Tag: suspense

What the Neighbors Saw by Melissa Adelman

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books

Date of publication: June 20th, 2023

Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Suspense, Contemporary, Adult, Crime

Purchase Links: Kindle | Audible | B&N | AbeBooks | WorldCat

Goodreads Synopsis:

Desperate Housewives meets The Couple Next Door in a chilling story of murder and intrigue set in a well-to-do DC suburb.

Sometimes the darkest acts occur in the most beautiful houses…

When Alexis and her husband Sam buy a neglected Cape Cod house in an exclusive DC suburb, they are ecstatic. Sam is on the cusp of making partner at his law firm, Alexis is pregnant with their second child, and their glamorous neighbors welcome the couple with open arms. Things are looking up, and Alexis believes she can finally leave her troubled past behind.

But the neighborhood’s picture-perfect image is shattered when their neighbor Teddy – a handsome, successful father of three – is found dead on the steep banks of the Potomac River. The community is shaken, and as the police struggle to identify and apprehend the killer, tension in the neighborhood mounts and long-buried secrets start to emerge.

In the midst of the turmoil, Alexis takes comfort in her budding friendship with Teddy’s beautiful and charismatic widow, Blair. But as the women grow closer, the neighborhood only becomes more divided. And when the unthinkable truth behind Teddy’s murder is finally uncovered, both Blair and Alexis must reexamine their friendship and decide how far they are willing to go to preserve the lives they have so carefully constructed.

First Line:

The listing popped up on my phone last night. I scrolled through the pictures as least a dozen times, then tried to conjure the house’s full layout in my mind’s eye as I fell asleep.

What the Neighbors Saw by Melissa Adelman

Alexis and her husband Sam are thrilled to buy a fixer-upper in an affluent suburb of Washington, D.C. But things start to go south almost immediately after they move in:

  1. The house they loved is turning into a money pit with endless repairs.
  2. Alexis’s relationship with Sam turned from goodish to rocky.
  3. The husband of her next-door neighbor (Teddy) is killed while running on a popular path that borders the Potomac River.

Alexis, a stay-at-home mother of two children, slowly makes friends with the other women in the neighborhood. But, the one she grows closest to is Blair, who happens to be the widow of the man killed. But the longer it takes for Teddy’s killer to be identified, the more tense the neighborhood gets, and long-held secrets come to light. What secrets are being unearthed in this neighborhood? And how are those secrets directly linked to Teddy’s death?

When I read the blurb for What the Neighbors Saw, I thought I was getting into a psychological thriller. But what I thought and what I read were two different things. In a way, it was a psychological thriller but not how I thought it would be. This book was an almost soap opera-type look into an affluent neighborhood. It reminded me a little bit of a Jackie Collins book. I did enjoy reading What the Neighbors Saw but wished there was less drama and more thriller.

What the Neighbors Saw is a medium to fast-paced book. It took me over a day to read it. The pacing of What the Neighbors Saw did suit the book. I wish the author had slowed the book’s pacing during key points (mainly the ending).

What the Neighbors Saw takes place entirely in an affluent neighborhood in Washington, D.C. There are some flashbacks to Alexis’s life growing up in Baltimore, but the entirety of the book is set in this one neighborhood.

I liked Alexis, and the more she revealed about her past, the more I felt terrible for her. But, she was an unreliable narrator. She was exhausted from caring for a newborn and toddler (even with a nanny), and I felt that exhaustion colored her views of people and events in the neighborhood.
This sentiment extends to her waste of space husband, Sam. He gaslit and verbally abused her for 90% of the book. Their scenes together alternately made me sad and ticked me off.

I liked Alexis, and the more she revealed about her past, the more I felt terrible for her. But, she was an unreliable narrator. She was exhausted from caring for a newborn and toddler (even with a nanny), and I felt that exhaustion colored her views of people and events in the neighborhood.
This sentiment extends to her waste of space husband, Sam. He gaslit and verbally abused her for 90% of the book. Their scenes together alternately made me sad and ticked me off.

I wanted to like Blair but couldn’t quite cross that line. There was something about her that rubbed me the wrong way. Her grief over her husband dying was too predictable. Her friendship with Alexis was too convenient. And there is the question of her secret. I figured it out quickly but was still surprised (and disgusted) when it was revealed.

The thriller angle was lacking in What the Neighbors Saw. It didn’t reach thriller level in my eyes. It did come close to that towards the end of the book but has yet to get it. I was sad about that because I could see the potential.

On the other hand, the mystery angle of the book was chef’s kiss. The author kept the mystery of who killed Teddy and why under wraps until the end of the book. It also went hand in hand with two twists that surprised me—these twists I did not see coming.

As I said above, the end of the book was full of twists. I was in disbelief over what was revealed, and I needed to retake everything. But the ending didn’t mesh with the rest of the book. I felt the author rushed it.

I recommend What the Neighbors Saw to anyone over 21. There is language, violence, and mild graphic sex scenes.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, NetGalley, and Melissa Adelman for allowing me to read and review What the Neighbors Saw. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

If you enjoyed reading this review of What the Neighbors Saw, then you will enjoy reading these books:

A Stolen Child (Maggie D’Arcy: Book 4) by Sarah Stewart Taylor

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books

Date of publication: June 20th, 2023

Genre: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Ireland, Mystery Thriller

Series: Maggie D’Arcy

The Mountains Wild—Book 1

A Distant Grave—Book 2

The Drowning Sea—Book 3

A Stolen Child—Book 4

Purchase Links: Kindle | B&N | WorldCat

Goodreads Synopsis:

Sarah Stewart Taylor is known for her atmospheric portrayal of an American detective in Ireland, and her critically acclaimed series returns with A Stolen Child.

After months of training, former Long Island homicide detective Maggie D’arcy is now officially a Garda. She’s finally settling into life in Ireland and so is her teenage daughter, Lilly. Maggie may not be a detective yet, but she’s happy with her community policing assignment in Dublin’s Portobello neighborhood.

When she and her partner find former model and reality tv star Jade Elliot murdered—days after responding to a possible domestic violence disturbance at her apartment—they also discover Jade’s toddler daughter missing. Shorthanded thanks to an investigation into a gangland murder in the neighborhood, Maggie’s friend, Detective Inspector Roly Byrne, brings her onto his team to help find the missing child. But when a key discovery is made, the case only becomes more confusing—and more dangerous. Amidst a nationwide manhunt, Maggie and her colleagues must look deep into Jade’s life—both personal and professional—to find a ruthless killer.

