Murder at Haven’s Rock By Kelley Armstrong

Thank you to the author, publishing company, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this advanced copy of this book. This is the first book I’ve read Kelley Armstrong.

This book was a slow burn and had me feeling some type of way. “Detective” Casey Duncan isn’t a traditional type of detective. It seems that she and her husband are self-identified police officers. Eric Dalton is the town's Sheriff, and he only has an elementary school education. They haven’t had any official police training. They bought a bunch of land in a remote area in the Yukon Wilderness and created the town of Haven’s Rock. They came from another community called Rockden; it was designed to be a haven for those in desperate need and provide safety and be in a secluded environment.

The book starts with Detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Eric Dalton, on an airplane on their way to their brand-new town Haven’s Rock. They were called to investigate a string of murders in their town under construction. Two of their construction workers disappear without what seems like a trace. They are faced with many trials and tribulations while in town. They find a body of an unidentified woman who they believe is one of their missing workers. Casey’s character was very well developed. She is highly relatable and gives you a point of view into her thoughts and emotions. She has a unique way of investigating and coming to conclusions about what happened.

Overall, I do recommend this book and think it’s a great true crime mystery thriller book. I would rate this book a 4.5. The author's writing was easy to understand and very descriptive. I will be reading more books by this author.

I was so excited to be able to read this book by Kelley Armstrong! Or listen, as I received the audiobook. Until after I finished this book, I did not realize this was actually a spin off of a different series called Rockton, which makes sense, as this town was mentioned ALOT through the series. I'm sure I missed some subtle undertones to the original series, but I feel that it stands alone pretty well on its own. I did not feel lost or that I was starting in the middle of a series.

I loved that the mystery of the series looked at the obvious suspects and kept them at the forefront of the investigation, the curve balls that kept getting thrown in throughout story that much more interesting and trying to decipher if who you thought was who really did it kept getting shifted over and over. LOVED it.

Kelly Armstrong does so well with world building and pulling you in to the story. It doesn't matter if you're in the Alaskan Yukon or some paranormal world, when she writes it, you're there!. She has brought forth a great suspenseful mystery. I love the audio narration by Therese Plummer, she always does a great job at conveying the story and portraying amazing emotions and voices.

On side characters, can we say the dog is a favorite? I loved Storm, she was so essential and I just love big dogs. Just imagining this gorgeous fluffy dog full of love, menace and slobber. Ugh, love them way too much. On to people I want to know more about our forest witch, I really found her intriguing. I know she wasn't really a forest witch, BUT I don't remember her name. I just hope future books have more of her and her wolf/wolf dog. I feel that she and Casey could have a beautiful friendship.

Overall, I really liked the story, I feel that we added some extra steps in here to elongate the stories narrative, but everything really worked. I loved the relationship between Eric and Casey and how in sync they were. I loved the story telling and I loved the backdrop that the story took place. I am pretty sure I'm going to pick up the original series, so I know the history of these amazing characters.

It's such a great book. It catches your attention right away and keeps it the entire time. Honestly, I really enjoyed this book. There were twists and turns the entire time. I thought I knew who the criminal was, only to be totally wrong. The ending was interesting, and I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.

Very good read. The twists and turns kept the reader interested everytime the plot started to slow down.

The one complaint was that I got confused a few times whether Casey's husband's name was Eric or Dalton. It seems that even the summary has the names confused as Casey is called many times "detective Bulter" but her name is Casey Duncan.

First, I want to thank NetGalley and Macmillan audiobooks for allowing me to listen to an advanced copy. I have never read anything by Kelley Armstrong before but this novel was one that I just didn’t want to stop listening to.
The book takes place in the Yukon, they are building a town but people start going missing and dying. The way she writes this story really captivates the audience to hold on an keep reading. It’s very descriptive but not too much, there is great character build and description along with background story.
Overall, this is so far one of my favourite books that I’ve listened/read this year! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Building a town in a remote part of the Yukon is a serious undertaking in the best of conditions...but when a woman is found dead and man gravely injured it quickly seems like the settlement at Haven's Rock won't get up and running after all.

I really liked the author's style, the characters felt authentic, and the plot moved quickly. I just found it a little bit hard to get into because I don't really understand the whole concept of the town and it was hard to picture it as a realistic endeavor unless some eccentric billionaire got involved. I muddled through the first half of this one as an e-book, and then ended up downloading the audiobook when it was available so I could finish it quickly. Narration was very good.

