Tag: Mystery Thriller

Book Review:: The Ghostwriter | Julie Clark

Once upon a time, two children were murdered in their home. Siblings. Leaving one brother, not home at the time, alive. No one was ever convicted. This tragedy is the foundation Olivia’s life is built upon.

The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark Book Cover

The surviving sibling is Olivia’s father, Vincent. He’s become a global sensation for his horror novels, but before that, he was sensational for being the lead suspect in his siblings’ murders. Olivia and her father had a falling out years ago, and she separated herself from him as much as she could. She even married a man she didn’t love in order to change her last name. Blood runs thick though, and she ended up in the same industry as her father, ghostwriting books for other famous authors. Now, on the edge of financial ruin after a big scandal, the only job available is from Vincent Taylor, and he said she’s the only one he’ll work with. It’s the first time returning home for Olivia, and she wants to get back out as soon as possible, but when she gets there, she realizes she might be able to finally learn the truth. Is her father a killer? Or was he always telling the truth about that night?

What a compelling psychological thriller! The backstory of this novel is so rich and murky at the same time. Enough details to create that dark misty tone for the past, but not enough to give away the store.

I always love the devices authors use to add doubt to the information the reader receives, so we don’t know what’s real and what may be a lie. In this case, Olivia’s father has a disease that affects his mind, and we all know human memory is fallible anyway. I love that feeling when reading a book like this that you never really know what the reality is, and what is fabricated. It leaves a lot of room in your mind to sort through evidence and form new theories up until the very end.

In this story there are quite a few scenarios that seem likely as Olivia learns more about her family history. It’s the story of one family’s darkest hour, and it has been shrouded in mystery and doubt all these years.

The characters are believable and well formed, the writing is clear and atmospheric, the plot is complex and interesting, and just look at that stunning cover!

I’m very happy to have received this book for early review via the publisher through netgalley, and I’m excited to have another author’s backlist to add to my TBR!

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: The Ghostwriter
Author:: Julie Clark
Genre:: Mystery Suspense
Publisher:: SOURCEBOOKS Landmark
Length:: 368 pages
Audio Length:: TBA
Audiobook Narrator:: TBA
Published:: June 3rd, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

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If you liked this book, check out…

Famous Last Words | Gillian McAllister
The Truth About the Devlins | Lisa Scottoline
The Heiress | Rachel Hawkins

Book Review:: The Gravedigger’s Almanac | Oliver Potzsch

If you have any interest in exploring some of the earliest practices of modern criminology, this is the mystery for you! Oliver Potzsch’s newest release, The Gravedigger’s Almanac, is a twisted historical mystery that will remind you of the late great Sherlock Holmes.

The Gravedigger's Almanac by Oliver Potzsch Book Cover

Leo is a new resident of Vienna, having fled his hometown in shame. He’s got some money and an interest in an emerging realm of study that is criminalistics. Photography, deductive reasoning, logical fallacies…he’s putting all of the strategies to use on a new case of brutal murders in the cultured city.

I love a good mashup of historical fiction and mystery. This will teach you something while keeping you hooked into a quite sinister string of killings. It is quite a complex case that will have Leo and his associates chasing down lead after lead to solve the heinous crimes. The Gravedigger’s Almanac has the perfect balance between interesting historical facts and compelling narrative. I was enthralled!

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: The Gravedigger’s Almanac
Author:: Oliver Potzsch (Translated by Lisa Reinhardt)
Genre:: Historical Mystery
Publisher:: HarperVia
Length:: 404 pages
Audio Length:: 13h 49m
Audiobook Narrator:: Rupert Bush
Published:: May 27th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

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If you liked this book, check out…

The Bone Garden | Tess Garrison
The Cheesemaker’s Daughter | Kristin Vukovic
The Daughter of Ruins | Yvette Manessis Corporon

Book Review:: Parents Weekend | Alex Finlay

Parents Weekend is the perfect book to grab for your weekend thriller binge-read. It’s fast paced, engrossing, high-stakes, and fascinating. This one had me in a grip, all the way through.

Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay Book Cover

It’s parents weekend at a university in Northern California, and some of the parents are very high-profile. When a group of kids never makes it to dinner on the first night, they start to worry. Yes, college kids are too cool to hang out with their parents, but not a one of them is answering their phone, and this is not the school’s first incident. Just recently a girl turned up dead. We’re thrown into a break-neck paced investigation to find out what happened to the kids and why, and if it’s already too late to save them.

I knew early on that this book was going to be a good one. The kind of characters the author chose to include, and the type of details showcased made the entire reading experience so enjoyable! The tension remained high through the whole thing, and the conclusion made a lot of sense when we finally got there, while still being twisty and surprising. I cannot imagine being an investigator in a situation like this. So many things to handle, to look into, to question…

I’ve been absolutely loving thrillers recently, and ones like this just make me crave more more more.

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: Parents Weekend
Author:: Alex Finlay
Genre:: Mystery/Thriller
Publisher:: Minotaur
Length:: 320 pages
Audio Length:: 10h 15m
Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio
Published:: May 6th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

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If you liked this book, check out…

I Think I Was Murdered | Colleen Coble & Rick Acker
Wrong Place, Wrong Time | Gillian McAllister
The Truth About the Devlins | Lisa Scottoline

Book Review:: The Matchmaker | Aisha Saeed

Nura Khan is the best matchmaker in town, and everyone knows it. She’s taken the family business and made it bloom. She doesn’t just help her clients find love, she helps them become the type of people who can sustain love, then matches them with their perfect partners. It’s not a service for everyone, and she turns down a lot of clients. Sometimes, they’re not so happy about it.

The Matchmaker by Aisha Saeed Book Cover

When strange and dangerous things begin to happen surrounding her and her business, and disgruntled potential clients begin coming out of the woodwork, Nura and her closest friends must work to piece together who could be behind the attacks.

Did I mention she’s also in love with her fake fiancé slash best friend in the world?

The Matchmaker is a fast-paced thriller surrounded by and fueled by the darker side of romance, the part where things don’t always work out the way you plan. Sometimes the pursuit of love brings out the worst in people instead of the best.

The stakes rise quickly in this book. It is one incident after another and is immediately clear that someone is out to get Nura and her company. It gets quite intense and follows a thriller arc closely. I was personally hoping for a little more romance because that’s what I’m the biggest sucker for, but it is a pretty solid storyline. True feelings are always revealed when one, or both parties are in mortal peril.

Overall I enjoyed the book, but it didn’t draw me in as much as I like to be. While I was interested in the story, I wasn’t held in a grip with emotion for these characters. For me it was a solid three stars.

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: The Matchmaker
Author:: Aisha Saeed
Genre:: Romantic Suspense Thriller
Publisher:: Bantam
Length:: 320 pages
Audio Length:: 8h
Audiobook Narrator:: TBA
Published:: April 8th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 3-Stars

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If you liked this book, check out…

Double Exposure | Elissa R. Sloan
Sunshine and Spice | Aurora Palit
The Midnight Feast | Lucy Foley

Book Review:: Famous Last Words | Gillian McAllister

Cam’s first day back at work as a literary agent after maternity leave doesn’t exactly go the way she planned. But no one plans for the police to come looking for them because their husband is holding three hostages on the other side of town, do they? Luke is the last person she’d have expected to be in that situation, and her world is shaken to its foundations. The hostage negotiator insists on getting her to that warehouse, and what happens there has consequences that ripple outward for years.

Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister Book Cover

This book had me in a grip! I was captured immediately by the POV characters who both have such rich depth and interesting vantages on what takes place. The author gives just enough away at a time to leave you right at the edge of the seat, mind buzzing with ideas of why, how, and what happened, and what might happen next.

Cam is a now-single mother having to make decisions for herself and her daughter she never expected to have to make. What does she tell her about her father? How do they move on from this?

