The concept of this book, a whole town living in one high-rise building where everyone has secrets to keep and there's a murder to solve, caught my interest. City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita delivers on its promise to keep a reader enthralled and guessing to the very end whether the murder would have a solution or not.

Amy Lin and her friends had gone out to Hidden Cove to be free of adults and enjoy themselves when she tripped over a shoe. A shoe with a foot still in it. That sets in motion the following events. Anchorage police send someone to interview the teens but Point Mettier, Alaska, residents have learned to not give away information to outsiders. The police leave, marking the finding as just another body part washing up from a boating misadventure.

Shortly after, Cara Kennedy, a Detective with the Anchorage police, arrives to dig further into the case. What she doesn't tell them is this may be related to the death of her husband and young son that occurred a year ago. She's been following up on many of the cases where body parts were found. She expects to arrive, ask a few questions, and leave. She didn't expect a snowpocalypse to start along with an avalanche to close the tunnel that was the only way to drive in or out of there. She ends up renting an apartment in Dave-Co; the high-rise all the residents of the town live in.

At least all the suspects are in one place and she hopes to get some answers while she is trapped in the town. She quickly learns that answers are very difficult to find in Port Mettier. No one actually outright lies, but no one is really telling the truth either—even though it often sounds like they do.

Everyone in town has something to hide. Some are there to start a new life and others to evade a problem they don't want to face. Cara doesn't know who to trust because even she has something to hide. The more she investigates the murkier things get.

The story is told from a number of different points of view. By the time I'd read a quarter of the story, I realized all the narrators were untrustworthy. Everyone was hiding something from someone--bits of the truth seeped out as you evaluate what a narrator told one person and the deviation told to another person – thus piecing together what might be the actual story. It's a neat approach and the author handled it very well.

The characters all had depth and backstories that made them relatable. The setting was unique, beautifully described, and a character in its own right. The plot was tightly controlled and designed to keep the reader guessing to the end. The ending also leaves an opportunity for a sequel, which I found hopeful.

This book had so much interesting stuff going on! A town loosely based on Whittier, Alaska. Severed limbs washing up on beaches! A female investigator who isn't what she seems, has a whole separate story going on. One quirky character who has a pet moose, and very shady townspeople, who don't like strangers snooping around.

The chapters aren't really long and are written by different narrators. There were a couple interesting twists and one thing I never saw coming. It was used as a device in another book I read and in that book, it really bothered me, but here, it did not. I could see the purpose it served for Cara.

The book kept me on the edge of my seat and I didn't want to put it down. And just when I was really disappointed about the turn of events, I got to the very last line! And the author's busy working on book 2!

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read and review this book. All the opinions expressed are mine, and given freely.

City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita
4 stars

[Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC to read and review!]

When a severed hand and foot is found in a small Alaskan town, Cara, a detective, is on the case. With her own past haunting her, she tries her best through obstacles the villagers are giving her, to solve the case. But when a storm comes through, she finds herself stuck in the town until the storm ends with a possible murderer on the loose.

This book was so much better than I expected it to be. I really enjoyed the plot, the characters, the mystery behind who the hand and foot belong to. The story follows different points of view: Cara's, Lonnie's, and Amy's (Amy was the one who found the hand and foot). It was nice to get different perspectives around the town.

This is a possible spoiler, so warning here!

The only thing I'm confused on is, Cara gets a phone call possibly from her husband, and she's so thrown by the phone call it leaves her almost speechless. Now, if you've read the book, you'll understand why Cara is shocked. But what I'm confused on is, the phone call wasn't brought up again, unless I missed that part completely. Also the book ends not really on a cliffhanger but it also could be if the author wanted it to. So, will there be more to this story? Or will I be left confused?

The confusion about the phone call is the reasoning behind why this book isn't 5 stars, because I felt like it was thrown in there with no other mentions to it when it didn't need to be in there. Otherwise, this book was very good and I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good thriller! Highly recommend!

This was such a refreshing thriller: unusual and unique, fascinating to read. The atmosphere was palpable, and the characters unforgettable. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The premise and setting are intriguing, but I felt they weren't quite used to their full potential; "everybody in town lives in the same building" should have been weirder, or more compelling in some way. Despite some interesting characters and a decent mystery, not a debut that bowled me over.

