👀 First impressions:
I picked up The Other Passenger because I had heard so many good things about Louise Candlish, particularly after her award-winning novel Our House took the Crime and Thriller Book of the Year at the British Book Awards. She has been called the “queen of the sucker-punch twist,” and honestly, that kind of reputation is hard to ignore when you are browsing for your next thriller. The premise immediately grabbed me: Jamie Buckby commutes to work each day on the Thames river bus alongside his charismatic younger neighbour, Kit. One morning, Kit does not show up for the boat. His partner Melia reports him missing, and when Jamie steps off at his stop, the police are waiting for him. Another passenger saw the two men arguing the night before, and suddenly Jamie is the prime suspect.
It sounded like a tightly wound psychological thriller with plenty of room for secrets and misdirection. I went in expecting something gripping and layered, and in some ways I got exactly that. In others, though, the book left me wanting more.
✅ What I Liked:
The setting of this book is genuinely one of its strongest assets. Using the Thames river bus as the backdrop for a thriller felt fresh and atmospheric. There is something inherently cinematic about a daily commute by water, and Candlish uses it beautifully to create a sense of routine that slowly curdles into something unsettling. The London setting is richly drawn, and you really feel embedded in the world of these characters and their south-east London neighbourhood.
Candlish also does a fantastic job exploring themes of class, wealth, and the quiet resentments that simmer beneath the surface of friendships. Jamie works in a coffee shop for minimal pay but lives in a gorgeous home that belongs to his partner Clare’s family. Kit and Melia, twenty years younger, are struggling financially while projecting an effortlessly glamorous image. The tension between these two couples, built on envy and assumption and unspoken judgements, feels incredibly real. I found myself drawn into their dynamic almost immediately, and I think this social commentary is where Candlish truly excels.
The twists are also genuinely surprising. Just when I thought I had worked out where the story was heading, Candlish pulled the rug out from under me. There are layers to the plot that keep unfolding, and I have to give her credit for constructing a narrative that consistently wrongfooted me. The final act, in particular, delivered some reveals that I genuinely did not see coming.
❎ What I didn’t Like:
Here is where things get a bit mixed for me. The pacing is uneven throughout the book. The first half moves quite slowly as it builds the backstory of these two couples, and while I appreciated the character work, there were stretches where I felt the story was treading water. I found myself checking how many pages were left and wondering when things were going to pick up.
The characters are also, to put it gently, a deeply unlikeable bunch. Now, I do not need to like characters to enjoy a book, but I do need to feel something for them. By the midpoint, my investment in what happened to any of them had started to fade. Jamie is frustrating in his passivity and poor decisions. Kit is brash and self-destructive. Clare and Melia both feel somewhat underserved by the narrative despite being interesting on paper. The result is that some of the later twists, which should have landed with real emotional weight, fell a bit flat because I simply did not care enough about the people involved.
I also felt the ending dragged on longer than it needed to. After the major reveals, there is a significant stretch of wrapping up that could have been trimmed considerably. Several reviewers have noted the same thing, and I have to agree. The story felt like it reached its natural conclusion and then kept going for another fifty pages or so.
📚 Why You Should Read This Book:
If you enjoy domestic thrillers with an emphasis on social dynamics and class tension, this is absolutely worth your time. Fans of Lisa Jewell and B.A. Paris will find a lot to appreciate here, especially if you enjoy stories where seemingly ordinary relationships hide dark undercurrents. It is also a great pick if you love a London setting and want something that feels grounded in a very specific, very real world. If you are someone who reads for the twists and enjoys trying to stay one step ahead of the author, Candlish will keep you guessing. Just be prepared for a slow build in the first half before the momentum really kicks in.
💭 Final Thoughts:
The Other Passenger is a competent and occasionally brilliant psychological thriller that suffers from pacing issues and a cast of characters who are difficult to root for. The setting is wonderful, the social commentary is sharp, and the twists are cleverly constructed. But the slow start and the drawn-out ending diluted some of my overall enjoyment. I can see why this book has divided readers. There is a lot of skill on display here, and when the story hits its stride it really does fly. It just took too long to get there for me, and by the time the big moments arrived, I had lost some of the emotional connection that would have made them truly land. It is a solid read, but not quite the knockout I was hoping for.
Final Rating ★★★ – Sharp twists, slow burn, but the spark fizzled before the finale
About the Reviewer
Minnie
📸
Book lover, chronic over-reader, and firm believer that the best stories are the ones that leave a mark. I review fiction across all genres with a soft spot for anything character-driven and emotionally complex. Want to know more? Head over to my About page to learn the full story.
This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps support the blog and allows me to keep sharing book recommendations.
Leave a Reply