Loved this book, as usual Luca Veste never fails to give a book difficult to put down! After Ben is killed, his mum needs to try to find who did this as she thinks the police wouldn’t be able to do anything as they failed to find the person responsible for the previous 2 people murdered under similar circumstances all of who seem to be related to her son via his ex girlfriend Mia.

Slow burn books are not my usual read, but when it's a writer like Luca Veste, you have to give it a go, right?!

Luca has written a cast of excellent characters who are well-rounded and believable.

Personally, I would have preferred a faster-paced book with a little more tension, but that is purely personal prefernce.

If you like a book that slowly builds tension to a grand finale, then this is the book for you!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the chance to read this ARC.

This was a good book, better than I've read in a while but I was still a but disappointed with the ending. I just thought it was too far fetched.

But still worth a read! Would love to read more of Luca Veste's books.

A good well written thriller that has plenty of twists and an ending that you don't see coming. Good characters, well plotted and will keep you up till the end. Though not as fast paced as Luca's other books I would recommend this book. Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for this review ARC

What would you do if your son has been brutally murdered and you think you know who did it?
The Stranger In The Room is a poignant, gritty fast paced read with themes of grief, mental health issues, teen behaviour, bullying, social media dangers and more.
Alison Lennon is convinced she knows who killed her son and Mia Johnstone, his 18 year old ex girlfriend is equally adamant that she didn't

I found the plotting in this impeccable. Told from various viewpoints ,each one an unreliable narrator, Veste skillfully drops red herrings , leading us up and down paths where we're never quite certain which way to turn.
The characters are well drawn and this is a chilling read, with an whopper of a surprising ending. Twisty, twisty, twisty - just how I like them
Absolutely loved this and an easy 5* from me.

The Stranger in the Room by Luca Veste was a cracking psychological thriller from start to finish especially as it was cleverly written and told in different points of view, Alison, is the murdered teenager’s mum and then moving to the mind of the dead boy’s girlfriend Mia, who is a prime suspect and will have you guessing till the end, especially as its full of cleaver twists and turns that will have you changing your mind who it is several times!

I loved this book and a great read for a rainy day outside sitting in your comfy chair in the warm or your holiday.

I highly recommend The Stranger in the room. 5 star read.

A new Luca Veste novel is always a reason for excitement. And "The Stranger in the Room" lived upto all of my expectations.
Our story is told from multiple viewpoints but begins with the tragic murder of eighteen-year old Ben, Ben's death is the third murder in his small town in less than a year, and should be gaining the attention of the police but instead they dismiss his death as a mugging gone wrong. And from the PoV of Alison, Ben's mother, these deaths are all linked and the police need to continue their investigation. Another PoV comes from Mia, who is Ben's on/off girlfriend and clearly knows more than she has told the police. But as the storyline unfolds, we slowly learn that many of the characters have secrets and the multiple PoV allow us to understand their emotions and motivations.
This is a slow-burn revelation but absolutely worth reading.

Ben is 18 years old and is bludgeoned to death, the third murder in a small town in a year. His mother wants to see justice done but the police don't seem to be chasing up the information that she has given them, the link between the three victims. Mia has something to hide but she is not the only person who knows more than they are saying about these deaths.
I have read so many positive reviews about Veste's work so I know he is well-regarded within the genre and I was looking forward to reading this book. It's a psychological thriller but the answers were flagged up from early on, the twist is not much of a twist and I found the characters annoying rather than sympathetic. OK, this is a very personal opinion, and I'm not a great fan of the domestic psychological thriller but it really didn't excite me.

Eighteen year old Ben Lennon was on his way home from a night out in the early hours of the morning when he was brutally murdered. The police believe it was a random mugging gone wrong, due to his phone and watch being stolen, but his wallet wasn't taken. When his parents are informed their world falls apart, but Alison is certain this wasn't random because he isn't the first victim, there have been three deaths in the last eighteen months and each of the victims were close to Mia, Ben's girlfriend and Alison is convinced that Mia killed her son. Was it her or is someone else involved, Alison is determined to get to the truth.

The Stranger in the Room is told from multiple perspectives but concentrates mainly on Alison's grief over losing her son and Mia's secretive nature over what she knows about the deaths of her teacher, Mr Fulton, Becky and Ben. It's a compelling read, with some great twists along the way and, with Alison going all vigilante trying to find the person responsible, portrays how far a parent will go to find justice for their child when they don't feel the police are doing enough. It's an intriguing read with some characters that didn't endear themselves to me at all throughout the book. I kind of guessed who the perpetrator was but the author still brought a twist to the final reveal which I wasn't expecting. Another great read from Veste.

I'd like to thank Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the approval, I will post my review on Amazon and Goodreads.

I discovered this author's books approximately 10 years ago now, and devoured the Detective Murphy & Rossi series. His subsequent books haven't grabbed me quite so much, but this one felt like a move back to those early crime detective tales so suited me very well.

The story covers the emotions felt by the family of teenage murder victim Ben Lennon who was killed a short distance from his home after an evening with friends. A recent split from girlfriend Mia is front and centre in mum Alison's mind, especially as the young girl was featured in local rumours surrounding two previous killings in the preceding months - but why aren't the police investigating her? In Alison's mind it's obvious they need to be arresting her as prime suspect, so when this doesn't figure as even a strong line of questioning Alison decides to take things into her own hands.

The reader is privy to insights from various characters some of which help clarify events, others purely following the rumours that are rife in the local area. The growing rift between Ben's parents is explored and the extra strain Ben's death puts on this fractured relationship does nothing to bring the two of them together. Ben's sister is very much left to deal with her grief alone as the parents battle rages on. But they would do well to take some time to listen to their daughter, because siblings often know far more about each other's lives than the parents would ever imagine.

