island setting

Review: This Is Not a Game by Kelly Mullen

~ megs14malloy

This Is Not a GameThis Is Not a Game by Kelly Mullen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

This Is Not a Game features a classic Locked Room set-up and a Grandmother-Granddaughter amateur sleuthing duo that I found incredibly charming.

Mimi lives on idyllic Mackinac Island in Michigan. The island is a popular tourist destination in the summer months, with that population dropping off significantly in the off-season. Something I can relate to all to well living on a similar island myself.

Mimi’s granddaughter, Addie, is trying to get over the heartbreak of having her fiance ditch her, as well as cutting her out of a deal for the wildly successful video game, Murderscape, that they created together.

Though Addie and Mimi’s relationship has been strained, mainly due to Brian, the scum, the two women end up reconnecting and they decide to have Addie come to Mackinac for a needed visit.

The visit happens to coincide with a lavish charity auction/party that Mimi has been invited to, hosted by the narcissistic, local-socialite, Jane Ireland. Mimi’s invitation extends to Addie as well. It should be fun.

The theme of the party, because every great party needs a theme, is Jazz Era Murder Mystery. Soon enough though, this crowd-pleasing theme takes on a frightening new meaning when Jane’s dead body is discovered.

With a terrible storm approaching, the guests of the murder mystery party are now trapped. There’s no means to escape and no way for help to get to them. The guests are left to their own devices with a horrible mystery to solve.

When another body is found, Mimi and Addie realize they’re going to have to put their special skills to the test to suss out the killer before they get the chance to kill again.

This Is Not a Game was such a fun read for me. I loved having a Grandmother-Granddaughter duo sleuthing together, which was different to the norm and I appreciated that representation. The whole set-up, really, was my cup of tea.

It currently has a surprisingly low rating, and I’m puzzled by that. I’ll have to dig into some reviews to discover why, because I feel like the rating definitely sells this one short.

It is quite Murder Mystery trope-filled, but that’s sort of my love language in a Cozy. I liked that part of it. My life is stressful. I find tropes comforting, especially in this genre.

That’s probably an unpopular opinion, but it works for me, as did this book.

Thank you to the publisher, Dutton, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’d love to read more from this author in the future!

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Review: Something I Keep Upstairs by J.D. Barker

~ megs14malloy

Something I Keep UpstairsSomething I Keep Upstairs by J.D. Barker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

Something I Keep Upstairs is set in the coastal New Hampshire town of Newcastle, and follows a story told by Billy Hasler.

He shares with the Reader the events that happened to him and his group of friends in the Summer he was 17, that would change the course of all of their lives.

That was the Summer before they were all supposed to head off to college, as most of us know an oft emotional and pivotal time in a young person’s life.

When his best friend, David Spivey, inherits his deceased Grandmother’s mysterious house on a nearby island, it seems the perfect spot for Summer shenanigans. As they start to spend time there with their friends though, it becomes clear that the island houses a dark past.

Things spiral out of control for the group. It becomes the stuff of nightmares, and it’s hard to trust what you’re hearing from Billy. This house is evil and it’s something that’s effected generations of people in Newcastle.

It doesn’t look like it’s stopping anytime soon either. Will Billy be able to escape its hungry grasp unscathed, or will he suffer the same fate of many before him?

For my personal tastes, Something I Keep Upstairs wasn’t a super enjoyable reading experience. My attention frequently wavered and I probably only managed to retain 1/2 of it. Nevertheless, I have to give many extra points for Barker’s fluid writing style and wild-creativity.

While this had some strong attributes, like the atmosphere and inclusion of local history/lore, a few of the concepts weren’t to my tastes. I also felt it dragged on for way too long. Coming in at just shy of 500-pages, this story felt like a monster undertaking that struggled to get off the ground.

I did love the sort of confessional Coming of Age narrative style though. I think that was a great choice by the author, and perhaps if the ‘what’ of the island captured my attention a little more, I wouldn’t have minded the length as much.

Some of the extra points also go towards the many unexpected turns of the story, which I never saw coming. However, with this being said, I did find it difficult to track some of the side characters and past events/time shifts.

At the end of the day though, I think it was merely a mismatch for my tastes. I can appreciate the skill it took to create this story, but for me, it just wasn’t a hit.

With this being said, this is purely my personal opinion based upon my reading experience. Just because I wasn’t the biggest fan, doesn’t mean you wouldn’t love it. I strongly encourage anyone who thinks it sounds interesting to give it a go. It’s absolutely worth the shot!

