Member Reviews
This is a good Mystery/Thriller book! 20 years ago Amy brewer and her friends from high school went to a cabin to stay for the weekend. However, it is not the friends weekend getaway they had hoped for. Amy decides to leave the cabin and gets on a bus to go back home. When she gets home her neighbor knocks on her door to make sure she is home and alright because she heard that everyone was murdered back at the cabin. 20 years later Amy is a FBI Agent and she has moved on with her life but she gets a invitation to go back to that same cabin for a weekend a long with 9 other people who knew or were connected with the friends that died that night at the cabin. They all are hoping to get more answers, figure out who killed them, more evidence, etc. but unfortunately again things don’t turn out as they had hoped the second time at their weekend at the cabin either. They have to fight to survive once again. Thank you to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for giving me the opportunity to read and review a ARC of this book.
I couldn’t get into the story just as I thought. Not disappointed but need more depth, I think. I can't remember when was the last time when I read a book in which the whole plot was 100% equal to what was written in the blurb and nothing more. There was no surprise there, no resolution to any of the plot threads and the whole story was blatantly predictable and painfully dull.
She Left by Stacie Grey was another 5 star read for me! A gripping, fast-paced murder mystery in the vein of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, everyone is a suspect.
Twenty years ago, Amy Brewer was hanging out with her so-called friends when things went too far and Amy left the cabin they were in. She walked home, and by the time she got there, all five of her friends were dead. Now, a journalist has asked a group of people connected to the Memorial Day Massacre to come to an isolated home in the mountainside for a weekend of reminiscing. *Now, I will say that if you have a hard time with numerous characters, you'll want to write them down as you go along.* Amy, now going by her middle name Therese, is an FBI agent and is there with eight people who are mostly strangers, and only remotely connected to one of the deceased in this mansion when a storm rolls in. Then people start dying, and everyone is a suspect in the murders twenty years ago and the murders now.
This novel got right to the action, immediately pulling me in. Starting with Amy's point-of-view as she walks home from the cabin, it then jumps to her driving to the house for the interview, where she meets all the other people. Some of the people seem random and not connected to the massacre at all, but everyone is supposed to be either a suspect or know some key piece of information. There were so many puzzle pieces, clues, and people to keep track of! I think at some point I was sure every person was the culprit. As the backstories are revealed, it starts making sense, and the characters are well-developed.
All in all, this is a great murder mystery set in an isolated area during a storm. What else could you ask for?? Definitely go and grab this one!
Thank you to @PoisonedPenPress and @NetGalley for a digital copy for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.
I enjoyed quite a bit about this tale. The intensity is high even if it is a bit far fetched. And I enjoyed the mystery surrounding who did what!
This is a gripping thriller unfolds around Amy Brewer, who narrowly escapes a tragic event known as the Memorial Day Massacre by leaving a house party in frustration. All her friends perish in the incident, leaving Amy haunted by survivor's guilt amidst intense media scrutiny. Twenty years later, a journalist gathers Amy and ten others connected to the crime at a remote cliffside house under the guise of investigating the murders. As a storm traps them and guests start dying, Amy realizes the gathering is a deadly trap. Amid escalating tension, she discovers someone among them holds dark secrets about that fateful night and is willing to kill to protect them. The novel explores themes of guilt, trauma, and the lengths people go to hide their past, set against a tense and isolated backdrop that heightens the suspense until a shocking conclusion unfolds.
She Left is a modern day And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. Amazing concept, and I enjoyed Christie’s book, but She Left fell a little flat. This mostly was due to the characters. I did not feel a connection or even a sense of liking any of these characters. The main character, Amy Brewer, was just okay as a person. It would’ve been better if I at least could like Amy!
The book kept me into enough to keep turning pages. The concept and mystery of it all are well done, but again, the characters just were not enjoyable.
A fast paced mystery story! It has a great foundation as far as the plot. I did enjoy the characters within the story, however I struggled with making or remembering the connections within them at times. Aside from that, I found myself at the edge of my seat. I needed to know who was behind the killings! It was almost like an escape room.
This had a good plot - I enjoy a closed circle mystery, but I feel like the character build up fell a bit flat. Amy was lucky to have left that party twenty years prior. Everyone was murdered but her. So when she's invited to a cliffside lodge with ten other people who are connected to that night, Amy decides to attend. A journalist is also present, doing a piece on the anniversary of the murders. But then the weather turns and they are isolated in the lodge and people start dying. It's my favorite trope. I just wish it were a bit more claustrophobic and that the characters were fleshed out a bit better.
This hooked me okay but ultimately, it fell flat for me. I think I was looking for a more exciting wrap-up/twist than what I got... overall, this book was okay, I enjoyed it, but it didn't blow me away.
