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2022 Literary Escapes Challenge

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My Progress:


27 / 51 states. 53% done!

2022 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

2022 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


18 / 50 books. 36% done!

2022 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

2022 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


19 / 25 books. 76% done!

2022 Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge

2022 Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge

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40 / 53 books. 75% done!

Booklist Queen's 2022 Reading Challenge

Booklist Queen's 2022 Reading Challenge

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38 / 52 books. 73% done!

Aussie Author Reading Challenge 2022

Aussie Author Reading Challenge 2022

1 / 24 books. 4% done!

2022 Nonfiction Reader Challenge

2022 Nonfiction Reader Challenge

3 / 20 books. 15% done!

2022 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

2022 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

My Progress:


29 / 50 books. 58% done!

The 52 Book Club's Reading Challenge 2022

The 52 Book Club's Reading Challenge 2022

My Progress:


37 / 52 books. 71% done!

2022 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


33 / 50 books. 66% done!

2022 Support Book Bloggers Challenge

2022 Support Book Bloggers Challenge

2022 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

2022 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge
Thursday, February 11, 2021

Locked-Room Mystery/Thriller an Engrossing, Intriguing Debut

6:16 AM

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

After barely surviving a traumatizing abduction by a vicious serial killer while on the job in Manhattan, former NYPD detective Shana Merchant has moved upstate, taking a position with the Bureau of Crime Investigation (BCI).  Idyllic Alexandria Bay, a charming village in the Thousand Islands area, is the perfect place to lick her wounds.  With her devoted fiancé by her side, she hopes to put her nightmares behind her and make a fresh start in the peaceful riverside town.  

Shana is shocked when her department receives a frantic call about a murder on an island that is privately owned by a wealthy family from the city.  With an incoming nor'easter creating stormy weather and choppy water, Shana and her partner, Tim Wellington, head out to Tern Island.  Nine members of the Sinclair family, a wealthy clan that has made a fortune in the NYC fashion industry, have been vacationing there.  One of them, 26-year-old Jasper, has vanished.  The bed in which he and his girlfriend were sleeping is soaked in blood, but there's no corpse and the girlfriend claims to have no idea what happened.  Tim thinks they're dealing with a spoiled businessman who's gone missing to get attention.  Shana's sure it's murder.  

With only a handful of suspects on the remote island, it seems clear that Jasper has not just been killed but also that he's been murdered by a member of his own family.  All of them had motive, means, and opportunity.  Which one made sure Jasper was out of the way?  And why?  As the storm worsens, isolating Shana and Tim on the island with a dysfunctional family, one of whom is a killer, the situation grows increasingly perilous.  Can Shana and her partner get the truth out of their very reluctant witnesses?  Can they unmask the murderer before someone else turns up dead?  Will that someone be one of them?  

I love me a locked-room mystery set in an isolated locale, so I was all in for Death in the Family, a debut novel by Tessa Wegert.  Atmospheric and absorbing, the mystery is engrossing and twisty.  It kept me guessing until the very end, which is exactly what I like in a mystery/thriller.  Shana is a sympathetic heroine whose vulnerability and determination make her both relatable and admirable.  The Sinclairs are the opposite.  They're snobby, greedy, manipulative, and immature, almost to a one.  In the end, the whole sorry lot pretty much gets what they deserve.  I cared about Shana, though.  That—and an engrossing, can't-look-away plot—is what kept me reading Death in the Family.  Even though it's a depressing story, I enjoyed the thrilling read overall.  I just requested The Dead Season, the second installment in the Shana Merchant series, from the library because I'm excited to see what this intriguing heroine does next.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of books by Ruth Ware, Lucy Foley, Sharon Bolton, and Jane Casey)

Grade:


If this were a movie, it would be rated:


for language, violence, blood/gore, sexual content, and disturbing subject matter

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find

Labels:,,,,,,,,

9 comments:

  1. Lark 11 February, 2021 13:04

    I love thrillers with isolated settings. Especially islands. And when there's a sympathetic main character, too? I'll have to check this series out. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Helen's Book Blog11 February, 2021 20:30

    If you requested book number 2 that's a good endorsement. This sounds intense, but like a great read.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mystica11 February, 2021 21:52

    New to me both book and author. I like the isolated setting too. Thanks for the review.

    ReplyDelete
  4. (Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea12 February, 2021 06:24

    Interesting Susan, i hadn't heard of this one but, it is the type of book I'm drawn to. Did you even see the older movie Panic Room: Jodie Foster?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Joy 12 February, 2021 07:03

    The setting definitely acts like a side character in this book. Love the sound of this!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sam Sattler12 February, 2021 12:25

    Interesting plot. I need to add another four or five hours to my reading day if I'm ever going to read some of these. But, foolishly, I'm putting it on my list.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Carole's Random Life15 February, 2021 16:20

    I just love a mystery that can keep me guessing. I will have to add this one to my wish list.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Melody16 February, 2021 01:17

    I love a locked-room mystery! I'll definitely check this out! :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Stephanie17 February, 2021 15:46

    This sounds great! Adding it to my Goodreads :)

    ReplyDelete

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The Lost and Found Bookshop by Susan Wiggs



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