City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita sounded really good to me and I was excited to dive in. Imagine living in a tiny Alaskan town where everyone lives in a single high-rise building. Seems claustrophobic to me but I love books set in Alaska. One day, a local teen finds some body parts along the shore…yikes! Detective Kennedy is right on the case. There are all kinds of things going on, including many secrets! Great book to get lost in for a few hours.

The quirky characters including the moose make this story. However I didn’t really warm up to Cara as a character. Amy was my favorite as she learned about where she really came from and why her mother brought them to live in this city in one building. The setting in Alaska gave the story the creepy mystery vibes. I wasn’t satisfied with the ending but will likely read more from this author.

I absolutely love setting. As such Yamashita has done an excellent job setting her story in a unique setting and then doing justice to it. The moody isolated set description added to the mystery we were reading about. I felt there could have been a better editing job done, as there were quite a few repeated lines (like, "as if on cue") and for me, that always pulls me out of a story. So that's why I'm mentioning it here. I didn't end up loving this book, but I would read more from this author.

Locked room mysteries seem to be a current trend, but the twist of this one being a snowed in city intrigued me. I was not disappointed. Yamashita kept me entertained and made me love her characters…enough that I hope we get to revisit them in future novels.

In this book, a severed hand and foot are found in a tiny, isolated city in Alaska where everyone seems to have secrets they are hiding.

On the surface, this is completely my type of book. An isolated setting in Alaska, a winter snowstorm, and a dark mystery had me so excited to pick this one up. And while I ended up enjoying this one a lot - I also didn't quite connect to it like I had hoped. I really can't put my finger on it besides I wanted more. More details of the isolated, wintery setting, more character depth, just more in general that would pull me fully in so that I was completely lost in the pages. There is a lot of good bones to this storyline though, and I'm really hoping that the author may make this a series with future books. I liked the main character who is a detective from Anchorage, Alaska and has a past loss that she is still struggling with. The mystery behind that makes me wonder if we could see more of her in future books (fingers crossed). And the overall story/ending of this book was pretty satisfying. So as much as I liked this one (and I really did - don't get me wrong), I just was left wanting a bit more. I'm hopeful that there will be a second book and we will get exactly that. I definitely want more books set in this isolated, Alaskan city with these characters.

Readers who enjoy isolated mysteries should give this book a try. And then come message me here so we can discuss!

Disclosure - I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher and NetGalley.

Great book! I was excited to see it was Readers Digest book club choice. I loved their book club and thought the book was good.

3.5 stars!

CITY UNDER ONE ROOF was a fun, atmospheric thriller that was perfect to read under all the blankets this Winter.
Set in the fictional small town in Alaska, it's a locked room mystery with a full cast of characters, and told from three main POVs.

Overall I really enjoyed this new suspense!

*many thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for the gifted copy for review

City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita offered a crazy good mystery set in a fictional town where everyone lives in one building. Can you say claustrophobic mystery? One entrance in the town, one entrance out. If the tunnel closes, you’re stuck there…end of story.

This book packed a lot of witty, smart, sneaky and unreliable characters within its pages. Although I thought this book would be more plot driven, for me, it seemed more character driven as the characters pushed the story forward. The plot had some minor trouble with pacing, but I never lost interest.

Told through the eyes of three female characters: Amy – a young girl who found body parts washed ashore and had a complicated relationship with her mother, Cara – a detective coming to town to find closure, while on forced leave and Lonnie – a woman with demons of her own and a pet moose. Each of them has secrets, as do most of the residents living in this eight months of winter town.

Apparently, this is the first book in a series and because the characters are what I enjoyed most, I’m curious as to who will move forward for the next book. I think this would play out beautifully on screen, which it probably will considering the author is a Hollywood screenwriter.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I found it difficult to get into the story. The characters didn't seem plausible.

Amy Lin, a teenager in Point Mettier, Alaska, makes a disturbing discovery. While hanging out on the beach with her friends, she uncovers a dismembered hand and foot. Initially, authorities dismiss the find, but Anchorage Detective Cara Kennedy soon arrives in town believing the severed body parts might be related to another investigation.

