This book has me hooked! So many twists and turns. Great characters. Cooper and Oli’s relationship was fun to read. Sarah Bailey is one of my auto buy Australian authors and this book did not disappoint.

very much a who done it thriller and I liked it. It kept me guessing with multiple twists and I didn't call any of them. Overall I enjoyed it but mainly because I liked Sarah Bailey's writing style.

I love Sarah Bailey! The Houesmate is a perfect Bailey standalone thriller/mystery. It was full of twists and read in a split timeline that had me not wanting to put it down to get to the end.

This was a DNF for me - sorry. I just couldn't get into it, as the characters were just so hard to like or relate to. I just found it impossible to engage with the story, apologies.

I love the podcast trope and also the cold case trope, so this book immediately had my attention. I was very impressed with this book and I will be reading more from this author. The ending was so good and I never would have expected it!

We are treated with a dual timeline for this book. Journalist, Oli is the lead reporter on a murder case, fast forward 9 years and one of the victims who everyone presumed dead, rocks up actually dead in the remote setting she has been hiding in. Oli is on the case again, but this time she's partnered up with a young pod caster named Cooper. Assigned for his photography skills, Oli struggles with his somewhat millennial perspective. We get a deep insight into Oli's trauma and personal struggles which is what makes her character relatable. Blended with her relentless obsession for this case, her character is compelling. Bailey expertly creates the era of suspense with perfectly placed, thrilling twists that will leave you questioning the truth and deception. Bailey creates intricately crafted characters and expertly writes from each perspective. The book is captivating, suspenseful and thrilling at all angles.

The Housemate by Sarah Bailey is an utterly captivating, twist-filled thriller that kept me hooked from start to finish. 📖💥 With its complex characters and a case full of dark secrets, this book is a thrilling ride from the first page to the last.

What I loved most about this novel was the way Bailey seamlessly intertwined Olive’s personal journey with the larger mystery. Olive, a journalist grappling with past traumas, is the perfect protagonist for this case. Her obsession with the housemate homicide, combined with her emotional struggles, made her a relatable and deeply compelling character. Her partnership with the young podcaster Cooper Ng added an interesting dynamic, blending her experience with his modern, millennial perspective. 📡🔍

The investigation into the deaths of the housemates was gripping. The twists came at just the right moments, and I found myself questioning everything as new facts were revealed. The way the story slowly peeled back layers of secrets was masterfully done, making the suspense feel unbearable at times. 🕵️‍♀️🔪 Bailey does a fantastic job of keeping the reader on edge, never quite knowing who to trust and what truly happened that night.

If you’re a fan of dark, suspenseful thrillers with a rich, emotional storyline and plenty of twists, The Housemate Homicide is a must-read. ✅📚 It’s an intense, thought-provoking book that will leave you questioning the line between truth and deception long after you finish it. Highly recommended!

This book had a great plot with intriguing characters. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this author.

This book was fine. The mystery aspect of it was awesome, the twists were great, and most of the characters were likeable. Unfortunately it took a long time for me to like the main character. She seemed very self absorbed and irritating. By the end I tolerated her. The mystery was extremely well done and I would definitely read more books by this author.

A standalone from the author of the well-known Gemma Woodstock series, THE HOUSEMATE is a story told in two timelines. Back to nine years ago when three housemates were sharing a property, one of them is killed, one goes missing, one is accused of murder. The current timeline sees journalist Oli Groves, who worked on the original murder story as a junior reporter, still a reporter, drawn back to a case she has always been obsessed with, when the missing housemate turns up, possibly as a suicide, at a Dandenong Ranges property.

The basis of this story is an intriguing one. The reasons for the three housemates supposed falling out was never really explained, their lives at the time of the murder never fleshed out, the missing girl never located. The problem is now the housemate accused of murder is out of jail, the missing girl is assumed dead by suicide, and there's something in the past that everyone's trying to keep quiet. Cue Oli back on the case, only this time, reporting has changed, and the paper she is working for have decided that podcasting is the new thing, so Oli is paired up with Cooper Ng, a young, relentlessly cheerful millennial producer. These two are destined to clash, and yet they might also be able to find a way to work together.

