Day: May 17, 2022

The Tenant by Angela Lester is a psych thriller that will keep you guessing right up to the very end.

Yeah, I know that is a familiar refrain when it comes to psych thrillers, but in this case, it is actually true.

The author does a great job of building the plot from the ground up, giving the reader just enough information to keep going while also leaving enough doubt about the motives of the characters.

That might sound confusing, but it isn’t in actual practice in the story.

Kate is an interesting character. Her backstory is just questionable enough that when odd things start to occur, she appears to be an unreliable narrator.

Amy is…well, she’s Amy. I can’t say too much about her without giving major points of the story away. But again, here is where the author excels, because in spite of my initial feelings about her, I found myself questioning whether or not she might be the victim.

And you won’t find that answer here.

There are also some good red herrings along the way, which lend additional doubt to both Amy and Kate’s motivations.

There were a few times that I felt the story disconnected. Like a good plot point that makes sense but then kind of goes nowhere.

For example, without giving anything away, there were times that I wasn’t sure about Clara and Philip’s roles in the entire situation. I suppose that was by design as well. Because at one point, I wondered if they had something to do with everything that was going on.

Another example was when Kate was working in the library and saw a man sitting in a place where Philip sat. Then, a while later in the book, Clara is describing Philip at a point in his life. The description was very similar to the person Kate saw in the library.

Again, not sure if it was by design, but it would have been nice for that to have been explored more. Maybe calling Kate’s sanity into question?

But I suppose that was done enough. I did guess early about parts of the plot, and I kept hoping that the author would have a twist proving me wrong. She did, but not in the way I expected, so that was good.

All in all, I would say that The Tenant by Angela Lester was a definite solid psych thriller and it should go on your TBR list.  I look forward to reading more from her.

Author Bio 

Angela Lester loves writing psychological suspense that explores the dark side of human nature.

A philosophy graduate, she came over from Germany in 1991 and has lived in Cardiff ever since.  She plays the piano, sings in a choir, and loves walking in the great Welsh countryside. Her real passion is writing. She has written short stories and novels in German and English. The Tenant is her first published thriller.