bookshelfbytori's Reviews (66)

 I was always a physical book or kindle girly until I came across The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen in January of last year. I noticed through Kindle Unlimited I had the option to listen to the audio as well and decided to try it. I was unsure how I would feel about listening to a book because I am easily distracted and need subtitles for life! The Spy Coast was my first audiobook EVER and since I have listened to countless audiobooks! I’m also super excited to see Tess Gerritsen at @hamptonswhodunit!

The Summer Guests is a second novel in the Martini Club series. Maggie Bird retired to the small, quiet town of Purity, Maine after being a spy for the CIA. She has made friends with other former CIA colleagues and created a boozy book club. While the Martini Club does read an occasional book, they prefer to put their skills to good use by solving the town’s mysteries, whether their chief of police, Jo Thibodeau, wants the help or not.

A family gathers at a lake cabin, known as Moonview, on Maiden Pond to celebrate the life of the family patriarch that passed a few months ago. Unfortunately, the peace of Maiden Pond is destroyed when a teenage girl vanishes without a trace. The Conovers would prefer to keep the investigation private as they search for Zoe, but Maggie Bird and her friends have other plans.

I really enjoyed this book as it is full of suspense and the characters are also loveable and funny. Gerritsen creates an entertaining read through multiple POVs and jumping between timelines. Gerritsen expertly drops clues without giving away the ending. I was honestly shocked at the reveal! This book also explores themes of life and friendship. Hillary Huber did a beautiful job with the narration as she was clear and concise. I had absolutely no trouble following along with the different POVs.

Anyone that enjoys an easy-to-read mystery should pick up this series! 

 During the cold winters in New York, I am always wishing for the hot sun and white sand beaches. Thus, I went in search of a book to bring me back to my days in Hawai’i. My favorite thing about Hawai’i, other than the perfect weather, is the culture. Being there centers me in a way no place in the world can because of the Aloha Spirit.

Ghosts of Waikiki tells the story of Maya, a newly unemployed writer, who finds herself reluctantly returning to Oahu after 12 years on the mainland to become a ghostwriter. She’ll be writing an autobiography for one of Hawai’i’s most notorious people, Parker Hamilton, a land developer. On Maya’s first day of work with the Hamilton’s, Parker’s father, Charles Hamilton, is found dead in the pool, putting Maya into the middle of a murder investigation. When the police come to get Maya’s statement, she is forced to see her ex, Detective Koa Yamada, the one person she wanted to avoid. While Maya is trying to navigate life back on the island with family and friends, she is also investigating the death of Charles. This puts Maya in some precarious situations, forcing Koa to look after her against Maya’s wishes.

Morita got the vibe for this novel perfectly, using local Hawaiian verbiage and including a lot of authentic cuisine. I was transported to Hawai’i and to the center of a murder mystery, which is exactly where I wanted to be. Ghosts of Waikiki was about more than solving a crime though; Morita skillfully weaves in themes about community, family, and finding yourself.

I highly recommend this book if you’re looking for some light reading. If this turns into a series, I would gladly devour it! 

 Thank You @Netgalley and @bookouture for my copy!

Saffy receives three text messages from her best friend, Leona.

Can’t speak…Don’t text or call…Pls just come.

As quickly as they are received, the messages disappear. They’ve been deleted. Saffy is reeling, but she knows something is wrong. She races over to Leona's house and when Leona answers the door everything seems fine. Leone has no idea what Saffy is talking about and invites her for a drink. Saffy can tell something is wrong, but leaves to go pick up her son, Fox, and promises to see Leona soon. Six hours later, Leona, her husband, Ash, and her daughter, Rosie, are missing and Saffy is the last person to see them alive.

I raced through this book in 2 days. I just needed to know what happened. The tension is palpable, and you can tell how scared Saffy is for her best friend. Saffy is desperate and will do anything she can to find them, which includes taking the police investigation into her own hands.

Slater creates an atmosphere of uncertainty and suspense with multiple POVs and jumping into the past to add to the unease. Both Saffy and Poppy were unreliable narrators, so I truly had no idea how things were going to end and if Leona and Rosie would ever be found. To say the ending was twisted is an understatement!

Message Deleted is an exciting and gripping read you won’t be able to put down. 

 Thank you @Netgalley and @tantoraudio for my ARC Audiobook!

Jane Way Sharp, a 24 y/o college student, finds herself moving back home after the unexpected death of her father. Jane is reeling from her father’s death and finds it difficult to accept her new reality. In the hopes of distracting herself, she becomes involved in solving the grisly murder of a woman from a nearby town in Florida. Jane puts herself in dangerous situations intent on finding answers for this woman and due to her instrumental role in solving the case, she is invited to join an elite group of armchair sleuths.

