Category: Book reviews

The Retreat by Sarah Pearse The follow-up to The Sanatorium (which I highly recommend!), The Retreat is an Agatha-esque delight. While there is a slight element of the formulaic about it – a unique destination with a dark past – it’s cleverly done and quite entertaining. With plenty of murders, an island with a dark…

The Lost Man by Jane Harper My rating: 5 of 5 stars The more I read of Jane Harper, the more I love her writing. Set against the bleak and dangerous Australian outback, The Lost Man is a beautiful story of loneliness, grief and redemption. The scene opens on a gruesome death. Cam, the good…

It Takes Monsters by Mandy McHugh My rating: 5 of 5 stars A clever and pacey thriller, McHugh delivers a tantalizing story about a dysfunctional marriage, and what happens when one decides to take matters into their own hands. Claws out, no-holds barred, this one is urgent, sinister, and sharp as a knife. View all…

Before She Finds Me by Heather Chavez My rating: 5 of 5 stars An electric, atmospheric ride with complex, intriguing female leads, Before She Finds Me is action-packed and intricately plotted. The plot is original and impossible to predict, about a husband/wife assassin team and a contract killing that goes wrong. A wild and sinister…

The Dry by Jane Harper My rating: 5 of 5 stars An atmospheric whodunit that is perfectly balanced between police procedural and murder mystery, the question of whether Luke murdered his family kept me glued to the pages, but the real strength of the story comes in the depth and beauty of each character. Aaron…

The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor My rating: 5 of 5 stars How am I so late to the party on this one? The Burning Girls is AMAZING! I absolutely loved both Jack and Flo. In fact, I loved Jack so much, I’d be interested in a sequel. She’s a flawed but strong protagonist, a…

What Remains by Wendy Walker My rating: 5 of 5 stars What Remains is the story of Elise Sutton, a cop whose entire life is disrupted when she makes a decision to take a person’s life in order to save another’s. But she never imagined that saving one life could be the start of a…

The Retreat by Mark Edwards My rating: 5 of 5 stars I’ve been reading Mark Edwards’s backlist and enjoying every single one. The Retreat is atmospheric, creepy, and haunting, about a writer who goes to an idyllic retreat to finish writing his horror novel. Except this writing retreat is different than most. First of all,…

The Maid’s Diary by Loreth Anne White My rating: 5 of 5 stars A maid with a snooping problem. A couple with a lot to hide. Loreth Anne White is consistently one of my favorite authors, and The Maid’s Diary is another winner. Gorgeously atmospheric with complex, fully drawn characters and a multi-layered plot, the…

The Quiet Tenant by Clémence Michallon My rating: 5 of 5 stars Tense, terrifying with incandescent prose, The Quiet Tenant is a literary thriller about a woman who is the captive of a serial killer. When Aidan’s wife dies, he and his 13yo daughter are forced to move, and Rachel, his prisoner, manages to convince…

Where They Lie by Joe Hart My rating: 5 of 5 stars A powerful, captivating tale of a social worker with a tragic past who goes the extra mile for the children in her care. But when a plane crash kills a family she has placed a number of children with, and one of those…

Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger My rating: 5 of 5 stars A locked-room mystery that still manages to be fresh and surprising. Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six is Lisa Unger’s 20th novel, and she only gets better and better. This one centers around a luxury weekend away with family and close friends that quickly…