Tag: mystery

Mystery Guest by Maren Stoffels

lisascubby

Mystery is in abundance in this exciting, perplexing young adult story. In the book Mystery Guest, we meet a teenager who we discover is dead. Through flashback, we will also be told of the characters involved in the story and possibly the one who is a murderer. But it is up to the reader to decide who the best candidate could be. This is a true thriller!

Who killed Maria? And why?

Maria’s life was miserable. Her brother who continually tortured her at home was sent away after being found guilty of a crime. But for some reason he is coming home for the summer to begin the acclimation back into family life. And to continue his mistreatment of Maria whose parents seem to just ignore his antics.

But her life seems to be quite the yawn. Same old, same old. Until she gets a text from someone known only as Mystery Guest asking if she is bored. She decides to answer yes. They inform her there will be challenges she must perform in order to discover who the mystery person is. She jumps at the chance to add something exciting into her life. Until she discovers what the challenges are. She discovers they all have something to do with her life.

Clearly this is someone who knows her well. But why are they doing this to her?

The cast of characters include:

Her girlfriend Pip who never really wants to do anything exciting. But she’s okay as a girlfriend.

Norah, who is Pip’s ex-girlfriend who hates Maria with a passion for taking Pip away from her.

Cody, a new guy in town who meets Maria and they seem to have great chemistry.

Mike, who was run out of town last year for something he did to Maria and has now come back possibly to torture her again.

And finally, her brother, Ferris who has made it known he hates her.

Whoever the killer they seem to know way too much about Maria and her past. But unfortunately, every time a text comes in from Mystery Guest one of these people are either with her or have just left.

Mystery Guest will hook you from the first page and keep you riveted as the story begins to unfold, but the ending…will have you stunned, shocked and something you will never see coming. I promise!

Thank you #NetGalley #DelacortPress #MarenStoffels #MysteryGuest for the advanced copy.

Mystery Guest: Stoffels, Maren: 9798217122165: Amazon.com: Books

Edit Review – Mystery Guest | Goodreads

The Neighbors Are Watching by Aggie Blum Thompson

lisascubby

Do you look out your window when you hear a car? or when you smell smoke? Well, in this very juicy, gossipy psychological murder/mystery thriller, The Neighbors Are Watching, everyone in this affluent neighborhood seems to know exactly what everyone is up to. Except some neighbors seem to be kept out of the loop for reasons unknown to the reader. Also, this neighborhood had a murder last year…a robbery gone bad, but again no one wants to talk about that either. Pretending seems to be the first rule of the game…

Caren is at a graduation party of her daughter’s ex friend at the lavish house of neighbors she’s supposed to like in their Eastbrook, Bethesda fancy neighborhood. Why is she there? For appearance’s sake probably. She doesn’t quite like them. They have become unbearable since they have come into more money than they will ever know what to do with. And of course, for what they did to her daughter…

She on the other hand is in the middle of a sort of mid-life crisis. Nearing 50, not really working much at all, and soon to be an empty nester she and her husband Miguel are coming off one of the worst years of their lives. Their daughter Rachel got into some trouble and went to finish high school elsewhere.

So, as Caren is walking home, thinking about her problems she somehow becomes dizzy and blacks out. A kind stranger named Finn finds her early the next morning. Pretty banged up she has no recollection of what happened. The neighbors, of course all think she drank too much. But she knows she stopped drinking too much a while ago. She thinks someone put something in her drink…but why?

She insists the police are called. They discover a bottle of wine and food in her trash. She knows she did not eat or drink anything at home the night before. What is happening to her? Miguel doesn’t even seem to believe her story.

Then she discovers that a bracelet that has been put up on the website of the annual neighborhood yard sale was an item stolen from one of the neighbors. She also discovers the young man who found her, Finn was friends with the young nanny who was killed in the burglary gone bad last year and he too is looking for answers.

Caren and Finn decide to work together to see if any pieces of this mysterious puzzle fit together. Unfortunately, what they will discover and be shocked at are the sinister secrets and a dark underground that exists with some neighbors.