The sleuths include Goku, a tech guy, Mistress, a retired librarian, Citizen, a military officer, and Lively, a retired police officer, all solving homicides from the comfort of their own homes. Jane loves being apart of this group and feels like they are a family – especially when it seems her own mother doesn’t understand her and her newfound family does.

Soon after, there is a brutal triple homicide that Jane and her fellow sleuths become obsessed with. As they work the case, they realize they cannot solve the murders from googling online and must meet in person. The sleuths are determined to solve this case by visiting the crime scene, talking to the family, and working with the police. Unfortunately, when they think their close to finding answers, they become the center of the case.

Winstead brilliantly tells this story through Jane, the narrator. Jane is writing a memoir about her experiences with the armchair sleuths and “setting the record straight” as some other characters have painted her in a different light. Winstead also expertly weaves in the story of a young woman grieving and trying to find her place in the world. Leslie Howard did a wonderful job narrating this story and was able to portray how Jane was feeling with ease.

Warning: this story may seem a bit too close to reality for some due to it being inspired by true events – 2022 University of Idaho Killings, which is set to go to trial later this year.

A must-read for true-crime fanatics! 

Thank you @bookofthemonth for my copy!

Count my Lies is a fast-paced, addictive domestic thriller that will have you quickly turning the page to see what happens next. Everyone lies, but not like this. Sloane, a compulsive liar, uses her small deceptions to make her boring and sad life seem more interesting. Though one of her lies lands her as a nanny for the wealthy, picture perfect family, The Lockharts. Jay and Violet Lockhart are charismatic, meticulously curated, and not who they seem. As Sloane implants herself in their lives as the best nanny and Violet’s best friend, she starts to lose herself – which is exactly what Violet hoped for.

This story is told through Multiple POVS and the story becomes more twisted as you hear from each person’s perspective. This outrageous story contains uninhibited deceit and manipulation from everyone involved. Sometimes multiple POVs can be confusing and Stava set this story up perfectly. Each character was fleshed out well, allowing you to sympathize even when you don’t like them. The ending, while shocking, is also completely unbelievable. Be prepared to suspend all belief at the end – but it’s worth it! I promise once you pick this book up, you will fly through the pages and forgo any responsibilities the day you start reading.

Favorite Line: “Sometimes I believe my own lies. They feel real. I get swept up in the fantasy, the telling of it, the retelling lying in bed at night adding to the story, drifting off and dreaming about it.” 

This book was voted @goodreads Choice Award for Favorite Mystery & Thriller as well as BOTM’s Book of the Year for 2024!

Thank you @bookofthemonth for my copy this month!

Camp Emerson, an elite, remote sleep-away summer camp located in the remote Adirondacks in upstate NY owned by the Van Laar’s. In 1975, Barbara Van Laar, the youngest daughter of the Van Laar’s, is forced to attend the camp due to some rebellious behavior. The book starts with an ominous opening, where Tracey, a new camper, notices her friend Barbara is missing from her cabin. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first missing Van Laar child. Barbara’s older brother, Bear, went missing in 1961 and has not been found.

Bear Van Laar’s disappearance is a tragedy that has haunted the community for decades. Bear went for a hike with his grandfather and went he turned around to go get his pocketknife, he was never seen again. Now, 14 years later, Barbara is missing. Barbara’s mother, Alice, is floating through life one glass of wine at a time. She feels trapped – trapped in her life and trapped with her emotionally abusive husband, Peter. Alice just wants what is best for her family. Peter wants what is in the best interest of the family name and business. So, what happened to Barbara? More importantly, what happened to Bear?

Moore pulls you into this mystery with its gorgeous prose and deeply sad story across multiple POVs and multiple timelines. In the beginning, it is a little difficult to keep track of who everyone is, but once you learn more about each character the easier it becomes. This book is beautiful and tells multiple stories within the story about survival and protecting loved ones. The God of the Woods deserves all the awards! One of the best books I’ve ever read. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, literary fiction, and mystery thrillers!

Favorite Line: “Rich people, thought Judy—she thought this then, and she thinks it now—generally become most enraged when they sense they’re about to be held accountable for their wrongs.” 

 I decided to read this book as the author is on the line up for the @hamptonswhodunit

The Quiet Tenant is one of the darkest, most unsettling, bone-chilling psychological thrillers I have ever read. Aiden is a manipulative and dangerous man who disguises himself as a respectable, upstanding citizen of his small town. He has just lost his wife to cancer and is left to take care of his teenage daughter alone. His daughter, Cecila, just wants his father’s affection and is the epitome of ignorance is bliss.

