The Other Passenger

Starred review from May 17, 2021
This ingenious psychological thriller from British author Candlish (Those People) has more bends and turns than the Thames River, which plays a significant role in the action-driven plot. New mates Jamie Buckby, once a high-salaried marketing executive but now a low-paid barista, and Kit Roper, who works in insurance, are primarily traveling companions on the 7:20 a.m. ferry river bus from St. Mary’s into central London. One morning, during Christmas week and after an evening of holiday binge drinking, Kit doesn’t show up. Suspicion falls on Jamie when it seems as though he may have a motive for murder. Enter the women in the thickening scheme of things. Jamie lives unmarried in high style with moneyed real estate agent Clare; Kit lives with his assistant, Melia, and they struggle to make ends meet and envy Jamie and Clare their townhouse. Everyone seems to have something to hide, piling one lie on top of another. Dalliances form, alliances abound, and deception is rampant. Candlish’s clever commuter horror offers enough stupefying chills to reward old fans and invite new ones. Agent: Sheila Crowley, Curtis Brown (U.K.).

Starred review from June 4, 2021

Nearing 50, Jamie Buckby has a panic attack on the London Tube that goes viral. He resigns from his communications job and works as a barista while figuring out his next step, and his partner Clare now provides the household monetary support. One evening, Clare invites her twentysomething colleague Melia and Melia's boyfriend Kit over for a dinner party. An intergenerational friendship develops between the couples, particularly between Jamie and Kit, who both commute on the same river bus. But as their lives become more intertwined, Jamie and Clare learn that Melia and Kit live beyond their means, and start to become alarmed at Kit's increased recreational drug use. After having an altercation with Jamie on the river bus, Kit goes missing. Jamie is under suspicion for causing Kit's disappearance when a mysterious unnamed fellow passenger on the river bus makes a report of the fight. Jamie knows, however, that he's innocent of any wrongdoing in Kit's disappearance. Candlish (Those People) concocts a twisty plot that weaves together the yearlong evolution of a friendship and the investigation into Kit's disappearance. This book stands apart for its expert pacing and plotting, and for its exploration of the complexity of financial disparities in relationships, friendships between generations, and the London housing crisis. VERDICT Sure to please readers looking for thrillers in the vein of Lisa Jewell and Aimee Molloy; a single-sitting page-turner with character and thematic depth.--Jon Jeffryes, Grand Valley State Univ., MI

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