Dubbed the Housemate Homicide, it's a mystery that has baffled Australians for almost a decade. Melbourne based journalist Olive Groves worked on the story as a junior reporter and became obsessed by the case. Now, nine years later, the missing housemate turns up dead on a remote property. Olive is once again assigned to the story, this time reluctantly paired with precocious millennial podcaster Cooper Ng. As Oli and Cooper unearth new facts about the three housemates!! Good book! This book had suspense, intriguing, murder, mystery, a good who done it and a few crazy twists and turns! The story was interesting, it wasn't one of my top favorite but still worth reading! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

The Housemate by Sarah Bailey is an Australian Thriller about three college housemates who get entangled in a sticky web of lies and deceit. When one of the housemates turns up dead in their home, questions arise and an investigation is launched, however, the case goes cold. For journalist Oli Groves, this case has always intrigued her, and nearly a decade later, the case explodes when another of the housemates is found dead. Oli becomes involved in the case again, wavering between seemingly obvious connections between the first and second housemate. Pairing up with a young podcaster named Cooper. Ng, Oli works tirelessly to discover the truth, one which shockingly circles back to her own personal life.

Parts of this book were really intriguing to me. I liked the back and forth between both crimes and the connections Oli was able to make along the way as she dove deeper and deeper into the lives of the housemates as well as the people they knew while they were at Uni. I did, however, think the book went on a little long and sometimes became confusing when jumping timelines and characters. I read this book on Kindle and the formatting was off a times, making it a bit challenging to read.

Overall, this was a good thriller for anyone that is interested in the classic cat and mouse chase of journalist/podcasters searching for the truth and digging just a little too deep.

2.5/5 rounded up because this was so slow.

I felt like nothing happened the entire time I was reading this.

The writing style was also just not for me. It felt so short and stunted with those choppy little sentences that you only see in your very first chapter book as a child. I like far more complex sentences. These sentences feel like there's nothing to discover since there's nothing creative about their formation. It just doesn't feel appropriate for the genre or age-range of this book.

And the time jumps were so confusing and didn't always feel wholly necessary. I am just not a fan of time jumps unless they are done perfectly and that was just not done here (in my opinion).

There are no characters to root for here, they're not particularly likable or interesting so it's difficult to care about the story when you don't care who it's happening to.

This really did drag (I think mainly due to the writing style and pace of the story) so I found myself getting bored and needing to skim just to continue reading.

Maybe another draft is needed or maybe this isn't for people who have already read a lot in the genre. I've heard great things about this author, so I was very excited to read this book, but I was disappointed. And with such a great premise too!

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

3 Stars

I really enjoyed the Australian setting and the writing style—it was immersive and kept me engaged at the start. The premise, with the three housemates and the mystery around their deaths, was intriguing. Olive and Cooper made a great team, and their dynamic was one of the highlights.

That said, the story felt a bit muddled at times. Some sections dragged on longer than needed, and it was hard to stay focused through parts that could have been trimmed down. The pacing wasn’t always steady, and I found myself losing momentum a few times.

Overall, it was an interesting read, but it could have been tighter to make the mystery even more gripping.

Thank you NetGalley and Datura Books for the copy to read in exchange for my honest review!

I love a good possibly unsolved mystery and this is no exception. Olive is a journalist in Australia working to uncover the truth of a murder from a decade ago of a young college student (Evelyn) found dead in the house she shared with fellow students. One housemate (Nicole) disappeared and the other was found at the scene of the crime and eventually tried and found guilty (Alex). So what’s the mystery then? Well, Nicole has been found dead and the case is back in the news. Since Olive worked on it last time, she’s assigned again and hoping to answer the question of why Nicole ran from the scene and where she's been all this time.

She’s working with a young employee (Cooper) who is of the younger generation and is eager to work with Olive on this case. Where she sees hard-hitting news and articles, he sees podcasts and social media updates. He’s a great character in this story and the way they eventually bond is endearing – each teaching the other not to let stereotypes of the other’s generation get in the way, etc. It’s done in a non-corny and believable way. There’s also a lot of in-office drama with Olive and her co-workers/boss about the future of their company and journalism. It’s set in 2015 by the way, when that was a predominant worry for those in the field.

However, if one more person commented on Olive’s voice, I was about to throw the book (Kindle). Ok, she has a deep throaty voice, plenty of women have them. There were also several comments from male characters about her looks. I don’t know why the author kept throwing these in there to remind readers how appealing she was. State it once and move on, goodness.
The plot moves quickly and there are several surprising twists that make the story way darker than I was expecting. It’s good though, because it’s not your average whodunit and I think all readers will be surprised by one twist or another. I would definitely read more by this author - I hadn’t heard of her before but she’s got a new fan!

This book shook me to my core and absolutely affirmed that I should never get a roommate. Such good writing!

Like, OMG, this book totally hooked me! Okay, not like right away—it’s kind of like when you try a new coffee order, and it’s a little bitter at first, but then you’re, like, fully obsessed by the second sip? Yeah, that’s how this one hit. It’s all about this wild old case with housemates (like, one’s dead, one’s missing, and one’s in deep trouble). And now, years later, things are getting stirred up again. Totally messy, right?

The main girl, Olive—or Oli, as her friends call her—is this super determined journalist who’s digging into the past while juggling a very complicated personal life. Oh, and let’s not forget Cooper, her podcaster sidekick! He’s all tech-savvy and totally annoying in that cute, “ugh, you’re so right” way. Their teamwork? Soooo goooood!!

The vibes were moody, twisty, and just juicy enough to keep me flipping pages. Some parts felt a teeny bit slow, but by the end, I was like, “No way did I just read that!” Trust me, it’s the kind of thriller that keeps you guessing while sprinkling in just enough drama to keep it spicy.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion! ✨

I thought The Housemate would be the book to *finally* get me out of my reading slump. Unfortunately, it didn't help. While the premise is really interesting, the way it played out didn't hold my attention. There was a lot of focus on Oli's internal narrative that pulled me away from the greater mystery. Additionally, jumping between timelines and perspectives felt more distracting and broke up what could have been some strong tension.

I really hope other readers enjoy this book, because it does seem like a great story! It just didn't grab me the way I hoped it would.