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.

This is one of the best Psychological Thrillers ive read for a long time. I found it a very strong and powerful book and storyline, quite scary in places.
The characters were very strong and emotional. Found it hard to put down, read quickly and enjoyed the ending but left wanting more.

When Alison Lennon’s son, Ben, is killed in what first appears to have been a random attack, thoughts soon emerge of two other recent murders. In a place where crime is minimal, why have no links been made between the three deaths? Alison thinks she knows the link – Mia Johnstone – Ben’s girlfriend. Determined to find out the truth, much to the despair of the detectives investigating her son’s death, Alison makes it her mission to uncover what really happened. Mia, on the other hand, needs to try to convince everyone that she had nothing to do with any of it…

The Stranger in the Room is a psychological thriller from the author of The Bone Keeper, The Six and the fantastic Murphy & Rossi series. Told mainly from the points of view of the victim’s mother and girlfriend, we see how the tragic event has affected those closest to him and how their responses couldn’t be more different. Alison is a grieving mother, hellbent on finding out the truth no matter what the consequences of her actions may be whereas Mia has totally different motives. Has she been totally honest about what happened that night and why do people she has connections to keep dying? Mia has a different truth she wants to uncover.

Luca Veste has done a great job in creating a tense plot, leaving the reader to try to work out whether Mia is the killer or whether there is something else at play. He throws in plenty of curveballs along the way including an ending that I did not see coming. While this is not an action-packed plot, it does not need to be. The focus is on the storytelling and how grief affects actions, something the other has done successfully.

Another great read from Luca Veste – highly recommended.

Thank you to the author, publishers Hodder and Stoughton and NetGalley UK for access to this as an advance reader’s ebook. This is an honest and voluntary review.

When the third person who 18-year-old Mia has wished dead is murdered, it’s not just her who sees the possible connection. The mother of the latest victim suspects that Mia is responsible and doesn’t want to wait for the police investigation to reach a conclusion.

There are three, really four, perspectives this story is told from. The first person narrator is Alison, mother of Ben who is murdered in the opening pages. Alison is unhappy in her marriage, distraught at her son’s violent death, and unwilling to sit back and wait for the investigation to conclude. She turns amateur detective, and while she’s sometimes frustrating in what she ignores that doesn’t fit her narrative, the author delivers that aspect of her character in a way which is believable and easy to sympathise with.

The second main perspective we see is that of Mia. From the start she’s clearly an unreliable narrator. Told in third person she nevertheless is clear that she’s keeping secrets, but she’s also going through a difficult time as suspicions and gossip fall on her and she remains largely sympathetic.

Thirdly we have the lead detective. This is where the splitting of the narrative attention starts to work against the story. There are interesting elements of the detective who doesn’t see the police as more than a job, but remains committed and professional. Even when the actions of the victim’s mother tread impact on the investigation. It would have been nice to have seem her character developed more and to have a bugger influence on the plot than some occasional pieces of marriage guidance advice to the victim’s mother.

Then there’s ‘them’ the perspective of the assumed and unidentified at that stage killer. From memory there’s only one chapter from their perspective, and I’m not entirely sure what that contributed to the plot.

Plot-wise there is a lot to like here, and there’s a reasonable build up to the conclusion. It’s both surprising enough and guessable enough to make a satisfying conclusion to a whodunnit. And with a more focussed middle to the narrative it would have been even better.

After meeting Luca at a book event I’ve wanted to read more of his books.
This one, about a number of deaths in a small area, had me intrigued.
When Ben is killed in the street, his mother is desperate for answers. His on/off girlfriend, Mia, is left reeling and comes under suspicion.
This book had a number of twists and turns and kept me hooked til the end.
Will be looking for Luca’s back catalogue now!

Luca Veste has written many excellent crime novels and “Stranger in the Room” is no exception.
Told from the point of view of Alison, a murdered teenager’s mother and then shifting to the mind of the dead boy’s girlfriend Mia who is a prime suspect, this is an extremely twisty thriller in every sense of the term!
The police don’t know where to look, despite Alison’s conviction that Mia is the culprit. Another teenager, Becky has also died as well as a teacher at their school. All have connections to Mia but is she the perpetrator?
This was such a clever book with such a twisty plot that I really didn’t know who to suspect. Was it the obvious answer or was there someone else.
I don’t want to reveal too much as it will spoil the enjoyment of the story but suffice it to say the tension never lets up until the very last page.
The characters are extremely well drawn- you could feel Alison’s frustration and Mia’s possible confusion but it is clear she is holding something back. Beware of unreliable narrators- there are several in this book!
However none of the characters seem to have much empathy including Alison who shows little regard for the rest of her family as her quest to find the killer takes over her life.
This is definitely a five star read which I highly recommend. It certainly kept me engrossed on a holiday flight!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy.