Can you keep a secret? That’s the starting point for the ride of your life in this stellar story; The Neighbors Are Watching. The ending such a surprise!

Thank you #Net’Galley #MinotaurBooks #AggieBlumThompson #TheNeighborsAreWatching for the advanced copy.

Amazon.com: The Neighbors Are Watching: 9781250412553: Thompson, Aggie Blum: Books

Edit Review – The Neighbors Are Watching | Goodreads

Beach Thriller by Jamie Day

lisascubby

Grab your beach chair, cooler and towel. Go sit near the ocean and get ready for the read of your life! Two thrillers for the price of one in this incredibly suspenseful, story, Beach Thriller! Part mystery, part nail biter this has it all! With twists you will not see coming, and so many secrets and lies your head will spin. Told in chapter form by the three main characters, a flailing writer, a runaway teenager and a mysterious watcher who seems to know too much. How much more could you want?

Holly Sinclair is a writer who is going back to Beauport, MA to fix up the home her late mother, dead sister and herself lived in. She did not want to come home because of the memories but with no money and an eviction notice from her apartment, well, she had no choice.

Not only is she anxious about coming home but she knows if she doesn’t come up with a great book idea, she’s going to not only be in trouble with her agent, but she’s so much in debt she will be living on the street. But their house has not been lived in for so long it has become dilapidated, and she has to hire someone to fix it up. But unfortunately, she is still waiting for her mother’s estate to go through probate.

What she did not expect was for someone to take up residence in the attic! Jade is a runaway who has come to the town with a necklace she thinks comes from here. She’s trying to figure out what it’s meaning could possibly be. Jade discovers an unfinished manuscript in the attic Holly had begun years ago. It chronicles what was going on at the time of her sister’s disappearance. This prompts Holly to delve into her sister’s death and begin to ask questions.

Holly takes a liking to Jade and allows her to stay but when Jade gets a job at the powerful Carmichael family mansion, Holly is angered and scared for Jade. This family destroyed her family’s life! Matriarch Maeve Charmichael ruined not only her Holly’s life but put her sister on a path to death! Jade decides to keep working for Maeve and help with a beach party which years ago was held every year and a must attend! For some reason Maeve feels at her age, this may be the last of this type of party she will ever attend.

To Holly that party was the beginning of the end of her sister’s life. Then Jade suddenly disappears and it’s up to Holly, her realtor Gail and local psychic Serena to find out what happened to her. But unfortunately, there have been so many secrets and lies and deceptions throughout the years will they find her in time. Once again, it seems the Carmichael’s are bent on wrecking lives!

Beach thriller will blow your mind! If you love deception, greed and plot twists, this is certainly the book for you! Two incredible mysteries for the price of one! Relax and enjoy! Oh, and don’t forget the sunscreen!

Thank you #NetGalley #St.Martin’sPress #JamieDay #BeachThriller for the advanced copy!

Amazon.com: Beach Thriller: A Novel: 9781250358233: Day, Jamie: Books

Edit Review – Beach Thriller | Goodreads

This Weekend Doesn’t End Well for Anyone by Catherine Mack

lisascubby

This Weekend Doesn’t End Well for Anyone is the third in Mack’s vacation mystery series. Mack is also known for her thrillers under the name Catherine Mckenzie. This story is once again a very funny murder mystery where we follow our beloved heroine (but for some reason always wanting to be killed) author Eleanor Dash as she takes us along for the ride as she tries to get in a vacation with boyfriend Oliver and her sister/assistant Harper while at a book conference in the Bahamas.

But a death quickly occurs even before Eleanor opens the door to her room as she discovers a dead body in said room! As Eleanor tells the story to the reader with her exceptional wit, humor and footnotes, we will soon discover the death was not a suicide as first thought, but a murder. Shocking I know!

Eleanor who has a book coming out soon had been invited to the book conference to give a few lectures and figured she could use a little bit of a rest…I guess not because as the authors, agents and others assemble she discovers the cast of characters are similar to those in her previous books…I mean life. Crazy Cathy is there as well as her nemesis Connor Smith and even our favorite Italian detective makes an appearance. But unfortunately, a few people Eleanor has ticked off through the years.