The big issue with this book for me was that I constantly felt like I was missing something. The references to Rockport as well as people and characters that it seemed like I should know though they hadn't been introduced were very distracting. I triple checked the NetGalley listing and while it mentioned a prior town it didn't mentioned anywhere that this is a spinoff of another series. On Goodreads it's listed as "Haven's Rock #1", so the whole thing was very confusing. I think it just doesn't stand alone as well as originally hoped.

I enjoyed this one, but not enough to go back and read the whole original series and without that I just felt lost in this one. I would try more from this author but not this series.

Full disclosure: I am a fan of the author, but I have not read the original series that this book is spun off of. Based on this book alone, I intend to do so soon.

I am unsurprised by how much I thoroughly enjoyed Murder at Haven's Rock. It's a good murder mystery with fantastic tension throughout the entire story. Kelley Armstrong particularly shines in filling her books with a diverse and complicated cast of characters; even the animals are complex. No one is perfect, and that makes them full of depth. They feel real to the reader and reflect traits of ourselves or people we know.

I felt a bit guilty about meeting these incredible people this far into their journey (because of spoilers), but I could still get into this book without any confusion about who they were and what was going on.

Listening to the audiobook is a fantastic way to go. Thérèse Plummer is sensational. I was thrilled to learn that she is also the narrator of the original series. Which, as stated before, is my next read.

If you think this is possibly your cup of tea, then don't be afraid to take a sip.

Thank you to Kelley Armstrong, Macmillan Audio, and Netgalley for the chance to read this.

I received an ARC from Netgally & St. Martin's.
This is the first book I've read by this author. At times I felt like I was missing something & just found out that this is a spin-off from a previous series. You won't be lost reading this without having read the previous series though. I thought this was a very good story, just a tad long & wordy for my taste. Overall this is a very good book & I would definitely recommend.

Haven’s Rock, Yukon

Detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Sheriff Eric Dalton are financing a community/refuge for those in need. The new residents will need to be approved to make sure that they are the right fit. The Refuge is to be a quiet place for those looking for a fresh start. The only rule: Don't go into the forest.

Two constructions workers, part of the crew building the refuge, enter the forest and do not return, Casey and Eric are called in to help locate the missing workers. When they find the body of a dead woman, they know that are going to have their hands full. Who is the woman? Where are the missing members of the construction crew? What happened in the forest?

I was instantly drawn into the plot and did my own super sleuthing along with Casey and Eric to solve the mystery of the dead woman and the missing construction worker. As the suspect list grew and things became more dire, I was on the edge of my seat turning the pages until the very end.

This book is a spin-off of the Rockton series, and it worked very well as a stand-alone book for me. I enjoyed both main characters and the cast in this book. The descriptions of nature and the dangers in the forest (bears, miners, etc.) were richly drawn. The mystery in this book was captivating and brilliantly done. I look forward to reading more books in this series.

I had a copy of the book and the audiobook and enjoyed both. I thought the narrator did a fantastic job.

Gripping, well written, well thought out and engaging!

I was unaware that this is book number 8 in a series. I will for sure be going back to the beginning. Love the characters and setting, very intrigued what happened in Rockton before Haven's Rock. As for this book, had a great time

Author: Kelley Armstrong
Narrated by: Thérèse Plummer

I received an ARC (advanced reader copy) of this audiobook from Netgalley #Netgalley.

This book is related to another series that I have not read. From what I gather there was a community called Rockton that hosted people that needed to disappear for one reason or another. Something happened that compromised the safety of everyone that lived there and some lives were lost.

Now, one of the couples that found one another in Rockton and fell in love, and later married, are starting what is essentially Rockton 2.0, Haven’s Rock.

This is a community squirreled away in the Canadian Yukon in an area with few neighbors.

We, the readers, meet the new owners: Casey Butler and Eric Dalton, as they are summoned to find 2 missing construction crew members.

The town is being secretly constructed in a matter of 3 months time by a crew purposely kept in the dark about the real location of the town.

The world-building and cast of characters are wonderful. The book was an audiobook page turner… I listened nearly straight through.

I’m even disappointed that I won’t get to listen to the next book until it’s published.

I highly enjoyed the suspense and thrill of this book. It was riveting without the horror element- which is exactly how I like my thrillers to be.

I highly recommend this book!

“’Lots of speculation,’ I say.”
3 meh stars

Before this book I hadn’t read anything of Canadian author, Kelly Armstrong, who has written many fantasy/ crime/ romance novels. Murder at Haven’s Rock often referred to another town, Rockton, and characters from this previous series. I felt Armstrong just brushed over characters and I was left wanting something interesting from the characters in this new setting.

