The Other Guest

One year after her niece Amy drowned in suspicious circumstances at a family-owned Italian resort, Leah returns to Lake Garda and finds that her sister's family has effectively erased Amy from their lives. The deeper Leah digs into the circumstances of the drowning, the more she understands that the resort's beautiful surface conceals something her family is desperate to protect. Simultaneously, a woman in England discovers that the charming man who swept her off her feet is connected to events at the same resort. Helen Cooper's thriller builds its dual narrative toward a satisfying convergence.

Sofia Zervudachi narrates with clarity and controlled tension, keeping the two storylines distinct while allowing the dramatic irony of their convergence to build naturally. The Lake Garda setting, rendered with atmospheric specificity, adds a layer of glamorous unease appropriate to a novel about how dangerous surfaces can be. Listeners who enjoy character-driven suspense with a European setting will find this consistently engaging.