As the clues begin to show themselves, we soon discover that someone is trying to kill Eleanor. Again. But for what reason now? As Eleanor and Oliver delve deeper into the suspects and their relationship, they soon discover they are all keeping secrets and they are not particularly good ones.

Will she figure out who is trying to kill her or will this be her last book conference ever! Also, guess how many murders are in this book!

This Weekend Doesn’t End Well for Anyone is not only hilarious, with terrific sarcastic characters but Mack actually incorporates great information into the story on how to actually write a mystery thriller. Which as I have mentioned was what Eleanor was actually there to do. The story and clues are exceptional, and the ending is very Agatha Christie surprising!

Thank you #NetGalley #MinotaurBooks #CatherineMack #ThisWeekendDoesn’tEndWellforAnyone for the advanced copy.

This Weekend Doesn’t End Well for Anyone: A Novel (The Vacation Mysteries, 3): Mack, Catherine: 9781250326164: Amazon.com: Books

Lisa Leone-campbell’s review of This Weekend Doesn’t End Well for Anyone: A Novel | Goodreads

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

lisascubby

Mad Mabel is a mysterious story about an elderly curmudgeon woman who has been able to keep her identity hidden for many years. Her early life was filled with trauma, embarrassment and fear. But she was able to make a quiet life for herself living on a cul-de-sac and keeping to herself. But unfortunately, that will all change when one of her neighbors passes away and her real identity is exposed. What on earth should she do now?

Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick is eighty-one years young. She has lived in this neighborhood for decades. She keeps to herself for the most part except for her lifelong friend Daphne. She has everything she needs and enjoys the quiet. Very opinionated, the neighbors keep their distance. Until…

Two situations happen simultaneously. First, she realizes she has not seen a certain neighbor for a bit and discovers the body inside his house. Second, she seems to have made friends with a very young girl named Persephone who decides she wants to be Elsie’s best friend, and she cannot get rid of her.

But unfortunately, the police discover her past and how she was called Mad Mabel when she was young. They also discover Mabel was the youngest Australian child at the age of fifteen to ever be imprisoned. As her world begins to blow up and the neighbors begin to look at her as if she’s crazy, Mabel is visited by a true crime channel and asked if she would like to tell her story.

As she decides what to do, we go back in time with Mabel as she tells her story revisiting her childhood and what has brought her to this point in her long life. What is discovered is there is much more to her story, and to Elsie and how she was able to come out of her youth unscathed, even though she went to prison is amazing.

Unfortunately, no one believed her then and so why would they believe her now?

Does she risk her privacy to open that door in which has been locked for years? What on earth will the neighbors think? What will this lonely child think of her? How does she reconcile her past with her present?

Mad Mabel is very funny, yet a bit sad, heartbreaking but so uplifting. You will fall in love with Mabel as she begins to understand life and friendship and love at the ripe young age of eighty-one!

Thank you #NetGalley #St.Martin’sPress #SallyHepworth #MadMabel for the advanced copy.

Amazon.com: Mad Mabel: A Novel: 9781250284549: Hepworth, Sally: Books

Lisa Leone-campbell’s review of Mad Mabel | Goodreads

Icing on the Murder by Valerie Burns

lisascubby

Icing on the Murder is the fourth book in the Baker Street Murder series and as funny and cozy as the previous stories. In this new installment we learn more about Maddy’s previous life as she and her now fiancé Michael, best friend Sherrif April Johnson and of course the star of the book, Baby, her 250-pound English Mastiff, begin their journey on picking wedding sites and attire as well as all the other good stuff. Of course, there is a murder! The Baker Street series is such an enjoyable read.

As Maddie reminisces about her Aunt Octavia who passed away and left her not only her bakery, Baby Cakes Bakery, but her beloved dog Baby, her heart aches that she does not have her to lean on for advice on how to plan a beautifully cheap wedding.

