dapperreads's Reviews (1.29k)

I definitely missed the memo that this was a collection of novellas. I suppose the three authors should have been a hint but it isn’t uncommon for multiple authors to join forces on one book. 

My chief complaint is the single narrator used throughout. I wish that each novella had its own narrator as it would have made it easier to remember that the previous novella has ended and we are, in fact, listening to a separate story now. 

The three stories were each unique yet had the central theme of the Irish coffee. I found this to be interesting as cozy mysteries and food always entertain me.

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Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook!

Here’s my issue with this book - and I want to make it clear it is my only issue with it really :

The podcast thing. I’m over it. I’ve read so many podcast stories lately and I can honestly say that I’m just tired of it. It didn’t exactly ruin the story for me, but it certainly didn’t make me more likely to pay attention or enjoy it either. 

Now I bought this book almost a year ago now and then we decided it was a potential book club pick so I put it on the back burner. Had I read it immediately, I believe my opinion on the podcast thing would be different since I wouldn’t have read books that have done that before. I think it’s really just a personal issue. 

So what did I like? Hella fast paced. Like next level fast paced. It starts fast, stays fast and ends fast. It’s wraps up the storyline well and remains interesting throughout. It’s such a solid murder mystery I can’t complain about it. 

I also really enjoyed the narration in the audiobook. It’s definitely worth the listen. 

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Let’s start with my main issue with this book:
THE AUDIOBOOK. 
I’m not saying it’s bad - it isn’t. The narrator is great, their story is solid but the audiobook is just one long chapter. What? This is written as diary entries which allows for many breaks or “chapters” and we don’t get that. This is a pet peeve of mine and it did affect the enjoyability of this book for me. 

This was surprisingly enjoyable. I love it when the female MC stands on her own two feet but still ends up a pretzel in the mattress mambo. It’s the best. 

I gotta say, this narrator too was fantastic. She did a fantastic jobs with the voices of the characters and bringing them to life. I was never confused about who was saying what. 

I’ve noticed that sometimes with books of this nature they don’t always work as an audio for me but this one didn’t. It didn’t seem like too much and it didn’t feel like it was dragging on. I appreciate that and enjoy it. 

I really don’t have any complaints. Thanks to NetGalley for the audio copy!

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This is a case that I have heard plenty about over the years but I can’t say that I’ve read a more thorough telling of the doctor that starved her patients. 

This is a terrifying and very sad story surrounding the trust many put in doctors that do not have the patients best interest at heart. This telling takes the basic story and expands on it in ways I hadn’t heard before. It was incredibly interesting. 

I received an audio copy through NetGalley and the narrator did an amazing job at keeping the pace of this long book going while also keeping it interesting. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 - mainly because it is very very long. 

This series is just absolutely delightful. Every time I see a new one I get so excited. They’re just perfect. 

In this one, we head back to good ole Bordeaux, Ohio via a rather dramatic route. We follow a character suffering from amnesia following an accident. She finds herself stranded in Bordeaux with no memory of who she is. 

If you’ve read the other books you know where this will go, but for real it’s adorable and actually a very interesting story along with it. 

This can absolutely be a standalone but for real, I’d read them all - so good. Fast paced and adorable.

Thanks to NetGalley for the audio copy of this one!

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This author is rapidly becoming one of my favorites! I really enjoy the way that the story unfolds and how fast paced it is!

This one is short and to the point. It’s so fast paced I couldn’t believe it. It felt like it was over so fast but then there was so much packed into it that it was just fine!

I received an audio copy through NetGalley and the narrator nailed it. There was some weird “sound effects” I guess at the end that I wasn’t sold on but I can’t complain. The suspense was clear, the pacing was great - but I do wish that there had been something to make the dual timelines a bit more clear. On audio it’s easy to forget where you’re at and it’s difficult to figure it out sometimes. 

I really enjoyed this though - 4.5⭐️

I’ll admit I didn’t read books one and two before this one so some of my opinions may be a reflection of that.

I gotta say this wasn’t the most fast paced thriller book I’ve ever read. It took a long time to get to the heart of this particular book (which is why I think maybe I should have read the first two before this) and there was quite a bit of behind the scenes drama. Now I was absolutely able to keep up with the story without the other books as this was a separate crime case, but the background stuff took some piecing together - and that’s on me for starting with a book three. 

Overall I did like it. It was fast paced and interesting. 

Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook!

This one started rough for me. It was pretty slow and I wasn’t sure I was going to get into it. However by the 30% mark I was sold. 

So it took longer than I like to pick up but once it did it was a steady pace to the end. There was plenty of action to keep it interesting and the case itself was enough to be interesting. 

I received an audio copy of this one through NetGalley and my only real “complaint” I guess is that the narrator has such a soothing voice I found myself getting sleepy listening to it! So it’s not really a complaint but I was not expecting the narrator to have that soothing of a voice!

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This wasn’t what I was expecting at all. I definitely went into this expecting a horror novel - the content warnings at the beginning (also yes please for those being in the beginning) threw me off from what I was expecting. I appreciate that so much.

Basically, I came for the haunted house but stayed for the story itself. It’s dark. It’s messed up. The language in it will require me to recommend headphones if you decide to give this a go on audio. 

I’ve pointed out that I was under the impression this was a thriller/horror book. The haunted house led me to this assumption. While yes there was a haunted house, it was almost a background storyline. The author really brought to life the horrors that exist in the lives of these characters- and that’s all they really have. They didn’t have happy times. Maybe they did, but we surely don’t see them. We know exactly what the author wants to say - all the guess work is gone and I appreciate that. Point made, point taken. I appreciate the straightforward writing style. 

I gotta say though, as a haunted house horror this feel flat for me. I reread the synopsis assuming I hadn’t read it and chose this for the cover (guilty - I do this a lot) but I see that even in the synopsis it talks mostly about friends and the house. The house was barely part of it in the first half of this book. This left me confused. 

It was interesting enough to keep me listening but I’d say to check the trigger warnings and know they are unrelenting throughout before picking this up. It’s heavy. It’s dark. Just know that. 

Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook!

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