I really enjoy books by the author but not so much this one. It is told from multiple points of view, which worked up to a point but the pacing was very slow and irritated me at times. There was a lot of emotion throughout, especially from Alison whose son Ben was murdered and the plotting is quite intricate. I didn't like the ending but overall, it is a good read. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

Told manly by Alison’s POV with others included as the story progresses
As the story unfolds, you can feel every emotion generating from the characters as they mourned the loss of their loved ones.
As the author always does, you are pulled into everyone’s secrets and lies and truly left wondering just who is guilty. Alison is a strong but at times complex character who will fight with all she has to find the person responsible for her son’s murder.
I found this read to be a more emotional one compared to the authors' other books but written perfectly.
The revelation was totally unexpected for me, and the extra twist was a brilliant bonus.
RECOMMEND
Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the ARC.

Great book. Kept me on the edge of my seat waiting for the next twist or turn. You will keep turning the pages until you are finished.

When Alison’s 18 year old son Ben is murdered on his way home from a night out she is convinced it is linked to two other deaths in their small community. The person she believes is responsible for all of the deaths is Mia, Ben’s ex-girlfriend.
Alison becomes increasingly frustrated with the Police’s investigation and the lack of progress, even when she points them in Mia’s direction. As well as the tension between Alison and the detectives investigating Ben’s death, there is also tension between Allison and her family.

The majority of the story is told from Alison’s POV in first person which helps to let the reader understand how she is feeling and the impact Ben’s death has had on her, whilst the other POV’s add to the plot and help keep up the intrigue and tension.

The reveal at the end came as a surprise and I enjoyed how the plot points all fitted into place.

Overall, a good psychological thriller with a lot of emotion.

I have eagerly awaited this book, having read Luca Veste's previous offerings. It was definitely worth the wait! I struggled to put it down, and wanted to snatch moments of reading it whenever I could.

I highly recommend this gripping novel.

The Stranger In The Room is a psychological thriller that intertwines the lives two families in dark and tragic circumstances, but not in a way of unity. In fact, the exact opposite. When Alison's son, Ben, is murdered, far from sharing her grief with his former girlfriend, Mia, she vehemently believes that Mia is responsible, both for his murder and for two other deaths that had previously rocked the small town in which they live. There is a very clear reason for her belief, something which becomes all the more apparent as Luca Veste slowly reveals the characters' and by extension, the towns' backstory, but surely nothing is quite as clear as it first appears. Alison is driven by grief - Mia is tortured by guilt, bit as to what drives that guilt ... well, that is what we need to find out. From the very beginning Luca Veste sets up the tension and that pulsing sense of threat - no good can ever come of someone walking down an alleyway late at night, no matter how close to home - and what follows is a tale of obsession, deception, and far more twists than you might at first expect.

The story is told from varying points of view. There is the first person narrative of Alison, whose determination to uncover what really happened to Ben drives much of the pace in the story. Then you have the third person perspective that provides us with insight not only into Mia's point of view, but also that of the Detective, Natalie, and her partner, Carter, who are tasked with finding out what happened. There are other characters who inform and redirect the narrative, but by focusing on these three main perspectives the author keeps the suspense and mystery alive. There is the conflict between what characters think they know, and what they simply suspect, and then the lies of omission that come from Mia unwittingly as she tried hard not to think about her potential role in all that has happened. The more we learn, the more the suspicion does fall upon Mia, but then again it is easy for Alison's first person voice to taint how we feel, a trick Luca Veste uses to excellent effect.