First Line:

“Guard! Guard and American Guard! Guard and American Guard!” My partner, Garda Jason Savage, and I were just finishing up our community patrol when we see two boys beckoning us along the South Circular Road.

A Stolen Child by Sarah Steward Taylor

Maggie D’Arcy is finally a Garda after months of training. It is a step down from her American role as a homicide detective in Long Island, but she is happy. She loves community policing with her partner in the Portobello neighborhood in Dublin. Things change when she and her partner are called to a murder. The victim, a former reality TV star and model, has been found strangled in her house. But, to their horror, they find out that the victim also has a toddler daughter, and she is nowhere to be found. Due to Garda shortages because of a gang murder, Maggie is brought in to help investigate. They are not only tasked with finding the toddler but solving the murder. And the deeper that Maggie digs into the victim’s life (professional and personal), the muddier it gets. Who killed the victim and why? And more importantly, where is the baby?

A Stolen Child is the 4th book in the Maggie D’Arcy series. This book can be read as a standalone book. But I always suggest reading the previous books to catch up on the backstories. I have added books 1-3 to my Goodreads list, and hopefully, I will get to read them at some point.

A Stolen Child is a medium to fast-paced book. I was a little torn on how to describe the book’s pacing. It was fast-paced up to about the middle of the book and then slowed down to a medium pace. I thought that slowing down the storyline would throw the reader off. Surprisingly, it didn’t. There was a slight lag after Laurel was found, but it didn’t affect my interest.

A Stolen Child occurs entirely in Dublin, Ireland, with a few brief forays into a small village on the outskirts of Dublin. I loved it. Ireland ranks very high on my bucket list of places to visit when the kids leave the house.

The main storyline centers around Maggie and the investigation into Jade Eliot’s death and the disappearance of her toddler, Laurel. The author did a fantastic job of showing how the Garda deals with child abductions in Ireland. I also loved seeing how the police investigated a murder in Ireland. When Laurel was found (about halfway through the book), the author turned the storyline into Jade’s murder, which became this twisty-turny storyline that captivated me.

The characters in A Stolen Child were well-written and well-fleshed out. Even the secondary characters had a depth to them that I liked.

I liked Maggie. She was no-nonsense about her job and genuinely enjoyed it. I was thrilled with her when she was asked to be on the murder investigation. It made sense since she was a homicide detective in Long Island. She brought an American approach to Jade’s murder investigation that I felt helped it.

The main storyline, Laurel’s disappearance and Jade’s murder, was well written. I was genuinely afraid that they wouldn’t find Laurel alive. I also did guess who took her. It wasn’t a huge stretch to figure it out. But, on the other hand, Jade’s murder was this twisty turny mess. I spent the entire book trying to figure out who killed her. I was not expecting who it was or her storyline’s turn. Talk about a substantial unexpected twist for both.

I wasn’t too sure what to make of the ending. As I said above, there were a couple of massive twists that I didn’t see coming. I am hoping that there will be a book 5. I am curious if Maggie gets promoted to detective in the Garda.

I recommend A Stolen Child to anyone over 21. There is language, violence, and nongraphic sexual situations.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, NetGalley, and Sarah Stewart Taylor for allowing me to read and review A Stolen Child. All opinions expressed in this review are mine.

If you enjoyed reading this review of A Stolen Child, then you will enjoy reading these books.

Other books by Sarah Stewart Taylor

You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Bantam

Date of publication: June 13th, 2023

Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Young Adult, Romance, Suspense, Contemporary, Adult, Adult Fiction

Purchase Links: Kindle | Audible | B&N | AbeBooks | WorldCat

Goodreads Synopsis:

Summer and Leo would do anything for each other. Inspired by the way each has had to carve her place in a hostile and unforgiving world, and united by the call of the open road, they travel around sunny California in Summer’s tricked-out Land Cruiser. It’s not a glamorous life, but it gives them the freedom they crave from the painful pasts they’ve left behind. But even free spirits have bills to pay. Luckily, Summer is a skilled pickpocket, a small-time thief, and a con artist–and Leo, determined to pay her own way, has learned a trick or two.

Eager for a big score, Leo catches in her crosshairs Michael Forrester, a self-made billionaire and philanthropist. When her charm wins him over, Leo is rewarded with an invitation to his private island off the California coastline for a night of fabulous excess. She eagerly anticipates returning with photos that can be sold to the paparazzi, jewelry that can be liquidated, and endless stories to share with Summer.

Instead, Leo disappears.

On her own for the first time in years, Summer decides to infiltrate Michael’s island and find out what really happened. But when she arrives, no one has seen Leo–she’s not on the island as far as they know. Plus, there was only one way on the island–and no way off–for the coming days. Trapped in a scheme she helped initiate, could Summer have met her match?

First Line:

I learned to pick a pocket when I was about eight.

You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard

Summer and Leo are best friends and would do anything for each other. Summer, abandoned by her free spirit mother as a teenager, took Leo in when she found her panhandling one day. From that day forward, they have survived by doing petty crimes and trying to con the rich together. So, it was no surprise when Leo, eager for a big score, latches on to the tech billionaire, Michael Forrester. It is also no surprise when Leo is swept away to Michael’s private island. But, when Leo doesn’t answer any of Summer’s texts and when she doesn’t return from the island, Summer gets worried. Summer’s plan: to infiltrate the island, look for Leo, and get out. While infiltrating the island is easy, finding Leo isn’t. Met with more questions than answers, Summer intensifies her search. What happened to Leo? Can Summer find her? Will Summer (and possibly Leo) be able to escape the island?

I am a big fan of psychological thrillers. They make up about 75% of what I read (the other 25% is split between romances, dystopia, mystery, and different genres). So, when I kept seeing You Can Trust Me floating around the blogosphere, I knew this book would be right up my alley. I am glad I read this book because it was a great read!!

You Can Trust Me is a fast-paced book set mainly in Los Angeles and an island off Catalina Island’s coast. The fast pace of this book suited the storyline. Why? Because You Can Trust Me takes place within a week of Leo disappearing. Any slower pace would have ruined the storyline.

You Can Trust Me has dual 1st person POV storylines. The storylines break into Summer and Leo right from the beginning. But then the author does something interesting. She goes back a few days to detail what Leo was doing while keeping Summer’s POV in the present. I liked that. It upped the thriller aspect of the book and kept me guessing what would happen next.