Thank you to the publisher, Hampton Creek Press and Recorded Books, for providing me with copies to read and review. I def plan to check out more from this author!

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Review: The Wolf Tree by Laura McCluskey

~ megs14malloy

The Wolf TreeThe Wolf Tree by Laura McCluskey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars rounded up**

The Wolf Tree is an Adult Mystery novel set on a remote Scottish island. Late last year, I saw a few of my trusted book friends reviewing this one quite favorably.

As is my custom, I was immediately filled with uncontrollable FOMO, so I sought out a copy. Then as is also my custom, I let it sit on my unread shelf for months and months and months.

Recently, I finally decided to give it a go, wanting a strong Police Procedural Mystery full of atmosphere and intrigue. Oh baby, did I get what I wanted.

This story follows George Lennox, and her partner, Richie Stewart, who’re embarking on their first big detective assignment since George suffered a terrifying accident on the job that left her with a serious head injury.

The powers that be have finally decided that George is ready to get back out there, and she and Richie are sent to Eilean Eadar, a remote windswept rock, best known for the unsolved mystery of the lighthouse keepers who vanished from there back in 1919.

The small community who lives on the island, easily more sheep than people, are used to self-sufficiency. They live a remote and rugged life and are used to looking after one another, through good times and bad.

George and Richie are sent there to investigate after a young man, Alan, is found dead at the base of the lighthouse. The islanders, led by a ubiquitous priest, Father Ross, seem determined to thwart the DIs’ investigation. The local story is Alan took his own life, but is that really what happened?

Due to it’s remote location, the detectives are forced to stay on the island for the duration of their investigation. The more they interact with the locals and learn about their culture and history, the more George becomes convinced that something is seriously off here.

I had so much fun with this one. I became completely invested in the mystery and loved the partnership of George and Richie. They’re definitely a detective duo I want to read more of. I like how McCluskey gave them an interesting history in addition to the mystery they were solving.

McCluskey also nailed the island atmosphere and I found this to be spooky in addition to mysterious. I loved the feel of the locals. They were believable, yet also untrustworthy. It gave the whole thing an unsettling feeling from the start.

I did have moments where I felt challenged to keep up with a lot of the side characters, but for the most part, I think McCluskey did a great job creating a thick web of intrigue, while also keeping it accessible and understandable.

About halfway through, I was curious if this was going to become a series, and I’m so happy to report that there is a 2nd-book, The Cursed Road: A new gripping Scottish crime thriller from the bestselling author of THE WOLF TREE, set to release very early next year.

Y’all, I will be first in line for that. George and Richie are such a great match, their skill sets playing perfectly off one another. Richie, as a more aged, experienced detective, of course feels protective over George, and for her part, she’s just testing her limits.

I would recommend this for fans of Caz Frear’s Cat Kinsella series, the DC Morgan series by Clare Mackinstosh, or the DCI Jonah Sheens series by Gytha Lodge.

Thank you to the publisher, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I cannot wait for the next book to release!

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Review: It Happened on the Lake by Lisa Jackson

~ megs14malloy

It Happened on the LakeIt Happened on the Lake by Lisa Jackson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Greetings again from Outlier Island!!

But this time I’m here, and I’m happy about it. I had so much fun with this, and I’m not getting that impression from many of my book friends who’ve read it.

This is a long one, I’ll admit. Coming in at well over 500-pages, that’s a bit unusual for a Thriller, or Domestic Suspense, but to me, it never felt too long.

I was so invested in all the juicy drama, trying to figure it out. My brain was spinning with all my theories…

I would definitely say it’s one of those books you just have to pick up at the right time, and luckily for me, I picked this one up at a time when it was exactly what I needed.

I don’t necessarily agree with the publisher comp to Rear Window, but in a way I can see what they were alluding to, as there is definitely a lot of ‘watching’ going on.

The drama of this story surrounds Lake Twilight, and the private island set in it, with its stately-Victorian home inherited by our MC, Harper Prescott. Even though Harper has an aversion to the property, she’s recently returned after some upheaval in her life, including a divorce.

When she was younger, Harper went through a lot of trauma on the property and the surrounding area, so it’s not surprising she hasn’t really wanted to spend much time there in her adult life.

While we don’t learn all that has gone on in Harper’s past right away, we are treated to past perspectives that help to fill in the blanks.

