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Jamie Quinn Mystery Series by Barbara Venkataraman [Book Review]

Posted on March 21, 2018January 14, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Series: Jamie Quinn Mystery
Book 1: Death by Didgeridoo
Book 2: The Case of the Killer Divorce
Book 3: Peril in the Park
Book 4: Engaged in Danger
Book 5: Jeopardy in July

Author: Barbara Venkataraman

Publisher: Independently published

Genre: Amateur Investigator

My Rating: 4/5

Jamie is an attorney that practices family law, but manages to occasionally find herself in the middle of a mystery. To help her solve the mysteries, she gets helps from an amusing cast of characters, primarily her best friend Grace and a private investigator, Duke.

BOOK 1

Death by Didgeridoo

Reluctant lawyer, Jamie Quinn, still reeling from the death of her mother, is pulled into a game of deception, jealousy, and vengeance when her cousin, Adam, is wrongfully accused of murder. It’s up to Jamie to find the real murderer before it’s too late. It doesn’t help that the victim is a former rock star with more enemies than friends, or that Adam confessed to a murder he didn’t commit.

Death by Didgeridoo by Barbara Venkataraman

MY REVIEW

The first book in the Jamie Quinn Mystery series.

Jamie’s cousin is accused of murder, and he needs her help. Jamie is an attorney, though not of criminal law, but she want to help her family. Her cousin has Asperger’s, and it’s inconceivable to her that he is capable of committing a violent crime. Jamie, along with the help of a few friends, searches for the real killer.

A humorous cozy mystery. The characters were relatable, and I enjoyed the interactions Jamie had with her best friend and the private investigator. This was a quick, fun read.

BOOK 2

The Case of the Killer Divorce

Reluctant lawyer, Jamie Quinn, has returned to her family law practice after a hiatus due to the death of her mother. It’s business as usual until a bitter divorce case turns into a murder investigation, and Jamie’s client becomes the prime suspect. When she can’t untangle truth from lies, Jamie enlists the help of Duke Broussard, her favorite private investigator, to try to clear her client’s name. And she’s hoping that, in his spare time, he can help her find her long-lost father.

The Case of the Killer Divorce by Barbara Venkataraman

MY REVIEW

The second book in the Jamie Quinn Mystery series.

Jamie has recently returned to her family law practice after a brief time away to deal with her mother’s death. One of Jamie’s current cases is a bitter divorce, that turns to murder. In her personal life, Jamie wants to learn more about her father.

The murder mystery was light, but with some twists. In addition to the mystery of whether Jamie’s client killed her soon-to-be ex, Jamie decided to search for her long-lost father. I was curious where this story would lead, but it was wrapped up too abruptly for me. As for romance, an old flame returned to Jamie’s life.

A fun and humorous cozy mystery. I have enjoyed the characters in this series: Jamie is smart, compassionate, and relatable; Jamie’s bestie, Grace, is no-nonsense, yet funny; and private investigator Duke is a lecherous drunkard, but likable. Jamie’s aunt and cousin weren’t as prominent in this book as the first, but it’s clear Jamie believes family is important.

BOOK 3

Peril in the Park

There’s big trouble in the park system. Someone is making life difficult for Jamie Quinn’s boyfriend, Kip Simons, the new director of Broward County parks. Was it the angry supervisor passed over for promotion? The disgruntled employee Kip recently fired? Or someone with a bigger ax to grind? If Jamie can’t figure it out soon, she may be looking for a new boyfriend because there’s a dead guy in the park and Kip has gone missing! With the help of her favorite P.I., Duke Broussard, Jamie must race the clock to find Kip before it’s too late.

Peril in the Park by Barbara Venkataraman

MY REVIEW

The third book in the Jamie Quinn Mystery series.

Jamie’s boyfriend, Kip, is having trouble at work. He is the new director of Broward County parks, and someone is trying to make his work life miserable. Between dealing with vandalism in the parks, disgruntled employees, and a land development deal, Kip’s hands are full. Along with wanting to help Kip with his work woes, Jamie also helps her father try to obtain his US citizenship.

This book focused more on Kip and mysteries related to his work. Jamie wanted to help her boyfriend, so she contacted her favorite private investigator, Duke, to figure out who was causing problems for Kip. I enjoyed this story. Kip was another great character, and as usual, Duke brought a lot of humor to the story.