You Can Trust Me has two major storylines and one significant secondary storyline introduced about halfway through. The two major storylines are centered around Summer and Leo. The author details their backgrounds and how they ended up together. Then the storyline splits between Summer’s search for Leo and Leo’s time on the island. The back and forth between the two storylines was almost exhausting in places, and I was on edge, wondering if Summer would find Leo.

The author introduced the secondary storyline halfway through the book. I didn’t think anything of this storyline until it exploded towards the end of the book. There was a point where I couldn’t believe what I was reading. It was absorbed when Summer and Leo’s storylines were merged back together.

I liked Summer, even if she did some questionable things. I did find her backstory very sad. She was born without a birth certificate, and her mother refused to tell Summer her last name or anything about her (the mother’s past). Summer was left to fend for herself when her mother abandoned her when she was sixteen. Without a birth certificate or a last name, Summer had limited choices of what she could do to support herself. Becoming a petty criminal was the most straightforward and obvious choice. So, I understood why she felt she needed to do something when Leo disappeared. Going to the police wasn’t even a thought. She was going to save her friend.

I liked Leo, too. Her backstory was even more tragic than Summer’s. Leo lived with an overwhelming sense of guilt. She was the last person to talk to her sister before her sister was found dead in a forest. She blamed herself, and it did seem like her parents blamed her too. Leo’s way of dealing with her trauma was to leave. I liked Leo’s enthusiasm for the crimes that she did with Summer. She was desperate to get a big score, so she took the chance with Michael.

I was very cautious about Michael. He seemed almost too good to be true. I am going to leave it there because, well, anything else about Michael will be a huge spoiler.

The psychological thriller angle of the book was well-written, and it kept my attention. I invested in both Summer’s and Leo’s stories.

The mystery angle of You Can Trust Me was terrific. Again, I can’t go into why but I will say that a couple of massive twists surprised me towards the end of the book. I was internally screeching when the author revealed everything; that is how explosive everything was.

The end of You Can Trust Me did disappoint me. After everything that happened, it was a letdown. I was expecting some closure with a couple of the storylines, but the only closure I got was with Summer’s. Again, I can’t go into details because of spoilers but arrrggggh!!!

I would recommend You Can Trust Me to anyone over 21. There is language, moderate violence, and moderate sexual situations (the actual sex scenes were fade to black).

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Bantam, NetGalley, and Wendy Heard for allowing me to read and review You Can Trust Me. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

If you enjoyed reading this review of You Can Trust Me, then you will enjoy reading these books:

Other books by Wendy Heard:

Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books

Date of publication: June 13th, 2023

Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Contemporary, Adult, Crime, LGBT, Suspense

Purchase Links: Kindle | Audible | AbeBooks | WorldCat

Goodreads Synopsis:

All of us knew him. One of us killed him…

Seven women stand in shock in a seedy hotel room; a man’s severed head sits in the centre of the floor. Each of the women – the wife, the teenager, the ex, the journalist, the colleague, the friend, and the woman who raised him – has a very good reason to have done it, yet each swears she did not. In order to protect each other, they must figure out who is responsible, all while staying one step ahead of the police.

Against the ticking clock of a murder investigation, each woman’s secret is brought to light as the connections between them converge to reveal a killer.

A dark and nuanced portrait of love, loyalty, and manipulation, Speak of the Devil explores the roles in which women are cast in the lives of terrible men…and the fallout when they refuse to stay silent for one moment longer.

First Line:

Fireworks pop and fizzle in the dark sky above the city, hours before the new millennium, and Maureen watches them for a seconda before she pushed the window open and closes the curtains.

Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding

New Year’s Eve 1999—Seven women gather in a hotel room and stare in shock at a man’s head on the bed. Each woman has been involved with this man and hurt at one point in their life. And each woman denies killing him. To protect each other, they must figure out who in their group killed the man and stay one step ahead of the police. Is it the wife, the pregnant teenager, the ex-girlfriend, the journalist, the colleague, the friend, or the woman who raised him?

Speak of the Devil is a fast-paced, often confusing book. I don’t get confused while reading; I did with this. This book didn’t lag, even with all the jumping from past to present and back again. The author kept the flow going despite the plotline going back and forth in time.

Speak of the Devil takes place in the Northumbria region of Scotland. The author did a great job of painting a picture of the towns portrayed from 1964 through 1999. I also liked that she weaved the local accents into the storyline. She did it so that it didn’t take away from the book. Instead, those accents added to it.

The main storyline in Speak of the Devil revolves around Jamie and the women he has bullied, abused, and treated like poo. I will warn you all that there are numerous POVs, eight in total, and each of these POVs travels back and forth in time. I am not a big fan of multiple POVs, but the author made it work in this book. But, I did have to take notes about the different relationships, which took away from my reading pleasure.

I didn’t like Jamie, but at the same time, I did feel bad for him. He was raised by a woman who couldn’t stand him. Those scenes, towards the end of the book, hurt my heart. He might have turned out differently if he had shown a little love and compassion. Each of the seven relationships showed a different side of Jamie. But, a common theme was running through them: He had an insane desire for control and wasn’t afraid to do whatever it took to get what he wanted. He did get what he deserved in the end.

The female characters, for the most part, were well-written. They weren’t as fleshed out as they should have been. I also felt some were written as cliche (Sarah comes to mind instantly). But overall, I enjoyed reading their stories and liked that the present-day storyline had a girl power theme running through it.

The mystery angle of the book was well written. I thought the killer was someone else and was very surprised when the author made the reveal. It was not who I thought it was, and it did surprise me. Looking back, the author was very clever with her red herrings and secondary storylines pointing at one person.

The book’s thriller angle didn’t jump out and scream at me as much as I wanted it to. It was understated and took some time to build. But, once it got going, it was full force.

There was some great LGBT representation going on in the book. Three of the women were lesbians (with two being in a relationship with each other). There was quite a bit of transphobia displayed in the book. I was beyond mad for this woman for 90% of the book, and I couldn’t understand why her job was acting the way it did. Then I remembered—-it was 1999. Understand people and jobs that didn’t discriminate were few and far between.

The end of Speak of the Devil didn’t gel with me. After the murderer was revealed, the author said nothing about what was done to the killer or what happened to the woman in jail for the murder. The only storyline that the author wrapped up well was the one with Nova. The others were left open with no ending other than Jamie’s death. It irritated me. I wouldn’t say I like it when books do that. I wanted at least an epilogue to explain what happens after.

