A good whodunnit. I couldn't zero in on anyone as the killer, but the ending was completely believable. The characterization was excellent. There were many players to keep track of, and Lapena does a good job of making each character unique enough that I could keep them all straight in my head.

A classic whodunnit mystery, in the same vein as Christie or CLUE! An Unwanted Guest is a page turning thriller set in a remote, old school luxury hotel where guests are arriving just in time to shelter from a severe winter ice storm that cuts electricity and phone contract with the outside. As the plot continues, you feel like you're smack in a classic murder mystery. There is a killer amoungst the guests, and it's race to identify the killer before they kill again.

3.5 stars

DNF. I really wanted to get into this one, but the perspectives were a hot mess. Could not get through it. 2 stars for a good concept.

A quick, fun whodunit in an Agatha Christie style! Great, well-developed characters (a number of them but easy to keep straight) stranded by a severe snow/ice storm in an isolated inn in the Catskills. The power is out, no cell or WiFi, and dead bodies keep turning up one by one. Is there a hidden killer lurking about or is it one of the guests? Even though the premise has been done before, this is a well written and atmospheric mystery that keeps you turning the pages . . . with a surprise at the end!

What I typically love about Shari Lapena's novels unfortunately wasn't present in An Unwanted Guest. Her ability to flip an entire story on it's head within five pages or less simply didn't happen in this novel. However, if you haven't played the game "Mafia" in awhile and haven't played the game or watched the movie "Clue" and want to be taken back to those days, this is absolutely the novel for you. When a handful of guests get stranded at a hotel due to snow and the electricity goes out, these same handful of guests are slowly getting murdered. Could there be someone else in the hotel with them that they haven't met? Could it be the author who's the culprit? Or the older couple experiencing marital trouble? Could it be the attorney who was already arrested for murder suspicions? It takes awhile to find out.

Shari Lapena's lastest novel, An Unwanted Guest, is an entertaining and fast-paced whodunnit that harkens back to Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. The cast of characters is interesting and three-dimensional, and the atmosphere is excellent. This book had me hooked and I could not put it down. Highly recommended for fans of Lapena's previous works, as well as old-fashioned, locked-room mysteries.

Review: Thankyou so much @prhinternational for the free book! #ad #partner
I’ve had such a busy few weeks that I was barely getting any time so I just dropped every book that didn’t capture me within a few chapters & An Unwanted Guest was the 3rd book I picked up & it immediately got me interested.
An Unwanted Guest was such a great read. It tells the story from the point of view of alll the characters. It was addictive & I was up till 5am reading until I just fell asleep😂. A great read, add it to your TBR!!

What a fun "locked room" whodunit set within the confines of the cozy Mitchell Inn located in the Catskill Mountains of New York State.

The 10 guests make their way to the beautiful accommodations high into the mountains during a snowstorm. Away from civilization, without internet service, and with lovely vistas and well-appointed rooms -- this promises to be a weekend that none will forget. Unfortunately, all of the guests will not make it out alive. When the storm cuts the power, those at the Inn are without heat or light...and without help from the outside. Tensions and suspicions mount in the confinement and finger pointing becomes dangerous to those still alive.

The characters are quite the mix of personalities and, though there were quite a few, the author gives such great backstory that it is easy to remember who is who as each is introduced. Since the narrative flips between the point of view of the different people, the reader is aware of conflict beneath the surface of the initialally convivial gathering of strangers. When the first dead body is discovered on the morning after everyone's arrival, it's thought to be an accident at first glance. One of the guests, however, is convinced it is murder. I don't want to give any spoilers, so I won't go into describing each person staying at the hotel, nor the father and son who are left to run the place single-handedly due to the isolation caused by the storm. They are all quite interesting and I enjoyed trying to piece together the clues to see if I could guess the identity and the motivation of the perpetrator.

I loved the setting, the atmosphere and the story line. The writing drew me in and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough so stayed up late to finish all in one sitting. The conclusion was excellent, except I was left with one burning question! Definitely enjoyed this guessing game mystery and would recommend to fans of Agatha Christie. I've read both of this author's other books as well and this was a very satisfactory third outing!

Thank you to NetGalley and Pamela Dorman Books, Viking for the e-book ARC to read and review.

This read less like a modern thriller and more like an Agatha Christie thriller. A bunch of characters stuck in one place when murders begin? The majority of the violence takes place off screen? Multiple characters have mysterious secrets in their past? Check, check, check.

The many perspectives were a bit confusing, though, as I often had trouble telling who was speaking.

