The Other Guest by Heidi Perks

 

Laila and James Burrows are holidaying at a luxury hotel on the unspoilt Greek island of Ixos. The holiday is a chance for the couple to reconnect after 10 years of failed IVF has put a strain on their marriage. Laila begins to question if she really knows her husband when a body is found in the hotel pool.

This will be an ideal beach read, particularly if you're one of those people who love to people watch. Laila Burrows is such a person, she becomes slightly obsessed with a family group who are also staying at the resort. You can understand the obsession with what appears to be a perfect family unit; mother, father and two sons. The family are obviously well off and the mother and eldest son have a great relationship. After years of failed IVF Laila is struggling to accept that she will never have children of her own.

The identity of the body found in the pool is slowly teased out. As the author takes us back to the beginning of the holiday you are reading between the lines, examining the relationships and attempting to put pieces together to try and figure out who is dead.

This is a story more about strained relationships and hidden secrets than it is about a possible murder. As the story nears the big reveal we realise how easy it is to jump to conclusions, to make assumptions about people and to avoid asking questions because we don't want to know the answers.

The Other Guest by Heidi Perks will be published on 19th January 2023 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for a review copy.