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Summary and Reviews of The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths

The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths

The Stranger Diaries

by Elly Griffiths
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (10):
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  • First Published:
  • Mar 5, 2019, 352 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Oct 2019, 352 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

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 English teacher specializing in the Gothic writer R. M. Holland, she teaches a course on it every year. But when one of Clare's colleagues and closest friends is found dead, with a line from R. M. Holland's most famous story, "The Stranger," left by her body, Clare is horrified to see her life collide with the storylines of her favorite literature. 

To make matters worse, the police suspect the killer is someone Clare knows. Unsure whom to trust, she turns to her closest confidant, her diary, the only outlet she has for her darkest suspicions and fears about the case. 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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    Edgar Awards
    2020

Reviews

BookBrowse Review

BookBrowse

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...continued

Full Review (627 words)

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(Reviewed by Jordan Lynch).

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Beyond the Book



Gothic Romance and the Rise of the Lady Sleuth

1976 cover of <i>Rebecca</i> by Daphne du Maurier published by Pan BooksGothic novels typically have a few common elements: a haunted setting, an atmosphere of mystery and suspense, supernatural (or seemingly so) occurrences, a tortured hero, a heroine in distress and high emotions. The genre's origins are generally traced back to Horace Walpole's 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, which features a medieval castle full of dark corridors, an ancient prophecy, a villainous husband and a swooning leading lady. Walpole subtitled the novel "A Gothic Story," a word with dual meanings at the time, both "barbarous" and "deriving from the Middle Ages," which was apt, as the author claimed in the ...

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Read-Alikes

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