I couldn't get in to thus book it Elias written in the present tense and in the first person which I find a bit disconcerting. I have enjoyed other books by thus author but I felt no connection with any of the characters.

Powerful wartime story of secrets and lies.

Kate Riordan's story is set in Cornwall, and throughout the remote location of Penhallow Hall looms darkly in the background.

The story is written a number of days in the past from when Diana, one of three landgirls billeted at the hall has gone missing and subsequently counts down to the day of her dissapearance.

Told from the perspective of each of the characters, Riordan really gets you into their heads giving you tantilising glimpses into their past as the story unfolds.

It's a tale of secrets and Riordan keeps enough hidden to keep you guessing to the end. It's also beautifully written and very evocative of the Cornish coast and its communities.

Very enjoyable.

I received this book from the publisher, but was not required to write a positive review.

I have received this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review .The Stranger starts off in 1940's Cornwall when Jane ,Rose and Diana woman of different backgrounds are billeted as Land Girls at Penhallow Hall ,a house seeped in history and secrets !.The story begins with a woman's body on the beach and continues by going back in time several weeks where we learn the story and events leading to her death, and many secrets unfold .This is a very different way of writing a mystery and I enjoyed that .The setting of Cornwall was perfect and very atmospheric the story was very well written with a very unexpected twist at the end which I didn't see coming ! I did feel there were a couple of loose ends that I would have like tied up !!

The first thing that caught my attention was the fact that the author's favourites were listed as Daphne Du Maurier and Agatha Christie, two women whose character descriptions I myself have a weakness for. Seeing it as a sign that I am going to like the book, I proceeded. The only strange thing was trying to place the importance of the cover and the actual events of the blurb into the story. It is not just about the missing woman, it is much more than that. Due to circumstances of war, there are five women spanning three generations housed under one roof. Not all of them are related, and therein lies the problem. Anyone who has ever lived in a hostel would know what it feels like to spend almost all day with the same people. It can be a marvellous experience(as it was for me) or it could go very wrong. In this case the women, each with their own burden may not bring out the best in the others around them.It is about circumstances and emotional turmoil that shape dialogue and events in their lives. The dialogues and the feelings described are thought-provoking and very well written. Each person is whole by themselves and do not bear much resemblance to each other(thought it might appear so at first glance that they do) which adds to the colour of the book.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes the idea of a captivating read.

The Stranger is the third book I have read by Kate Riordan and I love the chilling atmosphere of the book. The book starts off very mysterious with a suggestive chapter "The Night Diana Devlin goes Missing", and then the book jumps back in time taking us six weeks back in time and then we get to learn the main characters in the book, land girl Diane Devlin, both through her POV and her diary, her roommate and also land girl Rose and also the lady of the mansion Eleanor. All three women have secrets and Diane is the catalyst that will bring past events to the light.

The Stranger is a book that at first felt a bit difficult to place, it definitely felt more chilling than the previous two books I have read by the author, more thriller than a mystery. Also, I found the characters a bit hard to connect to, especially Diane was difficult to figure out because the version you get to know through the diary feels a lot different from the person the other characters meet. Let me just say that she provoked so many people that I was not surprised that the book started off with her going missing. It was first towards the end that I realized that her presence in Penhollow perhaps was not so bad, she did set things in motion. Things that had to be dealt with. However, what will the consequences be?

I will end this review by saying that the ending was not what I expected and I want to say bravo to the author! It was such a great ending, so perfect!

It’s always nice when you get a book you realise you are going to love within the first few pages. It brings a smile to my face and means I can relax into the book.

The Stranger is told from the point of view of three women who have been brought together at Penhallow for the summer. Two, Rose and Diana, are landgirls at Penhallow there to work in the grounds, growing vegetables to aid the war effort. For the other woman, Eleanor, Penhallow is her family home where she has lived since she was a little girl and where she still lives with her cantankerous mother. All of these women have secrets that they have kept from each other and all are haunted by pasts events. These are slowly revealed as the story goes on leaving the reader very intrigued and glued to the page. I think what is most special about this book is that the way it is told allows the reader to get inside the woman’s heads so that you feel like you know them intimately and understand them completely. For this reason I didn’t have a favourite character as I enjoyed all their stories equally and liked all of them. I wanted all of them to have the opportunity to put their demons to rest and have a happy ending.

The setting of this book is brilliant, with the author’s descriptions being so vivid that you feel like you are there watching it all unfold. I could almost see the sea, feel the sun on my face and view the beautiful scenery. I felt I knew Cornwall and Penhallow really well like I had visited it personally.

This was one of those rare books that I simultaneously wanted to read more of to find out what happens and read slowly to savour the spectacular story. I was almost bereft when the story ended as I realised I had read a fabulous story and closed the book with a happy sigh.

There are very few books I believe deserve the comparison with Kate Morton but this one truly does, so if you are a fan of Kate Morton you will love this book!

Huge thanks to Jenny Platt and Michael St Joseph Publishers for my copy of the book and for inviting me onto the blog tour.

The du Maurier influence is strong in this novel with its Cornish setting, themes of secrets and lies, and even a name-check for Mrs Danvers. I would have liked more attention to the war-time setting which feels under-utilised. Personally, my heart sinks when I find yet another novel which insists on fragmented timeframes and shifting POVs, plus suspense coming from information withheld from the reader. Atmospheric as a downtime read. And a gorgeous cover!

