Lesley Kara thriller duo

Lesley Kara is yet another British thriller writer whom I stumbled across recently. At the time of writing this post, there were four Kara books, published between 2019 and 2024. These books have placed Kara on the Sunday Times list of Top 10 psychological thriller authors. This post reviews two of those books, The apartment upstairs and The other tenant.

I'd describe Kara as an understated thriller writer. In the two books I've read so far, there were no bonkers endings and the stories centred around ordinary people in realistic situations. This doesn't mean they were dull - quite the opposite actually. Kara's books are quite intense, with vivid characterisation, and that's what I love about psychological thrillers.

Update: See also my review of Who did you tell?, my third Kara read. You can also check out my review of The dare, the fourth book of Kara's I have read.

The apartment upstairs | Published June 2022 | Read June 2024

We meet Scarlett and Dee in The apartment upstairs. Scarlett is a freelance accountant, suffering from CFS and ME. She lives in the flat below her Aunt Rebecca in an old London home. Rebecca is brutally murdered in her upstairs flat, assumed by the police to have been killed by her fiance.

Dee own and runs a funeral home with her friend, Lindsay, and it is Scarlett's contact with Dee to arrange Rebecca's funeral that reveals a connection between the two women. This connection links Rebecca's murder and the disappearance of Dee's friend, Gina, some ten years earlier. Together, the two women could uncover secrets that have long been buried. It soon becomes clear that someone wants to stop them digging.

I'd describe this book as an understated thriller. Kara creates two relatable characters in Scarlett and Dee. The threads that weave the two women together are cleverly plotted. There's no overblown drama in the story, just a solid thriller that works steadily to its conclusion. I was interested the entire time, as there are several intriguing subplots and a cast of characters to kept the reader guessing.

There's an underlying theme in the novel, I think, about fractures in friendships and familial relationships caused by suspicion and lies. The crimes that form the basis of the novel are 'ordinary' but I liked that there was no need to suspend disbelief. I didn't guess The Big Reveal and when it came, it made sense and was well thought out.

Kara has created a solid thriller that impressed me enough to pick up another book in her stable. See my review below.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The other tenant | Published April 2024 | Read December 2024

I loved the unique setting of The other tenant. I hadn't heard of the concept of property guardians before but that is where we find the main protagonist, Marlow Cairns, first the sole occupant of an old church and later an abandoned school with a group of other guardians. Property guardianship is a scheme that allows people to live in empty properties while they are vacant for low rents to ensure the properties are looked after, and to deter squatters and vandals. It's a thing and quite common in London, I believe.

Marlow's place in the old school is vacant as the previous tenant, Hayley, mysteriously left without giving any notice. Marlow is part of a team of property guardians on the extensive site, including the Head Guardian who is a stickler for the rules. Marlow senses something is wrong from the get-go and sets out to snoop around to find out what happened to Hayley. She raises the ire of the Head Guardian and some of the other tenants, but she's determined to find the truth. There's also an unnamed narrator who is keeping a close eye on Marlow and the school's potential redevelopment. This person is a little unhinged and seems to have a set against Marlow for something that happened in the past.

I raced through The other tenant and finished it quickly. I warmed to Marlow and felt sorry for her in her untethered state. Living in the school brings back past traumas and Marlow is right to be wary of her seemingly untrustworthy fellow guardians. There's a lot in the book of Marlow skulking about the school in search of answers about what happened to Hayley that makes for a tense read. We also get a lot of Marlow's recollections of the past trauma that links her to the school. Kara does a nice job of world-building a creepy atmosphere at the abandoned school and the suspense builds throughout the book until the reader is let into the secret.

As with The apartment upstairs, Kara avoids inflating the premise and serving up a whackadoodle ending. She has mastered the art of writing suspenseful stories with relatable characters in authentic situations. The ending isn't super shocking or surprising (and actually made me feel a little sad, to be honest) but still enough make me feel that I had read something good.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