3.5 stars (rounded up) for Elly Griffiths' modern gothic mystery, The Stranger Diaries

Clare Cassidy is an English teacher specializing in Gothic writer R.M. Holland and his short story, The Stranger. Clare is working on a book based on the mysterious life of R.M. Holland, who once lived in the school where she now works.

One evening one of Clare's closest friends and colleagues, Ella, is murdered with a line from R. M. Holland’s story left by her body. Clare's life eerily begins to collide with some of her favorite pieces of literature. Confused and concerned about what is happening around her, Clare turns to her trusty diary only to find that someone has been to it first and left her a note. Who is this stranger writing in her diary? Could the killer ultimately be out for Clare?

The gothic vibe of the story definitely added to its sense of eeriness. I will confess that I had the killer figured out - I just wasn't sure on the why. The motive actually left me a bit underwhelmed but overall, it fit within the context of the story and it was definitely plausible. Griffiths did a thorough job of leading us with a trail of breadcrumbs throughout and throwing in a few red herrings here and there. Personally, I was just hoping for a bit more - some of the red herrings would have actually been quite an interesting route to take.

The cast of characters here was ecclectic and wonderful though I admit that Clare was actually my least favorite. I thoroughly enjoyed her daughter Georgie, their adorable and pampered dog Herbert and DS Harbinder Kaur. I can actually see DS Kaur in her own series. She is witty, critical and has quite an interesting backstory. Dare I hope we might see more of her in the future from Griffiths?

Overall, if you enjoy gothic mysteries with that classic "whodunit" vibe - this one's for you. Thank you to Elly Griffiths, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an arc of this book.