I recommend Speak of the Devil to anyone over 16. There is language, violence, and very mild sexual situations.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, NetGalley, and Rose Wilding for allowing me to read and review Speak of the Devil. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

If you enjoyed reading this review of Speak of the Devil, then you will enjoy reading these books:

Identity by Nora Roberts

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Date of publication: May 23rd, 2023

Genre: Romance, Romantic Suspense, Thriller, Suspense, Fiction, Mystery, Contemporary, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Adult

Purchase Links: Kindle | Audible | B&N | AbeBooks | WorldCat

Goodreads Synopsis:

A new thriller about one man’s ice-cold malice, and one woman’s fight to reclaim her life.

Former Army brat Morgan Albright has finally planted roots in a friendly neighborhood near Baltimore. Her friend and roommate Nina helps her make the mortgage payments, as does Morgan’s job as a bartender. But after she and Nina host their first dinner party—attended by Luke, the flirtatious IT guy who’d been chatting her up at the bar—her carefully built world is shattered. The back door glass is broken, cash and jewelry are missing, her car is gone, and Nina lies dead on the floor.

Soon, a horrific truth emerges: It was Morgan who let the monster in. “Luke” is actually a cold-hearted con artist named Gavin who targets a particular type of woman, steals her assets and identity, and then commits his ultimate goal: murder.

What the FBI tells Morgan is beyond chilling. Nina wasn’t his type. Morgan is. Nina was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. And Morgan’s nightmare is just beginning. Soon she has no choice but to flee to her mother’s home in Vermont. While she struggles to build something new, she meets another man, Miles Jameson. He isn’t flashy or flirtatious, and his family business has deep roots in town. But Gavin is still out there hunting new victims, and he hasn’t forgotten the one who got away.

First Line

Her dreams and goals were simple and few. As a former army brat, Morgan Albright spent her childhood moving across countries and continents.

Identity by Nora Roberts

A former Army brat, Morgan had always longed to put down roots. After college, she settled in a Baltimore neighborhood, and Morgan realized her dream of putting down roots. Next on her list is saving enough money to buy a bar and successfully run it. Then she meets Luke one night at her bartending job, and her life gets turned upside down. Luke is a serial killer named Gavin, and Gavin has just killed Morgan’s best friend/roommate, stolen her car, and stolen her identity. The FBI tells Morgan that her best friend wasn’t Gavin’s type; Gavin killed Nina because she was there. His type? Morgan. On the verge of losing her house and debts racking up in her name, Morgan leaves Maryland and moves back in with her mother and grandmother in Vermont. She hopes to start over. But Gavin hasn’t forgotten Morgan. With Gavin making his way to Vermont to tie up his loose end, Morgan must be ready. Will she be able to take Gavin on? Can she protect her mother and grandmother from the evil that has infiltrated her life?

I am a huge Nora Roberts fan, and I try to read her books as they are published. So I was surprised when St. Martin’s Press invited me to review. I was planning on waiting for Identity to publish before picking it up. It wasn’t even a thought for me to download the book. I am glad that I did because this book was fantastic.

Identity is a fast-paced book that takes place in Baltimore and Vermont. The pacing of this book fits the storyline. If the author had let up on the fast pace but even a little, it would have ruined the book for me. I also liked that the book was set in Maryland and Vermont. I rarely see those states get some rep in books.

The main storyline of Identity is centered around Morgan. This storyline was believable to me. I could see this happening in real life (actually, I am sure it has happened). I was horrified for Morgan when she found Nina dead and discovered that Luke/Gavin was a serial killer. I felt awful for her when her savings was drained, her car stolen, and a loan shark sent his minions to her house. That was the point where she hit rock bottom and moved to Vermont. Her healing didn’t begin until she moved to Vermont. There she acquired a phenomenal support system, which included her employers. Her growth during this storyline was terrific.

The storyline with Gavin was creepy. He was a true psychopath. He got off on killing the women and stealing their money and identities. I enjoyed that the author showed him spiraling. He couldn’t get over that he didn’t kill Morgan, which affected him for the rest of the book. He got sloppy and made mistakes that had the Feds on him. I did feel that his storyline got a bit repetitive towards the end, and I was pleased when the author decided to have the final confrontation between him and Morgan.

There was a romance angle to Identity involving Morgan and Miles. I was a little iffy, at first, when they first hooked up. I felt that she had too much baggage for him. Plus, she was his employee, raising all sorts of red flags. The author did address this, and I liked that she did. She had Morgan and Miles talk their relationship out between themselves.

Morgan and Miles’s sexual relationship did come on suddenly for me. It took one visit to deliver cookies, which led to a house tour (the turret comments had me dying laughing), which led to them having sex. The sex scenes were not graphic. They were more of a fade-to-black type of deal, which I enjoyed.

The end of Identity had me on a rollercoaster of emotions. I loved the girl power moment that Morgan had (thanks to Jen!!). But I was also terrified for her mother and grandmother. While Gavin’s fate was given, I wish the author had given some update on him. I also loved the last chapter. Talk about getting a tear in my eye and the book coming full circle.

I recommend Identity to anyone over 21. There is violence, sexual situations, and language.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Nora Roberts for allowing me to read and review Identity. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

If you enjoyed reading this review of Identity, then you will enjoy reading these books:

Other books by Nora Roberts:

The New Mother by Nora Murphy

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books

Date of publication: May 30th, 2023

Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Suspense, Adult, Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Drama

Trigger Warnings: Murder, Post Partum Depression, Post Partum Psychosis

Purchase Links: Kindle | Audible | B&N | AbeBooks | WorldCat

Goodreads Synopsis:

A relatable and nerve-wracking, sympathetic and bone-chilling story — a fresh new twist on motherhood and murder in suburbia.

Isolated. Lonely. Tired. It’s hard being The New Mother. Sometimes it’s murder.

Nothing is simple about being a new mom alone in a new house, especially when your baby is collicky. Natalie Fanning loves her son unconditionally, but being a mother was not all she wanted to be.

Enter Paul, the neighbor.

Paul provides the lifeline she needs in what feels like the most desperate of times. When Paul is helping with Oliver, calmed by his reassuring, steady presence, Nat feels like she can finally rest.

But Paul wants something in return. It’s no coincidence that he has befriended Nat—she is the perfect pawn for his own plan. Will Nat wake up in time to see it?

First Line:

It wasn’t the sort of neighborhood for murder. It was exactly th sort of neighborhood that is comprised the majority of Patuxent County.

