A love story with ghastly undertones is the focal point of British author A.E. Gauntlett's splendid debut novel, The Stranger at the Wedding, a contemporary thriller featuring a missing wife and the diary that is the key to her disappearance.
Annie was raised in the English countryside, her childhood marked by loss. Now an associate professor teaching Greek mythology at King's College in London, Annie insists she isn't looking for love. But when she meets fellow train commuter Mark, a handsome surgeon, sparks fly and Annie lets herself be swept away. Questions swirl about his first wife, Hope, who went missing several months ago, but all Annie can see in Mark is a man who has suffered a great deal and is as eager as she is to leave the past behind.
With scenic London as their romantic backdrop, Annie and Mark enjoy a whirlwind courtship. Their wedding is as glorious as could be, despite an eerie wedding crasher who stares unsettlingly at Annie. Annie's narrative runs parallel to that of Cameron, a former police detective retained by Mark's father, Frank, to find Hope. Hope's anguished voice, in the form of diary entries, offers disturbing clues about her marriage.
Soon after Annie and Mark's honeymoon, the stranger from their wedding reappears, unearthing unwelcome ghosts from the couple's former lives to invade the rosy future Annie envisioned for herself and Mark.
The Stranger at the Wedding is a dark domestic drama with twisty surprises that are sure to delight thriller fans. --Shahina Piyarali