I've long been a fan of John Marrs and this didn't disappoint.

Connie's mum, Gwen, has Alzheimer's and is receiving help from Paul from a local charity. Small things at first, tidying the garden, a few bits around the house but slowly Paul begins to nudge Connie out the picture and, despite a brief period where she felt Paul might be a nice guy, she slowly comes to see a hidden agenda. But can she get rid of him before he works his way into her mum's life......

This was a well-paced domestic thriller with a midway twist which really turns the story on its head. I mean, I say it's a twist, however I think it was so well signposted that I'm not quite sure it counts as a twist. Regardless, it turns the story well and leads to an exciting second part of the novel which builds to an exciting ending.

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

John Marrs is one of my favorite authors, and that is because of books exactly like this one. He has the imagination we would all love to have - boundless and exciting, to take us on journeys which surpass our fantasies.

Connie is very comfortable living with her elderly mother Gwen who is suffering from Alzheimers. Along comes Paul, a handyman sent by a charity to do some odd jobs in the house. Paul is strong, handsome and has a captivating manner, but Paul's attentions seem to be very focused on Gwen. Alarm bells ring for Connie, but everyone is so talented in by Paul, and he is so deceptively clever, Connie just starts looking unhinged.

Reading this blurb you think you know exactly where this book is headed - I can assure you that you don't. Several times throughout the novel I had to re-evaluate what I knew - or thought I knew. This book is published in February 2024, but as soon as you can pre-order it, I recommend that you do.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5927901441

Paul's just here to help, or so he claims - sent by a charity for vulnerable people to do odd jobs for elderly widow Gwen. But for Gwen's daughter Connie, there's just something about Paul that rings alarm bells from day one. He's a little too kind, a little too involved. Worst still, Gwen seems to have fallen under his spell. The last thing Connie wants is a stranger meddling in the safe routine she's built around Gwen. She loves being the one Gwen turns to for cooking, cleaning and company. But the more Paul visits, the more Gwen is relying on him. By the time he conveniently finds himself between homes, and has no choice but to move in, Connie is certain he's trying to push her out completely.

Connie's mum has dementia. Connie has been looking after her mum Gwen until a charity sends Paul to help with her care. Gwen starts to rely more on Paul, and Connie is suspicious of him. This story is told in three parts. The first part I didn't enjoy so much. It was full of bad decisions being made. But when I was getting near the end of part one, it became more intriguing. Parts two and three are more compelling and disturbing. The more you read, the darker it gets. This is a twisted and well-written story. I liked the author's writing style. The characters are well-developed, unlikable, and they'll get under your skin. Due to some of the graphic content, this book is not for the faint-hearted.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #Thomas&Mercer and the author #JohnMarrs for my ARC of #TheStrangerInTheHouse in exchange for an honest review.

Connie visits her mother, Gwen, everyday now she has dementia. It's not always easy and Connie herself struggles at times. One day she finds Paul at her mother's, sent by a charity to do small jobs for her. Initially Connie is pleased that someone else is helping out with harder tasks however increasingly Paul seems to be determined to edge Connie out of her mother's life. Is it possible that Paul has another agenda and what is really going on?

Essentially the book is split into three parts and is mainly in Connie's "voice". One or two others have the odd chapter but it is well signposted. At the end of the first third there is a reveal which didn't surprise me and the tone of the book changes. I really do prefer not to put in spoilers so I'll simply says that the final third has a somewhat different character again. I guess this is probably best seen as a psychological thriller.

The chapters are generally not long here and the pace is very good. It was certainly enough to keep me reading. However it's fair to say that I found this really rather blunt and simplistic in its presentation. Personally I felt most of the twists had been very well trailed. I guess that the fact that I really didn't like or feel engaged with any of the characters meant I found this rather unappealing. I do realise that I am in a minority here. Equally I'm glad I've read this and nothing about it made me want to give up. I cannot call it a bad read but it's just not my kind of things these days I think.

Connie is alarmed when her mother hires a workman to help with her garden when he then takes on indoor work and her mother starts to rely on him on a daily basis things become very strained.
A story about secrets and lies with plenty of twist and turns.
Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Connie is working as a carer for Gwen who has dementia. One day Paul arrives from a local charity to do jobs around the house for Gwen. Although his services are free of charge, he has a hidden agenda. But so does Connie. Things begin to go wrong for Connie when Gwen and Paul are married, and Gwen is found dead soon after.
Thrilling , scary, a warning and a twist. An excellent read.

I couldn’t wait any longer! I LOVED this book.  I devoured it in two sittings.  Utterly compelling.  ANOTHER fantastic psychological thriller.  You may think the mother/daughter trope is done to death (!) – think again.

This book is so creepy.  Not in a halloweeny jump-scare kind of way, but the kind of disturbing creepy that seeps into your bones.  I wanted to shower after reading it.  It’s as enraging as it is creepy, highlighting the utter depths of people’s callousness and selfishness.