Niall is the hostage negotiator navigating an impossible work/life balance. Something about this particular case bothers him, and he can’t let it go until he finds out the truth of what happened in that warehouse.

I am so grateful I had the opportunity to read this book early as an arc reader through netgalley and the publisher. Gillian McAllister wrote my favorite thriller read of 2024 (Wrong Place Wrong Time), and this one has left just as impressive an impression as that one did. I couldn’t put it down!

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: Famous Last Words
Author:: Gillian McAllister
Genre:: Mystery Thriller
Publisher:: William Morrow
Length:: 336 pages
Audio Length:: 13h 5m
Audiobook Narrator:: Emilia Fox
Audiobook Publisher:: Harper Audio
Published:: February 25th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

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If you liked this book, check out…

Wrong Place Wrong Time | Gillian McAllister
I Think I Was Murdered | Colleen Coble & Rick Acker
The Truth About the Devlins | Lisa Scottoline

Book Review:: The House in the Pines | Ana Reyes

One summer can alter the course of everything. One new friend. One lost story. One betrayal. One house in the pines.

The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes Book Cover

Maya is convinced the strange boy keeping her company over her last summer before college killed her best friend Aubrey during a disagreement. The only problem is, he never touched her. Maya knows this because she watched it happen. He and Aubrey were talking, then she fell over. Dead.

Seven years later, she sees a viral video online of the same boy in the very same scenario. Another girl, dead. Not a finger laid upon her.

It can’t be a coincidence.

But ever since that summer, with her insistent conviction of his guilt, she’s been repeatedly told she is mentally ill. Delusional. Crazy. She’s even been medicated. And now, having quit her medication cold turkey, she travels back to find out the truth and get justice for Aubrey and all the other women he might have hurt.

I was surprised to see the Goodreads rating so low on this book. At the time, it was 3.10, which is one of the lowest I’ve seen on a book I’ve actually read. There were no major dealbreaker type flaws in my view. In fact, I was quite captivated.

This checked all the boxes of a psychological thriller. The possibly untrustworthy narrator, a strange and compelling mystery to solve, a setting that toes the incredibly thin line of being either idyllic or incredibly creepy, a suspect that could as easily be a murderer or completely innocent and misunderstood…

The narrative is sprinkled with flashbacks from that pivotal past summer where everything ended up so wrong. I thought the flashbacks were handled very well and felt as compelling as the current events. It is in the past that we get to know our suspect, after all.

It all just felt very well crafted to me. The details kept me doubting my own theories, and while there were plenty of clues to the truth that was ultimately revealed, I was never sure until quite late into the story.

I wasn’t as interested in the part of the story that didn’t have to do with the mystery – her current boyfriend and the conflict she felt with spending time with his parents – but it didn’t take up much time and ultimately didn’t bother me.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. If you’re looking for a compelling psychological thriller to add an extra chill to your dark winter evenings, consider this one!

Details

Title:: The House in the Pines
Author:: Ana Reyes
Genre:: Mystery/Thriller
Publisher:: Dutton
Length:: 321 pages
Audio Length:: 8h 34m
Audiobook Narrator:: Marisol Ramirez
Audiobook Publisher:: Penguin Audio
Published:: January 3rd, 2023
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

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If you liked this book, check out…

The Reappearance of Rachel Price | Holly Jackson
The Truth About the Devlins | Lisa Scottoline
The Haunting of Maddy Clare | Simone St. James

Book Review:: I Think I Was Murdered | Colleen Coble & Rick Acker

I Think I Was Murdered by Colleen Coble and Rick Acker is a thriller that’s unafraid of modern technology. With elements of AI, bitcoin, and blockchain included as major plot drivers, the read somehow doesn’t feel too tech-heavy for a reader who isn’t completely on the up-and-up with these emerging technologies (like me). It maintains its balance with the incorporation of the very organic realm of relationships, family, and friendship.

