Review of The House Across the Lake

A woman who drinks a lot and spies on the neighbors? Yes, we’ve read that thriller before, and it’s a trope I enjoy! But what happened after that in The House Across the Lake was jaw-droppingly weird. If you want to know more, check out my review of The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager.

The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager

Published on June 21, 2022 by Dutton Books

As an Amazon Affiliate I may earn from qualifying purchases.

Casey Fletcher, a recently widowed actress trying to escape a streak of bad press, has retreated to the peace and quiet of her family’s lake house in Vermont.

Armed with a pair of binoculars and several bottles of liquor, she passes the time watching Tom and Katherine Royce, the glamorous couple who live in the house across the lake.

One day on the lake, Casey saves Katherine from drowning, and the two strike up a budding friendship. But the more they get to know each other—and the longer Casey watches—it becomes clear that Katherine and Tom’s marriage is not as perfect and placid as it appears.

When Katherine suddenly vanishes, Casey becomes consumed with finding out what happened to her. In the process, she uncovers eerie, darker truths that turn a tale of voyeurism and suspicion into a story of guilt, obsession and how looks can be very deceiving.

Review of The House Across the Lake

This review will be spoiler-free and I will link to my spoiler discussion below!

I’ve enjoyed some Riley Sager books, like Final Girls. Others, like Survive the Night, I struggled with. So I was very curious to see what I’d think of The House Across the Lake. It was on my list of Ten Summer Thrillers I Can’t Wait to Read in 2022.

Another story about an alcoholic woman who spies on the neighbors?

After reading the synopsis above, you might think that the plot of The House Across the Lake sounds familiar: a woman who drinks too much, spies on her neighbors, and thinks she witnesses a murder. But is she just imagining things? Or is she right and no one believes her?

This was the plot of The Girl on the Train and also The Woman in the Window, both of which seem inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window.

When I tried to describe The House Across the Lake to my husband, he said, oh, like that Netflix show. He meant The Woman Across the Street from the Girl in the Window, which is a parody of these girl/woman/house/window books.

The House Across the Lake isn’t a parody, but it takes the spying on the neighbors premise in a VERY bizarre direction.

It starts out seeming a lot like those other books. Casey, the main character, is drinking too much after a tragic loss. She saves Katherine, her neighbor, from drowning. After that, she becomes convinced that Katherine is missing and that her husband must have killed her.

The House Across the Lake Takes a Strange Turn

Then, suddenly, the book switched genres (or maybe sub-genres?) in a way that I found incredibly confusing.

I don’t want to say too much in this spoiler-free review, but think The House Across the Lake could have worked in either of the thriller sub-genres it tries to veer between. But for me, the swerving between them was confusing and (I think) resulted in a lack of world building. I wasn’t thrilled about the direction things took, but maybe I could have been on board if this sudden new development had been better … developed?

I kept reading, but more out of a sense of astonishment and hoping to make sense of what was happening. I’m not sure I got there, so if you’ve read this, I can use some help!

If you’ve read The House Across the Lake and want to discuss it, I would LOVE to have you join me for my Spoiler Discussion of The House Across the Lake. Because, wow, is there a lot to talk about.