There were a LOT of characters in this short novel, and it was hard for me to keep them all straight. This book was crafted like a good Agatha Christie/"locked room" mystery, and I was definitely getting some P.D. James - Adam Dalgleish vibes toward the end. But the more I read and the more people were killed and nothing was getting resolved, the less I cared about what was happening and I was just slogging through the story. I think the best part was the "twist" in the last page or two. Thank you, Netgalley, for this arc.

Fast paced locked room style mystery that really does the job! An ice storm has left the current visitors to a remote inn stranded on site, without electricity, and with one of the guests dead. When a second guest is also found dead, fingers really start to point as this group of strangers realizes that there is probably a murderer among them. The author did a great job alternating perspectives quickly between characters, and having everybody turn on each other as all of their past mistakes come out keeps readers guessing. There's a good ending to a good story waiting at the end for readers!

When a weekend away at a snowy inn gets dark and murderous, so many things are not as they seem. Shari Lapena's third book is hands down my favorite - this one was so much fun and honestly, I had no idea who the murderer was! Think one of those murder mystery weekends at a hotel - but for these characters, this is no game! Due to a blizzard, phone lines are down, cell service is out, and the nature of the Inn is to get away from the internet, so, GASP - no WiFI! - with communication to the rest of the world unavailable and a dead body at the bottom of the stairs, this is the epitome of a whodunnit! And it's an excellent ride to be along for!

Thank you Penguin Random House of Canada for my gifted advanced copy of this Agatha Christie style murder mystery in exchange for my honest review. This title releases August 7.

Mitchell Inn is an isolated property with beautiful grounds in the Catskills, the perfect get away location for New Yorkers and city slickers alike. With no WIFI, the Inn really does allow its guests to unplug from their busy worlds and enjoy the simplicity of nature and the company they bring with them.

An unexpected violent winter storm hits, leaving the Inn without power and a group of guests stranded. James, Inn owner, and his son Bradley, are left short staffed due to the weather conditions and the two are left to look after the guests who have managed to arrive at the Inn, despite the treacherous weather/road conditions…

A mixed bag of guests, filled with secrets and lies that come to fruition as the weekend progresses.

Matthew, a wealthy New Yorker and his fiancée Dana, chose the Inn in an effort to escape city life and the hectic planning of their upcoming nuptials. Ian and his new girlfriend Lauren have simply come for a steamy getaway weekend together. Henry and Beverly, have been married for many years with teenage children and the weekend away takes on different meaning for each of them; Beverly hopes to reignite some passion in her marriage while Henry is simply looking to get away from the chaos of raising teenage children, with no interest in actually being alone with his wife. Candice is a writer who simply cannot find enough time to focus on her writing while taking care of her mother and has decided to escape for a weekend to get some real writing time in. David, a criminal defence lawyer, is flying solo and taking a break from the stressors of work and recent life events. Gwen and her best friend Riley are taking a weekend to rekindle their friendship and take a break from city life.

The group seems to mix well on their first night together at the Inn, however, this quickly dissipates when one of the guests is found at the bottom of the main lobby stair case, dead, in what appears might not be an accident. Tensions run high as the remaining guests think that a killer may be amongst them. This is validated when a second guest is found strangled in her room with a scarf. Two more murders follow and with no help in sight from the authorities, who cannot be contacted due to the power outage, each guest is afraid that they might be next.

The plot of this book was so well played from beginning to end and the sparks of mystery and suspense were perfectly executed. Shari Lapena did it again. She is such a gifted writer who truly makes you feel like you are part of the story with her descriptive and well plotted story line. I felt like I was a part of a murder mystery game, without the game aspect.

This book kept me guessing right through to the end. I did not suspect who the killer ended up being, which made this book so engaging. I was literally gasping at the end of every chapter. I am a huge fan of Shari Lapena and have read all of her books to date, and already cannot wait to read what she comes out with next. I highly recommend you add this one to your reading list, especially if you enjoy a good murder mystery.

My Rating: 4.5/5

First line: The road curves and twists unexpectedly as it leads higher and deeper into the Catskill Mountains, as if the farther you get from civilization, the more uncertain the path.

Summary: For the guests of Mitchell’s Inn in the Catskill Mountains it looks like a beautiful winter weekend. However, when a body of one of the guests is found at the bottom of the stairs on the first morning things become less idyllic. Add to that a power outage from an ice storm and the guests begin to fear for their safety since there appears to be a murderer staying at the hotel.

