Tag: mystery

2 star, adult

ARC Review: Twenty-Seven Minutes by Ashley Tate

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Phoebe Dean was the most popular girl alive and dead.

For the last ten years, the small, claustrophobic town of West Wilmer has been struggling to understand one thing: Why did it take young Grant Dean twenty-seven minutes to call for help on the fateful night of the car accident that took the life of his beloved sister, Phoebe?

Someone knows what really happened the night Phoebe died. Someone who is ready to tell the truth.

With Phoebe’s memorial in just three days, grief, delusion, ambition, and regret tornado together with biting gossip in a town full of people obsessed with a long-gone tragedy with four people at its heart—the caretaker, the secret girlfriend, the missing bad boy, and a former football star. Just kids back then, are forever tied together the fateful rainy night Phoebe died. 

Perfect for fans of Jane Harper and Celeste Ng, Tate’s literary suspense Twenty-Seven Minutes is a gripping debut about what happens when grief becomes unbearable and dark secrets are unearthed in a hometown that is all too giddy to eat it up.

Overall Recommendation:

Twenty-Seven Minutes is not for the faint hearted, or those who do not want to fall into a pit of despair. While it tried to be a super twisty thriller, it ended up being a super slow read, filled with unlikable characters you can’t root for, all while a cloud of hopelessness permeated every page. I didn’t quite see the twist at the end coming, but at that point, I couldn’t utter much emotion for it either way. If that’s what the author wanted, then it was a success. Otherwise, please be warned.

Publication Date: January 23, 2024

I’m a huge sucker for thrillers, and from the beginning of Twenty-Seven Minutes’ synopsis, I was hooked, line and sinker. But upon opening the very first pages, something immediately felt off to me. Perhaps it was the writing style, which was disjointed and flipping across 4 characters. Or maybe it was the way each character was already being portrayed. Either way, this should’ve been my warning sign.

Spanning only the course of 3 days – which felt like a lifetime while reading it – we follow mostly Grant, Becca and June who are assumedly 3 adults in their late twenties still stuck in their old town and in the trauma they all faced on the same night a decade ago. Let me be clear. All three of these individuals are badly in need of consistent therapy. Becca claimed she went when she first survived the accident that claimed Grant’s sister’s life, but it’s clear she should’ve never stopped. Frankly, her POV probably left me with the worst feeling out of all of them. And that’s saying something because they’re ALL super messed up.

There’s definitely guilt and plenty of secrets between them all. How that would play out and explode into the public sphere was probably the only thing that kept me going at times. None of these characters were likable, although June was probably the closest one I could feel a smidge of sympathy for. But every single one of them was wrapped up in layers of grief, trauma, and addiction to unhealthy, obsessive behaviours that would make someone unsettled from only one of these POVs. There is no break regardless of who we switch to as each POV had so much to unpack. They were also unreliable narrators as you know at least one or all of them are hiding something from us, the readers. The overall result of this? Just a cloud of unsettled discomfort and despair over me outside of this book. I would definitely not recommend this for anyone who struggles with grief or feelings of despair in general. This book will only compound those feelings.

When I finally came through to the other side, the ending was partly something I should’ve seen but also not what I expected. I expected something bigger, for the fact that it ruined so many lives for so long. I suppose there are some points to be given that I didn’t see the twist right away until close to the end but a part of me feels let down. It was the only thing driving me to finish. And I can’t say I wanted to finish because it was fast paced or super suspenseful. I just like knowing the answer. The only reason this rating isn’t lower is because I did manage to finish and I did push through – a part of me was too afraid to stop reading for fear I’d never be able to pick it up again. That counts for something at least.

I’ve read my fair share of mysteries and thrillers over the years. While this could’ve been an amazing read, there was too much focus on grief and trauma to give us anything else to hold onto (or anyone healthy to read from for a reprieve). With no likable characters means no one cares what happened to them all. As this is a debut that was apparently borne of grief the author suffered herself, I can empathize this may have been therapeutic for her – but not quite so for anyone else. I can only hope any more books after this one will be a little more well-rounded, emotionally.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review

5 star, adult

ARC Review: The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Molly the Maid #2

When an acclaimed author dies at the Regency Grand Hotel, it’s up to a fastidious maid to uncover the truth, no matter how dirty—in a standalone novel featuring Molly Gray, from the #1 New York Timesbestselling author of The Maid, a Good Morning America Book Club Pick.