Essentially good-guy Paul lives to serve.  He works for a charity supporting older people where he’s introduced to widow Gwen.  At first his altruism is welcomed by Gwen’s daughter, Connie, until suspicions start to creep in.  Is Paul a little overly helpful?  He’s around so much that Connie starts to feel pushed out ..  I’ll leave it there as the less you know going in the better.

It’s full of neck-break twists – none of which I saw coming – right to the last page.  Bravo, John.  You’ll think you’ve got it figured out in parts then John pulls the rug.

As always, John creates fully developed characters, I could hear their distinct voices as I read the chapters.  He has a knack for creating characters you sympathise with – even when they’re the villain.  One minute I’m rooting for them, the next I want to see them get their come uppance!

It contains topics such as Alzheimer’s, Dementia and exploiting vulnerability but as you’d expect, they’re handled sensitively and respectfully.

Despite all the hideous and enraging goings on my biggest issue was with character, Meredith.  She folds the corners of pages in her book.  That will stay with me for a while.

It’s no secret I love John Marrs – that aside, I strongly recommend this book.  The Stranger In Her House is out February 13th 2024. 

A huge thanks to John, Thomas and Mercer and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book for review consideration.  All opinions are my own.

For those who have loved ones who suffer from dementia and Alzheimer's, I want to give a warning that this book could be a trigger for you.

John Marrs has a unique talent for weaving a thrilling story while humanizing a serial killer. Although the title of the book gave away the premise early on, what made it stand out was my conflicting feelings towards the protagonist, Connie. At times, I found myself rooting for her, while at other times, I thought she was pure evil. Marrs's writing style and how he portrayed Connie in different lights at different pivotal points of the storyline is nothing short of brilliant. Both Paul and Connie were complex characters that I couldn't help but like and hate simultaneously. The curveball at the end with Meredith was unexpected and tied the whole story together. She also brought background to Gwen's character development. However, the book touches on a sensitive topic of the vulnerability of older people and their helplessness regarding mental degeneration, making it a complex story to get through. Nonetheless, Marrs shows the multiple sides of human beings and that age does not mean the end; everyone has their own story, whether it's good or bad. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a thrilling read with a sprinkle of humanity.

I would like to express my gratitude to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒂 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒉...𝑰 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉. 𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒖𝒔, 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌, 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒍. 𝑰𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆, 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔, 𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒔. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆. 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆.

I've been picking up a lot of books lately about mother/daughter relationships, and when I realized this one featured dementia as an integral part of the storyline, I almost put it aside, as this hits too close to home for me right now. But the storyline was so compelling, I kept reading, and I'm glad I did.

Gwen's daughter Connie has given up a lucrative job to be her mother's caregiver. Gwen suffers from dementia, and Gwen never knows which version of her mother she might get each day. But when a charitable agency sends Paul over to do some things around the house, everything will change for both women. Paul is charming and attentive to how burned out Connie is and invites her out to dinner. Curiously, after that dinner, Paul becomes cold to Connie and focuses his attention on Gwen, who revels in the young man's charms.

Connie is suspicious, and with good reason. Little by little, he begins to insinuate himself into Gwen's life, first by moving some tools into the garage, and then by moving into her home. How can Connie expose Paul for the fraud she knows he is without giving up some secrets of her own?

In typical John Marrs fashion, you get a complex, layered plot with moments that make you scream aloud in frustration. The last third of this book was so diabolical, so unexpected, that I couldn't believe he dared end the book this way. Another win from author! Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for the early copy. This book will publish February 13, 2024.

I've read a few john marks books, i especially liked the one. So when i was approved for this i was rather excited.

I just found it ok, a lot went on throughout the book and other reviewers are right when there is a lot of twists and turns. I just feel id worked out some of the plot within the first 20% of the book and so the rest that happened there after, wasn't a major shock to me.

i think if i hadn't of worked it out id of maybe enjoyed it a lot more.

ill still give his other books a read, i just don't think this is his best

This was another interesting book by John Marrs, the style was different less dense but the part of the underlying subject matter was not. It dealt with elder abuse, emotional manipulation and financial manipulation of those who are more vulnerable esp due to dementia. Lots of ethical issues were raised and people weren't who they seemed always. While the subject matter, might be less interesting to my students I think they will get a lot out of it

This was a fast read. at times it felt a bit long winded and would have worked better for me as a novela. It was a cat and mouse/ who are the victims and who are the villains thriller. I went into it without knowing what it was about and it seemed to be about one thing and it sort of was but then it became something else as well. Clever

Wow! I have been a John Marrs fan for years so I am always excited when a new book comes out from him and this one blew me away! What Marrs does so excellently is lead you in one direction before delivering a spine tingling twist which leaves your head spinning!! Amazing writing, storylines and short snappy chapters!

read this before it’s release date through NetGalley. I really enjoyed this book. I’ve not read this author before but will definitely check out his other books. The characters were well rounded and there was just enough doubt laid for me to suspect multiple characters were not who they claimed to be. There were some pretty good twists, especially at the end. I did find a couple of mistakes which I will share here in case the author reads this.

Page 116: extra ago added, reads: “Three weeks ago ago.”

Page 218 sentence Paul said he wanted it turning off as soon as possible. Should this say turned off?

