mystery – Page 4 – Down the Rabbit Hole

In a world where the children of the gods inherit their powers, a descendant of the Greek Fates must solve a series of impossible murders to save her sisters, her soulmate, and her city.

Descendants of the Fates are always born in threes: one to weave, one to draw, and one to cut the threads that connect people to the things they love and to life itself. The Ora sisters are no exception. Io, the youngest, uses her Fate-born abilities as a private investigator in the half-sunken city of Alante.

But her latest job leads her to a horrific discovery: somebody is abducting women, maiming their life-threads, and setting the resulting wraiths loose in the city to kill. To find the culprit, she must work alongside Edei Rhuna, the right hand of the infamous Mob Queen—and the boy with whom she shares a rare fate-thread linking them as soul mates before they’ve even met.

But the investigation turns personal when Io’s estranged oldest sister turns up on the arm of her best suspect. Amid unveiled secrets from her past and her growing feelings for Edei, Io must follow clues through the city’s darkest corners and unearth a conspiracy that involves some of the city’s most powerful players—before destruction comes to her own doorstep.

Overall Recommendation:

Threads That Bind ties together an intriguing take on Greek mythology and the powers ones descendants take on. In a dystopian world that’s fallen to natural disasters like regular flooding, Io’s world is still filled with fear against those who are different: the other-born with gifts from the gods. If you come into this book thinking it’s a super romantic story, I mean, yes, it has romance but it’s super slow burn. What is mostly highlighted and what I loved was the adventurous journey she and her fated soulmate takes to solve the mystery of dead women killing people in her neighborhood. Wholly imaginative in world building and the pieces of the mystery, this book will have you flipping those pages as it surely did for me.

**Threads That Bind comes out June 13, 2023**

Thank Penguin Random House Canada for this copy in exchange for an honest review

I always love a good Greek mythology story but sometimes it seems we focus on very specific gods and figures. One of the many things I loved about Threads That Bind is the different take on Greek gods and the powers their descendants may have. Io Ora, our protagonist, is a moira-born, one who is descended from the Fates and can specifically cut the threads that tie the people, places and things a person loves. Oh, and also their life-thread. This makes her considerably dangerous from an outside perspective, and Io knows well what it means to be other-born and a cutter. Faced with others’ stereotypes and fears, she holds to her own morals and helps those in the poorer district of the city where she lives as a private investigator.

Enter the mystery. While there is definitely romance in this book (I will get back to this later), this was my favourite part. Heavily plot-laden, we follow Io on what was initially a simple cheating case she was hired for that quickly escalates to mysterious deaths caused by a woman with a severed life-thread. In other words, this someone should be dead yet is functioning enough to kill someone else. Partnered with the man she is connected with by a fate-thread, Edei, the action is nonstop and the pieces of the puzzle keep on getting better as we unravel more about these women and their puppeteer.

While the mystery kept the plot exciting and moving quickly, another thing I loved was the world building. The lush descriptions of this dystopian world where neo-monsoons flood the streets often and three moons circle above entice you into this otherworldly experience. The residents are forced to traverse buildings by roof with bridges built in the air, and individual large cities have become their own city-nations as the lands outside are less inhabitable. The existence of so many different other-born showed the vast variety of people and Greek gods present, and how they can use their individual powers in society. I didn’t want to leave the city of Alante, not because it’s a nice place to live, but because it felt so real.

But for my romance lovers out there, the romance here is present but alas quite a slow burn. Fighting against their fate-thread that sometimes draw them closer together – especially in life-threatening situations – Io has been trying and failing at keeping her distance with Edei, emotionally and physically. This book explores the idea of fate versus choice. If they were to fall in love, is it considered real if this was always their destiny? Or is there something more potent about the idea of choosing whom you love? I can’t wait for more in the next book between them, but I definitely felt the pacing of their love story was appropriate given the craziness going on in their city. When one meets a fates soulmate, it wouldn’t do if they fell instantly in love. Now that would feel less real.

