She Left by Stacie Grey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
It’s been twenty-years since the Memorial Day Massacre that claimed the lives of five of Amy’s friends. It happened at a small house party they’d been enjoying together.
After Amy was made to feel like she didn’t belong though, she left. Little did she know, that was the luckiest choice she could’ve ever made. Within an hour, all of those left at the house were be dead.
In the present, Amy, along with ten other people connected to that night have been invited to a cliffside lodge by a journalist preparing to do a piece on the murders.
After arriving at the home, and being introduced to one another, events quickly take a dark turn. With inclement weather closing in, isolating them even more from the outside world, it becomes clear that this weekend isn’t what any of them expected it to be.
As bodies start dropping, Amy and the others must fight to figure out who orchestrated this event and stop them before they complete their goal; keeping the secrets they’ve been hiding for twenty-years.
Y’all, I really enjoyed this. I went into She Left with zero expectations. I hadn’t heard anyone talking about it and I was unfamiliar with this author’s other works. I was attracted to it purely for the cover and synopsis.
The synopsis was giving me a classic mystery/horror set-up, where people get invited to an event, like a dinner party or weekend retreat, only to arrive and realize it’s not what they thought. It’s very And Then There Were None, amongst others.
Grey succeeded in her delivery of that set-up. I loved how this started off, meeting all the characters and learning how they were all connected to the Memorial Day Massacre.
They’re not all as directly connected as Amy was, so it was interesting to figure out all of that. We do get glimpses into all the various character perspectives, but Amy is definitely our main focus, and as an FBI Agent, Amy really had the most to offer as far as figuring the whole thing out.
Grey also succeeded in really building out her atmosphere. I loved the setting of this. She didn’t just tell us it was remote, it felt remote. The inclement weather, and potentially hazardous mudslides, added an extra element of danger that only aided in the feeling of anxiety and desperation.
This is extremely fast-paced, as well as engaging and easy to follow. I listened to the audiobook and loved that as a format choice. I absolutely flew through it.
At the end of the day, I wouldn’t say there’s anything particularly ground-breaking about this story, but I didn’t need there to be. It was still highly-entertaining and that’s exactly what I was looking for.
Overall, the plot is gripping and fun. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, but still delivers a well-plotted, intense mystery that will keep you guessing until the end.
Thank you to the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press and Dreamscape Media, for providing me with copies to read and review. I’m pumped to read more from this author!