Molly Gray is not like anyone else. With her flair for cleaning and proper etiquette, she has risen through the ranks of the glorious five-star Regency Grand Hotel to become the esteemed Head Maid. But just as her life reaches a pinnacle state of perfection, her world is turned upside down when J.D. Grimthorpe, the world-renowned mystery author, drops dead—very dead—on the hotel’s tea room floor.

When Detective Stark, Molly’s old foe, investigates the author’s unexpected demise, it becomes clear that this death was murder most foul. Suspects abound, and everyone wants to who killed J.D. Grimthorpe? Was it Lily, the new Maid-in-Training? Or was it Serena, the author’s secretary? Could Mr. Preston, the hotel’s beloved doorman, be hiding something? And is Molly really as innocent as she seems?

As the case threatens the hotel’s pristine reputation, Molly knows she alone holds the key to unlocking the killer’s identity. But that key is buried deep in her past—because long ago, she knew J.D. Grimthorpe. Molly begins to comb her memory for clues, revisiting her childhood and the mysterious Grimthorpe mansion where she and her dearly departed Gran once worked side by side. With the entire hotel under investigation, Molly must solve the mystery post-haste. If there’s one thing Molly knows for sure, it’s that dirty secrets don’t stay buried forever…

Overall Recommendation:

Having thought the sensational novel, The Maid, was a stand-alone, I was delighted to be checking back into the Regency Grand Hotel and following the delightful Molly on another unfortunate incident resulting in a dead man at their fine establishment. This time around, we learn more about Molly’s history alongside her Gran’s, and the cozy mystery factor makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, akin to being wrapped up in the best blanket. This is the perfect fall read and has earned another top spot in my books!

**The Mystery Guest comes out November 28, 2023**

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review

Molly the maid is back at it again as we are warmly re-embraced into the staff and charm of the Regency Grand Hotel. Four years have passed since the events of The Maid so while references are made about what had occurred then, this can be read as a stand-alone.

For a five star hotel, yet another unfortunate murder has occurred on the premises of this fine establishment, right after they were fixing their reputation again from the last gnarly incident. This time, it’s a reclusive mystery novelist who was about to make a big announcement if not for his untimely demise.

I loved being back in Molly’s perspective as she’s hurled back into another murder investigation. While I know people’s frustrations from book 1 sometimes stemmed from the lack of explicit acknowledgment where Molly stood on the spectrum, personally it doesn’t take away from the story if she was officially diagnosed or not. For her character and the additional backstory we see in this book, if she was on the spectrum, i don’t think they had the means to get a proper diagnosis so Molly herself may not have a word to describe how she’s different from others. She knows she is but she works hard to read other people to live and function among them. And perhaps her ability to remember details the rest of us find irrelevant makes her the perfect amateur sleuth out there, albeit begrudgingly.

The cast of characters brings old friends I loved from book 1 (I love you, Mr. Preston!) and new ones alike. There was less Juan Miguel in this books, to the point he wasn’t even a secondary character, but I liked that the romance subplot wasn’t huge at all. There was no second book misunderstanding breakup or anything. This was purely a solid cozy mystery and I was all for that. I’m not normally a cozy mystery reader – I need that intense thrill of suspense to drive me forward – but Nita Prose continues to surprise me with her ability to make me love this world she’s created that’s more hopeful than most mysteries I read.

The story moves along at a fairly fast pace. There are two almost equally split timelines, present day with the mystery and Molly’s past when she was around ten years old. Her history and present surprisingly intermingle and I loved slowly learning what pieces were hidden in Molly’s mind that gave greater context to the present mystery. Seeing more of her Gran and their interactions was heartwarming, but I felt there was more insight into who Molly is as a person as we see more of her thoughts as a child in addition to her grown up self. I absolutely adore her as a protagonist which makes this book and series everything. There are not many characters I feel such a connection to even though we’re nothing alike. Leaving the book felt like losing a friend, because Molly was so well described it felt like I knew her by the end. (There’re also so many sayings she and her Gran have that they can fill a book for cheesy lines to remember.)

If you loved The Maid, this one is a beautiful story that is as good as the first, which is always hard to do when the first was already so well written. I wasn’t sure what to expect going in but I can honestly say I never want to leave the Regency Grand and Molly for long. If that means 30 more books featuring this cast and place, I will happily dive into every single one.

4 star, YA

Review: Suddenly a Murder by Lauren Muñoz

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

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.