teacher at Talgarth High, a West Sussex school which has strong links to Holland – he lived in what is now referred to as The Old Building, the top floor of which is out of bounds to students these days.

The school has had its problems and boasts a new, progressive head brought in to change its fortunes, but the Old Building is a reminder of Talgarth’s former glories. It is a chilly place with an atmosphere to match and legend has it that the ghost of Holland’s wife haunts the corridors.

Clare’s teenage daughter Georgie is fascinated by ghosts and by Holland’s most famous story, and the two worlds are destined to collide in dramatic fashion. The Stranger is a story filled with mysterious demises, and death occurs pretty swiftly in The Stranger Diaries too when Clare’s colleague and friend Ella Elphick is found murdered, multiple stab wounds the cause of her death, a snippet of text from The Stranger at her side. If that’s not unsettling enough, Clare begins to find cryptic entries in her personal diary, written in a strange hand. How are they getting there and what do they mean?

DS Harbinder Kaur, called in to investigate Ella’s death is also a former pupil at Talgarth. Her local knowledge could prove useful as she and colleague DS Neil Winston struggle to put a case together, but when another death occurs it appears that Clare Cassidy is the link…

Secrets are at the very heart of this unsettling tale. Clare has kept her diary under wraps since she was a teenager, and ironically Georgie is now also writing on the quiet, submitting her work to an online forum, encouraged by the enigmatic Bryony Hughes, a teacher at the nearby private school St Faith’s. Georgie is among a group of teenagers who are mentored by Miss Hughes – an odd woman who is rumoured to be a white witch. By conjuring up shades of Cathbad from the Galloway series, Griffiths manages to turn the spookiness up another notch.

More secrets are introduced to keep you on your toes – why is Georgie’s fellow writing friend Patrick being so furtive? What does Clare’s head of department Rick have to hide? What’s behind the mysterious lights in the abandoned factory at the end of Clare’s street? It’s an exciting ride as Griffiths gently nudges and cajoles her readers along the road to enlightenment.

The Stranger Diaries has an interesting format, the story told from several viewpoints, interspersed with passages from Holland’s magnum opus, The Stranger. As modern-day life mirrors that Gothic tale it can be tricky to decide who is actually telling the truth – so keep your wits about you.

Clare Cassidy is a hugely realistic if rather irritating main protagonist while her daughter Georgie is beautifully observed, but I found myself warming to Harbinder Kaur in particular. She’s a career police office caught between the pull of two cultures and an intuitive, down to earth and likeable creation. I’d be delighted to make her acquaintance again.

Like your crime with a side order of spookiness? Try The Lingering by SJI Holliday or SK Tremayne’s The Ice Twins. Here are some horror hits as well.

Quercus
Print/Kindle/iBook
£8.99

CFL Rating: 4 Stars