There are many twists in this story, and certain events and comments had me wondering about any number of suspects, including Mia's overprotective friend, Anna. There is a lot of contradiction and misdirection, and the pacing on the story waxes and wanes as the investigation progresses and then stalls. There is a vein of emotion driven by grief and anger that really comes through in the story, particularly when witnessing the way in which Alison reacts to events. Whilst perhaps a rather extreme reaction to her loss, the way in which the author has directed it maintains an air of authenticity as she understandably seeks to find an outlet for her anger and to be able to blame someone for her loss. I'm not sure how I would react in similar circumstances but her emotions are relatable, especially the guilt that builds in not being able to protect her child.

This is perhaps not as pacy as some of the author's previous novels, nor as laced with tension or threat. I found it to be more thoughtful and emotional, whilst still fed by an undercurrent of mystery. There are darker moments in the story, and the ultimate reveal of the killer is both surprising and not. It is a modern tragedy though, and the circumstances leading to Ben's murder, the escalation of online hatred for Mia, and the assumption of her guilt without anything but circumstantial evidence, are all too true to life.

Absolutely brilliant book!
I am a big fan of this author and love the writing style!
I cant wait to read more!

This is my first read by Luca Veste. The story started with a bang but somewhere I felt lost. It had multiple PoVs . The real focus was on Alison ,her grief and resentment is well detailed I actually felt for that character. On other hand Mia was a confusing character , didn't have much depth. I was hooked till the end of the story , it moved fast even with the drawbacks. Overall it was a decent read. I thank netgalley for the eARC copy.

I loved this book at the start , no messing about and the action soon started but in the middle somewhere I got a bit bored and got sick of the mother interfering and I just wanted to know who had done it . However I didn’t expect the ending and that was a surprise. I love the mention of Crewe and Nantwich where I live , didn’t expect that lol . All in all it was a good book and I think it will appeal to a lot of people. 4 stars from me and I would recommend it to my friends

I requested this book because I hoped for an intriguing storyline with characters with depth, or at least characters I could relate to. Sadly, I was a bit underwhelmed. The story is being told from different POV’s and sometimes I just couldn't remember who was telling what. There were also a lot of pages filled with just thoughts and no developments or actions.
I understand why three deaths in just eighteen months in a small community must be very unsettling, to say the least, but as soon as it’s clear that Ben was the third victim, there was a lot of talk about the first two murdered people. Only, in all that time the police haven’t been able to find useful clues and thus nobody was caught for these deaths. And this goes on and on.
The plot is not as straightforward as it seems and when new secrets come to light, there is a little more action and I enjoyed it better. Overall, I cannot rate it more than three stars but it is in fact two and a half upgraded to three.
Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for this review copy.

Superior plotting, an intense storyline and a multitude of genuinely unpleasant characters from a very clever writer indeed. Of course there's just a bit more to it than that but those are my immediate thoughts now I've given this, my first book from Luca Veste, time to settle in my subconscious. I have to admit to feeling some uneasiness when I was reading The Stranger in the Room and I found it hard to put my finger on the reason why; now, with hindsight, it really was because I couldn't feel empathy even with the family members of the murder victim and as I read on I realised - wow. This is so clever.. I had to justify the whole way I was reading this thriller in a way I probably hadn't done in a while. The subtleties are there but some of them crept up on me, and this made for a more unconventional approach than maybe I was expecting. Yes, I would have liked a sympathetic character to linger, come the denouement and for many readers one will, I'm sure, but I'm rather glad that I still felt rather unsettled.

Gripping, Suspenseful..
When a catalogue of murders occur there appears to be one common link - Mia Johnstone. Linked to all of the victims and only just eighteen, Mia should be preparing for her life ahead but, instead, she is thinking about the most recent killing- Ben, her own boyfriend and the third person close to her that is now dead. With a deftly drawn cast of characters, multiple perspectives and a pacy, unrelenting plot this is both a gripping and suspenseful read which will leave the reader questioning everything.

'The Stranger in the Room' is another excellent thriller from Luca Veste. When Alison's teenage son Ben is murdered she points the finger at his girlfriend Mia. It's told from different points of view and as each chapter enfolds we meet more twists and turns. No spoilers from me, just a 5 star recommendation to give it a read. Many thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for an arc.

At times this book was sad from my perspective as a mum. I couldn't blame her for not wanting to leave the investigation to the police, especially given how they had treated Becky's murder previously. I had my thoughts of who had done everything. I was partially right. What I wasn't expecting was the ending. A good read