As a side story, Jamie’s father was having trouble obtaining US citizenship. Jamie enlisted the help of her best friend Grace to discover what was the problem. Grace was once again level-headed and practical, but humorous.

BOOK 4

Engaged in Danger

Finally, life is good for reluctant family law attorney, Jamie Quinn–her father may get his visa soon, her boyfriend is the bomb, and her law practice is growing like crazy–but when she agrees to take on a high-profile divorce case, everything falls apart. What looked like an opportunity to work with her friend Grace and make some serious bucks has turned into a deadly game, one that could destroy their friendship and tear their town apart. Why couldn’t Jamie just leave well enough alone?

Engaged in Danger by Barbara Venkataraman

MY REVIEW

The fourth book in the Jamie Quinn Mystery series.

Jamie works a high-profile divorce case of a woman who wants to get away from her husband, a corrupt businessman. A few side stories are also going on in Jamie’s life, including helping her neighbors discover who owned the plane that crashed and killed their sister and brother-in-law.

A quick and fun cozy mystery. Jamie worked harder in this one than the others. She had a high profile case in this book, and it kicked her into higher gear for work. Plus, her boyfriend, Kip, left the country for work, and she was looking for ways to distract herself while he was away. Jamie and her best friend, Grace, had the opportunity to work together in this book. It was fun to see their work relationship, but they also had a big falling out over personal matters. Also reappearing were Duke, the unorthodox private investigator, and Nick, the slick politician.

BOOK 5

Jeopardy in July

Old people were dying at an alarming rate at La Vida Boca, a posh assisted living facility in Boca Raton, Florida. With its sterling reputation, dedicated staff, and top-notch medical care, none of the deaths are considered suspicious, but when members of the poker club start to die under strange circumstances, attorney Jamie Quinn finds herself once again embroiled in a mystery. With help from her new friend, Jessie Sandler, and her favorite P.I., Duke Broussard, Jamie uncovers a crime that took place forty years earlier. Can she stop the killer in time? Or is she in danger of becoming the next victim?

Jeopardy in July by Barbara Venkataraman

MY REVIEW

The fifth book in the Jamie Quinn Mystery series.

Jamie’s current divorce case takes her to an assisted living facility. After visiting the facility and getting to know some of the people, Jamie takes a job there to lead seminars. The job is fairly simple, Jamie will host seminars and help the seniors with their legal paperwork, but, of course, nothing is as easy as it appears. As Jamie spends time with the seniors, she gets involved in a mystery of suspicious deaths and art forgery.

This book brings back Jessie, a friend Jamie made in a previous book, but includes her bestie Grace and the odd, but lovable, Duke. I enjoy the recurring characters in this series. Jamie is fun, but her friends provide some real laugh out loud moments. Jamie’s family drama continues, but takes a backseat to the other action.

My favorite Grace/Jamie interaction in this book:
“I was wondering — do you want to check out a new brewery in Fort Lauderdale? They have games and food trucks.”
“But do they have beer?” I joked.
“They have kegs and kegs of the stuff — with flavors like coffee, and peanut butter and jelly.”
“Call me old-fashioned,” I said, “but I like beer-flavored beer. Do they have any of that?”

This made me laugh out loud because my husband and I enjoy visiting breweries and trying new beers, and we always make fun of the weird beers that breweries make nowadays. I’m with Jamie, I like beer-flavored beer.

This is a fun series. Jamie and her friends, family, and other assorted characters are entertaining and likable. Great reads for fans of cozy mysteries.

I was contacted by the author to review the Jamie Quinn books.

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell [Book Review]

Posted on March 21, 2018January 14, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: Then She Was Gone

Author: Lisa Jewell

Publisher: Atria Books

Publish Date: April 24, 2018

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

Ellie Mack was the perfect daughter. She was fifteen, the youngest of three. Beloved by her parents, friends, and teachers, and half of a teenaged golden couple. Ellie was days away from an idyllic post-exams summer vacation, with her whole life ahead of her.

And then she was gone.

