The Lodger

Product Information

Grace Armstrong believes that she has come to terms with her own loss, the death of her fiancé, the brilliant and dazzling best friend of her brother.

The Lodger | Helen Scarlett | 9781529407594 | NetGalley The Lodger | Helen Scarlett | 9781529407594 | NetGalley

The romance section was ok but I did find the story kind of dragged on and after a while it lost the impact that it had at the beginning. Soon Grace finds herself under threat, and the only person prepared to listen is the brooding Tom Monaghan. London, 1919: a city of ghosts and absences, haunted by the men who marched away but never came back. Added to this, there is the disappearance of the woman who has been lodging with the Armstrong family for the past eight years. Elizabeth had been more than a lodger; she had become a close friend to Grace, who feels compelled to find out what happened.

After reading the wonderful 'The Deception of Harriet Fleet' by the same author, I thought it would be a difficult act to follow. I found ‘The Lodger’ a slow burn, character-driven mystery with a strong emphasis upon its post Great War setting. However, there has been a revival (of sorts) of this rather unique genre during the past few decades with some of the more well-known books being televised and even film versions being produced. The main character is a vulnerable govereness, who arrives at an isolated house, which is tainted by murder and dark secrets.

The Lodger by Lucy Paterson - Incredible books from Quercus Books The Lodger by Lucy Paterson - Incredible books from Quercus Books

In doing so, she is drawn reluctantly into the sordid and dangerous underbelly of London and a scandal that rocked Edwardian society.

Elizabeth, a lodger in Grace's family home, is found drowned in the Thames just days after disappearing without a trace.

The Lodger by Helen Scarlett | Waterstones The Lodger by Helen Scarlett | Waterstones

For the middle and upper classes, the old rules of social interaction between the sexes are gone too – no more chaperones, nightclubs springing up, ladies drinking cocktails and smoking! The only person who is prepared to help her is Tom Monaghan, who fought with Edward in France, but as they begin to investigate Elizabeth’s death, they make some shocking discoveries about Grace’s friend. I love novels set just after the First World War, when the world is fast changing, but London's population is suffering in the aftermath of the devastations of the war, and young women are suddenly again constrainted by the mores of the times. The Lodger is an entertaining and agile book, easy to read; especially if English is not your first language.Set just after the World War, we also get an insight into the devasting effects it caused to those who fought, and to those who lost loved ones. Grace must find out what happened to Elizabeth, yet the more she discovers, the more she loses of herself and in doing so could lead to her own tragic end when it becomes clear that her former lodger and friend wasn’t particularly innocent. It is with this background that a young woman, Grace Armstrong, is trying to find the family of their former lodger who committed suicide.