The Stranger is the third book I have read by Kate Riordan and I love the chilling atmosphere of the book. The book starts off very mysterious with a suggestive chapter "The Night Diana Devlin goes Missing", and then the book jumps back in time taking us six weeks back in time and then we get to learn the main characters in the book, land girl Diane Devlin, both through her POV and her diary, her roommate and also land girl Rose and also the lady of the mansion Eleanor. All three women have secrets and Diane is the catalyst that will bring past events to the light.

The Stranger is a book that at first felt a bit difficult to place, it definitely felt more chilling than the previous two books I have read by the author, more thriller than a mystery. Also, I found the characters a bit hard to connect to, especially Diane was difficult to figure out because the version you get to know through the diary feels a lot different from the person the other characters meet. Let me just say that she provoked so many people that I was not surprised that the book started off with her going missing. It was first towards the end that I realized that her presence in Penhollow perhaps was not so bad, she did set things in motion. Things that had to be dealt with. However, what will the consequences be?

I will end this review by saying that the ending was not what I expected and I want to say bravo to the author! It was such a great ending, so perfect!

I want to thank Penguin UK for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review! ( )

The tagline "In a house full of strangers who can you trust?" is perfect for this book. Three land girls are thrown together at Penhallow Hall in Cornwall, thrust into a house with secrets and sadness at the heart of it. Rose, Diana and Jane are complete opposites in every way and have to learn to live with each other.

I found The Stranger to be a fascinating and enthralling read, pretty much unputdownable. Rose was my favourite character and somehow her story seemed to me to be the most prominent one, even though Diana is by far the more memorable character. Rose is pleasant and kind, but unfulfilled. She remembers a holiday half a lifetime ago which has shaped the whole of her life since. Diana is much younger than Rose and very damaged, the sort of woman who causes trouble wherever she goes, stirring up things that are best left alone but somehow always getting away with it. And Jane, well there's more to Jane's presence at Penhallow than meets the eye, but I shall leave it for you to find out her story for yourself.

The whole setting in this book is crucial to the storyline. The brooding house, the pirates coves, the small village setting, the boathouse. All of these add a gothic feel to the story and it's hard to imagine the author setting it anywhere else but Cornwall.

It's not a book with a clear beginning to end story, more a slice of life, a snapshot of a time in 1940 when three Land Girls shook up their own lives and those of the inhabitants of Penhallow Hall. The descriptions are simply beautiful, there's a sense of foreboding throughout and I could feel thunderclouds gathering, building up to the end.

The author uses a clever device to tell us what Diana is up to by the use of a diary. This meant that Diana's inner thoughts were revealed only to the reader, not to the other characters. I witnessed Diana wreaking havoc and taking great delight in it with a sense of apprehension all the way through the story and it certainly posted a moral dilemma to me: could I forgive Diana because I knew what she had gone through in her past, or was her nasty streak just part of her personality? I'm still a little undecided.

The Stranger is atmospheric, intense and full of drama. It has quite a melancholic feel at times, an underlying sense of sadness, but it's wonderfully observed and had me totally hooked. The writing is just lovely and I found it to be a fantastic read. ( )