The setting of Sri Lanka instantly drew me in as I have never read a book in that country and I felt intrigued. The atmosphere is electrifying and it was intense watching the mystery unravel. The character is troubled and has a deep edge style which made the story feel real. The plot is alive with twists the end one being the best as it wasn't a easy one to predict.

This gripping novel of self-discovery was such an easy read. It moves so quickly, continually making pace to reveal the secrets plaguing the main character’s life. I read an eARC of this book on Net Galley so thank you to the author and the publisher.

We follow a surgeon going through a horrific moment in her career, who decides to escape to Sri Lanka for a few weeks and revisit her past. Our main character has been treated horribly at main points in her life as we learn throughout the book. The trauma of her current issues at work, resurfacing memories and feelings from her past.

This isn’t the first book I’ve read set in Sri Lanka, but it is the one I’ve enjoyed the most. There was something about the small town, the beach, the house that felt so evocative. We explore the main character’s experience of returning to Sri Lanka after living in London for many years and her observations of the local culture. This was a fascinating lens.

We have a compelling mystery, a house that oozes trauma and our main character must try to unravel the past events that have occurred there to keep her own sanity. Alongside we see the character’s history with parasomnia and the anxiety things brings, along with her not being able to trust her own interpretation of events.

I found this such an easy read, fast, compelling, mysterious with a rich setting.

Fast paced and kept me guessing all the way through. I read it in one sitting I couldn't put it down

I enjoyed this book - great setting which isn't seen in typical thrillers and a character that was driven to find out the truth in the end - thought the book was fast paced and had the drive necessary to keep reading. Will read more from this author!

Great book. Was up all night reading it. I loved the characters & the storyline. I totally recommend reading this book straight away, the twists and turns are fab. Definitely 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Unmissable this certainly is! From the outset it draws you in and the story is multi layered, facinating and immersive. I loved everything about this from start to finish. Excellent

I did enjoy this story. I thought it was different, original and had a great twist at the end. Additionally I loved the setting of Sri Lanka, and Sri Lankan lead characters,this really made it feel different to other thrillers. The description of the house where Anika was staying personally made me very uneasy. So congrats to the author for invoking that feeling.

My sincere thanks to NetGalley and the publish Random House for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for this honest review.

I really wanted to like Mahi Cheshire's The Lying Guest. I loved the Sri Lankan setting, the protagonist's struggle with returning to her family's country, and, having enjoyed Cheshire's debut Deadly Cure, I know she can write a good thriller. Unfortunately, for me this felt like about three books mashed into one. We start with surgeon Anika, who is suspended from practice in London after a routine operation goes wrong. However, this medical/legal thriller set-up is soon exchanged for a hint of the supernatural when Anika, desperate to escape, ends up house-sitting in a town in Tangalle, on the Sri Lankan coast. Weird things are happening in the house, but Anika is again distracted by negotiations with her identity, and how she should behave as somebody ethnically Sri Lankan who has been brought up British and now barely speaks Sinhala - as well as a hint at a dark family history that led her parents to stop summering in the country. We also move between three different timelines and types of narration. While Cheshire does some interesting, nuanced character work with Anika, the thriller ending brings this to a screeching halt, and doesn't fit with what came before. I would have loved this to have been either another full-blown medical thriller like Deadly Cure, or what it seems is the book that Cheshire actually wanted to write - a more slow-burn novel exploring Anika's reckoning with her Sri Lankan past. She's a good writer, and so I hope her next book falls on one side or the other.

From the premise, I was really looking forward to reading this novel. However it wasn’t for me. Yes there’s a good twist at the end, but the whole novel just seems far too slow placed and drawn out. I’m sure others will love it but I would rate it 2.5 stars rounded up to 3. Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK and the author for the chance to review.

Anika is a surgeon with some difficulties. A patient died on her, Issac is still bitter and out to get her after she was hired over him, and people are talking about her because of the patient dying. Anika decides she is going to take a cleaning job in Sri Lanka. The house is not exactly what she expected; nor is the neighborhood in which she used to live. She starts to hear rumblings about the house, and thinks she sees ghosts. Just what is going on? Meanwhile her parasomnia flares back up, and she finds herself in some dangerous situation. Good suspense! Great twists! This book kept me interested and guessing all the way through.

This book transports you to beautiful Sri lanka and tells of Annika, a surgeon who is taking a break after an operation went wrong.

Now housesitting in a gorgeous house, she is unnerved by what is going on with people around her.

This is a twisty read and I really felt Anniaka unravelling. There are secrets, lots of drama and a brilliantly written plot.

Save this for your holiday read. It's a beauty

Anika is an overtired surgeon who loses a patient after working overnight and starting the day shift. When she is put on leave, she takes a job cleaning a house in Sri Lanka. Anika is from Sri Lanka and is returning for the first time in years to face her past. Weird things start happening at the house. Anika feels all the rumors told to her by townspeople are coming true. She gets a shock when people from her past show up. Will she survive?