An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena

A winter retreat to a secluded mountain inn turns deadly when an ice storm traps several couples with a murderer. Not as much fun as it sounds.

Gwen and Riley are hoping for a relaxing girls' weekend; Riley a war correspondent returning with PTSD. Beverley wants to give her marriage to Henry one last try. Dana is engaged to Matthew, heir to a large family fortune. Lauren is with her boyfriend Ian, and widowed David is traveling solo. The twelve-room Catskill inn has no Wi-Fi or cell service, but a well-stocked cozy library. They gather for drinks in the lobby, except for one other guest, a writer who stays in her room completing her new book.

Overnight, an ice storm hits, knocking out power and phones—and one of them is found dead at the bottom of the stairs. Bludgeoned, it looks like murder. David, a criminal attorney, takes charge by gathering them together for more drinks, while the body remains untouched on the floor. They bond and begin to reveal secrets of their lives - a rape witnessed but not reported; responsible for a brother's drowning; accused of a wife's murder; and Riley held hostage in Afghanistan. Nerves fray as guests are strangled, bludgeoned in the snow, frozen to death, and poisoned. One of them is a murderer.

This has an 'Agatha Christie' set-up, but the difference in a mystery is the reader has a chance to collect clues and discover the solution. Thrillers like these name a culprit (and a perfectly plausible solution) with no connection to what we just read. A letdown. It was a strange feature to not move the bodies (in deference to the police), just step over them. This quick read was entertaining but unmemorable. Read her thriller The End Of Her instead.

2018 / Tradeback / 292 pages

My other reviews of Shari Lapena:

Everyone Here Is Lying

What Have You Done?

The End Of Her