That is if Oli can dig herself out of the personal mess that she's buried herself in, and her obsessive nature. Engaged now, to the widower of the original police detective on "The Housemate" case, who was killed in a mysterious hit and run leaving her husband with two small twin daughters to raise. Only he was having an affair with Oli in the past, she was in a relationship with one of the cops that's now on the case, the twins are now older, and he mostly seems to be looking for a live in childcare provider, or something that certainly doesn't feel right. The personal story in this is novel is BIG, and it's complicated, messy and more than a bit overwhelming. In fact, I wouldn't recommend THE HOUSEMATE to anybody with an allergy to huge chunks of personal angst. Needless to say, the ex-boyfriend's the good bloke, the fiance a controlling creep, and Oli seems to be unable to sort out her feelings about the personal or professional. There are times when Ng's relentless upbeatness is a bit of a relief to be honest.

In amongst all the personal stuff there is a crime story lurking, with the story leading up to the original murder likely to explain the current housemate death. Or not. There are plenty of red herrings, complications, missteps and misleading elements in there - more than enough to keep a reader guessing. That aspect of the story was interesting, and cleverly constructed, but for this reader, not quite cleverly enough to have it rise beyond the soap opera threatening to subsume it.

Evelyn Stanley is accused of murdering her close friend Alex Riboni, a horrific crime. Along with their friend Nicole Horrowitz, the three girls were university students and the best of friends sharing a house together. I love a good murder mystery thriller - but this one was a little slow to start for me. I felt like some things were implied that weren’t fully explained so there were times I felt lost.

This is the first book I’ve read by Sarah Bailey and I’m always happy to support an Australian author. Thank you to Netgalley & Datura Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Rating: 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4 stars)

An intriguing thriller. I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher.

We have a thriller set in Australia with two timelines set a few years apart. The earlier story, the immediate events of a murder of one of three housemates. The later, the case resurfaces with new information and events bringing it back to front of mind for Oli, a journalist and our main character.

To be honest, the case itself unveiled a bit slowly for me and I didn’t find as interesting as I expected. What I did find engaging though was the storyline of the podcast surrounding the case, and the conflict in Oli’s personal life.

Oli is now living with what she feels is her dream man, and his two daughters. His wife, the investigating officer of the case in question, was killed. Oli feels she should be happy and grateful for her new life but she’s struggling with her partner’s continual requests for her to give up her career to to look after his kids and take care of the house more. With such a big story in progress she needs to work more, but she’s forced into a spiral of guilt due to the continual hints that she should be putting the family first, and given the money that her partner makes, there’s no need for her to be working. Oli’s inner conflict here and growing unease was the most interesting thing in the book. Her concerns about having her identity chipped away at, her feelings like she doesn’t quite fit in with her new life, those were the moments that were truly engrossing.

A fascinating character study that would have been truly thrilling with a bit more pace around the central investigation.

Melbourne-based journalist Olive Groves was a junior reporter when she worked on "The Housemate Homicide", which saw one young woman dead, one missing and the other convicted of murder. Now, almost a decade later, the missing housemate turns up dead on a remote property, and Oli is once again assigned to the story, this time reluctantly paired with precocious millennial podcaster Cooper Ng.

Even though I was very intrigued by the plot, I definitely found this to be a bit of a slow burn. It took me a lot to get into the story, and I struggled to get through a lot of it. I did find it interesting, and I was very curious to see where the story would go, but it did feel long and confusing at times, with way too many characters to keep track of. That said, the story did take a direction I did not see coming, and some of the twists really got me, which I always appreciate, and the ending tied up everything pretty nicely. I do think it's worth the read, especially if you enjoy an insightful perspective on investigative journalism and that whole world.

Many thanks to Datura & NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

I received this book free from netgalley!