The whole book felt very real, the emotions raw, and frustrations with how long the police were taking to make any progress came across strongly - and how the different individuals coped with the whole situation was extremely well delivered.

I feel the author has returned to what he writes best with this book. More of the same please, Mr Veste!

i was so intrigued by this. thinking what would you do if you had someone you loved die. or rather murdered? i think you could easily so how as a mother youd simply become obsessed. how would you leave it to the police?
i know id be asking questions at all times. and id be trying to find out anything i could. especially if i had my own ideas of who the culprit was. but you can see how much training goes into these things when you see someone without it trying to investigate. but then weve also seen the darker sie of when police investigate these things and dont listen to others telling them vital info. its so hard! and that is what leant me to being addicted to this book and needing to know what happens. i never look at a crime book and really try to solve it? im given clues from the author and i bite and wonder of course. but as far as really doing some cludo work to figure it out i know ill only fail. im far to emotive,ha.
a great book. the different character angels helped build the story well. as there is never really one side to every story and more not always one CORRECT version of events.

The Stranger In The Room by Luca Best, it seems everyone who has an issue with Mia, winds up dead. The last one to die was Anna’s son and she is determined to learn the truth about what happened to Ben. I enjoyed this book. I liked the writing style was surprised by the ending, but there were a few things in the story that threw me. For example, maybe I’m wrong, but I thought Anna‘s husband seemed like he cared about her and was just doing what he knew to do and thought Anna accusing him of being weak really was wrong with her, not to mention her outright obsession over Mia. Also, how can the neighbors say things like that didn’t happen in the neighborhood when hello what about Rebecca? I mean I get that the teacher was in the next town over but still? Clearly it did happen in their neck of the woods. I did think Anna’s investigation was written very well in the book and turned out just like as if someone really tried to investigate a murder despite they had no training. I do want to know why the book had the title it did what room and what stranger? Either way if you like good mysteries, then you may like this book. I thought I was going to love it and I didn’t but I did like it a lot. #NetGalley, #LucaVest, #TheStrangerInTheRoom,#HodderAndStoughton,

Alison receives the news that her son Ben has been murdered. Mia, Ben’s girlfriend, should be enjoying life but realises that her boyfriend is the third person close to her who has been killed. Alison believes that Mia had something to do with the murder. Is someone trying to hide the truth?

This was an interesting read with an intriguing mystery at the centre. The story was told in different points of view, which although helped build the story, could sometimes be hard to differentiate between. I could understand the character’s anguish and this added an intensity to the story.

The overall mystery is tightly plotted, however I did find the majority of the story overly slow with too much focus on the small details. It starts to pick up toward the end and there were some surprises, however I found that I had to suspend disbelief at times. This was a good story overall, however not one I will remember. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

I have loved reading Luca Veste's other books and I enjoyed this one just as much, it kept my attention all the way through.

Luca Veste is one of my favourite authors and I think this is now one of my favourite of his releases.

When Ben is killed on his way home from a night out, at first it looks like a random attack. It was late, it was dark, and he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Ben's Mother Alison thinks that there is more to it.

She thinks that Mia, Ben's ex-girlfriend is responsible for his death. It seems like too much of a coincidence after other recent murders in the previously quiet and relatively crime free town where they reside.

The Police urge Alison to let them do their thing, they have a number of lines of enquiry and don't need a grieving Mother meddling in the investigation.

But Alison can't help herself and is in danger of jeopardising the entire investigation with her fixation on her son's ex-girlfriend.

Is Mia really a killer, or it someone even closer to home?

As further evidence is found, Alison must question everything that she thought she knew in order to find the truth.

The reality will be devastating, but at least she will have closure for Ben.

I don't want to say too much more, and this review I'm aware isn't as detailed as some as I have written, but I really don't want to give anything away, and need you to discover this gem for yourselves!

3.5 stars
This is a good crime/psychological thriller but is not as fast paced as some of this author’s other books.
Alison is devastated when she’s told her son has been killed. She immediately suspects his on/off girlfriend Mia but the Police don’t seem interested in her.
Alison starts asking her own questions but this leads her closer and closer to danger.
There’s quite a lot of chapters where it’s more about the characters thoughts, than any action but the story picks up the pace towards the end.
Overall a good read but you need to stick with it.
Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for the opportunity to read this book.

Alison’s son is murdered on his way home one night. She is sure it’s his ex girlfriend. While the ending was a shock, I did not think this book was interesting. Kind of slow and nothing to hold my attention

Very slow going and a bit confusing as I did not know who was talking in each chapter.
Alison`s son Ben is murdered after a night out, his mother is determined it`s his ex girlfriend Mia but detectives don`t seem to listen to her so she starts to investigate herself.
A good twist to the end.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC and I give my honest review.

Wow! What a book to start the year on. This has everything you could want from a thriller. It's so well written that I was completely invested and couldn't wait to see what happened next. The story is well plotted out and builds up gradually to an amazing climax. There are some really good twists I didn't see coming and I was kept on my toes. It's written from kultiple povs and is actually pretty creepy in parts. It definitely gets under you skin and I couldnt wait to see how it all ended. Really good read

When Alison's son Ben is attacked and killed on his way home from a night out, she is determined to find out who is responsible and fixes her sights on his ex-girlfriend Mia. If the rumours are to be believed she is responsible for two other deaths in the area with the last couple of years.
When Alison does find out the truth, will she be able to handle it? Wil she be able to face the truth about her son?
A good pacey read.