The field of the psychological crime thriller is thronging with so many entries these days that something special is required to elevate any new entry above the quotidian. That something special is undoubtedly provided by Charlotte Northedge with The House Guest, which arrives with an encomium from Erin Kelly (no mean practitioner of the art herself): ‘Deliciously dark and totally twisted’. Avoiding the clichés of the genre, Northedge presents us with a narrative that engages from the very first page. Her protagonist, Kate, makes the move to London after her sister has disappeared. She encounters Della, a life coach (always a suspicious profession in fiction), whose support group for women appears designed to help them through emotional traumas. But Kate and Della soon move beyond client and adviser and Della shows a concern for Kate that goes beyond the professional — and the reader is invited to work out just what is the real source of her interest is. Northedge demonstrates a keen grasp of psychology, and her characters are drawn with suitable vividness, but the real achievement here is the slow-burning tension, building at an adroitly maintained pace – a pace, moreover, which is worthy of Alfred Hitchcock in his vintage years. Yes, the field of the psychological crime novel may be overcrowded, but entries such as this shout out that there is plenty of life in the genre yet.
The House Guest by Charlotte Northedge, HarperCollins £12.99
