The Stranger Inside by Laura Benedict

☆☆☆1/2
Kindle Edition, 336 pages
Expected publication: February 5th 2019 by Mulholland Books
About the Book:
Kimber Hannon imagines she has complete control over her life, until she comes home to find that her house key no longer opens her front door. A man is living in her house. A stranger, who presents a lease bearing Kimber's own signature. When she confronts him, he gets close enough to whisper, "I was there. I saw what you did." Those words reveal a connection to Kimber's distant past, before her sister's sudden death more than twenty years ago. Her fear abruptly shifts. This trespasser knows her somehow. He isn't after anything as simple as her money or artwork or charming Craftsman bungalow. He wants to come into her carefully orchestrated life--and destroy it. Kimber has always been ruthless when it comes to getting what she wants. But can she discover the truth about her enemy's identity before he makes good on his threat to shine a spotlight into the darkest parts of her past?

I was there. I saw what you did. This is what he knows. He knows I was there.

I loved the story-telling mechanisms that Ms. Benedict uses in this book to keep the pace moving and the story fresh. The book begins the day Kimber arrives home to find a stranger living her house. The plot moves steadily, and little tidbits of information come to light, and you get the distinct impression Kimber is hiding something.

This book is truly a slow-burning, domestic noir. I read this one over only a couple of days, Benedict has a way of dropping hints that the reader completely overlooks. As each twist is revealed, the hints add up and make you realize you probably should have been able to tell what was going on the whole time. That is how you begin to empathize with the characters, even Kimber, who I loathed.

Laura Benedict is truly wonderful at crafting a carefully constructed plot that showcases how easy it is to be tricked into your worst nightmare.

Thank you NetGalley, Mulholland Books and Laura Benedict for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.