The story is told through multiple POVS from Aiden’s life: his teenage daughter, a woman who finds herself in love with him, and a woman he has kept captive for 5 years. This disturbing story pulls you in as it details the trauma bond the captive woman, Rachel, has on Aiden while juxtaposed to Emily, who continues to make foolish choices in the name of love. Or is it obsession?

The Quiet Tenant slowly builds tension while keeping you on the edge of your seat. There were times I wanted to yell at the characters to make smarter choices because sometimes their actions seemed illogical. Regardless, this book is undeniably thrilling, heart-pounding, and thought-provoking. Please be warned, this book comes with quite a few triggers due to its challenging content and is not for the faint of heart. 

 Adele, a mother of two, had her life imploded when her husband disappeared with millions of dollars embezzled from his company. Hundreds of people lost their jobs, and the FBI is after him. Five years later, Adele is still struggling to make ends meet and keep her kids happy: Blake, an introverted gamer, and Violet, a fiercely independent young woman. After her husband vanished, Adele got back into fitness and decided to become an online fitness influencer. So, when a game of Extreme Hide and Seek is offering a one-million-dollar reward, she applies.

Maverick Dillan, the founder of Extreme, sets this game of Hide and Seek on Falcao Island at the site of an abandoned and decrepit hotel. Many have warned Maverick this site is not safe but he refuses to back down. He has something to prove after one of his last games resulted in a contestant, Chloe Miranda, going missing.

Unger tells this story from Multiple POVs: Adele, Maverick, Violet, Blake, Angeline (Maverick’s girlfriend), Malinka (another contestant), and Chloe. For me, having this many POVs made it confusing, especially because I listened to the audio book and it was only one narrator, Vivienne Leheny. Unfortunately, this story felt clunky to me and some of the resolutions by the end didn’t seem necessary. I was left with more questions than answers. I loved the idea of the book and the set up was clever and fun. Unger effectively wove the real and virtual worlds together nicely in this slow-burn thriller.

If you enjoy multiple POVs, multiple timelines, social media, reality TV, lies and betrayal, go check out Close Your Eyes and Count to 10!

If haven’t read Lisa Unger before, go check out The New Couple in 5B! 

Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont has spent her entire life distancing herself from her childhood, especially for her father and his history. She is the only child of Vincent Taylor, a horror author, who is also notorious for being the only suspect in the brutal murder of his two siblings. Olivia has made it her life’s work to tell the stories of famous, prominent women until one mistake ruins everything.

Now, she has no work prospects, is in danger of selling her house, and owes someone a lot of money. Left with little to no options, she hesitantly agrees to ghostwrite her father’s next book under the guise that she will be just revising an already completed fiction, horror manuscript. What actually awaits Olivia in Ojai, California is something entirely different.

Through dual timelines and multiple perspectives, Clark tells a thoughtful mystery that has you question everything you think you know. This is a story about family, hardships, death, and how secrets and lies can ruin lives. The flow for the Ghostwriter was perfect, forcing me to forgo all responsibilities so I could finish immediately.

If you haven’t read @julieclarkauthor yet, I highly recommend reading The Last Flight as it is one of my favorite reads from her! After that, definitely check out The Ghostwriter in June! 

 In Famous Last Words, we have a wife and mother, Cam, trying to figure out why her husband, Luke, left that morning without saying anything and now won’t answer her. To her, this day, June 21st, is very important as it’s her first day back to work after maternity leave and thus, their daughter’s first day in daycare. As Cam is anxiously waiting to hear back from her husband, the police stop by her job to inform her that Luke has taken three hostages at gun point in a warehouse. Cam is confused, overwhelmed, and distraught at the thought of her loving husband being caught up in something like this. Surely, there is a mistake. Someone must be making Luke do this. She thinks about the note she found that morning that says, “It’s been so lovely with you both.” She has no idea what it means.

She is brought to the scene to help the hostage negotiator, Niall. Niall is convinced Luke doesn’t want to hurt anyone and will do anything to get back to his wife and family. Though, before any of their many questions can be answered, Luke disappears without a trace. Seven years later, Cam is trying to move on with her life as a single, working mother to her daughter, Polly, and Niall is still recovering from how his instincts were so wrong.

Through dual narration, McAllister used Cam’s perspective as well as Niall’s to tell the story of love, loss, grief, and closure. This story is an emotional, psychological thriller that gradually builds the tension to keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page.