But, Maddy does have her social media background and discovers there will be a wedding expo coming to their town in New Bison, Michigan. And they are going to be running a contest. Now, Michael does not want to participate in any of these expos. But of course, Maddy enters figuring she just won’t tell him because of course she doesn’t think she will win.

Maddie discovers the wedding planner is none other than Serafina a social media star! But unfortunately, Serafina is not an angel and treats not only those who work for her horribly, but during the beginning of the expo also finds dirt on some of the contestants!

Unfortunately for Maddy, Serafina is murdered during the expo with, gulp, baking skewers from Maddy’s bakery making her the prime suspect. Now not only does she have to find the real killer, but she has to fess up to Michael about not telling him the truth. Will there even still be a wedding to plan?

With a killer on the loose it’s up to Maddy, the Sherriff, the community and of course Baby to figure out who the real murderer could possibly be. And there are many people who did not care for Serafina!

Icing on the Murder is amusing, entertaining and Burns’ books always have great twists and turns. I also can’t get enough of Baby’s antics, and I bet neither will you!

Amazon.com: Icing on the Murder (A Baker Street Mystery): 9781496753403: Burns, Valerie: Books

Edit Review – Icing on the Murder (Baker Street Mystery #4) | Goodreads

Cross Your Heart And Hope He Dies by Jenny Elder Moke

lisascubby

Cross Your Heart And Hope He Dies is a very funny story about murder, romance with a cast of characters who it seems would do anything in their power to kill someone, unbeknownst to each other. With many suspects, a missing manuscript and a dead body how could this story be so entertaining? Well, you’ll see!

A failing publishing company whose only chance at survival is a salacious manuscript, rich, secretive suspects and an editor who will turn over every rock she can to save her job and also unknowingly fall in love, this makes for a terrific plot. Most important, who stole the manuscript? Wouldn’t you like to know!

When rich businessman Warren Ellingham dies suddenly at his own birthday party at his own Pacific Pines Country Club no one is as shocked as Juliette Winters, who was the editor a what was supposed to be his blockbuster tell-all manuscript, although she still had not gotten her hands on it. The cause seemed to be a heart attack, but Juliette isn’t feeling it. To top it all off, the safe where the manuscript was being stored had been opened and no manuscript was in it!

But Juliette is sure someone at the party killed Ellingham and took the manuscript because it was so raunchy, (she hopes)! So, on her own, with the help of two work friends and her very reluctant and annoying not really a friend, Dr. Charlie Hawkins, a heart surgeon, she begins to discover many people hated Ellingham and wanted him dead, and it seems one of them succeeded.

Then unfortunately, another murder occurs and it’s just Juliette’s bad luck that she was at the wrong place at the wrong time and is the prime suspect in this killing! For goodness sake, all she wants is the darn manuscript!

Cross Your Heart And Hope He Dies is a wonderfully funny murder mystery which includes quite the romantic romp with the craziest suspects ever and a very surprising ending. You will truly laugh as you enjoy this can’t put down book…cross my heart!

Thank you #NetGalley #MinotaurBooks #JennyElderMoke #CrossYourHeartAndHopeHeDies for the advanced copy.

Pre order:

Asylum Murders: A Black Lady Mystery by Michael G. Colburn

lisascubby

Asylum Murders is an amazing thriller set in the 1800’s which will have the reader on the edge of their seat. It’s story tragic, yet the main character, a woman named Lady Edith Black is a hero to those who have no voice. The other cast of characters, quite interesting. Although the second book in the series, I had no problem reading it as a stand-alone.

Lady Edith Black has been on the wrong side of the law, but now, she is someone who the Chief Inspector in Melbourne looks to when he needs a bit of help on a case, quietly, of course as a woman should not be a snooper. And he needs help!

There are simultaneous cases which need looking into. The first occurred at Parliament. A very expensive Mace has been stolen. It seems to have disappeared one evening when the men were entertaining ladies of the evening. So as you can imagine, no one will talk.

