The guest

Iris and Gabriel Pelley are sympathetic when their close friend Laure unexpectedly appears on their doorstep seeking refuge. She's reeling after learning that her husband, Pierre, secretly fathered a child with another woman. Initially, Iris and Gabriel welcome the distraction. Gabriel, an experienced physician, has been troubled and distant since he was unable to save a critically wounded youth he discovered on the village's biking trail. When Iris meets landscape designer Joseph at their new neighbor's house, she decides that a fresh face will do wonders for them all and hires him to help Gabriel rehab their garden. Unfortunately, their lingering discontent tangles with Joseph's charisma to feed new intrigues and resentments. Then, on the night of a raging storm, Laure vanishes and Pierre's murdered body is discovered. Did they give refuge to a killer, or is something worse amiss? Well-crafted secrets and betrayals abound here but don't quite reach the expertly calibrated tension that fed Paris' more powerful The Therapist (2021) and The Prisoner (2022).

Bestseller Paris (The Prisoner) orchestrates a symphony of subplots in this creepy domestic thriller. Unhappily married English couple Iris and Gabriel are returning home to the village of Markham after a two-week holiday. During their vacation, Gabriel, a doctor, came across a fatal bike accident while out jogging one morning. The 18-year-old victim was a former player on the youth soccer team Gabriel once coached, and he remains plagued both by his failure to save the young man and by the fact that his final words were "Tell mum I'll never forgive her." When the couple arrives home, they're shocked to discover that their friend, Laure, has moved in. Laure explains that her husband has fathered a child with another woman, and she needs space to clear her head. She vastly overstays her welcome, however, leading Iris and Gabriel to question her motives. Then the couple meet their new neighbors, whose gardener, Joseph, develops a connection with Laure--and whose shady past eventually throws all their complicated entanglements into disarray. Paris deftly juggles the many characters and plot strands on the way toward a wild climax. The results are electrifying. (Feb.)