Blog Tour: The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths

I haven't taken part in a blog tour for a little while but today's is a brand new thriller blog tour which was hosted by Quercus (thank you). I was very kindly sent the gorgeous hardback edition (the cover is so pretty!) which was published on the 1st November and it's available as a hardback edition or kindle book.

*The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths (408 pages) ★★★ (3.5)

I personally love thrillers but I haven't actually read that many over the past few months so I was very excited to read this. I started it on halloween and it was a great option for my halloween read this year. It's a little longer than the typical thrillers I've read but it was a very quick read for me thanks to the intriguing mystery and the short chapters - yes to short chapters!

In The Stranger Diaries we follow Clare, a high school English teacher with a teenage daughter as one of her friends and fellow English teachers is found murdered. The police think that it's someone close to them that could have committed the crime and someone who is related to the school or the English teachers as there is a note with the body which relates to an author who once lived at the school.

This is my first thriller for a while and it reminded me why I love thrillers so much, as it was such a quick, compelling and easy read with a mystery that I didn't guess the ending of. I loved the quick pace, easy writing, the short chapters which kept me reading and the mystery which was a little creepy towards the end of the book. I didn't guess the ending or who the murderer was which is what I want in a thriller!

As I've said, I liked how short the chapters were and I also liked how each section of the book was from the perspective of a particular person, whether it was Clare, her daughter Georgie or the police officer, Harbinder. I found some of the characters perspectives, especially Harbinder to be quite judgmental and slightly annoying at times but overall, I did enjoy getting the numerous perspectives as they offer the characters opinions on the same events and their views on each other.

The only aspect of the book that I didn't love was the excerpts from the fictional author RM Holland throughout the book although it is a main point of the book in terms of the connection to the main character and the link to the school but I probably would have liked the book just as much without the excerpts, if I'm honest. I also didn't find the secondary mystery relating to the author to be interesting. Additionally, I thought that the motives of the murderer were a little tenuous, in my opinion.

Overall, it was definitely a compelling, fast paced and quick thriller that had me guessing until the ending. It had some creepy and eerie scenes, I liked the various perspectives and the short chapters which made for a quick, easy to follow read. I enjoyed reading about the numerous character perspectives, I liked the school setting and the variety of characters included in the book. However, I didn't like the focus on the fictional author, I realise that it made the book more unique and it did tie into the story but I think the book could have been equally as enjoyable and intriguing without the excerpts, in my opinion.

Do you like reading thrillers? Will you be picking up this book?