Stranger in the Woods by Anni Taylor — An Audiobook Review

A complex mystery-thriller that has you shouting, “What happened?” on your way to the “Whodunnit?”

There is a well-established method for mystery plots, an A+B=C formula, that, if correctly plotted, almost guarantees a good story. Author Anni Taylor applies that approach as a blueprint and then builds a house full of Penrose staircases around it. By the time you’re halfway into this book, you won’t know what’s coming or going, and when you’ve finished, you'll sit in awe of Taylor’s architectural masterpiece.

Stranger in the Woods incorporates elements of a soap opera, crime story, mystery, family drama, a whisper of a romance, a dash of folklore and a good deal of dread. If you like a straightforward mystery with clearly defined creeps and victims, culminating with a predictable yet satisfying ending, this is not that story. In her book, Taylor pulls the reader in, lulling you into that comfortable setting, then blasts you out of a cannon without ever seeing her light the fuse. Anni Taylor is a pro.

The story focuses on Isla Wilson, an Australian woman who is single and lives a mostly pleasant and content life in Sydney, working as a successful and coveted photographer. Isla has a close and sweet relationship with her mother and…