Now, her mother Laurel Mack is trying to put her life back together. It’s been ten years since her daughter disappeared, seven years since her marriage ended, and only months since the last clue in Ellie’s case was unearthed. So when she meets an unexpectedly charming man in a café, no one is more surprised than Laurel at how quickly their flirtation develops into something deeper. Before she knows it, she’s meeting Floyd’s daughters—and his youngest, Poppy, takes Laurel’s breath away.

Because looking at Poppy is like looking at Ellie. And now, the unanswered questions she’s tried so hard to put to rest begin to haunt Laurel anew. Where did Ellie go? Did she really run away from home, as the police have long suspected, or was there a more sinister reason for her disappearance? Who is Floyd, really? And why does his daughter remind Laurel so viscerally of her own missing girl?

MY REVIEW

Ellie Mack disappeared when she was a teenager. Ten years later, Ellie’s mother, Laurel, is on her way to healing after this great loss. Laurel has always thought there were unanswered questions about her daughter’s disappearance, but she is ready to move on a grieve her loss. Then Laurel meets a man who has a 9-year-old daughter that bears a striking resemblance to her missing daughter, and those unanswered questions arise again.

Told from multiple points of view and different timelines. The main point of view is from Laurel, but we also hear from a few other characters. The timeline is “then” and “now.” The “then” parts were from when Ellie went missing, and the “now” parts were ten years after her disappearance.

Well developed characters and plot. I enjoyed the story, but never really connected to any of the characters.

Then She Was Gone was an intriguing psychological thriller that was creepy and heartbreaking.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books by Lisa Jewell:

The Third Wife
The Girls in the Garden
I Found You
Then She Was Gone
Watching You
Invisible Girl
The Night She Disappeared
None of This Is True

The Questionable Behavior of Dahlia Moss by Max Wirestone [Book Review]

Posted on March 18, 2018January 14, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: The Questionable Behavior of Dahlia Moss

Author: Max Wirestone

Publisher: Redhook

Publish Date: January 9, 2018

Genre: Amateur Investigator

Series: Dahlia Moss Mysteries #3

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

Veronica Mars meets the World of Warcraft in this mystery romp with a hilarious heroine.
Working for a games development company is my dream job. So, when a slightly sketchy lawyer offered me the opportunity, I had to take it! Who cares that the company has some quirks? No job is perfect. Some questionable, but probably totally normal issues:
· A mysterious whistle-blower is posting the industry’s dirty laundry on Reddit.
· An unidentified corpse is in the staff room.
· The game under development is for filthy casuals, and unwisely involves matching talking peppermints.
· My job, technically speaking, is “Industry Spy.”
It’s all just a typical day at the office. Right?
Dive into Dahlia Moss’s brilliant, bonkers mystery and enjoy pure, geeky fun!

MY REVIEW

Dahlia Moss is hired to be an industry spy. Her job is to work as a temp at a software game development company and acquire the information her client wants. Mainly, the client wants to know what is taking so long for a game to be developed and they want the code to see what the problem is. However, once Dahlia is at the company, a couple of other issues arise, namely a mystery whistleblower and a dead body in the store room.

The Questionable Behavior of Dahlia Moss is the third book in the Dahlia Moss mystery series. This is the first book I have read in this series, and it was a quick and entertaining cozy mystery.

Silly and light. Many crazy escapades occur along the way to Dahlia solving the mystery, but that was the fun of this book. Good for fans of contemporary cozies with kooky characters.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books in the Dahlia Moss Mysteries Series:

The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss
The Astonishing Mistakes of Dahlia Moss
The Questionable Behavior of Dahlia Moss

The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine [Book Review]

Posted on March 15, 2018January 14, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: The Last Mrs. Parrish

Author: Liv Constantine

Publisher: Harper

Publish Date: October 17, 2017

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine

BOOK BLURB

Amber Patterson is fed up. She’s tired of being a nobody: a plain, invisible woman who blends into the background. She deserves more—a life of money and power like the one blond-haired, blue-eyed goddess Daphne Parrish takes for granted.

To everyone in the exclusive town of Bishops Harbor, Connecticut, Daphne—a socialite and philanthropist—and her real-estate mogul husband, Jackson, are a couple straight out of a fairy tale.

