Circle of Strangers by Minka Kent, published by Thomas & Mercer, is the second book in the Dangerous Strangers Series. The story picks up where the previous book, Imaginary Stranger was left off, and concludes in kind of a cliffie, consider you informed.
Camille aka Gabrielle has build a new life, 2 kids, a husband, everything could be perfect. But it wouldn't be a Minka Kent when there wasn't drama, intrigue, twists and turns that had me guessing till the very last page.
I tiptoed around this book for a while now, reluctant to start it, knowing what reading this book could do to me and my bleeding heart - and it did in the best way.
I recommend this gem of a story that deserves all the stars.

ARC review • pub date 08.19.25

The sequel to Imaginary Strangers, this book picks up right where it left off.
Camille is in her new, safe home in a gated community - when she finds a dead body in her garage. The worst part is, she has just had a heated altercation with this person, and calling 911 could raise some suspicion. When the kids are in bed and she can finally clean up the mess, everything is gone.

The rest of the book starts with a month prior, and all the events leading up to finding the body in the garage. I had lots of possibilities of who the person could be!

Minka Kent is an auto buy author for me, and I’m still slowly making my way through her backlist. She hasn’t let me down once ☺️ a perfectly bingeable read, with lots of suspense. You’ll be turning pages as fast as you can. And at only 239 pages - you’ll fly through.

I can’t wait for her next book!

4⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas&Mercer for my ARC.

I was a little bored with this book, it wasn’t as fast paced as I like. It ended on a cliffhanger which I don’t like. Definitely not my favorite book by this author.

A follow up of Minka Kent's Imaginary Strangers, Circle of Strangers opens up after Camille and her family have relocated to Phoenix, AZ. Kind of got Desperate Housewise vibes from the nosey neighbors and the drama surrounding them. Story was a slow build, but will be beneficial in the future. However the epilogue absolutely left my jaw on the floor!

Thank you to Netgalley, Thomas & Mercer, and Minka Kent for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Publication date for Circle of Strangers is August 19, 2025

I read this immediately after Imaginary Strangers and while I am glad I didn't have to wait to see what happened next for Will and Camille, I am now impatiently waiting for book 3. Circle of Strangers starts out immediately engaging with a dead body in the garage. Then the book presses rewind and catches us up on everything that lead up to that evening. While I did figure all but one of the twists, I still really enjoyed the story and the twist I didn't figure out left me gasping out loud "NO WAY" and my jaw literally dropped. There wasn't a single character I liked but that's part of the fun of this one, rooting for the least unlikable person , which kept switching for me. I read this almost completely in one sitting and stayed up late to finish it, once I got hooked I was fully committed. I actually enjoyed this one more than the first, I think because it focused more on adults' and less on the kids this time around. This was a pretty short and easy read and like I said it does end us on a massive cliffhanger. Usually, I am not a fan of that but I am just so excited for the next one, I didn't mind it.

Thank to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was not able to get into this one unfortunately. I did not know also that it was part of a series and that it was a second book. It was very slow to start off and it didn't hold my attention so I had to DNF.

Minka Kent does it for me again!

From page one to the very end I was absolutely hooked. I was left wanting more. The cliffhanger at the end has me absolutely dying for more.

Such a quick, easy, enjoyable read.

Minka Kent has always been a favorite of mine and I loved this one just as much as her others. She knows how to write fast-paced books that keep the reader interested.

Quick entertaining thriller. Minka Kent is good at these. I will continue to pick up her books on KU when they come up.

Quick, fun read! The cliffhangers are brutal, but I’m hooked, I have to know what happens next, so I’ll definitely be picking up the next book.

Very much enjoyed this one!! The whole time reading I kept thinking is everyone here crazy? Who's lying? Who's telling the truth? It was such a fun read and had great characters.

Camille and Will move to a gated community for a new start but instead find themselves embroiled in secrets and lies. I love this trope and thoroughly enjoyed this book. Delicious secrets, suspense, characters to root for....or not? Minka Kent is becoming an auto buy for me.

