Blog Tour and my review of An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena

Blog Tour and my review of An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena. Published by Bantam Press at Transworld publishers it is out on 26th July in Hardback.

My Review:

Welcome to the blog tour for An Unwanted guest, the new book by Shari Lapena author of twisty thrillers including the gripping book The Couple Next Door.

Come in out of the snow, pull up a chair in front of a roaring fire and settle down for this twisty and puzzling thriller. (I know it’s still summer and this is a great holiday read, but its also one perfect winter read to look forward to as the nights draw in)

This book is like a game of Consequences (I hope you used to play that party game when you were young or this isn’t a great start to my review)

Cluedo meets Agatha Christie at the Hotel from the Shining, people die in mysterious circumstances, nobody knows who they can trust and the consequence is … everybody suspects each other of murder.

Well, that sums it up quite nicely I think. It’s an out and out Whodunnit, which don't always float my boat but the author does it so very well you just get sucked right in and go along for the scary ride.

The tension builds nicely as the guests arrive at the remote hotel amidst a whiteout blizzard and find the hostelry staffed only by the owner and his son. They are all rapidly stranded and as the electricity fails and the disparate bunch of guests get to know one another, we begin to feel shivers, not just from the bitter cold weather, or the beautiful but chilling ice house in the grounds, but as realization dawns that there is a killer amongst this small group.

We get just the right amount of background on each guest to feel we are getting to know them, yet enough is left out to make sure we harbour doubts and suspect everyone in turn as things so from bad to worse, to absolutely terrible.

Plenty of curved balls are thrown at the reader to divert and distract us and the whole book is delightfully entertaining and creepy.

Great for thriller aficionados and readers who like to examine characters motives and flaws, whilst trying to guess who did what to whom and why!



The Blurb

We can’t choose the strangers we meet.

As the guests arrive at beautiful, remote Mitchell’s Inn, they’re all looking forward to a relaxing weekend deep in the forest, miles from anywhere. They watch their fellow guests with interest, from a polite distance. 

Usually we can avoid the people who make us nervous, make us afraid.

With a violent storm raging, the group finds itself completely cut off from the outside world. Nobody can get in – or out. And then the first body is found . . . and the horrifying truth comes to light. There’s a killer among them – and nowhere to run. 


Until we find ourselves in a situation we can’t escape. Trapped.

My thanks to #RandomThingsTours for my copy.

Buy yours now on Amazon and all good booksellers.