The Housemate
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4.1 • 191 Ratings
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
The new standalone thriller from the award-winning writer of the bestselling Gemma Woodstock trilogy: The Dark Lake, Into the Night and Where the Dead Go.
'Each new twist in the story skilfully balances bombshell revelations and believability, in a crime that feels achingly familiar, yet shocking at the same time. Much like Oli, I couldn't stop until I knew the truth, too.'
JACQUELINE BUBLITZ, author of Before You Knew My Name
Three housemates. One dead, one missing and one accused of murder.
Dubbed the Housemate Homicide, it's a mystery that has baffled Australians for almost a decade.
Melbourne-based journalist Olive Groves worked on the story as a junior reporter and became obsessed by the case. Now, nine years later, the missing housemate turns up dead on a remote property. Olive is once again assigned to the story, this time reluctantly paired with precocious millennial podcaster Cooper Ng.
As Oli and Cooper unearth new facts about the three housemates, a dark web of secrets is uncovered. The revelations catapult Oli back to the death of the first housemate, forcing her to confront past traumas and insecurities that have risen to the surface again.
What really happened between the three housemates that night? Will Oli's relentless search for the murderer put her new family in danger? And could her suspicion that the truth lies closer to home threaten her happiness and even her sanity?
A riveting, provocative thriller from the bestselling author of The Dark Lake, Into the Night and Where the Dead Go.
'Australian crime at its best.' J.P. POMARE, author of Call Me Evie
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
When a missing woman linked to a cold case murder is found dead, the investigation is revived. As it unfolds—both in the media and for those close to the story itself—shocking new details about three former housemates come to light. Set in Melbourne, Sarah Bailey’s fourth novel is told from the perspective of journalist Oli Groves, who first reported on the case when it happened ten years earlier, and now has a complicated home life to navigate in tandem with the stresses of the newsroom. More than just a genuinely gripping, brilliantly well-written murder mystery, The Housemate also takes an insightful look at the modern media landscape, and how the mid-2010s saw a shift away from traditional news sources towards digital media. Bailey is an expert at writing the unexpected, with new connections, characters and a-ha! moments revealed at a perfect pace throughout. This is a masterclass in the contemporary crime thriller.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In 2005, reporter Oli Groves, the protagonist of this outstanding standalone set in Australia from Bailey (the Gemma Woodstock trilogy), is on the scene in St. Kilda when the police make a grim discovery: the stabbed body of University of Melbourne undergrad Evelyn Stanley in the house she'd shared with two other young women, Nicole Horrowitz, who's disappeared, and Alexandra Riboni. Alexandra, found drenched in blood and holding a knife from which her DNA and bloody fingerprints are recovered, is charged and convicted of Evelyn's murder. In 2015, Groves revisits the case, which has become a cause célèbre after a report that Nicole's body was found hanging from a tree next to a house in a remote community. Oli, who's now engaged to the widower of one of the original investigating officers, dives into the case again, even as her paper, the Melbourne Today, forces her to work on it as a podcast as well as a straight news story. Logical yet surprising plot twists never overwhelm the sophisticated characterizations that make suspending disbelief almost effortless. The judicious use of flashbacks build tension, and the denouement doesn't disappoint. Jane Harper readers will be riveted.
Customer Reviews
Wow
I haven’t read a book that was so wonderfully tied together like this was in a long time. The story was woven so perfectly. The characters were so solid and lifelike.
I very rarely give out 5 stars. Mostly 3’s, sometimes 4’s but five stars I save for the writers who really impress me. I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. & would love to read more about Oli!
Melbourne reader
Couldn’t put the book down!