The New Mother by Nora Murphy

Natalie is having a hard time adjusting to motherhood. She can’t sleep because Oliver, her son, only wants her and screams if anyone else touches him. Then she meets her next-door neighbor, Paul, and he seems to have the magic touch with Oliver. Soon, they have a close friendship. But things are different from what they seem with Paul. His befriending Natalie wasn’t a coincidence. Paul is setting Natalie up for a crime he committed. What crime did Paul commit? Will Natalie take the fall for it?

Reading this book took me back to my seventeen-year-old daughter’s birth and the months shortly after. I thought I was prepared for her birth and everything after. I wasn’t. I dealt with a horrible birth experience and a newborn/infant who screamed constantly. Unlike Natalie, I thankfully had my family and friends that watched out for PPD. But it was challenging and draining. And, like Natalie, it was a sense of relief when I got answers for why my daughter (Miss B) screamed all the time. She had colic and went nine months with an undiagnosed milk allergy. It took me switching doctors to get that diagnosis. So, yes, I related to this book.

The New Mother is a fast-paced book with dual points of view. The points of view went between the first person (Natalie) and 3rd person (Paul). I wasn’t a massive fan of that, I wouldn’t say I like it when it changes POV, but I did like that I got to see how Paul formulated his plan and how Natalie figured out what he was doing. The pacing for this book fits it perfectly.

The storyline for The New Mother was interesting. It centers around Natalie and her life after having Oliver. Natalie was one of those Facebook-perfect mothers at the beginning of The New Mother. She was going to do everything organic, exclusively breastfeeding and babywearing. I did get a good giggle at how the author initially wrote her. But Oliver wasn’t your typical baby. He had colic and screamed all the time. He hated the sling. And breastfeeding was an awful experience for Natalie. Plus, she started getting depressed and not allowing anyone to hold Oliver but her. In the middle of the book, Natalie is having a rough time. Then Paul swoops in like an angel and helps Natalie. She can sleep and feel like she is her old self around him. But Paul, well, his friendship with Natalie had sinister motives, and the author clarified those motives around the time their friendship deepened. I did call what happened next and everything else after.

As I said above, Natalie was a Facebook-perfect mother. She was one of those mothers who did everything perfectly. I was rolling my eyes whenever she yelled at her husband for bringing nonorganic food into the house. The scene where he bought the swing was a perfect example also. But at the same time, I did feel bad for her. She was struggling. Breastfeeding was hard for her, and she wasn’t expecting it to be painful. Oliver was a difficult baby, and she made it worse by holding him constantly. I called because she had PPD long before it was mentioned in the book. Natalie also wasn’t sleeping, and it was starting to mess with her. I was also a little irritated that no one, mainly her husband, caught on that she was depressed. It was so obvious (well, to me, it was). And it made it easy for Paul to prey on her.

I didn’t like Paul from the beginning. I have nothing against stay-at-home dads (actually, it’s excellent), but how he became one was awful. He had nothing nice to say about his wife, and that was a huge red flag to me when he started bad-mouthing her to Natalie. He just got skeevier and skeevier as the book went on. Poor Natalie didn’t know which end was up with him. The night of the Halloween party and the confrontation after were his doing. He was just a nasty man who did get what was coming to him.

I found the thriller/suspense angle of The New Mother interesting. I liked that the author kept the bad guy (Paul) first and foremost in the book. I loved that I got to see the planning that he did to frame Natalie. Some of it was genius. But, at the same time, I loved it when Natalie figured out what was happening and how she turned everything around on Paul.

The end of The New Mother didn’t quite gel with the rest of the book. The author fast-forwarded a few months and then explained what was happening. I wish that she hadn’t done that. I would have loved to see what she explained written out. I was left feeling meh about it. There was a humorous part of the ending where Natalie’s husband asked if they could have another baby, and she was like, “No, I’ll kill you.” I thought, “You’re having another one, lady.” I said the same thing after Miss B turned one, and then I went on to have two more children.

I would recommend The New Mother to anyone over 21. There is language, violence, and nongraphic sexual situations.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, NetGalley, and Nora Murphy for allowing me to read and review The New Mother. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

If you enjoyed reading this review of The New Mother, then you will enjoy reading these books:

Other books by Nora Murphy:

No One Needs to Know by Lindsay Cameron

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Bantam

Date of publication: May 9th, 2023

Genre: Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Adult, Adult Fiction, Crime

Purchase Links: Kindle | Audible | B&N | AbeBooks | WorldCat

Goodreads Synopsis:

When an anonymous neighborhood forum gets hacked, the darkest secrets of New York’s wealthiest residents come to light—including some worth killing for—in this gripping suspense novel from the author of Just One Look.

It was all confidential. Right up to the moment when it wasn’t.

UrbanMyth: It was lauded as an alternative to the performative, show-your-best-self platforms—an anonymous discussion board grouped by zip code. The residents of Manhattan’s exclusive Upper East Side disclosed it all, things they would never share with their friends or their spouses: secret bank accounts, steamy affairs, tidbits of juicy gossip. These are the same parents who would go to astonishing lengths to ensure their children gain admission to the most prestigious boarding schools and universities. So when a “hacktivist” group breaks into the forum and exposes the real identity behind each poster, the repercussions resound down Park Avenue with a force none could have anticipated.

And someone will end up dead.

Will it be Heather, the outsider who would do anything to get her daughter into the elite’s good graces and into even better schools? Norah, the high-powered suit failing to balance work and the emotional responsibilities of motherhood? Or Poppy, perfect on the outside but hiding more than her share of secrets?

Each of them has something to hide. Each of them will do anything to keep their secrets hidden. And each of them just might kill to protect their own.

First Line:

Before it happened, I never noticed how many times a day an emergency vehicle drove past my apartment building. Their sirens blended in with the cacophony of New York City, an ambient noise that never roused my attention.

No One Needs to Know by Lindsay Cameron

When a hacktivist group hacks into the anonymous forum, UrbanMyth, it releases a firestorm of secrets for many people. But, in one affluent Upper East Side private school, it affects everyone. Some people will kill to keep those secrets under wraps, but who will it be? Is it Heather, the mother, who wants her daughter to become one of the elite? Or will it be Norah, the breadwinner in her family but failing to balance work and home life? Or will it be Poppy, the one everyone looks up to but who has the most to hide? Out of those three, who will kill to keep their secrets safe?