Harper’s present perspective is given as 1988, and the bulk of the action in the past occurs 20-years earlier in 1968. For me, I loved the back and forth, because it helped to slowly fill in the blanks and build out the story.

I say slowly, because it does take a long time to figure everything out, but not so much because the pace is slow, but more because there is soooo much to uncover.

Harper was considering fixing the property up in order to sell it, but being back stirs up so much unresolved issues and feelings, she’s not sure if she’ll actually be able to follow through with that plan. For now, she’s mostly focused on putting her past to rest.

Can Harper figure out the hazy puzzle that is her past before the island claims another victim, or will Harper finally be overcome by the things that have haunted her?

It Happened on the Lake features one of my favorite tropes and I think that’s part of the reason it was such a hit for me. I adore when a protagonist returns to their hometown, usually that they’ve fled years before, and ends up trying to solve some sort of mystery that’s been haunting them.

That’s exactly what this book is and I was in it with Harper. I also really enjoy Harper as a protagonist, because she was written in such a way that I wasn’t 100% sure how reliable her perspective actually was.

That sense of uncertainty had me questioning everything, and I think that upped the intrigue level for me. I wanted to trust her, but part of me wasn’t ready to let my guard down.

There were moments during the build that reminded me a lot of Riley Sager’s, The House Across the Lake. It has sort of similar vibes with regards to the lake, surrounding town, and the people watching people situations.

Obviously, the content of this is vastly different and it is more drawn out, but if you enjoyed that drama-filled lakeside setting, this could end up working for you too.

There’s a lot of moving pieces, particularly at the beginning, so it is the type of read where you have to be completely dialed in. If you miss anything, I can see it possibly getting confusing. Particularly due to the time jumps.

Regardless, I think if you’re in the right mood, and you have the patience for it, it’s a super fun and enticing read.

While it won’t be for everyone, I think for the people it hits with, like myself, it can be a very enjoyable read.

Thank you to the publisher, Kensington Publishing, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I was hesitant to pick it up initially, because of that intimidating page count, but I’m glad I ended up giving it a shot.

It exceeded my expectations!

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Review: The Bachelorette Party by Camilla Sten

~ megs14malloy

The Bachelorette PartyThe Bachelorette Party by Camilla Sten
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**2.5-stars rounded up**

The Bachelorette Party is primarily set on a remote island off the coast of Sweden. The story follows two different timelines and includes a podcast element.

All of these were selling points for me, but unfortunately, I found the presentation quite choppy, and I was never really able to settle into the story to enjoy it.

The early set-up involves a group of four women, who make a trip to the island together every year. Best friends since childhood, it’s a tradition they keep in order to continue the good times and their friendship.

They’re also very secretive about the island’s location; telling no one. They have it just for themselves.

This one night of fun without any ties to their regular lives was always a great thing for the women. Until it wasn’t.

Ten years later, Tessa Nilsson, a recently disgraced podcaster, decides to focus on a true crime case that has captivated her attention since she was kid. It’s the story of four friends, who went to a remote island for a night, but were never seen again.

As luck would have it, Tessa’s best friend is about to get married, and her Bachelorette Party is a yoga retreat, set on a remote island with many similarities to the one the friends went missing from a decade ago.

Tessa, of course, attends the retreat and the way things go, she’s positive this is the place. Someone is out for revenge, but for what and for who?

I don’t know what else to say. That’s what the story is about, but it failed to stay with me. In my brain and directly out. I didn’t vibe well with the way it was written and found it difficult to stay focused on the back and forth.

Tessa’s perspective was the most interesting thing going on for me, but even that started to lose me after a while.

I do think if you read this one at the right moment, perhaps it could be a win for you. Please don’t let my apathy about it keep you from at least giving it a try.

I would categorize it as a Popcorn Thriller, so it could be a good one to bring with you this Summer to the beach, or on a quick Weekend Getaway.

Personally, I wish it could have captured my attention a little more, because the premise was certainly intriguing.

At the end of the day, we can’t love them all, and this one just wasn’t for me. I know many Readers are going to enjoy it, and you could be one of them!

Thank you to the publisher, Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review.

I have enjoyed novels from Camilla Sten in the past, and will continue to check out all her new releases. My favorite so far, if you’re interested, has been The Resting Place.

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Review: Dead of Summer by Jessa Maxwell

~ megs14malloy

Dead of SummerDead of Summer by Jessa Maxwell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Dead of Summer is a mysterious warm weather read told through three perspectives: Faith, Orla and Henry. Their perspectives collide over the course of one Summer on Hadley Island, off the rugged coast of New England.