Amber’s envy could eat her alive . . . if she didn’t have a plan. Amber uses Daphne’s compassion and caring to insinuate herself into the family’s life—the first step in a meticulous scheme to undermine her. Before long, Amber is Daphne’s closest confidante, traveling to Europe with the Parrishes and their lovely young daughters, and growing closer to Jackson. But a skeleton from her past may undermine everything that Amber has worked towards, and if it is discovered, her well-laid plan may fall to pieces.

With shocking turns and dark secrets that will keep you guessing until the very end, The Last Mrs. Parrish is a fresh, juicy, and utterly addictive thriller from a diabolically imaginative talent.

MY REVIEW

Amber is a manipulative woman who wants to change her life. She focuses on Daphne Parrish and her husband, Jackson. Daphne has the perfect life, and everything that Amber desires. Amber insinuates herself in the Parrish’s lives, but nothing is as perfect as it seems.

The Last Mrs. Parrish is divided into three parts: part one is Amber’s viewpoint, part two is Daphne’s viewpoint, and part three is the conclusion. Part one was long and had a slow build up. Part two was more exciting. Part three was excessive.

I enjoyed this story, but the book was too long. A slow buildup is fine, but some things were repetitive, and part three could have been edited down to be more succinct and powerful.

The Last Mrs. Parrish is a complex, twisty psychological thriller. Good for fans of The Wife Between Us and The Secrets She Keeps.

Books in the Mrs. Parrish series:

The First Shot
The Last Mrs. Parrish
The Next Mrs. Parrish

Beignets and Broomsticks by J. R. Ripley [Book Review]

Posted on March 11, 2018January 14, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: Beignets and Broomsticks

Author: J. R. Ripley

Publisher: Severn House Publishers

Publish Date: March 1, 2018

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Series: Maggie Miller Mysteries #3

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

During the traditional Halloween festivities, one of Maggie Miller’s customers comes to a sticky end in this entertaining cozy mystery.

It’s Halloween, and café owner Maggie Miller’s special pumpkin spice beignet promotion is proving popular. But the evening ends in disaster when Maggie discovers the body of one of her regular customers, strangled to death with an expensive cashmere scarf.

The late Nancy Alverson had tended to keep herself to herself – but what secrets was she hiding? And why had she been studying books on witchcraft?

Of one thing Maggie is certain, it was no witch who killed Nancy. But has someone taken advantage of the spookiest night of the year to commit a brutal murder…?

MY REVIEW

Maggie runs a beignet shop in a small town in Arizona. The local business owners open their doors on Halloween to give treats to the kids, and Maggie has one of those businesses. After closing up, she has some extra beignets, so she drops by a regular customers place to give them the treat. Unfortunately, Maggie stumbles across a murder scene. Her regular customer had been killed, and Maggie wants to know who did it and why.

The 3rd book in the Maggie Miller mystery series. This is the first book in the series that I have read. A quick and fun cozy mystery with small town atmosphere, quirky locals, and witchcraft.

The story is told from Maggie’s point of view. She is mostly likable, and there are plenty of small town antics involved in her story. She has a few friends and family in the story, but she also has a few people that aren’t exactly friendly. Since I haven’t read the others in the series, I’m not sure about Maggie’s background. It seems she is restarting after a divorce, and her beignet business is part of her new life.

Good for fans of cozy mysteries. I’m originally from Louisiana, so I was immediately drawn to beignets being in the title. To be honest, I was a little disappointed the story took place in Arizona, rather than Louisiana.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books in the Maggie Miller Mysteries Series:

Buried in Beignets
Beignets, Brides and Bodies
Beignets and Broomsticks

Yesterday’s News by R. G. Belsky [Book Review]

Posted on March 10, 2018June 23, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: Yesterday’s News

Author: R.G. Belsky

Publisher: Oceanview Publishing

Publish Date: May 1, 2018

Genre: Amateur Investigator

Series: Clare Carlson #1

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

A classic cold case reopened—along with Pandora’s box

When eleven-year-old Lucy Devlin disappeared on her way to school more than a decade ago, it became one of the most famous missing child cases in history. The story turned reporter Clare Carlson into a media superstar overnight. Clare broke exclusive after exclusive. She had unprecedented access to the Devlin family as she wrote about the heartbreaking search for their young daughter. She later won a Pulitzer Prize for her extraordinary coverage of the case.

