Review: The Housemate by Sarah Bailey – A slow-burn thriller with a dark twist
Journalist Oli Grove finds herself embroiled in a case she thought she was done with 10 years ago.
The Housemate by Sarah Bailey: The key details
- Publish date: 25th February 2025 (originally published in 2021)
- Genre: Thriller
- Publisher: Datura
- Series/standalone: Standalone
- No. of pages: 450
Blurb: Dubbed the Housemate Homicide, it’s a mystery that has baffled Australians for almost a decade. Melbourne-based journalist Olive Groves worked on the story as a junior reporter and became obsessed by the case. Now, nine years later, the missing housemate turns up dead on a remote property. Olive is once again assigned to the story, this time reluctantly paired with precocious millennial podcaster Cooper Ng. As Oli and Cooper unearth new facts about the three housemates, a dark web of secrets is uncovered. The revelations catapult Oli back to the death of the first housemate, forcing her to confront past traumas and insecurities that have risen to the surface again.
What really happened between the three housemates that night?
Will Oli’s relentless search for the murderer put her new family in danger?
And could her suspicion that the truth lies closer to home threaten her happiness and even her sanity?
The Housemate by Sarah Bailey: The review
The Housemate is quite unlike anything I’ve read before. This slow-burn crime thriller feels like a police procedural, but instead it’s from the perspective of a journalist. Olive Groves — known as Oli — worked on the famous ‘Housemate Homicide’ case back in 2005, where one housemate of a group of three women turned up dead and another went missing. The third woman was arrested for it, but some years later she was released from jail.
Fast forward 10 years and the case is back in the public eye again, and Oli is back working on it. She was sure there was more to it back then, and she’s even more sure of it now.
As Oli works her way through the case you’ll meet her colleagues, learn about her personal life and get embroiled in multiple mysteries. You’ll follow Oli as she interviews key witnesses, tries to get information from the police, and gets frustrated as she comes up against multiple dead ends.
There’s much more to The Housemate than just the case, though. This is a long read and with more personal focus on Oli, straight-up thriller readers might find it sometimes too long-winded and meandering. I didn’t mind that: Oli is a great, complex character and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her and her sometimes difficult family life. You’ll also be introduced to her partner, Dean, and his twin daughters — as well as learning a little more about their tumultuous past.
It isn’t until the last 10% or so that The Housemate really kicks up a gear, but it did keep me guessing throughout. I didn’t figure out any of its twists, and I felt the payoff of everything was excellently done.
⚠️ A warning, though: some of the subject matter is dark and difficult, and while the book never goes into much detail, it’s worth bearing in mind if you’re sensitive to tough subjects.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This review is based on an ARC of The Housemate provided by Netgalley.
