The Other Passenger by Louise Candlish

​  I absolutely loved Candlish’s Those People and so I requested this book on Netgalley without so much as perusing the plot summary. And sure enough, another winner. In fact, Candlish might be well on her way to becoming one of my favorite authors of psychological thrillers.
   I’d say it’s mainly the psychology of it all that she so excels it, because her novels do mostly read like fine literary dramas with a crime element, as opposed to the more traditional vice versa approach. We’re talking a character driven study so meticulously crafted that it doesn’t even require the easy gimmes of likeable cast or relatable situations. But then again this book is all about money, the exigencies of Mammon, the thing that makes the world go round and all that. So thematically it’s perfectly relatable, after all.
     To be fair, everyone’s relationship with money is different, but there are some fundamental, unalterable similarities. Everyone wants it. It may not make one happy, but it’ll buy all the bricks to pave the road there.
    For Jamie and his girlfriend of a decade it’s a complicated subject. She has inherited a grand manor, she has the well paying job and he pours coffee for a living  (not ideal at all of especially while pushing 50) after a traumatic phobic experience with public transport. In fact, he has becoming so phobic about commuting that the only thing he finds that works for him is a river ferry. Where he makes some friends.
    And then his new buddy Kit disappears and Jamie finds himself a prime suspect. And sure Jamie’s been having an affair with Kit’s much, much younger wife, thus risking all financial and emotional security he has, but is Jamie just a self sabotaging scoundrel or a murderer? Well, read and find out.
    So that’s the crime element and, while initially subtle, it’ll stun with you how well it twists toward the end. I’m a seasoned genre reader, who all too frequently figures thrillers out easily and early, but this one surprised me time and time again. Which is, of course, awesome.
     But then there’s all that terrific social commentary on the ever stratified by income lives and the constant craving of more. Of living in a city like London (any major city, really), where millionaires and homeless people walk the same streets. Of the relentless desperate pursuit of the elusive financial stability. At times, at any cost. Of what it makes people do. Well…some people. Those people. It’s clever, it’s poignant, it hits like a ton of bricks or well slung arrows. Well done, author, bravo. I seldom use worlds like enthralling…but this book calls for it.
      You’re going to want to come along as a pssanger on this ride. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.