Now Clare once again plunges back into this sensational story. With new evidence, new victims, and new suspects—too many suspects. Everyone from members of a motorcycle gang to a prominent politician running for a US Senate seat seem to have secrets they’re hiding about what really might have happened to Lucy Devlin. But Clare has her own secrets. And, in order to untangle the truth about Lucy Devlin, she must finally confront her own torturous past.

MY REVIEW

Clare is a journalist who made her career with a missing child story. She had incredible access to the family, and had exclusive after exclusive, and even won a Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of the story. It has been 15 years since the child went missing, and the young girl was never found. Clare is now a news director for a TV station, and the girl’s mother has never stopped looking for her child. When the mother contacts Clare, saying she has new evidence in the case, she also says she will only talk to Clare. Clare jumps back into investigative journalism and searches for the truth behind the girl’s disappearance. During her search, she deals with a motorcycle gang, a popular politician, other cases of missing children, and many dark secrets.

The story is told from Clare’s point of view. The characters were all well developed, and the story was intriguing enough to make this a fast read.

Good for fans of crime fiction and plot twists. A complex mystery with plenty of twists and turns. I love twists in a story, but this book had too much going on for me. On the plus side, some twists were completely unexpected and I didn’t see them coming at all.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books in the Clare Carlson series:

Yesterday’s News
Below the Fold
The Last Scoop
Beyond the Headlines
It’s News to Me
Broadcast Blues

The Echo Killing by Christi Daugherty [Book Review]

Posted on March 4, 2018January 14, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: The Echo Killing

Author: Christi Daugherty

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Publish Date: March 13, 2018

Genre: Crime & Detective

Series: Harper McClain #1

My Rating: 5/5

BOOK BLURB

When a murder echoing a fifteen-year-old cold case rocks the Southern town of Savannah, crime reporter Harper McClain risks everything to find the identity of this calculated killer in Christi Daugherty’s new novel The Echo Killing.

A city of antebellum architecture, picturesque parks, and cobblestone streets, Savannah moves at a graceful pace. But for Harper McClain, the timeless beauty and culture that distinguishes her home’s Southern heritage vanishes during the dark and dangerous nights. She wouldn’t have it any other way. Not even finding her mother brutally murdered in their home when she was twelve has made her love Savannah any less.

Her mother’s killer was never found, and that unsolved murder left Harper with an obsession that drove her to become one of the best crime reporters in the state of Georgia. She spends her nights with the police, searching for criminals. Her latest investigation takes her to the scene of a homicide where the details are hauntingly familiar: a young girl being led from the scene by a detective, a female victim naked and stabbed multiple times in the kitchen, and no traces of any evidence pointing towards a suspect.

Harper has seen all of this before in her own life. The similarities between the murder of Marie Whitney and her own mother’s death lead her to believe they’re both victims of the same killer. At last, she has the chance to find the murderer who’s eluded justice for fifteen years and make sure another little girl isn’t forever haunted by a senseless act of violence—even if it puts Harper in the killer’s cross-hairs…

MY REVIEW

Harper is a news reporter in Savannah, where she works nights following crime activity across the city to catch her next story. After responding to a call to a murder scene, Harper is on a story that is eerily similar to another murder that happened 15 years earlier… the murder of Harper’s mother, which was never solved. Harper sees the connection between the cases, but the police don’t want to hear about it. Investigating this current story brings back memories for Harper, many of which she has tried not to think about for years. As Harper works to uncover the truth behind these crimes, she jeopardizes current relationships in her personal and professional lives.

Dark story. Great characters. Picturesque setting. The mystery was complex and twisty, but not hard to figure out. The characters were well-developed, and I especially liked Harper. She was strong, smart, and a real go-getter. I love mysteries that take place in cities like Savannah, with such a rich history, the setting adds to the story.

A fast-paced crime mystery. The Echo Killing is the first book in the Harper McClain series. I’ll be keeping a look out for the next book in this new series.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books in the Harper McClain series:

The Echo Killing
A Beautiful Corpse
Revolver Road

The Girlfriend by Michelle Frances [Book Review]

Posted on February 25, 2018January 14, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: The Girlfriend

Author: Michelle Frances

Publisher: Kensington

Publish Date: January 30, 2018

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

A mother. A son. His girlfriend. And the lie they’ll wish had never been told.

