A Stranger on the Beach by Michele Campbell

Publisher: St Martin’s Press
Publication Date: July 23, 2019
Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Book Review

A Stranger on the Beach pleasantly surprised me. With this story, I did something I rarely ever do, I went into it without reading the synopsis. Although I would recommend that approach for this book, I found that it made it difficult to see where the plot was going and took me a few tries to get into it. Once it got interesting, I couldn’t put it down. I read it on a family vacation and found myself making excuses to sneak off and keep reading this one.

The story is told in alternating first and third person. The first person sections were told by Caroline, an affluent New Yorker living in the Hamptons. The third person sections mainly follow Aiden, a local bartender whose life begins to intersect with Caroline’s when they meet on the beach in front of her house one night. Both account the same events, but very differently. You find yourself questioning whose version of events is the truth.

I won’t give away any of the rest of the plot, only that it is very much a psychological thriller involving betrayal and infidelity, and it keeps you guessing until the very end.

Thanks to Netgalley and St Martins Press for the review copy!