Great locked room mystery. Some of the characters are just terrible people and I had no clue who the killer was until they were revealed at the end. The Memorial Day Massacre is what grabbed my interest to start and it kept up the momentum. This book was hard to put down. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC
The story started off great. I thought we were gonna be following Amy right after the events of the night she left but when we jumped 20 years into the future, that was where story lost me. I was genuinely so confused as to what was happening throughout the story and i felt as if the plot and storyline were all over the place. There were some plot points that were never mentioned again after the first time and it felt like the story was lacking something. I decided to give the book a total of 3 stars because even though i found myself confused for most of the story, i really enjoyed what Stacie Grey was trying to do with the story.
Amy survived a tragedy as a teenager - now an FBI agent, she has the opportunity to meet with a small group of other people who were involved in the case decades ago, including the mother of the prime suspect, a police detective, and the brother of one of the victims. Located in a remote location, the guests soon realize that some one is hiding something as people are murdered one-by-one. A locked-room mystery with an added element of solving two mysteries, this story was an entertaining read, but hard for me to connect with.
This time Amy’s determined not to leave before the party’s over…
Twenty years ago Amy narrowly avoided being a victim of the Memorial Day Massacre with her classmates because she decided to leave the gathering early. Present-day-Amy, now an FBI agent, has been invited to an isolated getaway house (along with several other individuals connected to the mass murder) by a journalist. Amy is intent on changing her reputation as “the one who left” & possibly learning new information on the maybe-too-conveniently-solved crime, but as things start spiraling out of control she realizes that this whole weekend might’ve been a trap…
I really enjoyed the little vignettes spaced throughout the story, & the building tension & uncertainty was exacerbated by the unstable & secluded setting. I also liked the point that the author made about how memories can change when you look back at them with a more experienced perspective.
Thank you to NetGalley & Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to Netgalley, the publishers & Stacie Grey for the ARC. I was super excited when I was granted access to this book-- I love a good locked room mystery. Unfortunately, there were so many characters (at least 10) that I couldn't tell apart. I had to keep going back to see who each person was. The story got weirder and weirder--to the point where I didn't care anymore. I just wanted to see how it ended. The ending was meh--nothing unique & I predicted the 'twist' and outcome pretty early on. *** Three stars for being a locked room mystery. Minus 2 ** stars for all the characters.
Amy or Therese, as she is now known, left a party and survived what would come to be known as The Memorial Day Massacre. Now twenty years later she is invited to a weekend getaway by a journalist and all of the guests have their own secrets.
As the weekend progresses, it's clear that someone is out for revenge, but it's unclear what their motive is or who is doing it. This locked room mystery was easily one of my favorites. The characters were distinct from one another and each had their own baggage that they were bringing to the table. I was left guessing up until the end and finished this book with a satisfied feeling.
Overall I gave this one 4 stars and would recommend it if you enjoy locked door mysteries, strong female characters and a quick paced read.
Big thank you to Netgalley and Poison Pen Press for an arc to read and review. All opinions are my own.
This book was just a bit weird. Ten strangers who all have ties to a massacre that happened twenty years ago become stranded in a remote mansion on a cliff overlooking an ocean. There are a lot of characters to keep track of and it was hard to keep everyone straight at first because not only did we have to keep track of who they were, but also who they had a connection with in the murders from the past.
Not only does this become a creepy situation because they are stuck with no way of contacting anyone, but then they start getting picked off, one by one. Clearly the murderer has to be in the house with them but there is no sense of urgency or fear surrounding this book at all. It is all matter of fact. A psychological thriller that is not laced in any kind of suspense doesn't sit right with me.
I finished this one but only because I wanted it over in hopes that I would feel something more.
This book was alright! Nothing super unique but I do Appreciate a good locked room mystery and this one was up to par. I kinda Wish it was told in dual timelines because I had trouble connecting with any of the characters the way it was written. Even Therese (Amy) felt very one dimensional to me. Overall the end was fast paced and this is a good debut! I’ll try the author again.
“Sometimes you want something so much, you can’t see how anyone else figures in it.”
What we have here is your typical locker room mystery. For a debut it wasn’t too bad, it was a quick read and fairly fun. I did not guess the who dunnit so I always enjoy a good surprise.
I did find myself annoyed with some to the choices the characters made, but that’s just me and my practical brain. I almost wished there was more of the past in the book but I suppose it doesn’t make logistical sense.
Definitely a book thriller fans would enjoy.
I am a SUCKER for a book about strangers trapped in the same place as they die one by one. It's such a classic story but can be done so many ways, so when I happened upon this book, I knew I had to read it.
This story was fine. It was. It kept me guessing. I loved getting to know each of the characters and how they're related to the people that originally died the night of the massacre. The setting was interesting, especially when it seemed like the house was going to completely fall apart.
Unfortunately, something just fell flat for me. I disliked many of the characters. Some of the story just felt a little far-fetched. And I found myself wanting to do other things rather than read this book. Maybe it just wasn't for me?
This book was a 3 star. It was a murder mystery type vibes. It was fast paced. There were too many characters in this book. It was good though.