BookBrowse Reviews The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths

BookBrowse:

With its eerie setting, diverse cast of characters, and ever-increasing body count, The Stranger Diaries is a Gothic romance brimming with suspense.

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Blending Gothic elements to create a haunting mystery with bright moments of friendship, family and romance, The Stranger Diaries is a winning thriller that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. The novel opens with an excerpt from "The Stranger," a Gothic short story written by the fictional author R.M. Holland. Holland's story is one of protagonist Clare Cassidy's favorites, and not only does she have the pleasure of teaching the students at Talgarth High School about her favorite author, Talgarth is built alongside Holland's old home. When her friend and colleague Ella is murdered, the connections to "The Stranger" are undeniable, and Clare is horrified to realize that someone has blurred the line between fiction and reality with deadly consequences.

In a cast full of interesting and unreliable characters, the three female leads—Clare, Harbinder, and Georgie—truly stand out. Each has her own point-of-view, and the story overlaps just a bit between each narrator so that readers can see a scene or two from a different angle. The differences in their backgrounds and experiences allow for their diverse voices to smoothly cohere into an overarching storyline. Clare is at the center of the murders; someone, presumably the killer, has been writing in her old diaries, and as the body count rises, the victims all seem to be people who have wronged or mistreated her in some way. Clare's knowledge of literature helps her realize that the murders are related to Holland's story. Furthermore, it seems like there may be a connection between the deaths and Clare's love life—one that establishes her as a potential suspect.

Harbinder's point-of-view is quite different from Clare's. As a detective sergeant, Harbinder is officially investigating the murders, and her narrative style is much more cynical and straightforward. In addition to her critical, career-honed instinct, she also looks at the case through the lens of her own time as a student at Talgarth, and especially in relation to the ghost story of R.M Holland's wife Alice, who is said to haunt her old home and appear as a harbinger of death. Harbinder's personal encounter with Alice's ghost adds a layer of mystery to the detective's otherwise practical demeanor, and it's an eerie way to add depth to her character.

The third narrator is Georgie, Clare's daughter and a current student at Talgarth. Her narration is informal compared to Clare and Harbinder's, but she is smart and curious, and has her own secrets that prompt her to view the murders in a different light. However, these secrets also end up making Georgie a target of police investigation. She is often dismissed or underestimated due to her young age, and as a result, her point-of-view is quite refreshing in that it shows just how clever high school students can be. It's also easy to relate to Georgie in that her knowledge of police work and murder comes largely from what she's seen on television, and although readers who are fluent in murder mysteries may be able to connect some of the clues more quickly than Georgie, most people will be more on her level than that of Detective Harbinder.

Excerpts from "The Stranger" help build suspense and lend a more authentically Gothic air to the mystery. The short story is actually essential to the plot, but it's also an entertaining read on its own, and R.M. Holland's own personal tragedies allow for a more sinister setting at the school and provide some exciting twists. Elly Griffiths has skillfully created a story within a story, and blended the two together in a natural and interesting fashion. The Stranger Diaries is a modern murder mystery featuring a ghost story and an ominous setting that builds upon the framework of the countless Gothic romance novels that came before.

This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in May 2019, and has been updated for the October 2019 edition. Click here to go to this issue.