Storm Ezra has hit, and Remie Yorke has one night shift left at the Mackinnon Hotel in a remote area of snowy Scotland before heading off to the airport for her long flight to Chile. She is expecting a routine night, and with only 2 guests everything should remain quiet. How wrong could she be?
She hears someone at the revolving door which is locked up for the night, and speaks to the visitor through the intercom. He is battling the storm and looks injured. He holds his ID up against the glass and tells Remie that he is PC Gaines, and in need of assistance. He tells her that he and his team were escorting a dangerous prisoner from the nearby prison, and that they went off the road in the storm. The prisoner has escaped and PC Gaines is in persuit. Remie calls for Jai, a guest that she has become friendly with to come down to reception so help her assess if she should let the man in. They decide to let him in but lock him in a room whilst they talk with him through the door. Remie attends to his wounds.
They let him out to go search the hotel for the escapee, and find that the other guest is missing. He tells Jai to return to his room and to stay there for his own safety. Remie is to stay on reception but must turn all lights off, leaving just the emergency lights, so that the prisoner cannot easily see into the hotel.
After a while she hears a second man at the door. He too holds up some ID and identies himself as PC Gaines!
One of them is lying, but which one is telling the truth?
This book is well written, and fast paced. I came up with a couple of ideas as to which man was which but I was completely wrong. I was left guessing right up to the end.
I willdefinitely look for other books by this author!

I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review, I had to read it by the end of October that’s why the review is so early.

Isn’t this cover just so inviting? you can almost feel yourself in the snowy, stormy Scottish Highlands.

Remi is working her last ever night shift at the Mackinnon hotel before she leaves for her new life abroad the following morning, she’s all packed and ready to go. What could possibly go wrong?.

I was literally so tense reading this, I was always waiting for something to happen it had so many twists, turns and red herrings that I enjoyed so much and devoured greedily.

I was turning every page wanting to know who was the real deal and who was the criminal and I kept switching between the two.

I think this book is going to huge in 2023!

I enjoyed the read and the visit to Scotland! I think the story was well written. Liked all the twist and turns and the fact you don’t know till the end! A perfect winter read.

I love the front cover and found the premise intriguing which is why I requested the arc. I enjoyed this book and would rate it 3.5 🌟 . it was a quick easy read (I read it in a day!)

💥 Wow.
🔥 This one blew me away.
❤️ I loved it.

👮🏽‍♀️ The synopsis is that two strangers turn up at a hotel during a storm seeking shelter after a car accident. One is a policeman who was escorting a prisoner and the other is a prisoner. They both say they are the policeman and neither the readers or the other characters know which is which. Who do you trust?!

🪝 I went on a real journey with this book. I was hooked immediately. Then I realised that there are very few characters and worried that there wouldn’t be enough action for me. I was wrong.

The characters were interesting and had so many extra layers and elements to their stories and character.

❄️ The setting was fabulous. This is a book that would be best read when the rain and wind are blowing outside. Preferably a storm. Maybe the log fire is lit in front of you. The setting is dark and snowy, the book exposed to the elements. The hair on your body raised waiting to see what happens next… will the elements deal the next card or will it be a character? I want to visit remote Scotland in winter now!

✍🏽 The writing was ace. So descriptive and well written. Some language that was not your standard suspense crime thriller language, but also not words that I needed to look up!!

🔚The ending. I LOVED the ending. It was brilliant.

🎥 This book needs to be a film.

This was a cracking read!

I immediately warmed to Remie, working her final shift at hotel in the Scottish Highlands looking forward to jetting overseas and starting a new life when, bang, the klaxon goes off at the local prison, Storm Ezra hits, and an injured police officer brings news of a dangerous prisoner on the loose.

I enjoyed Remie's backstory, her relationship with her brother and the weight of being the responsible one trying to help him out of a life of criminality and danger. I also liked the bond she developed with Jai and her gift to him towards the end.