The Housemate by Sarah Bailey has two timelines. One, which is minimal, follows Alex after the murder of her "housemate" Evelyn and gives some context to her movements. The main timeline follows Olive Groves, or "Oli" a reporter who originally reported on the "Housemate Homicide" when it first occurred ten years ago. She is to report again on this after the body of a woman at a rural home is found. She is also set to work with a young podcaster named Cooper. She starts investigating and remembering and uncovering things both professionally and in her personal life.

What I loved! I loved the character of Oli, even though she is still flawed. The hints of her past growing up and when the "Housemate Homicide" first happened give her a depth that otherwise would be missing. She is still affected by her past and can feel her trauma both from her childhood and from her previous relationship with her fiancé. The mystery of the "Housemate Homicide" is good! I love the idea-three mysterious girls, roommates even, that lived together until one fateful night when one died, one went to prison and one went missing. And there just keeps getting more layers revealed.

What didn't work as well for me. Reading this as an American reader and not an Australian one kept throwing me out of the groove of reading. This is no fault of the author but some of the word choices I had to stop and figure out what they meant. Also, the lack of characterization for anyone other than Oli was minimal and that made it hard for me to feel any connection. There was her ex-boyfriend, her fiance, her editor, her colleague, her mother, her sister, and the junior podcaster. Only one of those felt developed at all. Maybe because of the nature of her independent work, but it made it hard to know these characters. Also, the ending felt rushed.

Overall, the book kept me reading and wondering with a sort of overall sense of dread for what she was going to find, and for good reason!

This was such a hard book to read. Too many characters and I felt like I had a hard time keeping up with the time lapse changes without much explanation. It skipped around a lot and it seemed like there were lots of holes. Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish it.

I sure enjoyed this thrilling novel of murder, secrets, lies, kidnapping, and a great investigative journalist, Olive "Oli" Groves as it goes from present to past and back again in a twisty way that makes for a fun read!

I am thoroughly enjoying the thrillers and such that are based in Australia. It adds a nice flavor to the mix. With the main point of view being Oli, the reader gets a good source of information, leading back years as she was a journalist then too when the Housemate Homicide took place. And she is pretty reliable as a narrator while digging deep to find the truth about what took place when Evelyn was killed and how it actually relates to so much more in a convoluted and twisty story that kept me glued to the book. There are several other interesting characters too, including the irrepressible Cooper, and officer Rusty, a good source of info and past love interest of Oli.

I really admire Oli in this story because she is dealing with new ways at work, issues with her fiancé and doubts what she wants for her future as well as delving into the past to find answers to the murders back then and now.

This was a fun and thrilling book to read and I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read and review it. I definitely will be looking up other books by this author to read!

A bit of a slow start but once this book gets going it's really difficult to put down. Absolutely loved, lots of twists and turns and deep dark mysteries.

This was a great twisty thriller with shocks and turns galore! I do like the format of an investigative journalist being the main character, the one in this case being Oli, a journalist who had reported on the Housemate Homicide nine years ago but now dives back in when the missing housemate, Nicole turns up dead. There are lots of red herrings, twists, lies, and secrets to uncover to get to the bottom of the case, hopefully before anyone else ends up dead! Oli and Cooper were such a good duo in this book and they were good foils for the past of paper journalism and the future of podcasts.

Sarah Bailey did a good job of making Oli feel very real, with smarts, feelings, confusion, and nicely likable because she is not perfect and she does make mistakes but tries her best. She was a great protagonist and fun to travel with while she deduces and digs up the past with tendrils to other cases too.

I enjoyed reading this and a big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and reviews this novel!

THE HOUSEMATE BY SARAH BAILEY.
Release date set for the 25th of February 2025.

WELL WELL WELL......

3 Housemates
1 Dead
1 Missing
1 Accused of murder

This is a crazy crime thriller mystery.
I thought it was very well written and all came together really good

Really good read. It was my first book by this author and i definitely plan on reading more !!! Four stars!!!