The House Guest

The House Guest

$34.80

Biographical Note: Jennifer Pashley is the award-winning author of two short story collections, States, and The Conjurer, as well as the novels The Scamp and The Watcher. Her stories have appeared widely in journals like...

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Description

Biographical Note:
Jennifer Pashley is the award-winning author of two short story collections, States, and The Conjurer, as well as the novels The Scamp and The Watcher. Her stories have appeared widely in journals like Mississippi Review, PANK, and SmokeLong Quarterly, and she has been awarded the Red Hen Prize for Fiction, the Mississippi Review Prize for fiction, and the Carve Magazine Esoteric Award for LGBT Fiction. She lives in Syracuse, New York.


Review Quotes:
" The House Guest is an insidious, captivating journey into the true heart of darkness--the insular world of the weirdly wealthy who have no obligation to anyone or anything, save their own whims and appetites. A cautionary tale of the Faustian deal one desperate chef strikes with a pair of wealthy enigmas and how that agreement lands her in a true horror. Pashley writes with elegant deadliness, a brutality and emotionality, but most of all in an unsparing way about the endgame of privilege. This book is a masterful feat of atmosphere, oddity and dread."-- Emily Carpenter, author of Gothictown and A Spell for Saints and Sinners

Review Quotes:
"Slow burn psychological suspense at its appetizing best with a tension that simmers until things finally boil over. Jennifer Pashley has cooked up a must read for anyone who loves Liv Constantine, Andrea Bartz, and Frieda McFadden."-- Kellye Garrett, author of Missing White Woman

Review Quotes:
"Besides being right up my noir alley with a sassy, sexy, troubled female chef protagonist, Pashley's House Guest has the kind of foodie detail that makes you drool and consider highlighting for future reference. Also some sentence gems. . . . Excessive wealth, beauty, alcohol, and dogs intertwine and turn eerie. This chef dishes out seabass and sex with the same desperation, and you want to yell Get out! But she has the guts to make her bad decisions stick. First lick to last, it's guilty pleasure without the calories, as they say. You'll probably even burn some extras."-- Vicki Hendricks, author of Miami Purity

Review Quotes:

"An aspiring chef bites off more than she can chew when a dreamy gig cooking for a reclusive bestselling author turns into a steamy affair--and a deadly game once his unhinged wife comes home. This is a perfect summer read!"

-- Charlie Donlea, author of Guess Again

Review Quotes:
"Dark, seductive, and sharply observed, The House Guest is a gripping psychological thriller that explores a young woman's crash course in the dark side of privilege and obsession, delivering an addictive read." -- Aggie Blum Thompson, author of You Deserve To Know

Review Quotes:
"Emma Cline's The Guest meets Freida McFadden's The Housemaid in this sexy, edgy, singular story about a private chef stumbling into the job from hell. Reading The House Guest is like watching a car wreck unfold in slow motion--it's full of gripping, can't-look-away intrigue, seductive and delicious prose, and characters thorny enough to rivet. Pashley is a first-rate talent."-- Ashley Winstead, author of The Future Saints

Review Quotes:
"That feeling when...you discover a new auto-buy author. Ominous vibes, lush food descriptions, and emotionally tormented characters all masterfully woven into an unhinged psychological thriller. Come for the luxurious ocean-front property, stay for the sex, booze, and murder."-- K.T. Nguyen, author of You Know What You Did

Review Quotes:
"Engrossing. . . . An unexpected death raises the stakes, and Pashley's subsequent dives into the backstories of her three principals keeps the tension almost unbearably high--with each new detail, readers' loyalties shift. It's a riveting ride." -- Publishers Weekly

Publisher Marketing:
An aspiring chef finds she has bitten off more than she can chew when her gig as a private cook to a bestselling author turns deadly in this propulsive, whip-smart suspense novel.

"Emma Cline's The Guest meets Freida McFadden's The Housemaid in this sexy, edgy, singular story."--Ashley Winstead, author of The Future Saints

Brett Novak is a young upstart chef, with real, raw talent--if only she could catch a break. After getting dumped by her married girlfriend and losing the perfect job offer, Brett accepts a temporary position as a live-in, personal chef of a reclusive, bestselling author, Carson Smart, who resides in a mansion on a secluded beach in Cape Cod.

Carson immediately seduces her, but things get complicated when Carson's wife, Vera, arrives home from her trip, and the love/hate relationship between the two spouses erupts, leaving Brett caught in the middle. Brett, starved for attention, craves Carson's affection and yet is oddly drawn to Vera's seductive and destructive charms.

As Brett becomes an unwitting pawn and weapon, she questions how far husband and wife will go to wound the other. With nowhere else to turn, she has no choice but to stay--even as her hold on reality begins to slip. Can she survive her employers' dark appetites?

Review Citations:

  • Publishers Weekly 05/04/2026 (EAN 9780316600798, Hardcover)