Faith comes to Hadley with her new boyfriend, David, feeling like this could be a big step towards them taking their relationship to the next level.

Orla is a Hadley native, who spent many Summers palling around with David when the two were younger.

Henry is the perspective who seems the most disconnected from the circles the two women circulate in. How is he going to fit into it all? That was a big question for me.

The majority of the mystery involves a girl named Alice, who was Orla’s best friend. She disappeared one Summer night a decade ago, never to be seen again.

When Orla returns to the island, to prep her childhood home for sale, the location brings back a flood of memories. She can’t stop thinking about Alice and feels compelled to dig up the truth surrounding the night she disappeared.

As luck would have it, David is there for the Summer, along with his new girlfriend, Faith, and for good or bad, Orla and David end up reconnecting.

Meanwhile, Henry is sitting back, watching it all. He’s surprised to see these faces from the past reappearing. It floods him with memories too; unpleasant ones.

When another teenage girl disappears, Orla, David and Henry find themselves pulled into another mystery, so similar to the one that has haunted them all for years.

Dead of Summer is one of those stories where I was really dialed in initially. I loved meeting the various perspectives and getting established in our setting of Hadley Island.

I live on a small island off the coast of Massachusetts, that is a desirable Summer resort location, so I found Hadley Island, and the kind of families discussed, very relatable. I think Maxwell did a great job of developing that and creating interesting back stories for each of our main characters.

I also enjoyed the initial roll out of the mystery. Unfortunately, the further it went along, as more and more of the puzzles pieces started to fall into place, the less compelling I found it.

As the truth starts coming out, it felt like a let down. The climax wasn’t as exciting as the build, because for me, the truth wasn’t as high stakes as I was anticipating.

It’s really hard to explain what I mean by this without spoiling anything, I just feel like the build was so good and the end was just sort of middle of the road.

With this being said though, I can often be a nit-picky bitch and I can see that this is overall a good story. This would be a great book to take on holiday, or to the beach.

It’s a fairly quick read, and depending on your state of mind, this could be the perfect read for you. Jessa Maxwell has a ton of talent and I know I’ll be picking up more of her work, even if this one didn’t quite knock it out of the park for me.

Thank you to the publisher, Atria Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate it so much!

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Review: The Last Ferry Out by Andrea Bartz

~ megs14malloy

The Last Ferry Out: A NovelThe Last Ferry Out: A Novel by Andrea Bartz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

Abby has been unmoored by the unexpected death of her fiance, Eszter, who was on a solo trip to a remote island when she died of an apparent allergic reaction.

Having suffered from severe allergies her entire life, Eszter was always careful. Abby doesn’t understand how it could’ve happened and is unable to move past her many questions.

As the days pass, Abby decides she is going to need to go there, to Isla Colel, to the place where Eszter died. Perhaps there, she’ll finally be able to find some closure.

Upon arrival though, the island isn’t quite what she expected. Once a bustling tourist destination, a hurricane decimated the island a few years back, and only a few hearty locals and expats remain.

With ferry service sporadic, at best, it’s about as remote a location as you can get, but Abby slowly begins to understand the pull it has on people.

She ends up locating a small group of expats who she believes hung out with Eszter in her last days; recognizing them from a photo Eszter had shared with her. Abby introduces herself and becomes friendly with them, gently pushing for information when she can.

When one of the men, who seemed to have something he really wanted to tell Abby, ends up disappearing before he can, Abby grows suspicious. Is this some sort of cover-up? Is there more to Eszter’s death than what’s she been told?

We follow Abby as her quest for the truth reveals lies and dangers around every turn. Will she find out what happened to Eszter, or will she become another victim of the island?

This is a compelling Travel Thriller. I was drawn in from the start. I loved the small island setting, and our MC, Abby.

Abby is an easy protagonist to get behind. By the time she reaches the island, she’s practically bubbling over with questions, so when she ends up meeting the expats, she’s quite forthright about her reason for being there.

I appreciated how open she was about everything. It made me actually care about her getting the answers. I also liked how smart and determined she was.

I was surprised when we ended up getting short stints of other perspectives in addition to Abby’s. They were fun though and ended up adding a lot to the overall puzzle.

The biggest was Eszter’s, who we get to follow during her time on the island. Eszter was harder to figure out than Abby. She wasn’t as straight forward with her feelings and intentions, and I felt like I had as many questions as Abby regarding Eszter.

