An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena
AN UNWANTED GUEST
by SHARI LAPENA
This is Shari Lapena's third novel and it certainly did not disappoint! Having devoured both Lapena's previous novels which centre around more domestic situations, I was intrigued to read that this story is set in a remote location and focuses on a wider cast of characters. It is a different kind of premise from the first two books, and one I'm pleased to say worked brilliantly, showing that Lapena is definitely a writer to watch and one with plenty of potential.
And, quite frankly, who can resist a story about a group of guests who find themselves stranded in their hotel in the middle of nowhere and then one of them is murdered.....!
Even though I read this in the middle of a heatwave, Lapena effectively pulls the reader into the wintery, isolated setting of Mitchell's Inn, which sits deep in the forest where the guests are arriving for a relaxing weekend away from the stresses of their modern lives. Almost as soon as the last guest has arrived, the weather worsens and with a violent storm raging outside, they find themselves cut off from the rest of the world. No one can get in. No one can get out. Immediately I was reminded of Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None', 'The Mousetrap' and Stephen King's 'The Shining'.
I was hooked.
The story unfolds over the course of the weekend and we are reminded of the day and the time at the beginning of a new section or chapter. This builds tension as well as a sense of claustrophobia. It's a simple but effective technique which also allows the author to look at the situation from several different points of view in quick succession. It encourages the reader to look out for clues, spot discrepancies and start to distrust the characters while following them around the hotel and watching them interact with other characters.
There were some fantastic passages about sleep when the guests were lying in bed at night, which conveyed the sense of fear, unease and restlessness amongst the guests as things start to become more dangerous and menacing. I loved how Lapena exploited that moment of drifting off to sleep and the ambiguity between what might be real - or happening in the last few moments of reality - and what is a dream. It's in paragraphs like this that Lapena's writing really shines.
The prose is taut. Often sentences are short and tight to capture the thought process of a character or to lay some information clearly to the reader. I liked this. It conveys the dynamics between certain characters and the hidden tension which lingers in the air. It also helps to allude to deeper, darker issues hiding within the characters. It creates an effective atmosphere of unrest, being unsettled and jumpy - which is perfect in a hotel where people are trapped together knowing one of them is a murderer...
'You think that one of us is the murderer?'
''It's possible,' David says.
'But that's absurd....You seem to think that almost anybody is capable of murder. Murderers are not normal people.'
The plot is very well judged and rattles along at a great pace - fast enough to maintain the necessary suspense, tension and growing danger required in a murder mystery, yet with enough time spent fleshing out each character and giving the reader enough insight and information so the story is convincing yet full of surprises. The plot is managed with confidence so the reader is fully immersed in the action throughout. The ending if extremely clever and chilling!
It was exciting to read this novel as it felt different from Lapena's previous titles, yet it still retained plenty of clever characterisation and the delicious creation of an ominous atmosphere which has always been my favourite part of her stories. Although she draws on several influences from the classics, it feels fresh and original. It's a great murder mystery, an atmospheric thriller and a great piece of storytelling! I recommend!
An Unwanted Guest is published by Bantam Press on 26th July.
My thanks to the publisher for a copy of the novel and to Anne Cater for an invitation to join the blog tour.
Don't miss the other reviews and stops on the Blog Tour!
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