The town, accessible only through a mountain tunnel, clears out for the winter, leaving only around 200 full-time residents, all whom live in a single building, the Davidson Condos (or Dave-Co). A fast-moving blizzard closes the tunnel, stranding Cara in Port Mettier. Working with local officer Joe Barkowski, Cara finds that the residents of the town are as ice-cold as the weather, and all have ended up in Port Mettier precisely because they have secrets to hide. Their investigation is upended when Dave-Co is menaced by a gang from a local village.

The perspective shifts among Amy, Cara, and Lonnie, a twenty-something resident with a pet moose who exhibits paranoia and fears being sent back to the Institute. They are all outsiders who hold clues to the mystery but, at least for Cara and Lonnie, reasons to remain silent.

A Hollywood screenwriter, Iris Yamashita has a great sense of pacing and action, and CITY UNDER ONE ROOF is a fun read full of eclectic characters in the most unbelievable scenario. It would be a bit like living in a hotel or college dorm and, in winter, so isolated! The gang’s arrival shows just how isolated and vulnerable the community is and how little they can rely on outsiders.

At the end of the book, though, I thought there were a lot of loose threads and unanswered questions, and I was a little dissatisfied. However, subsequently, I learned that a sequel is in development, so I hope the next book will address them! The book did have a supernatural element that seemed to come out of nowhere. I don’t particularly enjoy supernatural, and I don’t understand it’s function in this novel, but again, it might be explained in the sequel. I think if I knew this was the first book in a series, I might have had different expectations.

Set in an Alaskan town where everyone lives in the same high-rise building, this police procedural has classic "Shining" vibes and all the makings of an excellent streaming series. No surprise that debut author Iris Yamashita is an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter. Told in alternating chapters by three different women, this mystery/thriller novel's thrills build, as does the sense of claustrophobia within the Dav-Co (short for Davidson Condominiums). Isolated by closed tunnels, blizzard conditions, and personal traumas, the Dav-Co residents live in this Alaskan town for a reason -- the better to keep all the secrets that could up-end their lives.

[Thanks to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for an opportunity to read an advanced reader copy and share my opinion of this book.]

Great murder mystery in a fabulous location! I really hope this is the beginning of a series. After I started reading this novel I had to do some research on the town and it's fascinating! A city under one roof, SUCH a great location. Ratchets up the tension and sense of claustrophobia.

Unique and atmospheric thriller set in a small town in Alaska where the 205 residents of the town all live in one building. This was a very different type of thriller and through the whole book it gave off creepy vibes and a claustrophobic feeling. It is fast paced, and I look forward to the next book in the series.

I liked the book enough to finish it, but I was not the biggest fan of the whole mystery and the way that it played out. The book revolves around a detective trying to solve a mystery in a strange Alaskan town that is filled with odd characters, The story cycles between the perspectives of the detective and two of the townspeople, one a young girl who gets caught up in the investigation, and an interesting woman who owns a moose for a pet. The mystery of a potential murder unravels as the detective learns more about the townspeople. I felt that the answers did not have enough build up or hinting at until they started to appear in the second half of the story. I found it to be a decent enough thriller for those that want a quick read filled with quirky characters, but I would not consider this book a must-read. I would give the author's future books a chance if they sound appealing to me.

I love discovering new authors and getting to know their writing style, Ms. Yamashita fits this description and I have to say that i truly enjoyed her writing.
This book is nothing like any of the books I have read before regarding the setting of it, true, I have read books that are set in Alaska, but to have a setting where the whole city, the 205 habitants of it, live in one building and said building encompasses the police station, school, hotel, post office, you get the idea; the building is the city.
A city where everyone has its own individual secrets that shouldn't come to light, but the biggest secret of all is the one that is shared by a lot of the inhabitants of the city.
The writing is very good, building on the suspense of who did it and finishing with the big reveal, that comes as a twist and surprise.
The characters are well developed and you get to know them well by the end of the book.
I enjoyed reading this book and for sure it won't be my last one by this author.