On that same night a woman is found on the street in a coma. She has no name and is transported to Kew Asylum. It seems some of the nurses there have themselves fell victim to something and been placed there.

Lady Edith, who is desperately trying to find her best friend whom she lost track of Britina, is put on the Mace case discreetly.

But what she discovers is the two cases mesh together and Lady Edith now must quickly discover how to put all the clues together. Unbeknownst to her, some of the players want her dead.

Asylum Murders is a story which shows the glamourless seedy side of life in the 1800’s. It shows the lack of compassion and greed and abuse to those who were placed in an institution. But it also shows the strength of some who no matter what the cost will try everything to save those who can’t save themselves.

Thank you #JackieKarneth #BooksForward #I.P. Publishing #MichaelG.Colburn #AsylumMurders for the advanced copy.

The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey

lisascubby

The List of Suspicious Things is an unforgettable, tragic story with a serial killer, two twelve-year-old girls and a small town frantic to figure out who the murderer is and why. But the story is so much more. It encapsulates how people who are different are treated, grief, mental illness and determination. And of course, the shocking discovery of just who the killer is. But by the end of the story and the damage to the mystery has caused to some of the innocent is palpable.

Twelve-year-old Miv and her best (and only) friend Sharon have decided to try and investigate who is killing women in their town. Miv needs to find out as her father has just told her they may be moving to another town. With Miv’s mother who does nothing but stay in her room, not speaking to anyone and then getting shuttled off for months at a time to somewhere, Miv has no idea where to, she cannot and will not accept the move.

So, she and Sharon devise a plan to look at the local men and write down reasons they feel they may be the killer. Unfortunately, they have many on their list. As they begin to investigate Miv is much more determined to find the killer. Sharon just wants to be with Miv and be her listener.

As they gather information, what they discover is there is much more going on in this small town than just having a serial killer amongst them. They will learn people who are innocent of everything can be found guilty just by the color of their skin. They will also learn some married couples have deep dark secrets which they desperately try to hide. And they will also learn that evil is not that far away from them.

Their lives will be changed forever as the danger intensifies, but Miv will try to help those who can’t help themselves, and try and put a murderer, yet unknown in jail.

The List of Suspicious Things is a thriller but also explores many different types of characters and their deep flaws as well as loss, grief and humanity. In the end, this story has so many lessons which the reader needs to see and understand in order to discover who and why the characters do what they do. The ending, bittersweet…

Thank you #NetGalley #SourcebooksLandmark #JennieGodfrey #TheListofSuspicousThings for the advanced copy.

Pre order:

Where Secrets Stay by CherAnn Wright

lisascubby

Where Secrets Stay, which is based on real events, is an unexpected, chilling, incredible psychological thriller in which we have a missing young girl, a very dysfunctional family, murders, hidden items and dark secrets. As the mysteries unfold, the reader will hardly be able to fathom the intricate weavings of an incredible plot.

When Kevan comes back home to bury her grandmother, the memories of her abusive childhood and fear return. If it wasn’t for her grandmother, she would not be the woman she has become and would still be living rotting in this small town. Her grandmother was Kevan’s only lifeline to normalcy.

As she and her friend Beth try to sort out her grandmother’s items, there is an old key which for some reason jolts some sort of memory. What the key’s meaning holds is not only something which may perhaps open a door but open a pandora’s box of clues with dark hidden memories.

Nathan has come back home as well. He is here to help his mother’s best friend take care of her place. But this visit is bittersweet for him. His young sister went missing years ago. She went out for a walk and just vanished without a trace. Coming back has made Nathan decide that he will once again try and discover what happened to his little sister all those years ago.

Incredibly, Kevan and Nathan’s worlds will come crashing down around them and then mysteriously collide when they separately find a dilapidated house in the woods with secrets which will change both their lives forever.

Filled with mystery, murder and suspense, Where Secrets Stay will grab you from the very first page, and keep you guessing as the past suddenly meets the present and all the answers come to light.

Thank you #NetGalley #SleuthingSlothPress #CherAnnWright #WhereSecretsStay for the advanced copy.