Another of the super popular recent psychological thrillers, I wasn’t 100% sold on this one.

Loved the first part of the book where three interconnected, interesting stories roll out.

It’s extremely well written.

Some fascinating characters.

A murder mystery.

Adults scarred by childhood trauma. Themes of closure, marital disillusionment, familial solidarity, extortion, and historical crimes.

But by the end of the book I grew bored of waiting around for the resolution.

Meh.

BRILLIANT ending, however. That almost redeems the storytelling for me.

A memorable book.

The Stranger Diaries is a 2018 murder mystery thriller by British crime novelist Domenica de Rosa, writing under the penname of Elly Griffiths.  …

The novel is primarily told through the viewpoints of English teacher Clare Cassidy, Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur, and Clare’s daughter Georgia “Georgie“.

Interspersed throughout the novel are portions of the short story “The Stranger”, written by fictional author R. M. Holland, a long deceased author that Clare is researching.

The Stranger Diaries won the 2020 Edgar Award for Best Novel and is the first in a series centered upon DS Harbinder Kaur. …

The short story is set around Halloween.

And before Halloween in the present things start mirroring the tale.

Murders.

In Liverpool, while listening to the audio book. I came across this scene …

This was supposed to be the final book in the series featuring Enzo Macleod, a half-Scottish, half-Italian Enzo MacLeod who in lives in Toulouse, working as a university professor. In French.

Series: Enzo Macleod / the Enzo Files

Book Number: 6

Read this book for: French setting – rural and urban, good pacing, cold cases, personal/relationship drama, tense thriller, highly readable page-turner

Quick Review: The final instalment (published 2017) of this engaging series, satisfyingly weaving many of the ongoing threads together to create a page-turning last novel.

I was sorry to see Enzo solve the last of his cold cases.

And reviews are good for Cast Iron. It ties the whole series together.

All the books are excellent. The story would make a good TV series.

Happily, Enzo is back in a 2021 book called The Night Gate. BUT it’s not yet available in audio as I hit PUBLISH.

Book #1 is Dry Bones. (Also published as Extraordinary People.)

I recommend it.

If you like the Gamache books for the quaint townspeople of Three Pines, this one may not be for you.

It’s set entirely within the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups, hidden deep in the wilderness of Quebec.

Ironically, for a community that has taken a vow of silence, the monks have become world-famous for their glorious voices, raised in ancient chants whose effect on both singer and listener is so profound it is known as “the beautiful mystery.” …

But when the renowned choir director is murdered, the lock on the monastery’s massive wooden door is drawn back to admit Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir of the Sûreté du Québec. …

Gamache Series

Personally, I felt it was the weakest of the series I’ve read.

More a psychological study than murder mastery.

Peter Swanson wrote for 10 years before finally finding an agent who would push his books.

I started with his most recent — Nine Lives (2022).

A group of seemingly unconnected strangers get a list of 9 names. The only one they recognize is their own.

Why?

If you’re on the list, you’re marked for death. One by one they are killed, while investigators rush to find the killer.