The small group of expats were also very mysterious. There was something almost cultish about the vibes they were giving off. They seemed so obsessed with the island, but did seem happy enough to bring Abby along to explore it.

As stranger things started happening, I was so ready for Abby to pack her bags and go. It does feel dangerous. You don’t know why, but you know something is off.

Then inclement weather sweeps in, as it does, and Abby is unable to leave the island, even if she wanted to. I liked how the author increased the intensity towards the end by using the weather issue to work against our protagonist.

It did have a slight lull for me around the mid-way point, where I was getting a little bored, but she definitely bounced back, and the concluding portion was absolutely gripping; featuring twist-after-demented-twist.

Overall, I had a fun time reading this. I thought Bartz did a fabulous job with the setting, the use of the inclement weather, and with the cast of untrustworthy characters.

I definitely recommend this to Readers looking for a strong Travel Thriller to add to their Summer TBR. This one should definitely keep you guessing.

Thank you to the publisher, Ballantine Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Of course, I’m looking forward to more from Andrea Bartz!!

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Review: Death on the Island by Eliza Reid

~ megs14malloy

Death on the IslandDeath on the Island by Eliza Reid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In Death on the Island, we follow an eclectic group of characters who come together in a tiny island community off the coast of Iceland for a diplomatic event.

We have the mayor of the town, an Ambassador from Canada and his wife, a local high-profile chef, an artist with ties to the island, and others. They all come together for a special dinner to open up their talks and hopefully create good spirits amongst the group.

It’s supposed to be a joyous occasion, and it does seem to start out that way. That is until one of the guests ends up dead of unknown causes, but what everyone quickly assumes to be poison consumption.

Making matters worse, a brutal storm is bearing down on them. It’s clear no one is going to be leaving the island. All the better to catch a killer, but in the meantime, doesn’t that mean they’re trapped with one?

I had a blast reading Death on the Island. I went into it with zero expectations. I hadn’t heard of this author, or any buzz for the book, but the title screamed, READ ME!!!

I’m so glad I made the time for it. I was completely engaged from the start. It actually turns out this is the author’s debut novel, and I’m so excited for more.

I appreciated how quickly Reid gets us into the action. I was drawn into the story so fast. I liked that we were following political figures, such as ambassadors and mayors. I haven’t read one like that in a while, so it was a nice change of pace.

I enjoyed how the author formatted the story as well. You get the reveal of the death, and then you go back in time and track through the events leading up to that death. It was done in a countdown-style that I feel added a level of tension to it that might not have been there otherwise.

Learning about this cast of characters, as well as their relationships to one another and potential motivations for why someone would take out anyone at this dinner party, was very entertaining. There was certainly plenty of drama to oh-and-ah over.

With this being said, I’ll admit there’s a lot of moving parts and it was a little hard to track in the beginning. For a minute, I started to feel overwhelmed, but I tried to just relax into it, not worry too much about the details, and to just let Reid do her thing.

Ultimately, Reid pulled it off. This had me so invested, I had no longstanding issues tracking the various characters, or their interpersonal dramas.

Overall, I loved the atmospheric-island setting, which was done so well in my humble island-dweller opinion. I also really enjoyed the use of an inclement weather element to help build out that tense atmosphere, as well as the interesting cast of characters.

It was so gripping trying to solve this murder mystery, my head was all over the place. I did Buddy Read it with a friend, and definitely recommend that. It was so fun trying to guess the killer together, and their reasons behind it.

Thank you to the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, for providing me a copy to read and review.

I loved how this kept me guessing, and I’m looking forward to more from Eliza Reid!!!

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Review: Close Your Eyes and Count to 10 by Lisa Unger

~ megs14malloy

Close Your Eyes and Count to 10Close Your Eyes and Count to 10 by Lisa Unger
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

Close Your Eyes and Count to 10 features a extreme version of Hide-n-Seek, played by various daring Adults, and streamed online to countless fans.

Maverick Dillan is a wildly-popular creator and influencer in the Adventure space. This game is his baby, and even though it has been played before with disastrous consequences that still haunt him, he’s up to host another round.

This round of the game is set to be played on the remote Falcao Island. In addition to Maverick and his people, we follow single-Mom, Adele, whose children get her to sign up for the game.

After her husband left them, Adele has had to wear a lot of different hats in their family, including resident badass. When her kids show how enthusiastic they are for the game, and how much they believe in her, she would be hard pressed to say no.

