Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
I’m backkkkk! It’s been a while since I’ve participated in any sort of TTT but there’s no better time to come back than this week’s prompt. It’s October and it’s already gotten this chilly bite in the air here. Thankfully no snowy forecast for a while (I don’t even want to think about that yet), but this week, we’re focusing on weather events in the title OR the cover.
Seven friends throw a 1920s-themed party, where it’s all pretend–until one of them is murdered. One of Us Is Lying meets Knives Out in this killer locked-room mystery.
Someone brought a knife to the party.
To celebrate the end of high school, Izzy Morales joins her ride-or-die Kassidy and five friends on a 1920s-themed getaway at the glamorous Ashwood Manor. There, Izzy and her friends party in vintage dresses and expensive diamonds–until Kassidy’s boyfriend turns up dead.
Murdered, investigators declare when they arrive at the scene, and now every party guest is a suspect. There’s the girlfriend, in love. The other girl, in despair. The old friend, forlorn. The new friend, distressed. The brooding enigma. And then, there’s Izzy–the girl who brought the knife.
To find the killer, everyone must undergo a grueling interrogation, all while locked in an estate where, suddenly, the greatest luxury is innocence.
Overall Recommendation:
Suddenly a Murder captured my attention from the start with its intriguing premise (locked room mystery, anyone?) and a cast of equally suspicious characters. The 1920s themed setting was so much fun, even though the story is set in the present. With a fairly fast pacing and plenty of flashbacks from each potential suspect that only makes them each look more guilty, I couldn’t make up my mind on who the culprit is. That’s the ultimate highlight for me in a murder mystery: a book that keeps me on my toes and constantly guessing.
The setting: an old mansion on its own private island that’s been empty since the 1920s.
The beginning: a group of just-graduated high school seniors get the privilege of staying for a week at said old mansion. Did I mention they’re a bunch of super privileged kids?
The surprise: everyone has to stay in 1920s character for authenticity during the week as part of the fun. Oh, and also, one of them dies. And it wasn’t an accident.
The cast of characters: oh boy, where do I even start?
Suddenly a Murder has one of my favorite things in mysteries: locked room mysteries. When you’re isolated in such a setting, is it more believable that the killer is someone random who somehow magically broke in? Or is it more plausible it’s one of the few people present? Who would want to kill Blaine, a popular guy who was among friends?
The cast of suspects has to be interesting, with motive or at least opportunity, or else the whodunnit would be solved way too easily. And this book does it all.
Kassidy, the girlfriend.
Chloe, a girl who may be more upset at his death than expected.
Fergus, the (neglected) childhood best friend.
Ellison, the new friend with his own hidden secrets.
And Marlowe, the aloof rich boy who may be harboring ulterior motives.
Oh, and of course, Izzy, our protagonist, who brought the knife to the mansion. When your protagonist is an unreliable narrator, it heightens everything as it makes it hard to believe everything as it seems on the page.
What made this book such a page turner for me was the inability to make a solid guess at the killer for most of the book. Everyone could’ve done it. Everyone has a motive. And everyone was hiding secrets from each other and our point of view.
In the vein of Knives Out, the pair of detectives assigned to the case were an eclectic match, with one not actually being a real detective but a consultant with interesting techniques for sniffing out killers. I loved seeing how they themselves went about looking for the truth when everyone lies and no one’s narrative may represent the events fully.
I will say the ending was not what I expected. I’d like to think I’ve read enough YA mysteries to know how most end, so it was interesting for it to conclude this way. All in all, a really solid read.
Aria @ Book Nook Bits is the new host for Let’s Talk Bookish! If you aren’t following her yet, good check out her blog and give her a follow!
October 13: Rainy Day Reading
Prompts: Are there certain kinds of books that you love to read when it’s raining? What about when it’s sunny? How does the weather correspond to the books you read?
Welcome to another week of LTB here at DTRH, everyone! Today’s topic is about rainy day reading, I think something that most of us bookworms are into—though please correct me if I’m wrong. One of the joys in life is definitely to sit down somewhere cozy on a rainy day and just enjoy the opportunity to read and relax!
Books that make me feel more nostalgic or melancholy definitely fit the rainy vibes, I think. That being said, if there’s a book I’ve been meaning to finish, sometimes I feel like the rainy weather gives me that extra push to finish it. It feels a bit like the “Why not? What else is there to do right now?” energy really helps me to just buckle down and finish a book. Thrillers work for me any time, but staying in on a rainy day to read one is also something I love doing.
When it’s sunny and bright outside, I may tend to reach for a less heavy book. For me, that’s probably the fantasies that I will tend to sidestep. When it’s warm and sunny outside, it just doesn’t seem like the time for me personally to dive into a fantasy world and memorize names and magic mechanisms. But that’s just me! I suppose fantasies just tend to be more of an escape for me, and I save those for more special moments.
I don’t think the weather necessarily corresponds directly to what I read, but I think indirectly the season and the weather patterns do subconsciously affect what I end up choosing based on my “mood.” I also think that what my friends are excited about or what’s been popular lately can also really sway what I’m in the mood for, which I think has not much to do with the weather at all! Weather is probably more like one of those passive sways for what I end up reading.
What about you all? How much does the weather affect what you read? Let me know in the comments below!
Down the Rabbit Hole 