One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars rounded up**
One Big Happy Family is an entertaining Summer Thriller set in a small town, Jonesport, on the rocky coast of Maine. I adore that setting, so was sold on this one by that fact alone.
This novel is an inheritance story of sorts, with murder to boot. We’re transported to The Precipice, a family-owned hotel, in Jonesport. The elder, George Bishop, has recently passed and his daughters, Iris, Vicki and Faith, are arriving for a weekend to hear his Will and claim what is now theirs.
The three sisters bring with them a whole host of dangerous secrets, heavy baggage and more. Tensions are running high. It’s not exactly a lovey-dovey family reunion.
Also in the mix, are a few employees of The Precipice, including 19-year old chambermaid, Charley, who desperately needs to hold on to her job.
This is the kind of book so full of drama that once you start, it’s hard to stop. I found it to be incredibly fun with the toxic family relationships that I love to watch play out.
I was gnoshing my popcorn the whole way through!
The setting was fantastic, made better by the fact that a hurricane stranded the characters at The Precipice. I love inclement weather stories and I feel like Day absolutely nailed that vibe here.
I actually listened to this audio while I was on vacation in Maine, so that’s a bit fortuitous. In a way, that made it extra fun, but in another way, I actually think I may have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t had vacation brain at the time.
I did find the narration by Saskia Maarleveld to be a perfect fit for the story. She def succeeded in bringing it to life. I highly recommend that format should it be available to you.
Overall, I was really impressed with this. I found it to be gripping, entertaining, fast-paced and dramatic. The setting and set-up were both fantastic.
My only small gripe would be that I sometimes found it hard to distinguish between the sisters. With this being said, that could be 100% attributable to the aforementioned vacation brain. It’s hard to tell. Either way, I am looking forward to more from this author.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review.
I think a lot of Readers are going to love this one!