The Stranger In My Home: The stunning domestic noir from the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of BOTH OF YOU

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Despite having endured a bad childhood at this home, Caro is low on funds and needs a place to crash. Thank you to NetGalley / Avon Books UK / Sophie Draper for this digital ARC / in exchange for my honest review.

But, of course, this is a tale of two halves. And what a flip this book performs. I love coming to books without a preconception of what they are and this is the reason why. I didn't see it coming! At all. When Tom transforms, when Annabelle turns up and the horror of it unfolds, it is utterly mesmerising. The notion of Caro returning to her childhood home in Derbyshire after her stepmother dies unexpectedly is also a great hook, especially as Caro starts to uncover memories of why she didn't practically enjoy growing up there.Most characters were underdeveloped and their mannerism and even pastimes were stereotypical and bland. There wasn't really anyone you could identify with. The book didn't capture me at all. Some parts were highly unrealistic and made up out of thin air. I took a leap of faith and requested this book from NetGalley before they revealed the title, author or book cover...then I saw the book cover...WOW! What a chilling book cover! I know, I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Still...it’s pretty awesome...am I right?

Along with the house, comes a number of outbuildings and an attached cottage with a sitting tenant, Craig, with whom she forms more than just a casual friendship. No one has any redeeming qualities, is neither interesting or likable or even bad enough to enjoy the fun of disliking. As she begins to sort through her stepmother’s possessions, strange things begin to happen. Could the house be haunted? Or is she being haunted by bad memories of things that occurred there while she was a young girl? This book had some genius marketing behind it. There was no title, no author attached to it and no description of what the book was about. Only asking you if you can keep a secret. That peeked my interest. Once I received the book I was asked not to tell anyone about it until closer to publication date. So many people were talking about this marketing ploy that I had to see for myself if this book would be worth the hype. An unusual story as its 80% psychological and 20% fairy tale..ish,for me the 20% fairy tale parts added nothing to the story and I sped past them concentrating on the psychological partHow could I resist? When I requested this book it had no title, no author, no cover and no descriptive blurb - it just said Can You Keep a Secret? A secret book - how fun! Then once I received the galley I was instructed to go ahead and read it but not to talk about it anywhere until Halloween. I was even more intrigued and excited. Definitely a good piece of marketing! It was actually the tag line “I thought she was my daughter. I was wrong.” that attracted me to this book. It just has a certain ring to it.