Laura has it all. A successful career, a long marriage to a rich husband, and a twenty-three-year-old son, Daniel, who is kind, handsome, and talented. Then Daniel meets Cherry. Cherry is young, beautiful, and smart but hasn’t led Laura’s golden life. And she wants it.

When tragedy strikes, a decision is made and a lie is told. A lie so terrible it changes their lives forever…

The Girlfriend is a taut and wickedly twisted debut psychological thriller—a novel of subtle sabotage, retaliation, jealousy and fear, which pivots on an unforgivable lie, and examines the mother–son–daughter-in-law relationship in a chilling new light.

MY REVIEW

Daniel loves his mother and they have a close relationship. He also has a new girlfriend. His mother, Laura, wants to protect her son. His girlfriend, Cherry, wants him to be all hers.

The Girlfriend is told from Laura and Cherry’s viewpoints. Laura seems to have a wonderful life – long marriage, nice home, great job, and the perfect son. Cherry came from a more modest upbringing, and her goal is to marry rich. Neither woman is likable. Laura was almost likable, but Cherry had no redeeming qualities. Both characters were manipulative, though Laura’s manipulation wasn’t as nefarious as Cherry’s.

The Girlfriend is a suspenseful psychological thriller with family drama. This book seemed longer than necessary, but it was a fairly quick read.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books by Michelle Frances:

The Girlfriend
The Temp
The Daughter
Sisters
The Boyfriend
The Playground

This Is How It Ends by Eva Dolan [Book Review]

Posted on February 22, 2018January 14, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: This Is How It Ends

Author: Eva Dolan

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Publish Date: March 13, 2018

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

Three hundred gone. Just six left.
The building was once home to families, friends, children, couples, love, life. Now, almost every apartment is empty, the inhabitants forced out by the developers tearing down the old social housing to build luxury homes.

Only a few of the inhabitants have fought back against the attempts to evict them from their homes and their histories. And they have been joined by passionate student protester and would-be journalist, Ella, who is leading a high-profile media campaign to protect those who refuse to leave.

One night, Ella returns home to find a horrible scene awaiting her-the dead body of a mysterious man. Panicked, she calls her neighbor Molly, who convinces her that the police won’t believe she’s innocent. Together the two women concoct a gruesome plan to hide the body.

But the secret won’t stay buried for long. As truth hangs in the balance, a neighbor tells Molly he had heard Ella arguing with a man in the hallway and mistrust grows between Ella and Molly, as repercussions of that night threaten to change both women’s lives forever.

MY REVIEW

Ella and Molly are activists. Ella is young and new to the activist community, whereas Molly is older and has been involved with the activist community for years. They are both living in a building that is evicting the tenants, and most tenants have already left. After a rooftop party, Molly receives a call from Ella to come help her. When Molly arrives, there is a dead man in Ella’s apartment. Due to the women’s backgrounds, they don’t think the police will believe they’re innocent, so they opt to dispose of his body and not report his death. As time progresses, mistrust grows between the two women.

This Is How It Ends is told from two points of view, Ella and Molly. The book starts with the defining event (i.e., the dead guy) between these two women, then Ella’s story moves in reverse chronological order, while Molly’s story moves forward with the present day. The alternating viewpoints were interesting, because this is the type of story where that works, but the time changes (past vs present) were sometimes confusing.

This Is How It Ends was a quick read, but I wasn’t really interested in the characters. I was never drawn into the story and fully immersed. The last half of the book was much more intriguing than the first half, and I did enjoy the twist at the end.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books by Eva Dolan:

This Is How It Ends

I Know My Name by C. J. Cooke [Book Review]

Posted on February 14, 2018January 14, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: I Know My Name

Author: C. J. Cooke

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publish Date: June 15, 2017

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

A woman with no name. A wild, abandoned island. A family desperate for answers. A debut thriller like no other.

On a small Greek island, a woman comes ashore with no memory of who she is, where she’s from, or how she came to be shipwrecked there. Worse, she has no way of leaving. As she’s nursed back to health by the island’s only inhabitants, four friends on an annual retreat, she detects tensions between the group that suggest not all is quite as it seems. Her new acquaintances each appear to be hiding something–something that may relate to the mystery of her identity.

