The Lodger by Valerie Keogh
Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense
Read: 29th July 2022
Published: 1st August 2022
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
She’s in your home…
Leigh Simons can’t say for sure what made her do it. A moment of madness, perhaps, but when the young, loud and gorgeous waitress at her favourite coffee shop reveals she is homeless, Leigh offers her the empty room in her house.
In your head…
Gina is the perfect lodger; Leigh, lonely and frustrated with her life, becomes infatuated with the woman – her boldness, her zeal. If only Leigh could be more like Gina…
And missing without trace.
So when Leigh returns from a work trip she’s shocked to find Gina missing. Where could the young woman have gone…and why?
Leigh fears that something terrible has happened - why else would Gina leave her?
But as she sets out to find her missing lodger, what Leigh discovers changes everything she knows about Gina….and her own life, too.
MY THOUGHTS:
"She is in your home… and in your head."
I've read a couple of books by Valerie Keogh in the past but THE LODGER explores something of the darker side of vulnerability. There is a dark and almost sinister edge to it though throughout I cannot put my finger on it. It's about the genuine kindness of one woman only to be seemingly exploited by another. It's about secrets and deception. It's about smoke and mirrors. And just when you thought you knew everything, in the words of the protagonist herself - "I (the reader) thought I knew everything but I'm now doing cartwheels simply to keep up with the twists and turns...truth seems to have become an optional extra."
On her way to work one morning, Leigh Simons stops at her usual coffee shop where her favourite barista is not her usual bubbly self. Leigh takes sympathy on Gina and in a burst of kindness she offers her spare room to her. But why would you invite a complete stranger to live in your home? Almost immediately she regrets her spontaneity as Gina awaits with her meagre belongings for Leigh's return home that evening. But maybe sharing with this vivacious and vibrant character will bring some much-needed colour to her life. Gina is like a breath of fresh air to Leigh's somewhat stale existence.
After all, things haven't been going all that great for her on either the personal or the professional front.
Firstly, boyfriend Matt lives and works in Salisbury. Leigh lives and works in London. Neither will compromise. Matt does come up to London most weekends to spend with her so there is that...isn't there? Secondly, her work as commodities trader is demanding and she doesn't need the leering attentions of any male colleagues. So when a creepy colleague peers, or rather ogles, a minute too long at her cleavage and Leigh calls him out on it, her reaction thus has her hauled into HR with a "please explain". So when she then has to leave for a week-long anger management course, she breaks the news to Gina the morning of her departure who is uncomfortable being left alone with Matt in her absence.
A week later, and after spending the following weekend with Matt is Salisbury, Leigh returns home to London to find Gina has disappeared and all her belongings gone. All that remains is a note simply saying "Sorry" and a fridge full of pre-cooked meals. If she'd simply left, why would she buy all that food and then leave it? It makes no sense.
There are too many unanswered questions but Leigh may wish she never started her search for her...
Soon Leigh hears bumps in the night, creaks on the stairs, disappearing quiches, front doors left wide open...what is happening to her and why? Is someone trying to scare her into silence? Or is she going stark raving mad? And then there is the over friendly, if not slightly creepy, guy she met on the course who tricked reception into giving him her address. And what has any of this got to do with Gina's disappearance? And what has it to do with her?
THE LODGER is a slow burn psychological thriller in which the tension builds gradually. It was not as predictable as I had thought, although I had long foreseen one aspect that no one else (least of all Leigh) saw coming. Leigh was a sweet-natured woman who only wanted to do good deed and then felt she'd been taken advantage of. Gina was a colourful character that we didn't see quite enough of to get a real feel for. And Matt? Well, he gave me the creeps from the start. He was self-obsessed, selfish and cared nothing for anyone but himself.
Although it was slow to start, it did pick up eventually and made for an enjoyable read. It was certainly different and would make one think twice before offering your spare room to a stranger!
And then that ending. That certainly was the coup-de-grace. I'm not sure I could do it, but it was certainly a just outcome that was well executed.
Overall, an engaging read that I couldn't quite put down. Different but didn't disappoint.
I would like to thank #ValerieKeogh, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #TheLodger in exchange for an honest review.
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