I Think I Was Murdered by Colleen Coble & Rick Acker Book Cover

The company Katrina works for in Silicon Valley is beta testing a new AI system, and she’s fed in all her recently dead-husband’s electronic records in to test it (but really as a coping tool as she grieves his unexpected death). Texting the program is really communicating with him. He even sends her photographs of their memories. One day she asks him to tell her something she doesn’t know. “I think I was murdered,” he tells her. He died in a car accident, so this is the last thing she ever expected.

Meanwhile, her grandmother died, so Katrina has come back to her hometown, inherited her family’s restaurant, and reconnected with an old friend. Her Silicon Valley career is in shambles and being investigated, and it turns out her husband may have left something behind for her. It turns into a race against time for her to find before whoever killed him for it.

I can’t find anything really to fault in this novel. I thought it was done incredibly well. It managed to surprise me a few times, while I was also able to anticipate a few twists and feel that sense of self-satisfaction, too. There are plenty of plotlines to keep us busy, and all of them play into the main story in some way by the end. There is plenty to capture your interest as a reader, and the story felt very robust.

I was provided with an advanced listening copy of this book by the publisher and netgalley. The audio narration is also very good, if you’re an audiobook listener like me.

On the scale of wimp to true crime fanatic, I am way down on the wimpy side, and though there are moments of violence included in this book, it never gave me that haunting anxiety feeling as I read. I always like to know where thrillers end up on that spectrum because you can’t unread stuff! That’s not to say it didn’t keep me on the edge of my seat-just that I didn’t pee my pants all the way through. ha.

Details

Title:: I Think I Was Murdered
Author:: Colleen Coble & Rick Acker
Genre:: Thriller/Mystery
Publisher:: Thomas Nelson
Length:: 352 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 46m
Audiobook Narrator:: Karen Peakes
Audiobook Publisher:: Thomas Nelson
Published:: November 12th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

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If you liked this book, check out…

Every Moment Since | Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
Wrong Place Wrong Time | Gillian McAllister

Book Review:: The Underwriting | Michelle Miller

Can you still enjoy a book with nothing but despicable characters? Before this book, I might have said no. But damn if The Underwriting by Michelle Miller hasn’t blown me away with this Wallstreet meets Silicon Valley business thriller. Everyone (except arguably two/three among a very large cast) are absolute dirtbags.

The Underwriting Michelle Miller Book Cover

Hook is the hot new hookup app sweeping the world, and they’re ready to take the business public. The CEO has a lead with a banker on Wallstreet, and he wants it done in time for second quarter earnings, two months away. He gets a small team to get the job done, each of them excited for the opportunity this deal presents for them. But a Hook user at Stanford winds up dead, and the IPO might be at risk. What will each of them do when it’s time to show their true character?

The large cast of characters and wide scope of perspective kept me on the edge of my seat and really had a chance to showcase the highly specific setting of this novel. I don’t think anyone would argue that the culture in both investment banking and Silicon Valley are very abnormal and unhealthy sub-cultures, but they sure are interesting to read about! The stakes are high, the desperation real, and it can make personal integrity disintegrate with the opportunities vast amounts of money and influence affords.

I’m reluctant to say much about the plot, but it’s the kind of book that starts with lots of scattered POVs that eventually all come together in interesting ways to form a cohesive plot. The characters are unlikeable, but the main players all go through some sort of transformation with their experience in these events.

This was a gem I found at the library. Sometimes I think that’s how obscure books you’d never otherwise choose for yourself find you. It isn’t the best book I’ve ever read, but I do think it deserves five stars. I listened to the full-cast audiobook and it was wonderful.

Details

Title:: The Underwriting
Author:: Michelle Miller
Genre:: Business Thriller
Publisher:: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Length:: 372 pages
Audio Length:: 12h 31m
Audiobook Narrator:: MacLeod Andrews, Cassandra Campbell, Mark Deakins, Jorjeana Marie, (full cast)
Audiobook Publisher:: Penguin Audio
Published:: May 26th, 2015
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Hardcover] [Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

Every Moment Since | Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
Wrong Place Wrong Time | Gillian McAllister
The Truth About the Devlins | Lisa Scottoline