It is well known on this site that I have three children, two in high school and one in elementary school. I am well aware of the school’s social structure. I also find it silly that people compete for the title of PTA president. It is a huge popularity contest; honestly, I want nothing to do with it. I prefer to help the teachers out one-on-one (like volunteering in class) than to listen to a bunch of people argue over who will get what position. Anyway, when I saw that this book would be centered around three moms and their exposed secrets, I knew I wanted to read it. And I am glad that I did because this book was good.

No One Needs to Know initially captivated me, and I couldn’t put it down. The main storyline centers around Heather, Norah, and Poppy, with appearances by their husbands and children woven into the storyline. This storyline had so many twists and turns that I wondered when UrbanMyth would implode.

There is a secondary storyline that is intertwined with the main storyline. There are two parts to it. The first part is that Heather’s daughter has her picture taken with a vape at a school dance where no cameras are allowed. She is then painted as a drug dealer, and a few parents are on UrbanMyth spreading the lie. The second part is that Norah’s husband is sleeping with Poppy and blackmailing her. Those two parts are closely intertwined and linked to the main storyline.

As I stated in the previous paragraph, this book is twisty. If you aren’t paying attention, it can be easy to miss something. It didn’t bother me because I took notes (that you Kindle Scribe for that built-in feature), but it might be bothersome for some people.

I loved the characters in No One Needs to Know. I connected with the main ones (and the secondary ones) in a way that surprised even me. Those connections made the book so much better to read.

Heather reminded me of some moms I have encountered during my kids’ years at school. She wanted so badly to be accepted and would do anything to get into the inner circles. In the book, I wanted to shake her and say, “Lady, your kid is miserable.” By the end of the book, though, I was starting not to like her. She had lied to everyone, including her husband, about something significant. I understood why her husband freaked out. But Heather did surprise me. She threatened someone actively trying to get her daughter expelled (oh boy, that was a great scene) and secured her daughter’s future with another person.

Norah was an enigma to me. She wasn’t a huge presence in the book until about halfway through. I felt terrible for her and her poor daughter once I realized what was happening. She was a wreck when she told Norah what she captured on camera and how it tied into Poppy’s storyline. No child should have been put into that situation. I was glad that Norah took immediate action and got a little laugh (which then turned into a no way) when Norah’s mother offered to “help.” When Norah called to report her husband missing, she wasn’t expecting everything to blow up the way it did.

I didn’t like Poppy. She lived in her high tower, doing whatever she wanted without caring about who she hurt. She curried favors with people and treated them like they were dispensable. It didn’t surprise me with what she did to Norah. What did surprise me was that she almost felt guilty about it. I loved seeing her character decline mentally because of what she did. It was a perfect punishment!!

I loved that the author chose brief excerpts from UrbanMyth (before and after) and interactions with the police/faculty members (emails mainly) at the beginning of each chapter. It was like an adult burn book (remember those from high school!!) I almost want something like UrbanMyth to exist, but at the same time, I don’t.

The end of No One Needs to Know shook me up. I did not see anything coming, and it took me by surprise. Because of spoilers, I will not say anything else except that everyone got what they deserved.

I recommend No One Needs to Know to anyone over 21. There is violence, language, and nongraphic sexual situations.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Bantam, NetGalley, and Lindsay Cameron for allowing me to read and review No One Needs to Know. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

If you enjoyed reading this review of No One Needs to Know, then you will enjoy these books:

Other books by Lindsay Cameron:

Body Count (Paige Hanson: Book 2) by S.M. Thomas

Publisher: AR Hurne Publishing

Date of publication: April 7th, 2023

Genre: Suspense, Thriller

Trigger Warnings: Mental Abuse, Verbal Abuse, Kidnapping, Death, Grief

Series: Paige Hanson

The Diseased—Book 1 (review here)

Body Count—Book 2

Purchase Links: Kindle

Amazon synopsis:

Widowed sounded better than divorced.
Or at least it did the first time.

Despite having survived the trials and tribulations of The Diseased – Paige finds herself in a situation that seems even more impossible.

The President is dying.

Those four words set Paige’s life on a course she could never have predicted.

The President is dying, only Paige can save him.

Those eight words are the only ones keeping her friends Georgia and Violet alive.

The President is dying, only Paige can save him. She won’t.

It is those ten words that keep Paige motivated, that keep her sane.

First Line:

The President is sick. Those four words are the tiny gap between life and death for me.

Body Count by S.M. Thomas

Starting shortly after the events of The Diseased, Body Count follows Paige, Georgia, and Violet as they try to keep one step ahead of Paul, the President’s advisor. The President is dying, and Paige knows how to cure him. But she won’t tell. The lives of her son, Georgia, and Violet depend on her silence. Paige is also starting to remember the night of the car accident that killed her husband and caused her amnesia. What she remembers could be the thing that breaks her. What happened that night? Who can’t she trust? Will she be able to save her son and friends?

I don’t even know where to begin with Body Count. I was super excited when I got the heads-up email from the author and immediately downloaded it. I devoured this book. It took me over 3 hours to read. I read it in the car pick-up line (the best place for uninterrupted reading), at dinner, and in bed.

Body Count is the 2nd book in the Paige Hanson series. This book is not standalone. You need to read book 1 to understand what is happening in book 2. If you do read book two first, you will be confused.

Body Count is a fast-paced book that is set on the planet of Earth 2. Most of the book takes place in apartments where Paige, Georgia, and Violet are held captive or in the lab where Paige has done much of her work. This environment, along with the intense pressure that Paige is under for more than 90% of the book, is perfect for the book.

I liked Paige. There were times when I wanted to take her and hug her. Her mental state was shaky during the first half of the book. Not that I blamed her for feeling the way that she did. She thought she couldn’t trust anyone, including her best friend, Violet. She also was dealing with her memory coming back. It wasn’t like a waterfall, and everything came back at once. Nope, it was disjointed and confusing. There were things she remembered that didn’t make sense. But still, she was one of the strongest people in the book.

The secondary characters of Violet, Georgia, Ryle, and Paul were well-written. I liked that the author made it a point to make me not trust Violet, Georgia, or Ryle. Paul, on the other hand, was despicable. He was a faithful sycophant. Like Paige’s, my trust in Violet, Georgia, and Ryle wasn’t strong. I kept wondering what ulterior motives they had.

The main storyline was fantastic. As I said, Paige’s mental health was shaky for the book’s first half. It was understandable with everything that she had been through. She didn’t trust anyone and told her friends half-truths about things. It was understandable. But the book’s second half is where everything starts to pick up. Paige’s memory started returning, and she planned to get her, her friends, and her son out. There are a few big twists in the storyline that I did not see coming. It was sad when her memory returned, and she understood what her husband was trying to say. The author also didn’t hesitate to kill off the main characters. I was shocked at who was killed off. I didn’t see it coming and felt blindsided.

