On my blog today, I’m sharing my thoughts on The Other Tenant by Lesley Kara. With thanks to Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part.
BLURB
Marlow has always lived in unusual places. But when she accepts a position as a live-in property guardian, she finds herself moving somewhere she swore she’d never return to.
Right from the start, she knows it’s a terrible mistake. The elegant Victorian school is due to be turned into luxury apartments, but its eerie, empty corridors are full of Marlow’s worst memories.
And now something sinister is happening on the site. One of the other tenants has disappeared without warning, and Marlow suspects that the nine other guardians know far more than they’re letting on. She’s determined to find out what happened to the missing woman – but which of these strangers can she trust?
And can she uncover the truth before her own past catches up with her?
MY THOUGHTS
The Other Tenant is a really chilling psychological thriller by Lesley Kara. The novel is set in a building that was once an old school and Marlow never thought she would step back in her old school building, when she accepts a vacancy as a property guardian. But there is an air of mystery about the place that is apparent right from the first few pages. There is a sense that people are creeping about the building, up to no good, and that there is something terrible going on here. What is even more concerning for Marlow is what happened to the person who previously stayed in her room? It appears as though the previous tenant has vanished off the face of the earth, and no one has a clue of what could’ve happened to her or where she went.
The building itself becomes a character in its own right and Lesley Kara has created an atmospheric and a haunting setting that really drew me in. Lesley Kara describes her setting so, so well and I really felt as though I was walking the corridors of the old school with the characters. I wanted to know what was going on here and it feels incredibly dangerous when Marlow starts trying to find the answers. The quest to get to the bottom of things really does become an obsession for Marlow, and there are people within the building, who have started to notice what she is up to. It feels as though that something dark and dangerous has been going on here for a long time. This is what really drives the tension throughout the story and it did feel as though Marlow was sailing closer and closer to danger.
There are some shocking twists as the real history of the building comes to light and it is clear to see the impact this has on Marlow, as events that took place in the past are revealed. Her emotions come through really well on the page. It wasn’t a revelation that I was expecting and it does make for a very dark ending.
Lesley Kara has crafted a really twisty and a chilling tale that I did not want to put down. The Other Tenant is a compelling psychological thriller that I definitely recommend.
Publisher: Bantam
Publication date: 25th April 2024
Print length: 352 pages
The Other Tenant is available to buy:
FOLLOW THE BLOG TOUR
Hooked From Page One 
Great review! I wasn’t sure about reading another Lesley Kara as although I enjoyed her earlier ones, I wasn’t that keen on her most recent, but this new one sounds like my kind of read!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. It is a chilling read.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have never read any of Lesley Kara’s works but I love when they add a human touch to buildings and inanimate objects, adds that extra bit of eerieness to the story
LikeLike