This novel is big on atmosphere with the snow and winds and darkness adding to the fear and isolation. I felt the exhaustion and cold along with the characters as they struggled through snowdrifts in plunging temperatures and faced the threat of an avalanche.

The central hook - two strangers appear, each claiming to be the same police officer - was good and offered lots of doubt and paranoia. The tension ramps up quickly and doesn't let up with particularly vicious criminals and drama in the form of guns, missing guests, traffic accidents and a gripping setpiece on the frozen lake. Fast and furious. It had to be devoured in two sittings!

I'd definitely read more by Martin Griffin.

I really enjoy a book that keeps me guessing and this one did just that. I was swept along with the story, I enjoyed all the twist and turns and I felt like it was compelling and a powerful read. I enjoyed it.

This book kept me guessing so much. I enjoyed the storyline but it was a little slow for my liking.
4****

The Second Stranger by Martin Griffin

Remie Yorke has one shift left at the Mackinnon Hotel in the remote Scottish Highlands before she leaves for good. Then Storm Ezra hits.
As temperatures plummet and phone lines go down, an injured man stumbles inside. PC Don Gaines was in a terrible accident on the mountain road. The only other survivor: the prisoner his team was transporting.
A then another man arrived - PC Don Gaines !
Who does Remie believe ?
For me the book started a little slow but I think this was the intention of the author , because it picks up and you find yourself taken along at a faster pace as the plot twists and turns .
I enjoyed the general atmosphere of the book and could feel Remies frustration at being trapped and her creeping horror when she realises the trouble she is in when these men arrive added to the storm that seems to go on and on.

Loved the idea of this book and the setting. A remote hotel with just one staff member and two guests, a snowstorm, two strangers both claiming to be the same injured cop - brilliant idea. But it was a letdown, too many threads that once pulled has one questioning the story and affecting enjoyment plus far too much repetition of what is happening and the characters' thoughts. Sadly did not enjoy this book but thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

SO RIDICULOUS BUT SO GOOD.

Having just come back from an actual stay in a remote hotel in the Scottish Highlands, I could picture all to easily the environment and the terror of being stuck there. Yes, okay, so the plot was insane and some bits made you go, "WHAT?!" but I really I liked the book.

Who is telling the truth?

A prisoner on the run, a remote lodge in the highlands of Scotland and a policeman who turns up with the same name as the man he is looking for?

Cue evil laugh....

Cairngorms - The Mackinnon Hôtel

It’s Remie Yorkes final evening as night manager at the hotel because tomorrow she leaves for a South American adventure. However, plans are thrown awry when Storm Ezra hits and blankets the area in deep snow with temperatures plummeting to below zero with the addition of wind chill factor. As she serves one of the two remaining guests a glass of Malbec, there’s a powerful knock at the door and an injured man enters the hotel. This is PC Don Gaines who has been hurt in an RTC while transporting a prisoner from nearby Porterfell Prison. Later, a second man arrives, he too claims to be Constable Gaines. Remie is faced with a real conundrum, who is the real policeman and who exactly is the imposter? As the storm does it’s worse the danger levels increase for Remie as she tries to navigate a safe passage through the quandary.

Well, this one grabs you from the start. There’s atmosphere in abundance in the terrific highland location, add in a storm, a virtual empty hotel and a puzzling locked hotel mystery and I’m all in! There’s suspicion from the beginning not just the Gaines dilemma but also of the two guests. You flip flop constantly between believing one over the other but the author has plenty of surprises in store as he hits the reader on several occasions with the unexpected. The fear factor grows, it becomes perilous, the tension is taut and you get cold chills and not just from the storm which will have the last word.

Remies background adds a very good element of dysfunction and she proves to be a worthy opponent in the constantly changing discovery landscape as danger closes in.

This is a very good read there’s no question but it does get a bit confusing with identities so you need to keep up! The pace does occasionally drop off as it is a bit too descriptive in places but these parts are not unenjoyable. I do get a bit irritated by Remies constant repetition of her plans being disrupted. Yes, got it!!

