Hey, it’s Diego.

I just finished reading The Dead Room by Catriona McPherson.

And the main character spends most of the book feeling something is off.

I've read a few thrillers where I've been trying to put together the puzzle as I read along, and it's a setup that makes every small detail feel like it matters.

Here are a few that do it well.

Something's Off Thrillers

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney

A couple retreats to a remote Scottish chapel for a weekend getaway, hoping to save their marriage. But nothing about the trip, or about each other, is what it seems.

In Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney, we follow Adam and Amelia in alternating chapters as they try to figure out each other and an unwelcomed guest.

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

A recovering addict gets a fresh start as a nanny for a five-year-old boy in a quiet suburban neighborhood. When the boy's drawings shift from innocent scribbles to eerie depictions of violence, she's left questioning what's happening in the house.

In Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak, we follow Mallory as she tries to figure out whether the drawings are tied to the house's dark past or something she can't explain.

The Only One Left by Riley Sager

The Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. Decades later, a disgraced caregiver arrives at the decaying mansion to care for the only surviving member.

The Only One Left by Riley Sager has Kit trying to put together the puzzle of the murders from what she remembers and what she sees before her.

And the newest addition to the list:

The Dead Room by Catriona McPherson

Lindsay is a young widow who retreats to her Scottish hometown after the death of her husband, moving back into the bungalow where she grew up, next to the scrapyard her family still owns. Her brother and best friend welcome her back, and an elderly widow next door helps her settle into her new normal. But something feels off. Lindsay starts recognizing people she's never met and forgetting the faces of people she's known her whole life. And when her neighbor vanishes, she seems to be the only one who notices.

The Dead Room by Catriona McPherson is a domestic thriller set in a small town in Scotland.

This is the most confusing thriller I've read. And it's done on purpose. The "problem" is not that the reader doesn't know what's going on. It's that the protagonist doesn't either. She won't recognize people in her own life, or she'll sense that something someone said is wrong but won't understand why. McPherson commits to this completely for the first three-quarters of the book, and the result is a reading experience where you have to trust the author that even though you don't understand 50% of the interactions, things will tie together at the end. (Things do tie together in the end.)

We follow Lindsay through a single timeline in a single POV. Because of the confusing nature of the book, the pace is a slow burn throughout. Sure, a woman Lindsay meets on her first day back goes missing, and she kind of looks for her for a bit, but then forgets about her. Instead, the mystery is the accumulation of small things that don't add up.

As such, Lindsay is a passive character. Things happen around her, and to her, and for most of the book, there isn't much in terms of plot for her to drive either. I must confess this was frustrating at times, but it's also the point. She can't be proactive because she genuinely doesn't understand what's going on. Once the story shifts gears around the three-quarter mark and moves into more familiar domestic thriller territory, Lindsay catches up, and the book starts clicking into place.

There is some romance, with a kind man who enters Lindsay's life and hints at something new. But it stays in the background. There are no explicit scenes, no swearing, and no graphic violence.

So, what about the ending? (No spoilers, obviously)

I enjoyed the ending. The confusion from the first three-quarters pays off, and things are explained in a way that makes me appreciate why it was built this way. I did get a long denouement, which was appreciated, especially as I got to learn what happened to all the characters after the end.

The Dead Room by Catriona McPherson is a weird thriller. It asks you to sit with confusion for a long time and trust that it's going somewhere. If you can get along with that, and you like domestic thrillers where something is clearly off but nobody will say what, you'll find a lot to enjoy here.

Latest Updates

• I've been watching The Staircase on Netflix. It's an HBO production starring Colin Firth as a crime novelist accused of murdering his wife, and it's really pulling me in.

That’s all for this week. See you next time.

— Diego Dunne

P.S. Let me know how I did today by replying to this email.

P.P.S. I would love to hear your recommendations for thrillers you loved. Reply to this email, and I’ll add them to my TBR list. Thanks!