Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and Crooked Lane Books for this audio ARC for an honest review. 

Sadly, this one did not work out for me. First, while many said you don't need to read the other books in this series before picking this one up - I think you should. I feel like there are so many characters that seemed to pop out of nowhere that I didn't know the background about and therefore, you should read the earlier installments. 

Also, while I'm new to cozy mysteries - I think I already know what I like and don't like in them. I like cozy locals, animals, and friend groups that solve mysteries. 

I don't like unlikeable narrator - Lucy is absolutely insufferable, I hate gossip (seems like everyone in gossipy southern woman), and I hate when the author makes characters look down on anyone for how they look or how they dress. Which this had all of that above. 

Also - if any of the men talked to me like they talked to Lucy - I'd punch them. Then again, I'm a midwestern woman who doesn't take that gaslighting. 

Anyways: pick up the rest of the series before diving into number nine.

Thank you NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and Dreamscape Media for this ARC. 

What a fun, quick historical mystery to dive into! This may have been the second in a series, but as someone who hasn't read the first one, I did not feel like reading book one was a must to understand what was going on in book two. 

Set in WWII London, Ellie (Electra) McDonnell comes from a family that is known to do some petty crime. After she and her uncle are caught in the middle of a theft, Major Ramsey says they can help him when he needs a locksmith in exchange for not getting in trouble. 

The Key to Deceit follows Ellie and Major Ramsey as they investigate the murder of a young woman found in the River Thames. We got all of the historical mystery investigation, espionage, and romantic tension. I really enjoyed it and I'll probably go back and listen to book one to keep the fun going. 

I recommend this to those who have read the Maggie Hope series by Susan MacNeal.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio galley. 

I can't help but feel anything besides duped by the genre description from the publisher.

This is NOT a mystery/thriller.

I DNF'd at about 16.3% in and kept waiting for the smallest smidge of mystery or thriller to start appearing because this is around the point that it does. Sadly, it didn't. I would say this is more of a women's fiction domestic drama and it would probably be perfect for a Lifetime movie. 

Can't Look Away follows Molly, a woman who used to live in NYC and used to date Jake Danner in 2013, but now lives in Flanner Cove, CT with her husband, Hunter, and daughter in 2022. Molly is lonely surrounded by 40 something country club wives - enter Sabrina, the mysterious new newlywed that befriends Molly after attending her yoga class and running into her at the doctor. What are her motives and was meeting Molly an accident? What happened to Jake Danner?

I'll say the narrator performance did keep me going so bravo with that. Great combination of narrators. 

HUGE trigger warning for infertility and miscarriage. Infertility was a huge topic in just the first 16% so I'm assuming it would be carried throughout. 

I have the author's most recent release from 2021 sitting on a shelf and I'm still looking forward to picking it up, but I can't recommend this one to anyone looking for a mystery/thriller. Looking for a women's fiction with domestic drama? Take a crack at it.

The way this had me hooked from start to finish cannot he said about any other mystery/thriller book this year!!

I cannot wait to recommend this one to everyone. I’ll even recommend it to my dad, and he’s a tough sell!

My only complaint is that I do think this one also fell victim to the “too long in 2022” curse many books are falling to this year. 

Maybe it was because I was quarantined with COVID, but I can say that I had a really good time reading this one. I think it’s the perfect mystery to throw in your beach bag. 

There were a few times where the plot felt repetitive, but it never felt flat. The main plot of The Woman in the Library centers around a book about a group of four people who were in the Boston Public Library when they heard a scream. The secondary plot is between the author of the book, Hannah, in Australia and a man, Leo, a man in the states.

While many found the secondary plot to take away from their enjoyment, I found myself interested in what would happen next with Hannah and Leo. 

Ultimately, I love having my head messed with when it comes to figuring out who did it and that’s what happened here. I kept going back and forth on who was the killer in the main plot and I was pleasantly surprised at the end. 

If you’re looking for a quick whodunit read that doesn’t take itself too seriously - look no further. 

Abby Jimenez redemption 😌

Good ass book. Where can I get a Daniel? Amazon?

Another ‘I binged while down with COVID read’

I didn’t think I could be so pulled into the lives of five characters from a storage building, but here I am. 

A quick mystery that takes surrounds one storage building with ripping affects for the five central characters. 

This is my first B.A Shapiro and trust me - I’ll be looking into her backlist. 

I was a bit skeptic of how much a book surrounding a few people from one building could reel me in after being so disappointed by the multiple people in one place trope in Anxious People, but this one delivered. 

The timeline movement made sense in this one as well as the plot around each character. A few of the characters were amazing and some I really wanted to smack across the head. I needed more time with Serge, what a doll 🥹.

Who knew it would take contracting COVID for me to finally finish this one? It took me almost two months! I think this one did have the same issue as many other 2022 releases - too long with a slow start. 

A revenge story with a pandemic twist that I could totally get behind.

I’ve never been so disappointed that I preordered a personalized, signed copy.

So much build up and for what?!

And the plot holes?? Might as well become new drinking holes for the animals of the Serengeti.