I absolutely loved this twisty story with interesting characters and storylines with a setting in beautiful Cornwall in 1940. Three very different women arrive at Penhallow Hall to work as Land Girls. We learn that Diana, beautiful, headstrong and rather cruel goes missing and the story goes back in time both in the days leading up to her disappearance and life before the war at the Hall. Rose stayed nearby as a teenager and has fond memories of her time there while Jane feels like she's never fitted in anywhere. A haunting and beautiful read which I couldn't put down. Love it.

This is a beautifully written, character-driven novel which takes us to the gorgeous setting of Cornwall, and right back to 1940.

The characters are really well crafted; though each has their own faults (some more than others) they felt far more realistic and convincing for this, and I really warmed to certain characters - particularly Eleanor and Rose. I increasingly wondered who exactly can be trusted and who had any involvement in the disappearance of Diana (this isn't a spoiler, you find out that she goes missing very early on), which always adds an interesting element to any story.

Although this isn't a hugely fast-moving story, it is deeply layered and atmospheric; Kate Riordan's skilfull writing meant that I felt almost like I could be right there with them, in such a beautiful place during such a contrastingly tumultuous time, with all the heightened tensions that such a situation brings. There are also some unexpected parts and twists which kept me intrigued, and some less-than-lovely parts which give the story even more depth and made me really think about the characters' situations.

Overall I really enjoyed this atmospheric story and feel it would be ideal for anyone who enjoys entertaining historical fiction.

I absolutely adore the way Kate Riordan writes – So beautifully done, especially with regards to settings (in this case Cornwall) where you just sink into the story and live there for a while.

In “The Stranger” we find a multi-layered, intriguing character drama, three very different women hiding out from the war at Penhallow Hall – we start on the night one, Diana, goes missing, then we head back in time, seeing the weeks leading up to this – and it is fascinating, absorbing and wonderfully addictive.

The author captures the sense of time and place perfectly – telling a haunting tale of past and present, letting us come to know the characters through their thoughts and actions and weaving an intriguing web of relationships and secrets. Diana, the danger seeker, absolutely engaged me and I just couldn’t stop turning the pages until I came to the end.

It is richly layered, authentic and full of depth – set in a time of unrest and unease, that is exactly how the reader feels as they go through – Penhallow Hall a character in it’s own right and the rugged, beautiful Cornwall setting coming to life straight off the page.

The Stranger is another literary delight from Kate Riordan, I cannot wait to see what she does next.

I can't really explain how I felt on reading the first few pages of this book, I was so happy to be reading another breathtaking Kate Riordan novel. 

The Stranger is engaging from the start, it's a tense and suspenseful story. The story begins the night Diana Devlin goes missing and then jumps to six weeks before, the mystery unfolding as the day of her disappearance dawns closer and closer. 

It's told in the form of Diana's diary and the third person viewpoints of other characters in the novel. It's not just about the mystery of Diana's disappearance: as the story unfolds we learn about the secrets of Penhallow where Diana is staying and the lives of the characters that live there. You can't help but get drawn into their lives and want to know more about them, even when you get to the final page you wonder what happened next?

I love the impact of the countdown to Diana's disappearance and how the author gets into the characters heads and we learn so much about them. I love the setting and atmosphere: a Cornish village. I loved this book!

This Kate Riordan's latest novel 'The Stranger' takes us to 1940's Cornwall to Penhallow Hall, a house perched up on the cliffs in a sleepy hamlet near to Fowey, where four woman, all from different backgrounds have been billeted as land girls to convert the Hall's gardens to vegetable plots to help with the war effort.
The first chapter begins with a lone church bell ringing which brings the villagers outside, where the body of a woman is found on the beach. Each of the following chapters form a timeline going back six weeks earlier where we learn more about the events leading to the woman's death.
Although a slow burner the author is excellent at bringing emotional depth to her characters. We really do get to feel the frustration and guilt felt from Rose who is awaiting information about her missing navy husband whilst secretly meeting up with her first lost love Sam. Eleanor ,the daughter of Penhallow's owner suffers from agoraphobia and hasn't left the property in years, but we are not told why. Then there is Jane who is innocent and insecure whilst untrustworthy and scheming Diana has secrets of her own. We soon learn there are many secrets and lies which link the past to the present.
I love historical novels especially ones set in Cornwall and it is unusual to find one set during the wars years of WWII. I especially liked the scene where the soldiers are brought back from France into Fowey harbour by every type of vessel available. There was a real sense of ambiance to this scene when the villagers came out to greet the men from the boats.
I also thought the ending to this story was very well plotted and left me satisfied.
Readers who love a historical mystery with great characters set in Cornwall will love this book.
Thank you to Penguin UK-Michael Joseph, NetGalley and Kate Riordan for giving me the chance to read and give an honest review #TheStranger #NetGalley

A descriptive story set in Cornwall when some landgirls are billeted together in the 1940’s. Dark secrets and love are in the mix. It was an enjoyable read, but It wasn’t a satisfactory ending for me.

At the start I was drawn to this book by the Cornish location.

In this respect it lived up to my expectations. The descriptions and sense of geography add to the quality of this story.

I also liked the time setting, this being a novel set during the early stages of the Second World War. Charting life on the homefront.

The book is beautifully crafted, with a plethora of intriguing characters.

Without risking spoiling the story, I can safely mention that I liked the clever use of a count down calendar.... counting down to What?

My thanks to Netgalley and Penguin UK (Michael Joseph) For a copy in exchange for this review.