Book Review: The Lodger by Valerie Keogh

I am pleased to be welcoming Valerie Keogh to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the blog tour for her novel, The Lodger.

She’s in your home…

Leigh Simons can’t say for sure what made her do it. A moment of madness, perhaps, but when the young, loud and gorgeous waitress at her favorite coffee shop reveals she is homeless, Leigh offers her the empty room in her house.

In your head…

Gina is the perfect lodger; Leigh, lonely and frustrated with her life, becomes infatuated with the woman – her boldness, her zeal. If only Leigh could be more like Gina…

And missing without trace.

So when Leigh returns from a work trip she’s shocked to find Gina missing. Where could the young woman have gone…and why?

Leigh fears that something terrible has happened – why else would Gina leave her?

But as she sets out to find her missing lodger, what Leigh discovers changes everything she knows about Gina….and her own life, too.

*****

When Leigh discovers that a waitress in her favourite coffee shop is becoming homeless, she offers up her spare room, a decision she instantly regrets.

However, when Leigh gets back from a week away, Gina has gone. Vanished without a trace.

This was my introduction to Valerie Keogh’s novels and the idea for this book really intrigued me so I was excited to get started.

It’s going to be quite hard to talk about this book without giving away spoilers but I’m going to try. Here goes…

Leigh is an interesting character. I got the feeling that she held a lot of herself back, being the person her boyfriend, Matt wanted her to be.

She is a lot braver than she thinks, especially when she eventually decides to speak up against a well liked male colleague. She is someone to admire in that respect.

She is a character that didn’t really know herself very well I thought.

Gina is what Leigh isn’t… she dances in the kitchen, goes out until the early hours. Where as Leigh felt weighed down, Gina felt light if that makes sense. She had less inhibitions.

The story draws you in and really gets into your head. The plot is well developed and is paced well that you don’t realise you’ve been reading for hours.

The atmosphere created is one that makes you question every little noise in the house or at least, it had me jumping a few times. Haha.

There are twists and turns that make you question everything you think you’ve worked out. I couldn’t figure out how it was going to end it how it was going to all tie together. Who was the villain? What happened to Gina? I needed to know. There was a point where I didn’t trust anyone.

The Lodger is a great, compelling, dark psychological thriller that really gets under your skin and into your head.

It would make a great holiday read or if you’re looking for a fantastic novel in this genre. I am very much looking forward to seeing what Valerie Keogh does next.

Thank you to Boldwood Books, Netgalley and Rachel’s Random Resources for the advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

About Valerie Keogh: 

Valerie Keogh is the internationally bestselling author of several psychological thrillers and crime series, most recently published by Bloodhound.

She originally comes from Dublin but now lives in Wiltshire and worked as a nurse for many years.

The Lodger was published by Boldwood Books on 1st August 2022. Click to buy on Amazon UK and Waterstones.

Say hello to Valerie via Facebook, Twitter, and Bookbub. To sign up to her newsletter, click here. 

by

Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.