Plus, the $1,000,000 prize could change everything for them.

This story is very social media based, so it’s not surprising we get snippets in a mixed media format to introduce the Reader to the game and the players.

While I loved the set-up and the premise behind the game, as well as all the players involved, the social media aspects did feel a bit over-exaggerated. It felt a little, and this is just my opinion, that maybe the author was perhaps pandering a bit to the BookTok crowd.

That’s a very minor point though. I thought the set-up and basic premise of this story were both very well developed. I love how pulled into Adele’s life I felt, and how much I was rooting for her as a contestant.

The game itself did remind of Hide by Kiersten White, but honestly, I feel like it was executed better here. No offense to anyone who loves Hide. I get it, but that one definitely fell flat for me with the gaming element.

This one gave me more of the fast-paced energy and drama that I wanted. I would recommend it to Readers who enjoy books with a gaming trope. It’s worth the read.

This does give a lot of insight into Maverick and his partners in their dealings behind the scenes of the show. That was a good element to add, although personally, I did feel like that took over a bit.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed my time with Close Your Eyes and Count to 10. I loved the idea of the game having a bit of a survival element, and the setting on a remote island was great. Also, Unger added in inclement weather, which I always appreciate.

Unfortunately, the further it went along, the more it started to lose me. I wanted more time with the contestants and what they were going through, and instead I felt that aspect was sort of overshadowed by the drama going on amongst the game’s hosts, as mentioned above.

It was still an entertaining read, however, even with these minor complaints. I just wish I could have felt as connected and intrigued with it at the end, as I did at the beginning.

I would recommend the audiobook format. It was engaging and kept me flying through. I found the narrator very believable, particularly in Adele’s perspective.

Thank you to the publisher, Harlequin Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I haven’t read a lot from this author, but I do want to pick up more of her work.

Even though this wasn’t perfect for me, you cannot deny the fluidity and captivating nature of her writing.

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Review: The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North

~ megs14malloy

The Man Made of SmokeThe Man Made of Smoke by Alex North
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars**

🖤❤️🖤❤️🖤❤️🖤❤️🖤❤️🖤❤️🖤

When he was a kid, Dan Garvie had an encounter with a serial killer that he luckily escaped physically unharmed, but he’s been mentally haunted by that day ever since.

It had a huge impact, not just on him, but also on his Dad, John, as well. John was a police officer at the time the killer was active, and to have his son directly impacted by that encounter definitely hit a little too close to home.

As an adult, Dan has moved away from his small island hometown and has dedicated his life to understanding criminal minds. Focused on forgetting his past, Dan doesn’t keep in as close of touch with his Dad as he probably should.

When he receives news that his Dad has passed away under highly-suspicious circumstances, he rushes back to the island determined to uncover the truth.

Returning to his childhood home stirs up a lot of feelings and memories for Dan. It also brings him into contact with people he hasn’t seen in many years, including his childhood best friend, Sarah.

As Dan starts digging around, trying to find out what could have happened to his Dad, he uncovers some startling things. Is it possible his Dad’s unfortunate fate is connected to that horrible nightmare Dan has been running from for all of these years?

The Man Made of Smoke was so incredibly-engaging. Gripping and intriguing from the very start, I found it difficult to put this one down once I was reading it.

The story is told via three perspectives and I appreciated what each of them brought to the story. I grew attached to each character, but particularly to John. This is one of those rare Crime Fiction novels that really tugs at your heart-strings, or at least it did mine.

We also get past and present perspectives, which I feel like helped to really build out the truth behind this story.

The past perspective had a visceral feel to it; imagining being in the circumstances portrayed was gut-wrenching. The current perspectives were similarly impactful, filled with the character’s inner regrets and turmoil.

It was so well executed and really made me feel connected with this story. I actually cared. There’s no way I could have walked away from this one.

It also didn’t hurt that the set-up of a character returning to their hometown, after a long period of time away, and they have to reinsert themselves into their communities in order to solve something, either an old or new mystery, is one of my all-time favorite tropes.

As someone who moved away from their hometown many years ago, this idea always intrigues me. Maybe I should go back and solve some stuff, you know? Also, it’s set on an island, which is another thing I love.

All around it was clear from the start that this should be a hit for me, and Alex North definitely pulled it off. I recommend this to anyone who is a fan of North’s previous novels, or if you love darker Crime Fiction stories in general.

Thank you to the publisher, Celadon Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This definitely met my lofty expectations. Well played by North!

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