Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and Shari Lapena to review in exhange for review.
Having read The Couple Next Door, was delighted to receive a copy of this to review. Set in a remote snowbound hotel in the Catskills, the guests without WiFi and basically cut off from the outside world. On the first night, one dead…was it an accident? But then the body count increases before the power comes back on and access to the outside world on Monday. Great characters with pasts that would point to them as the perpetrators but good twist at the end which I didn't see coming. Four Stars.

As guests arrive at a remote hotel in the Catskills for a relaxing weekend break, a blizzard begins to rage. The roads become treacherous and completely impassable. The hotel is cut off. Everyone's trapped inside without electricity or a phone line. Undeterred, they resolve to pitch in until power can be restored and the roads cleared. But when a body turns up, they're faced with the seriousness of their situation - NO landline, NO mobile phone coverage and therefore NO help! When a second body is discovered, their worst fears are realised - A KILLER WALKS AMONG THEM...

This book is a fantastic whodunit in the traditional sense. Think Agatha Christie with a modern twist and you'll be bang on the money. You'll be kept guessing as the tension mounts, fingers are pointed and alibis fall apart. It's eerie and atmospheric; the deteriorating weather adding to the increasing feeling of helplessness and survival.

Yes, we have the stereotypical Christie-esque assemblage of characters - the handsome heir and his beautiful fiancée who may (or may not) be a gold-digger, the discredited lawyer trying to rebuild his reputation, the cheating married husband and the eligible young woman...

Whilst some may consider it too clichéd, I personally loved it. My teenage years were spent reading every Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot novel I could lay my hands on, so for me, An Unwanted Guest was a successful nostalgic trip back in time.

If amateur sleuthing is what you're after, I highly recommend you book a room at Mitchell's Inn and await the oncoming storm.

The premise of this book was intriguing and i looked forward to reading it. I was very disappointed. As the story progressed everything fell apart and by the time the killer was revealed it felt like a slap dash ending thought up as an after thought. I wouldn't be surprised to discover she'd written 90% of the book with no idea who the killer was and picked a name out a hat.

Nothing new and easy to figure out but good fun and occasionally very creepy.

Here is a review by Sya: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2422895613

An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena reminded me of an Agatha Christie thriller.
A group of guests in a remote hotel stranded in a snowstorm. No phones, Internet or electricity and no way of getting help. The guests are being murdered one by one. Is it one of them or an intruder hiding in the hotel?
I read this book in a day and it kept me guessing until the end. I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely love The Couple Next Door so I was excited to see this ARC, unfortunately Shari seems to have lost her touch and I only made it around 35% of the way through this book. (And that was a struggle!) I found it boring and nothing interested me enough to continue. A disappointing 1/5.

Good old fashioned story of murder ,love a who done it . Did guess but was my second choice so not right away
Would have liked a few more clues on the background but maybe that wd have given it away
Liked the location u did feel cutt off and could visualise the location an sense the fear
Not the best murder mystery out there but still enjoyable read

Unfortunately this just wasn’t for me. I didn’t connect with the story or the characters. I read THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR and loved it but this one was just not a good fit for me.

A bunch of unrelated guests arrive at a remote hotel in the middle of a very bad snowstorm. They are stranded with no electricity or connection to the outside world. Murders are committed. Is there a murderer amongst them or a stranger lurking in the small hotel that they are not aware of bumping them off one by one???

This book had me on the edge of my seat from the first chapter, in fact by the middle of the book it's safe to say that my nerves were shot. I was well and truly hooked and guessing right until the very last page. It's a creepy whodunnit that'll have you screaming at the character "no...don't go...". The characters are very well drawn out, in fact you start to feel like you know each of them as the book goes on, and each of them has their own secrets. It was terrifying as they turned on each other out of fear, accusing all and any amongst them of murder. It was really a great diversion from the real culprit. A fast paced, suspenseful, tension filled thriller. I loved everything about this book. One of my favourite reads this year.

Who Dunnit many times over - I’ve read other books by this author and thoroughly enjoyed them not too sure about this one it seemed a little retro and not such a clever plot so many murders in a short space of time but great little twist at the end😀

I’m not sure I’m going to head out to the Catskills after reading this! Blimey, that remote inn is a brilliant setting! It’s winter, people are trapped but it’s not the storm outside they need to be worried about..

The set up is brilliant - few guests, even fewer staff, no wi-fi, no chance of driving anywhere soon..... and the guests seem nice don’t they?

For a book that is set in a very confined location, there’s an awful lot going on! All the horror ingredients are there, but this is no paint by numbers read. There’s twists, turns, blackouts and unexpected guests... I just hope I don’t ever stay in a hotel with any of them myself!

Some of the story takes place in the characters’ heads and that’s when things get interesting. They worry about what you, the reader, are worrying about. It’s all very exciting and tense.

The police don’t arrive until late on in the novel so there’s a LOT to worry about until then. Ending was a bit quicker than I would have liked but then again the pen writing it must have been afraid enough to get out of the hotel itself!

Couldn’t wait to start this book after loving her other two books as I knew I would be in for a treat and yes the world could have ended whilst reading this and I wouldn’t have noticed!!
The story is about people staying in a country inn they are snowed in without phone coverage and Wi-fi, it is disturbing and thrilling at the same time, lots of secrets to be revealed, kept me guessing who the perpetrator was until the end.
Have a feeling I will read this book again to look for the hidden clues I missed.
Definitely my favourite author of 2018 so far , thank you to netgalley for my copy in exchange for my review.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for an advance copy of An Unwanted Guest, a standalone novel set in a remote hotel in the Catskill Mountains.

When the remote Mitchell Inn gets snowed in the guests are at a loose end with nothing to do but drink and spend time together. This changes the next morning with a power cut and one of the guests found dead, especially as defence lawyer, David Paley suspects murder. It soon dawns on the guests that with the hotel cut off one of them is a murderer.

I thoroughly enjoyed An Unwanted Guest. It is not a long novel and the premise is not particularly realistic or believable but the suspense and intrigue of who and why trump everything else and make the novel compelling and addictive. All the guests seem normal, with one exception, and relatively pleasant but as the novel progresses most of them have dark secrets which are slowly revealed. This too, a chance gathering of so many people with secrets, is not overly plausible to my logical mind but again, it adds to the suspense and makes for a compelling read.

I also enjoyed the format of the novel. I'm not normally a fan of multiple points of view but it works extremely well here as the narrative switches from one character to another. The reader gets multiple perspectives on the same events which gives much food for thought and makes the truth even harder to work out but it also fleshes out the characters and really brings them to life. I also felt a warmth to the novel that the circumstances don't suggest, probably because it is so intimate in its portrayal of these characters.

An Unwanted Guest is a good read with an unexpected ending which I have no hesitation in recommending.