The end of Body Count annoyed me. Mainly because it ended with a To Be Continued. While I am glad that there will be another book, and I hope that Paige gets her revenge, I also wanted a resolution now (stamping my foot like Veruca Salt). I guess I’ll have to wait….sigh.

I would recommend Body Count to anyone over 21. There is language and violence but no sexual situations. Also, see my list of trigger warnings at the beginning of the post.

Many thanks to S.M. Thomas for allowing me to read and review Body Count. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

Other books by S.M. Thomas:

Dirty Laundry by Disha Bose

Star Rating:

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Adult, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Adult Fiction, Ireland

Purchase Links: Kindle | Audible | B&N | WorldCat

Trigger Warnings: Cheating, Adult Bullying, Childhood Bullying, Stalking, Arranged Marriage, Marital Rape, Neglect, Drug use, Depression, Mental Illness, Domestic Violence

Goodreads Synopsis:

A twisty, domestic suspense debut about a clique of mothers that shatters when one of their own is murdered, bringing chaos to their curated lives.

She was the perfect wife, with the perfect life. You would kill to have it…

Ciara Dunphy has it all–a loving husband, well-behaved children, and a beautiful home. Her circle of friends in their small Irish village go to her for tips about mothering, style, and influencer success–a picture-perfect life is easy money on Instagram. But behind the filters, reality is less polished.

Enter Mishti Guha: Ciara’s best friend. Ciara welcomed Mishti into her inner circle for being… unlike the other mothers in the group. But, discontent in a marriage arranged for her through her parents back in Calcutta, Mishti now raises her young daughter in a country that is too cold, among the children of her new friends who look nothing like her. She just wants what Ciara has–the ease with which she moves through the world–and in that sense, Mishti might be exactly like the other mothers.

And there’s earth mother Lauren Doyle, born, bred, and the butt of jokes in their village. With her disheveled partner and children who run naked in the yard, they’re mostly a happy lot, though unsurprisingly ostracized for being the singular dysfunction in Ciara’s immaculate world. When Lauren finds an unlikely ally in Mishti, she decides that her days of ridicule are over.

Then Ciara is found murdered in her own pristine home, and the house of cards she’d worked so hard to build comes crumbling down. Everyone seems to have something to gain from Ciara’s death, so if they don’t want the blame, it may be the perfect time to air their enemies’ dirty laundry.

In this dazzling debut novel, Disha Bose revolutionizes age-old ideas of love and deceit. What ensues is the delicious unspooling of a group of women desperate to preserve themselves.

First Line:

The house smelled of porridge, detergent, and soiled nappies. A few years ago, it smelled of patchouli, filered coffee, and Black Opium by Yves Saint Laurent.

Diry Laundry by Disha Bose

Online, Ciara has a perfect life with perfect children and a perfect husband. In real life, though, Ciara is nothing like the image she has carefully cultivated. Her life would be perfect if her neighbor, Lauren, would take her disorganized, messy life and leave the village. Lauren will not go, so Ciara begins to make Lauren an outcast in their small village. Not that Lauren isn’t used to it. She grew up in this village and was bullied mercilessly by the same women she desperately wanted to connect with. She finds a friend and ally in Mishti. Mishti, originally from Calcutta, finds Ireland cold and wants to return to her family. Friends with Ciara, Mishti begins to see what type of person she is and starts to distance herself from Ciara. Then, one morning, Ciara is found dead in her house. Who wanted Ciara dead, and why? The answer to that question might shock you because nothing is what it seems about Ciara’s death.

Dirty Laundry was different from what I thought it would be, and you know what? I enjoyed it. As I read it, I did compare it to soap operas (mostly Days of Our Lives). The author did a great job of portraying the downfall of the Queen Bee of the local mom group in that village. I couldn’t get enough of it.

Before I get into the review, I want to inform you about this book’s trigger warnings. They would be:

  1. Cheating (Ciara, Parth (Mishti’s husband), and Sean (Lauren’s partner) cheated on their SOs constantly. For the most part, it wasn’t graphic.)
  2. Adult Bullying (Ciara led a group of women in bullying Lauren, and this did extend to Lauren’s children. Ciara was vicious with her attacks against Lauren, online and in person)
  3. Childhood Bullying (Lauren was bullied by the other children in her village her whole life. The author showcased a few examples in the book. Also, Lauren’s children were bullied by the children of Lauren’s bullies. It was never shown, but Freya, her oldest daughter, did mention it a couple of times in the book)
  4. Stalking (Before Sean and Lauren had children, Lauren stalked an ex-girlfriend of his and attacked her)
  5. Arranged Marriage (Mishti and Parth had an arranged marriage, which Mishti didn’t want)
  6. Marital Rape (There was one scene where Parth forced Mishti into having sex with him)
  7. Neglect (Ciara neglected her children, Bella and Finn. The baby was only picked up or comforted if it was for online pictures. Mishti did pick up Finn at one point in the book to comfort him, and Ciara blew up at her)
  8. Drug Use (Ciara was addicted to pills and used Parth to write her a prescription. Sean and Lauren used pot recreationally)
  9. Depression (Mishti was depressed since she got married and had her daughter. She had let herself go and could barely make herself do things)
  10. Mental Illness (Ciara was a narcissist. I do believe that Lauren had a mental illness. She revealed that she would have missing periods, and there was one point where she blacked out after Sean started hooking up with his ex-girlfriend).
  11. Domestic Violence (Parth pushed Mishti around at least once during the book. Sean and Lauren had a very volatile relationship, which consisted of verbal and mental abuse of each other)

If any of these triggers you, I recommend not reading the book.

I rarely flat-out disliked a character right from the beginning of a book. Ciara falls into that category. I don’t know how to describe her other than evil and narcissistic. She doesn’t care who she hurts and how they get hurt as long as she gets her way. And if you were in her crosshairs, forget about it. She would hurt you any way she could. But, I was surprised that she was willing to do what she did to Mishti. I figured that Mishti was exempt from Ciara’s shenanigans. But I was wrong. And I was doubly surprised at who she was sleeping with. Never, in a million years, would I have picked that person. My sympathy lay with her husband. And guess what? I didn’t blame him at all for his actions at the end of the book.