Just finished Circle of Strangers by Minka Kent — 4 and fully untrusting of my neighbors now.

Fast-paced and packed with twists, this one had me second-guessing everyone. I did not see the ending coming.
If I wasn’t already suspicious of the people living around me… I definitely am now.

But here’s the real warning: don’t get so caught up in other people’s flaws that you miss your own—because that’s how you become the suspect. 👀

The only downside of reading early? Now I have to wait who knows how long to find out if there’s a follow-up… because I am INVESTED.

I didn't realize this was part of a series, i was able to follow it but it did seem like a lot was thrown in at once to catch people up. I think my students will enjoy this, it reads like a tv show and is entertaining in that kind of way.

So excited to get my hands on the second book in this series.
Camille is not one to mess with and I CANNOT wait for the third installment.

Color me shocked at the way this story played out. I was so convinced I was right about so many things and it'd be another predictable tale, but I was truly hooked either way, and pleasantly surprised.
Begging someone gets what's coming to them in the next book, but I will twiddle my thumbs and find another Minka Kent to dig into while I wait.
4/5 Stars!

Such a intriguing read . Loved how tge circle of friends interacted.. dud not see that ending coming..Great, crazy, wonderful. Such great characters. I loved reading this book.

Thank to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an early release of this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for this ARC.

This book is actually a sequel to Imaginary Strangers, so it would be good to read the other book before diving into this one, and it does start with a dead bhody showing up in Camille's garage after Camille and her family moved to Phoenix, Arizona.

It was a good book, just sometimes a little slow for my taste. It had still a lot of twists throughout, and got more unhinged while progressing. I also enjoyed the rather short chapters. The ending makes me wonder if we are getting another book in the series. I do hope so. It would be a little unsatisfying otherwise.

Camille and Will Prescott relocated from San Diego to Phoenix for a fresh start in a quiet gated community. She meets neighbors with their own drama. Sozi is the gossipy neighbor whos in other neighbor’s business. Mara and Oscar are a troubled marriage with rumors about them. Camille becomes involved in all drama of the neighbors. One day she finds a dead body in her garage lying in a pool of blood.

This was the second book in the series. I wish I read the first book to get a better understanding of what Wills mother did even though the author does reiterate briefly what she did . I would have also gotten to know what Camille’s mother did for her to hate her mother. The neighbor drama was interesting. It had me guessing which neighbor to believe or watch out for. The twist in the end was surprising. The ending leaves it open for a third book in the series

Thank you Netgalley for the free ARC! In my opinion, the cast of characters involved themselves in miscellaneous scenarios where instead of simply asking a direct question; they made mountains out of molehills. I believe most of their dilemmas could have been nipped in the bud by communicating instead of letting things spiral out of control. I was very interested in reading this book because the predecessor was so good. This book wasn’t as easy to get into, but I did, and now I’m exuberant for the third installment.

Have you read Imaginary Strangers by Minka Kent? If you have – then don’t walk, run. Run and pre-order this little gem here. This is part two – the story of Imaginary Strangers continues here. It unfolds, unravels, goes wild. It takes some crazy turns and brings in some literal crazies.

If you haven’t read Imaginary Strangers, then take this as your cue to run, not walk, also. Run to get the first book and then run to preorder the second book. If psychopaths and sociopaths in books are your jam, if book crazies are your trope, if lies and manipulation are what you enjoy in books, and if you love it all laced and spiced up with perfectly developed, deep characters, then you will love this. Oh, and also, this one was a way more emotional read than the first book in the series.

This book was an absolute chef’s kiss perfection. And, the best part? I feel like there might even be book three, if the author decides to delve even deeper into the world of those characters she has already crafted so meticulously.



The book’s pub date is set to August. It’s a long wait, I know. Yet that is also good news, there’s more time to read Imaginary Strangers for those who haven’t read it yet. I’m not entirely sure this would work as a good standalone book though, yet as a book two in series it’s absolutely perfect.