Highlights: I recently read And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. As I started reading An Unwanted Guest I started comparing the two novels. A remote location, a group of strangers, no way to leave and murder! How can you not go wrong with a combination like this? I found the story fun and engaging. Each character was interesting and had little secrets of their own. The idea of being stuck in a hotel with strangers and no electricity while a murderer is on the loose is a bit terrifying. I wish I could have read this during the winter wrapped in a blanket. I liked the atmosphere and suspense. This was a quick read and lots of fun.

Lowlights: I was a little shocked by the ending and the killer reveal. However, I thought that when the killer was revealing everything it was a little rushed and quickly thrown together. It did not seem like it was planned out or given too much thought.

FYI: Read the author’s other two books, The Couple Next Door and A Stranger in the House.

I really quite liked this book. A classic who-dunnit in the style of Agatha Christie without Hercule Poirot. Several strangers decide to spend a weekend at a remote hotel in the Catskills. Every guest has their reason for wanting to spend the weekend away. Then one of the guests is found dead at the bottom of the stairs and it is not sure if they fell or were murdered....Because of a storm the hotel is without power and the roads are closed. The guests are cut off from the rest of the world and have to figure out what is going on. A quick page turner with a satisfactory ending....

3.5 Atmospheric and entertaining. A diverse group of people arrive at a small in, just in time to find themselves snowed in, and with no electricity to boot. In short order, they find themselves in danger as the bodies begin to mount. But which one of them is the killer? Or is it someone hiding in one of the empty rooms.

Thematically similar to Christie's, And then there were none, it was interesting to try to figure out who was the killer. I had in mind one of three, and it turned out to be one of the ones I thought. Had no e though, just something seemed a little off, and well mostly it was a lucky guess. At times this was repetitive, and some of the scenarios, motives, were a stretch, but the entertainment factor won out.

Would be a brilliant read in Winter, after a snowstorm. A sisters read, and though we all found it entertaining, our ratings varied.

ARC from Netgalley.

An Unwanted Guest-another great mystery/thriller by Shari Lapena!
I've always wanted to spend a cozy weekend in a snow covered bed and breakfast...uh...not any more! After a major ice storm rolls through knocking the phones and power out at this so-remote-there's-no-cell-reception hotel, the nine guests and two employees make the best of it by stoking the fires and using the gas stoves to enjoy the weekend. It's rustic and cozy...not exactly what they had in mind, but they are making the best of it. Then one of them is found dead. It looks like a terrible accident they will have to live with until the police can be contacted. Then another guest is found dead, and this is definitely no accident. The guests believe there is a murderer among them. Who will be the next to die? And will they figure out the murderer before another guest ends up dead? Lots of twists and turns!
#AnUnwantedGuest #NetGalley #sharilapena

I started this book at lunch at work this week, and didn't want to stop reading! Lapena does an excellent job of introducing all the characters in this locked-room mystery that harkens back to the prolific Agatha Christie. A number of couples and two single individuals converge at a small hotel in the Catskills for a weekend get-away during a snowstorm, and then the murders begin! Well-developed characters, wonderfully rich descriptions of the setting and the storm, and a propulsive pace make this mystery by the author of The Couple Next Door and A Stranger in the House easy to recommend to my customers. Thanks for the opportunity to review the e-galley!

Shari Lapena’s latest foray, An Unwanted Guest, is an old-fashioned who-dunnit, reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and Clue, but in a modern setting. The premise is that several people go to a small lodge in upstate New York in the dead of winter. When an ice storm traps everyone in the hotel with no power or lines of communication, a body is discovered at the foot of the main staircase and things only go downhill from there. What ensues is chaos, intrigue and murder.

I found this to be quite different from Lapena’s first two books, which were more of the psychological thriller variety, yet I enjoyed it just as much. I loved the old-fashioned feel of the story and the vivid descriptions of the winter setting. Though there were many characters and each chapter was told from several points-of-view, I felt that the plot had a great flow to it and I did not find it to be at all confusing.

I can’t wait to see what Shari Lapena does next!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for providing me with a complimentary e-copy ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena reminds me of the Agatha Christie novel And Then There Were None. In this book we meet several guests who are checking in to spend a weekend at a remote inn in the mountains. A huge snow and ice storm leaves them all without power and phones. Then suddenly guests start dying. At first the thought is that the deaths might be accidental but it soon starts looking like there might be a murderer among them. A creepy story that is best read on a stormy night when you can curl up and be grateful that you are not checked into the inn. Read and enjoy!