Meanwhile, in a pretty suburb on the outskirts of London, Eloise, the mother of a newborn and a toddler, vanishes into thin air. Her husband, Lochlan, is desperate to find her–but as the police look into the disappearance, it becomes clear that Lochlan and Eloise’s marriage was not the perfect union it appeared.

As Lochlan races to discover his wife’s whereabouts, Eloise enacts an investigation of her own. What both discover will place lives at risk and upend everything they thought they knew about their marriage, their past, and what lies in store for the future.

MY REVIEW

A woman awakens on a Greek island with no idea of who she is, where she’s from, what she was doing to end up on the island, or anything about her life and who may be looking for her. Meanwhile, in London, a husband frantically searches for his wife. She is the mother of their two young children, and she suddenly vanished one day.

I Know My Name is told from two points of view, the husband in London and the woman on the Greek island. There were a few flashback chapters that helped fill in the backstory.

I Know My Name is an easy read with well-developed characters. Good for fans of psychological thrillers, especially ones that involve amnesia and/or a missing wife.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books by C.J. Cooke:

I Know My Name
The Blame Game
The Nesting
The Lighthouse Witches
The Ghost Woods
A Haunting in the Arctic

Best Friends Forever by Margot Hunt [Book Review]

Posted on February 12, 2018January 14, 2024 by Darinda

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

BOOK INFO

Title: Best Friends Forever

Author: Margot Hunt

Publisher: MIRA

Publish Date: January 23, 2018

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

How well do you really know your best friend?

Kat Grant and Alice Campbell have a friendship forged in shared confidences and long lunches lubricated by expensive wine. Though they’re very different women—the artsy socialite and the struggling suburbanite—they’re each other’s rocks. But even rocks crumble under pressure. Like when Kat’s financier husband, Howard, plunges to his death from the second-floor balcony of their South Florida mansion.

Howard was a jerk, a drunk, a bully and, police say, a murder victim. The questions begin piling up. Like why Kat has suddenly gone dark: no calls, no texts and no chance her wealthy family will let Alice see her. Why investigators are looking so hard in Alice’s direction. Who stands to get hurt next. And who is the cool liar—the masterful manipulator behind it all.

MY REVIEW

After a chance meeting in an airport, Alice and Kat form a friendship. They quickly become best friends, until one of them losses her husband. The police find the death to be suspicious, and look at Alice as a suspect.

The story was told from Alice’s point of view and had shifting timelines. The friendship formed three years before the suspicious death, and the story covered the beginning of the friendship to present day.

Best Friends Forever is a well-written, fast-paced thriller with relatable and interesting characters. I enjoyed the twists and was curious how it would all end. A good read for fans of psychological thrillers.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books by Margot Hunt:

Best Friends Forever
For Better and Worse
The Last Affair
Lovely Girls
The Guests

The Girlfriend by Sarah J. Naughton [Book Review]

Posted on February 6, 2018January 14, 2024 by Darinda

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BOOK INFO

Title: The Girlfriend

Author: Sarah J. Naughton

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

Publish Date: March 6, 2018

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

The perfect brother. The perfect boyfriend. The perfect lie.

Mags doesn’t believe her brother’s fall was an accident. In that forty-foot stairwell, he didn’t just slip over the edge.

But there is only one witness, Jody, the girlfriend grieving at his bedside.

Which is another story Mags doesn’t believe.

Because Jody likes telling stories, and this may be her most twisted one yet.

As Mags begins to unearth the secrets hidden in her brother’s wake, she finds she isn’t just looking for the truth. For Mags, this is more than a simple tragedy. This is an opportunity for revenge.

MY REVIEW

Mags is notified that her estranged brother is in a coma. The police suspect a suicide attempt, but Mags isn’t convinced. Her brother’s girlfriend seems to be holding something back, and Mags is determined to discover what really happened.

The Girlfriend is a complicated thriller with dark themes. Loved the setting of the converted church. It set the perfect atmosphere for the story. The characters were complex, but not exactly likable. While I enjoyed the setting and complex characters, I felt the story to be a bit disjointed and confusing with the layered timelines and alternating viewpoints.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books by Sarah J. Naughton:

The Girlfriend
The Other Couple
The Mothers
The Festival