The premise of the book was strange – building a hidden town in the Yukon to be a sanctuary (and having inherited all the money for it.) Casey and Dalton come to search for two people building the town who went missing. Husband Dalton, a too good to be true, no flaws mentioned character, had nice interactions with wife, Inspector Casey, who is a kind but hard-ass.

The first half of the book went quicker than the second half, with more action – and hope that I’d get to know the potentially interesting characters. It’s good to get in the head of the investigator, but too many questions lead to dull reading. From one paragraph midway through : “Did she really follow Yolanda into the forest? Could she have thought she was following Bruno...? Could she have been the one going to it, and we only presume…? Could Bruno have realized Penny was gone…?“ From Chapter 36: “What if?...What if she…? What if…?” This stream of consciousness gets tiresome. I guessed the killer and was not surprised at their demise. Armstrong follows an old mystery format.

The narration was clear and easy to understand, with characters easy to differentiate. I wish the narrator would have had just a bit of Canadian accent, eh? Casey’s voice had just a bit of a hard edge, desperate quality to it, but that could be interpreted as part of the character.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m always excited when there’s a new Rockton novel, as I get to visit a beautiful, vast wilderness with interesting, clever people. Of course, the fact that there’s always a murder to solve doesn’t hurt either.

Although this is labelled as a spin-off series for Kelley Armstrong’s Rockton series, it’s truly just a continuation. It’s an interesting jumping-in point, there is just enough backstory provided that new readers won’t be lost, but die hard fans won’t be bored, either. If it was a tv series, it would be the start of a new season; you’ll see familiar faces but there are new characters and new sets to explore. The new setting feels fresh; although it shares many similarities with the original Rockton locale, there are enough new elements to shake things up a bit. The new characters are by turns hilarious, intriguing, despisable, and infuriating; just like the original cast.

Therese Plummer is, as always, an extremely talented narrator; with a variety of voices, exclamations, and timing. It’s so immersive to know exactly who is talking based on her timbre, and Casey’s voice is especially pitch perfect.

This was a middle of the road read for me. It wasn't bad, just not very memorable, either. I'm not sure if I'll continue with the series.

This is the first book I've read by Kelley Armstrong and I really enjoyed it. The writing was really impressive. The prose was clean and concise but full of rich descriptions of whatever was happening. It was very immersive. The plot was fast paced and engaging with so many twists along the way. The characters were unique and developed naturally throughout the story. I'm looking forward to reading more from Kelley Armstrong.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This cover is absolutely beautiful! I found the narrator to be engaging.

I haven’t read any of the Rockton/Casey Duncan books in the other series. I found I could still listen to this as a standalone and didn’t feel like I was missing too much.

Really enjoyed this "who dun it" in the middle of nowhere! It took me a while to figure out “who dun it.” Enjoy the Casey/Eric dynamic.

Casey Duncan and her husband Eric Dalton have left the town of Rockton behind. Their former haven from the world has been overtaken by unsavory sources. They plan to build a new town, one that will be based on the town Rockton once was – a place for people to start their lives over in complete anonymity. There’s only one problem with Havens Rock, the forest is off limits. Those who venture in either don’t come out alive, or come out at all. Casey and Eric must find out why and fast, or their new home will be a ghost town before it’s even built

Thank you Netgalley for the advance audiobook copy of Murder at Haven Rock by Kelley Armstrong in exchange for an honest review. I have already read and reviewed the ebook version, but loved it so much I also requested the audiobook copy. I'm so glad that there is a spinoff of the Rockton series. I really enjoy reading about Casey and Dalton and their new adventures in their new town, Haven's Rock.

Kelley Armstrong weaves together a wonderful mystery set deep in the Yukon. The characters are vibrant and relatable.
This was the first book I've read by the author and I found her storytelling and ideas brilliant and unique.
I highly recommend everyone who loves a great mystery read this book!!

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced audio book in exchange for an honest review.

4+ stars

I was thrilled to see that Casey, Eric and Storm will be back after the end of Rockton. The core group of Rockton are building a new town for people to disappear and get a fresh start at Haven's Rock. Of course there is a murder for Casey to solve when she goes to see how the construction is going. I can't wait for more Yukon adventures.

Thérèse Plummer did a good job narrating. I read all the Rockton books so it was a bit odd to now have a voice for Casey and Duncan vs. how I would hear them in my head.