Overall a good thriller and easy read that I would highly recommend to others.

I won’t lie the first third of this book I thought I was going to hate it because I guessed everything that was coming. But then! Wow this took a whole different direction from what I expected and kept me on my toes. I read the whole book in one day because I had to know what was going to happen! Exciting read!

This book is everything I thought it would be. Another chart topping psychological thriller from the wonderful John Marrs!

The storyline revolves around Connie, the daughter of Gwen and a handyman Paul who infilters himself into their lives.

Well, the book is a slow burn novel but there’s certainly plenty of surprises along the way. It’s not just about the mother and daughter but a helplessness that revolves around having no control and the frustrations that come with it.

This is a psychological thriller and it’s written with perfection from dementia as one of the main focuses, it highlights the cruel disease that takes a person away from who they used to be. They may be there under the surface but not the same. John Marrs absolutely told the story of Gwen with accuracy and compassion. He really hit the nail on the head with this storyline.

The characters are all written with accuracy and gives you the correct feeling each is supposed to. You love and hate them as intended. In fact I think the emotions this story evokes many times over shows what a great writer John Marrs is.

There is one chapter in this book that really hit me with so many emotions that I went from sadness to being numb, then felt frustration and ended with rage. It really was a rollercoaster. If anyone has read this chapter they’ll likely know which it was. It broke me! However to evoke these feeling in me, who has a dark heart it had to be great writing. It was my favourite chapter of the book. Honestly, that chapter I cried so much thinking what I would have done in that situation. I cried so much. It was raw, I just had no words.

Once again John Marrs has blown all previous books out the water. Now, The One has always been my favourite for his speculative fiction novels with The Good Samaritan as favourite psychological thriller but this totally blew TGS out the water. This will absolutely be my all time favourite! … until the next! 😂

Gwen’s memory is being eroded. All Connie, her daughter, can do, is her best. Take each day as it comes. Try to keep her Mum safe, try to make ends meet, try to look after her own mental health. Dementia is a modern day epidemic.
Paul is a volunteer from a local charity. They assist elderly people to stay in their homes, by helping with gardening and basic home repairs. An invaluable service to those most vulnerable in society.

Very quickly, the reader sees that Paul is not the altruistic person he appears to be.
This is a quiet book. There are no huge, loud attention grabbing incidents described, but the tension is palpable, it grows gently. As the book progressed, I felt increasingly frustrated and angry, at times I felt quite sick too. The story reveals itself through the everyday banalities of Doctor appointments, and visits to the garden centre cafe. Every little episode is like a jigsaw piece being added, until you finally see the whole picture. A slow burning menace runs through.

As the pages turned, I thought I knew where the story was taking me. I was right, and I was wrong. The storyline appeared, but so much earlier in the book than I had anticipated. I was intrigued where the remaining 65/70% of the plot would take us.

I found the story chilling. Gaslighting of the most vulnerable, those that should be the most protected, is beyond awful. I was appalled to read of the current laws regarding marriage and wills pertaining to Dementia patients, mentioned by the author in the acknowledgements. There are huge safeguarding issues to be addressed here.

I really appreciated the author fighting the corner of the army of unpaid carers. People who exist mostly unseen, who spend much of their time stressed over loved ones’ health, desperately fathoming out how to pay the bills, in this increasingly hard cost of living crisis. I want to thank John for seeing us, for shining this light.

There are so many twists and turns in this book, I didn’t know which way was up by the end. Even on this last page, you know there is so much more of the story still to be told. An unputdownable 5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read.

4.5 stranger danger stars

How do you keep your parents safe from predators?

At first, Connie is thrilled to have Paul’s help with some gardening projects at her elderly mom’s (Gwen) house. Then it seems like Paul is always around, doing more things, and Gwen is lapping up the attention. Connie feels like she’s being pushed out of her mother’s life. What recourse does Connie have in this situation?

As Connie and Paul battle for Gwen’s time and attention, we get chapters from others in the village. I loved these little vignette chapters and thought they added a lot to the story.

This book was another clever one from John Marrs. It went in some entirely different directions than I first thought, with some great twists. This talented writer will definitely keep me coming back for more! And I will be skeptical if someone sends around a helper to make my life easier!

Don't miss the compelling note from the author at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley, publisher and author, for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Oh my goodness, what a tale! I enjoyed the pace of this story and how the terrible main characters were described. Connie and Paul were terrible people that I would not want near me or my family. Of the two, Connie might have been the less terrible one since she seemed to develop a bit of a conscience as the events unfolded. The two of them seemed to have suffered a lot of abuse as kids. My favorite character was Meredith because wow did she surprise us at the end. I like how all the characters had their story and each story was very interesting and important to understand why people acted the way they did. My favorite part of the story was also the most shocking moment of the story, at least for me, when Meredith explained why she left at the end and everything that Gwen did to her. I really enjoyed this story!

I was really excited about this book. It started off slowly but picked up pace after the first twist. However, the end was ridiculously dragged out. The first twist was good but then it soon became predictable.