The last thing I’ll highlight that I loved was Io’s character arc. Hurt by her overbearing sister’s rules growing up, Io dealt a lot with shame and guilt when it came to her sister’s abandonment two years prior. Add onto the fact that she’s a cutter and normal people generally regard her suspiciously, it’s hard not to want to be everyone’s saviour. Helping out of guilt versus out of kindness are two different things, and Io had a lot of baggage to process in how she lived and what propelled her actions. I liked that she had flaws, realistic ones from her upbringing, but she also carried morals that could be molded when faced with new knowledge and experience. She’s the kind of flawed protagonist I like. Not morally gray but not self righteous in their inability to admit wrong. I look forward to seeing her journey continue in book 2. It honestly can’t come out fast enough!

4.5 star

Review: The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

May 10, 2023May 8, 2023 Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up – to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? – he’s not there.

The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother’s situation, and the more questions she has. Ben’s neighbors are an eclectic bunch, and not particularly friendly. Jess may have come to Paris to escape her past, but it’s starting to look like it’s Ben’s future that’s in question.

The socialite – The nice guy – The alcoholic – The girl on the verge – The concierge

Everyone’s a neighbor. Everyone’s a suspect. And everyone knows something they’re not telling.

I always love a good closed-room mystery, and this was really no exception. I’m generally a fan of Lucy Foley’s work, and this one didn’t disappoint me—though I have heard mixed reviews from others.

The Paris Apartment takes place in…you guessed it, a fancy apartment in Paris. The neighbours we meet are certainly something, and above all, of course, suspicious. Just what is going on with these weird neighbours? Each one has their own story to hide, and it all seems to have something to do with Ben, the protagonist’s half-brother, who is missing from the very start. What is the connection between all the neighbours, including the concierge who always watches out front?

The characters were all fantastic. Each was so suspicious, mostly so deplorable and annoying that a reader’s natural biases start to come up, which is a fantastic play on tropes by the author. There were the more foil characters, and then there were the more complex characters that we see play out. However, it does not become immediately obvious who the perpetrator is because of who was focused on more. There was an appropriate level of character development and although it wasn’t a major factor in the development of the mystery, there was enough to satisfy the readers so that we could understand their motives and goals.

I personally felt the plot was excellent. There were so many twists and turns, some obvious, some not, but all equally surprising anyway. Having read many mysteries and thrillers, at this point, most things aren’t a straight-up surprise. But, it also means that the author is able to play on the “obvious” plot lines that I expect with their signals and red herrings. I also enjoy her writing style. Foley likes to do a lot of these short, parallel chapters to build effects and suspense, and that it something I enjoyed both in The Guest List and in this one. Just when I thought there was a reveal and all was solved, there was always so much more. This helped to create drive so that I did not get bored when I figured out one of the surprises in the book. I certainly didn’t see the final few surprises coming, and I had to keep re-wrapping my mind around it. There was one chapter that I think could have been re-ordered for a little bit more dramatic effect at the end but overall I thought it was really excellent how everything built up to the climax and denouement. I definitely didn’t see it coming fully.

Overall the mystery and thriller elements were good, with the slightly unreliable protagonist (but not too much), and the way every character seems shady, and how you just cannot trust anyone you meet. The result is a very exciting story which I plowed through quite quickly. The ending was also pretty exciting, and like I said, I didn’t really see it coming fully so I was pretty genuinely satisfied. I don’t expect endings to be surprising often, but rather I look more for the execution of the ending and how the author ties up certain loose ends (or doesn’t tie up certain loose ends) for a satisfying ending. I definitely enjoyed this one.

Overall Recommendations

The Paris Apartment is a typical closed-room mystery that takes place in a rich apartment. Jess moves to her half-brother’s beautiful apartment, although it seems like he has gone missing and is unable to receive her. So, of course, it is up to Jess to speak with all the neighbours and any contacts Ben might have had in order to figure out where he is. The more she looks, the more locked doors she finds—which means she’s getting closer, right? Just what is the mystery of this Paris apartment, and what lurks behind closed doors? Fast-paced, thrilling, and exciting, this one is sure to be for you if you like a good closed-room mystery novel!

3 star, YA

ARC Review: Lying in the Deep by Diana Urban

May 1, 2023April 30, 2023 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

A juicy mystery of jealousy, love, and betrayal set on a Semester at Sea-inspired cruise ship, with a diverse cast of delightfully suspicious characters who’ll leave you guessing with every jaw-dropping twist.

