The Stranger in Room Six – Jane Corry

Published By: Penguin
Pages: 432
Released On: 19/06/2025

You may not know the stranger in room six. But they know everything about you.

It’s been fifteen years since Belinda was convicted of her husband’s murder. Now, she’s ready for her life to begin again, and she’s set on that happening at Sunnyside Home for the Young at Heart.

The owner, Mabel, has spent her life here. First as an evacuee during the Blitz and now as the care home’s oldest resident, Mabel has held the secrets of this house for as long as she can remember. Secrets that could kill if in the wrong hands.

But history won’t stay hidden forever and someone is onto them both. Watching and listening from room number six, they’ll stop at nothing to find out the truth.

With a past this dark, is anyone as innocent as they seem?

*****

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.

I believe this is my first of Jane’s books but it definitely won’t be my last.

I thought this was going to be “just” a normal, bog-standard thriller, but it’s got so much depth. Yes it’s got what you want – murder and prison and regrets and whatnot – but there’s so much backstory. I found the story regarding Mabel during WW2 very interesting. And I liked the crossover between Belinda and Mabel’s stories.

It’s got a bit of everything, it has thrill, history, a bit of romance. It’s like a story within a story within a story. It flicks from Mabel’s past to Belinda’s past and to the present, as well as chapters from the viewpoint of an unidentified character. This sounds confusing but it really wasn’t, it flows very well. It’s full of heart, it’s tense and sad, but there is such a hopeful feeling throughout, particularly in the 1940s sections.

I loved all the characters. Some are in it more than others and some are more obviously likeable than others, but I can’t say there was a wasted one amongst them. They all work by themselves but all do wonders for Belinda’s and Mabel’s stories. And the two main women are just gorgeous. There are elements that I think we’re not meant to like, but even that couldn’t take the shine off of them.

I do have one issue though. It’s not to do with the book itself, no, the plot, the characters, and the meaning behind everything is just perfect. But for me, the title and the cover just scream thriller, scream crime novel, whodunnit, kind of thing. And whilst there is an element of that regarding Belinda’s story, this isn’t a thriller for me. And even though the majority of the story is set in the present time, or the recent past, it is the scenes set around WW2 that take over (in a good way). It’s a difficult one. Because I’m not sure you could label it as an historical novel because it’s not completely. But I think it would maybe match a bit better with a change in cover as I felt that jarred ever so slightly with what I expected and what I got.

I could have written a far longer review of this. I could talk about it for ages, but firstly I think a lot of joy comes from the not knowing. And secondly, a lot of what I felt about it can’t be written down. It’s all about emotion and feelings and morals and beliefs and I don’t think that’s something I can explain. So all I really want to say is that this book is very, very, very good.