Overall though, this is a very good take on this kind of mystery. The conclusion is dramatic which I like and especially the good touch of humour right at the end! Nice one!

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Little Brown Book Group for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Post on GR/Twitter on 5/1/23
On Waterstones and Amazon on 19/1/23

This book had me continuously second guessing myself. As soon as I thought I knew who was who, something happened to make me reconsider. It started a little slow, but then everything started happening and I started reading it faster. The plot carried me along with the dangers of not only the escaped prisoner but of the storm outside. It also had enough back story of the main character to explain her actions

Read this book it one day - just couldn't put it down! Would definitely recommend!

Two visitors arrive at a remote Scottish hotel in the middle of a blizzard - injured and both claiming to be PC Don Gaines . On her last shift before she sets off on a plane for a new life, Remie is the only member of staff on duty, with the last few guests before the hotel closes for the season. To add to this, a guest is missing, phone lines are down and now two injured men - a policeman and a convict from the local prison - have arrived. One of them is lying - but who?

A fabulous read with twists and turns of WhoDunnit! The connection of the back story of Remie was a fabulous interaction which pulled it all together.

Can't wait to read more from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown Books UK Sphere for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

A compelling read that I really enjoyed.

The initial description of the remote hotel in the snowstorm was giving me The Shining/ Overlook Hotel vibes. There’s even an issue in the basement with the hearing system (water rather than overheating). This isn’t a horror story, but the sense of isolation and the idea that the building itself isn’t a place of safety is used to equally good effect.

The characters are well shaped, Remi in particular feels very genuine. Her backstory as it’s revealed backs up her actions throughout the book.

While the circumstances of the location and snowstorm go a long way towards justifying the decisions made by characters, there’s a leap of faith needed to explain why Remi is able to initially compartmentalise her interactions with both of the strangers to treat them both as the police officer they claim to be and accept their claim that the other is the prisoner. It’s the only real point of weakness and it did take an effort of will to accept this at face value, so if you struggle with that too I’d urge you to persevere because overall the plotting and pace as the book progresses is worth overlooking this.

Ooh this one sent chills down my spine. Imagine you're the only member of staff left at a desolate hotel in the Scottish highlands in the middle of a storm, the season's coming to a close and the two remaining guests are leaving tomorrow morning when the hotel shuts for refurbishment. Through the howling of the wind you hear the sirens going off at a nearby prison. Your first indication that somethings gone horribly wrong is when an injured police officer arrives at the hotel asking for help and tells you that he was injured in a vehicle accident from which the prisoner absconded, not long afterwards another police officer arrives at reception claiming to be the same officer you've already let in.

The premise grabbed me from the start, the scene setting, atmosphere and sense of foreboding was good, the plot was intriguing and I ripped through the first few chapters of this one, I did feel it lost pace slightly in the middle but its still a really good read and one I'd totally recommend.

My thanks to Little Brown Book Group and NetGalley for the advance copy for review, I was under no obligation and all opinions expressed are my own.

Intruiging set-up - part personal drama part 'The Shining'. As per my rating - I enjoyed some of the book, but there were parts I really didn't. No spoilers. It starts stronger than it finishes and more depth to the story would lead to a better reading experience.

I totally loved this book. But then again, what's not to...Scotland, winter, storm Ezra, an eerily empty hotel and a murderer. Whilst there are so so many thrillers set in snow there is nothing cliche about this book. The pace from the beginning had me hooked, the plot twists varied throughout, and despite there being minimal characters, I was still trying to guess 'who dunnit' almost until the end. Alongside likeable characters and a plot full of intrigue and depth, the ending was perfect in my eyes. I will definitely be looking out for Martin Griffin's next release. Thanks netgalley for the opportunity to read this.

The Second Stranger both starts and finishes well, however, despite a very good main storyline, I felt it dipped slightly in intensity during the middle of the book with things seeming to drag a little.

Overall though I enjoyed the book and whilst this was the first book that I have read by Martin Griffin I will look out for future books.