After being jilted by her ex-boyfriend and best friend, Jade couldn’t be more ready to embark on the adventure of a lifetime—11 countries in 4 months, all from the luxurious Campus on Board ship—and to wedge an entire globe between her and the people who broke her heart.

But when Jade discovers the backstabbing couple are also setting sail, her obsession with them grows and festers, leading to a shocking murder. And as their friends begin to drop like flies, Jade and her new crush must race to clear her name and find the killer they’re trapped at sea with….before anyone else winds up in body bags.

Perfect for readers of Natalie D. Richards, E. Lockhart, and Karen McManus!

Overall Recommendation:

Lying in the Deep mostly delivers on what it promises: a tense mystery stuck on a ship with a killer. However, how it reaches the ending was not as unpredictable or compelling as I had hoped, especially with a protagonist I wasn’t sure I liked half the time. Perhaps I read too many mysteries or I’m starting to guess the out of the box scenarios far too often, but there was just something missing here that prevented me from loving it.

**Lying in the Deep comes out May 2, 2023**

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

I’m starting to believe that I read far too many mysteries to be surprised by “twist” endings. Or perhaps I just think along the same lines as Diana Urban after reading all of her thrillers published so far.

Lying in the Deep advertises itself as a fast-paced, harrowing search for a killer onboard as time runs out before possibly more bodies drop. Everyone is a suspect, perhaps even the protagonist herself. I mean, unreliable narrators are a thing these days, right?

On paper, this book has everything going for it that would lead to a deep seated love for it. Travel? Check. Dead body mystery? Check. Some romance that may or may not be relevant but is still fun to have in a story? Check. Those are all great things that I enjoy. But execution connecting these elements are just as important.

The synopsis and prologue tells you quite early on what the mystery is and who is the one found dead. Unfortunately, it’s not until almost 50% of the way into the book that we get to this point of finding a dead body. For literally the first half of the book, we are getting the opportunity to “get to know all of the suspects onboard”. I understand the importance of setting the scene with a handful of newcomers who all may have a (hidden) motive against the person who ends up dying. But 50% of the book just seems largely too long for that.

It’s also not helpful that I found our protagonist, Jade, not super likable. While I empathize with her situation against her ex best friend and ex-boyfriend, this girl fantasizes far too much about killing them. When her new crush, Felix, comments about her propensity to wake up and choose violence, it’s not entirely untrue. She gives me “unreliable protagonist” vibes. I wondered half the time if the information we are getting about the situation that led to her breakup with the two closest people in her life was missing important details.

Once the mystery does get underway, it felt rushed. Unlike others who have read this book early, I couldn’t get into the tense atmosphere so easily. Yes, there were plenty of suspects onboard but I never felt Jade was in true danger as she ran headlong into solving the mystery herself. Any tense feelings came from the countdown to solve the mystery before the boat made port and all the evidence would be handed over to the local authorities.

For the romance, I understand the chemistry between Jade and Felix but it’s kind of hard to root for a couple when he is also technically a suspect. I also felt the feelings they developed for one another was rather fast. The situations between them were not many prior to the events leading to the murder, plus Jade was mostly preoccupied with her ex whom she still harbored complicated feelings for. I didn’t dislike their romance, but I wouldn’t say I shipped it (ha ha).

The main thing that makes this mystery stand out from others in its genre is the Campus on Board setting. I really did enjoy this. A little bit of travel descriptions were even included for London and Lisbon which makes me crave travelling all the more. I didn’t expect such detailed touristy scenes set in these cities – I thought everything was mostly focused on their time on the boat – so I thoroughly enjoyed seeing these European locales through their eyes. It makes me wish I could’ve done schooling in such a way. You’re never too old to continue learning.

As with all mysteries, I don’t want to say too much about the ending, but I will say that it wasn’t as unpredictable (to me at least) as it seemed. I think I guessed the twist all along but was hoping to be proved wrong. It will shock some people, but I unfortunately was unable to enjoy it in such a manner. If you don’t manage to guess how it all ends, I think it makes the mediocre journey to the ending worthwhile nonetheless. I will always applaud Diana Urban’s out of left field endings, though I have come to expect them. Whether the journey to the end is important to you, or the ending and its twists trump all, Lying in the Deep does offer something unique to readers, even if it isn’t the mystery.