I couldn’t quite get a good handle on Mishti until her scenes in Calcutta. I felt terrible for her because she was trapped in a lonely marriage. But, as her storyline went on, I started to like her. Yes, she made mistakes, and yes, she was punishing herself for them. But, she resolved some of her regret and guilt when talking to her ex-boyfriend. I also liked how she wasn’t surprised when discovering Parth’s secret. I loved how her mind said, “How can I use this to take a trip back to Calcutta?” I was also not surprised at what she did at the end of the book.

Out of the three main characters, I liked Lauren the best. She got off on the wrong foot with Ciara, but she was a new mother with zero support from her partner and was operating on zero sleep. I didn’t blame her for being snippy. I also understood why she wanted to fit in with the other moms in her village. She tried to patch things up with Ciara until certain things were revealed. And you know what, I would have done the same thing, confronting Ciara. Unlike Ciara, her children’s happiness came first, and it showed. Freya, Harry, and Willow were happy, well-adjusted children. I was surprised by what she did at the beginning and her actions at the end of the book. I couldn’t help but feel that everything would be pinned on her.

The main storyline centers on Ciara, her murder, and the events leading up to it. The plotline does jump around quite a bit, but I didn’t care. As I said above, it was like I was reading a script for a soap opera. The author clearly states who the chapter is about and how far before Ciara’s murder, the events in the chapter took place. There was so much to unpack in each chapter, and the author did it wonderfully.

There were several sub-storylines with Parth, Sean, and Gerry (Ciara’s husband). Each storyline adds additional insight into how and why Ciara died. I loved reading them because of the extra understanding I got.

The end of Dirty Laundry was a free for all. The author told Ciara’s death from four perspectives (Sean, Gerry, Parth, and Mishti). Each view had an element that threw Ciara’s death into a new light. I am not going to go much more into the end. But, as I said above, Lauren will get the raw end of the deal because of her history with Ciara (and notice how she wasn’t on my list of people at the beginning of the paragraph).

I would recommend Dirty Laundry for anyone over 21. There are violence, language, and non-graphic sexual scenes. Also, see my list of trigger warnings.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books, NetGalley, and Disha Bose for allowing me to read and review Dirty Laundry. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

If you enjoyed reading this review of Dirty Laundry, then you will enjoy these books:

Other books by Disha Bose:

Peril in Paradise: A Roger and Suzanne Mystery (Roger and Suzanne: book 21) by Jerold Last

Star Rating: 4

Publisher:

Date of publication: January 14th, 2023

Genre: Mystery, Suspense

Series: Roger and Suzanne

The Empanada Affair—Book 1

The Ambivalent Corpse—Book 2

The Surreal Killer—Book 3

The Body in the Parking Structure—Book 4

The Matador Murders—Book 5

The Body in the Bed—Book 6

The Deadly Dog Show—Book 7

The Origin of Murder—Book 8

Unbearably Deadly—Book 9

Science Can Be Murder—Book 10

The Body in the Alpaca Pasture—Book 11

Hunter Down—Book 12

Rum, Cigars, and Corpses—Book 13

Abra Cadaver—Book 14

The Bodies by the Beltway—Book 15

Roger and the Cancelled Czech—Book 16

Dangerous Drugs and Dexterious Dogs—Book 17

A Train to Nowhere—Book 18

Tahoe Trauma—Book 19

Bloody Delta Dawn—Book 20

Peril in Paradise—Book 21

Purchase Links: Kindle | B&N

Goodreads Synopsis:

Roger finds a box in the ocean containing more than a quarter of a million dollars in cash while SCUBA diving in Hawaii. He attempts to return the money to the proper authorities. But things go wrong. Before long the money has disappeared along with two missing FBI agents who can’t be found, and Roger is in trouble with the local police and the FBI. Was the missing money intended for an illegal drug deal, as a payoff for crooked cops, or as a ransom for a kidnap victim? Is it real or counterfeit? Roger follows a twisted trail of illicit drugs, police corruption, and murder in this suspenseful thriller set in the vacation paradise of Maui as he seeks the answers to these questions. There’s plenty of action and several attempts on Roger’s life, as well as beautiful scenery, excellent food, and Kona coffee to be enjoyed before this case is solved.

First Line:

Suzanne and I celebrated our anniversary with a week at a popular luxury hotel on Maui with our good friends Connie, who was a scientific colleague of Suzanne’s, and her husband Jason, who worked with me as a private detective.

Peril in Paradise by Jerold Last

Roger and Suzanne are taking a much-needed vacation in Hawaii with their friends. While scuba diving in an off-tourist area, Roger finds a box in the ocean that contains over a quarter of a million dollars. After contacting a friend in the FBI, he turns the money over to the agents. But things go wrong when the agents disappear with the money. As Roger and his friend investigate the disappearance, they discover that things aren’t what they seem on the peaceful island of Maui. Will Roger be able to solve this case?

Peril in Paradise is the 21st Roger and Suzanne Mystery series book. Yes, you read that right, book 21!!! And the wonderful thing about this is that you can read Peril in Paradise as a standalone book. That alone made this book so much better in my eyes. Of course, I suggest you read the previous 20 books to understand Roger and Suzanne’s backstory better. But if you choose not to, it won’t hurt you.

Peril in Paradise is set on the island of Maui. The storyline is centered around Roger and Jason and their investigation into the missing agents/money and the general mayhem that starts after the money and agents go missing. The author does mention, in his author’s forward, that he had wanted to have a book set in Maui for a while, and I am glad that he chose this book to set it in. I believe that any other setting wouldn’t have done this story justice.

The main storyline focuses on Roger and Jason’s discovery of the money, turning it in, and then their FBI-sanctioned investigation. I found every part of the storyline intriguing and exciting. In an unusual turn, I enjoyed that the author let me, the reader, know who the bad guys were upfront. From that point on, it was more of a focus on Roger and Jason’s investigation and their keeping one step ahead of them.

Speaking of the investigation, I liked that the author kept me guessing when Roger and Jason would capture the bad guys. Oh, and where. But I certainly wasn’t expecting what happened during that showdown to happen. It was foreshadowed several times during the book, but I ignored it. That teaches me, and it made me have a new appreciation for unusual methods.

The end of Peril in Paradise was what I thought it would be. The author wrapped everything up. I wondered what would happen locally after Jason and Roger left, but the author even addressed that.

I recommend Peril in Paradise to anyone over 21. There is language and graphic violence, but no sexual situations.

Many thanks to Jerold Last for allowing me to read and review Peril in Paradise. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

Other books by Jerold Last: