2022 Book Review #23: The Overnight Guest

 

I have read many of this author's novels.  My favorite of hers was The Weight of Silence.  I also liked These Things Hidden. This one did not disappoint. 

STORY SUMMARY

Wylie Lark is a true crime writer.  She doesn't really mind being snowed in at the isolated farmhouse.  She has retreated there to work on her new book. She has a cozy fire, wood in the barn, and complete silence.  The only thing that's kind of creepy is that 20 years earlier, the house  was the setting where two people were murdered in cold blood.  And a young teen girl disappeared without a trace. 

Now, she is sitting in the house one evening, when a major snowstorm begins.  She finds herself trapped in the house and haunted by the secrets contained within the walls. The sleet turns to snow and it's piling up outside....sleet and snow on top of freezing rain! It is much too dangerous to venture outside. She is also haunted by her own secrets from her childhood.  But then she discovers a small child outdoors when she goes to retrieve some wood. The child looks to be a little boy about 5 years old. After bringing the child inside to warm up, she begins to search for answers. But it soon becomes very  clear that farmhouse isn't as isolated as she thought.....and someone is willing to do anything to find them.

MY THOUGHTS

I read this in  just a few days and it is a on the edge of your seat kind of a read. I stayed up far too late last week while we were away, reading "just one more chapter". 

This author is a fave of mine and it had been awhile since i read one of her books.  I was fortunate that the town library had this on the new books shelf just before I left for our trip to Plymouth. 

This book is fast-paced, a mystery with a bit of psychological twists to it.  It's clean and so well written.  No bad language or sex scenes which I totally appreciate about this author.  She is a very good mystery writer.

The book is set in Iowa in the dead of winter.  However, it goes back 22 years to the year 2000 and that is the main setting for the plot.  Every other chapter is the Present Day, and then there's August 2000 and then there's a chapter with no title but it's all italicized and is the sub plot for what is going on in the present day.  The thing I loved?  I didn't get confused at all with the back and forth between the present day and the past and then the sub plot.  It all comes together effortlessly in the end and that is what makes this author outstanding. 

Some themes that run throughout this story are:  kidnapping/murder; gun violence, parent-child relationships; parent-teen relationships; friendships. 

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 14 and older.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 10.