Such a Lovely Family is the newest novel from Aggie Blum Thompson who wrote the fantastic novel, I Don’t Forgive You. This story centers around the Calhoun family, who start off the book with a party for their friends and neighbors. Of course, something happens- a murder- which kicks off the mystery and suspense surrounding this family who all have some dark secrets. Of course this super wealth family has dark secrets that are going to come out during the book! That is what makes this such a wild ride.

Synopsis:

The cherry blossoms are in full bloom in Washington, D.C., and the Calhouns are in the midst of hosting their annual party to celebrate the best of the spring season. With a house full of friends, neighbors, and their beloved three adult children, the Calhouns are expecting another picture-perfect event. But a brutal murder in the middle of the celebration transforms the yearly gathering into a homicide scene, and all the guests into suspects.

Behind their façade of perfection, the Calhoun family has been keeping some very dark secrets. Parents who use money and emotional manipulation to control their children. Two sons, one the black sheep who is desperate to outrun mistakes he’s made, and the other a new father, willing to risk everything to protect his child. And a daughter: an Instagram influencer who refuses to face the truth about the man she married.

As the investigation heats up, family tensions build, and alliances shift. Long-buried resentments surface, forcing the Calhouns to face their darkest secrets before it’s too late.

Out on March 12

This book was eh, nothing really interesting. It felt really long for no reason. But the cover of this book is a 10/10!!!!! Whoever designed that knew what they were doing because the pink really grabs your attention (at least for me).

Such a Lovely Family is an upcoming murder mystery full of drama and family secrets.

The pacing is quick, and the characters were entertaining. This would be a fun pick for a spring break trip!

This was an excellent locked door murder mystery that left me reeling several times. At no point did I know what was happening and I loved every second of it.

This story had me so hooked! I love a crazy, twisted family full of secrets and the Calhouns were exactly that. My jaw was on the floor during so many reveals. Every single character was AWFUL and it was fantastic. You think you know who the culprit is, but the author does such a good job of making you doubt yourself you truly don’t know.

This was such a quick, good read! I truly could not put it down. I’m absolutely interested in checking out the author’s backlog now.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tor Publishing Group, and the author for this ARC.
Publication date 3/12/24

I loved All the Dirty Secrets so I was thrilled for a new Thompson novel and Such a Lovely Family by Aggie Blum Thompson didn’t disappoint!
Propulsive, engaging, and atmospheric this story was gripping and it will draw you in and keep you wanting to turn the page to see what happens, and wow what a read it was.
I love the character development and the easy to read style of writing.

Thank You NetGalley and Forge Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing this e-ARC. I am anticipating reading this soon and reviewing on my socials.

📖 𝙎𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙁𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙮 𝘼𝙜𝙜𝙞𝙚 𝘽𝙡𝙪𝙢 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙨𝙤𝙣

"𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩."

This story follows the events leading up to, during and after a murder that takes place at a party of a well respected family. There are multiple POVs that develop the story and the reader has to put the puzzle together to figure out who the murderer is.

This was such a great murder mystery. Everyone in the family seemed so nice and put together from the outside, but once their secrets started to unfold you were left not knowing who to trust! I was seriously kept guessing until the final chapter.

I recommend this to all my murder mystery friends and all lovers of Clue!

Tropes:
🃏 Multiple POV
🫣 Suspense
🩸 Thriller
👻 Who did it?!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for my free ARC of this story so that I could share this honest review! 𝙎𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙁𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙮 𝘼𝙜𝙜𝙞𝙚 𝘽𝙡𝙪𝙢 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙨𝙤𝙣 will be released on March 12.

Being a poor I couldn't really relate to these characters. Just the expense to do yearly family photos in matching outfits blows my mind. So anyway, these rich folks have a large estate in Maryland and they have cherry trees, so every year they have a big party, photos, and matching outfits.
Like all rich people they have secrets and murders happen at their parties.
I did back up daddy cutting off Ellie. She can be supported by daddy or her man. I feel the same way about my own spawn. Rich or poor - we can agree on that.
Zac is awful and I love awful husbands in books!
I love the way Thompson describes the homes. This is a fun enough mystery.

They are such a lovely family.

The Calhouns are the golden standard. Ginny and Thom have the perfect life-- extremely wealthy, living in Chevy Chase, Maryland, three wonderful children (Trey, Ellie Grace, and Nate) and an adorable grandchild. So why are the police at their annual cherry blossom garden party celebration?

Well, the more perfect a family appears, the more skeletons the closet has. When someone is murdered at the party, everyone is a suspect, and everyone has motive--but who has the most? Is it the child who has no direction in life and a drug addiction? What about the child whose marriage no one approves of and has been leeching off of their parents? Perhaps the one who appears to be the most self-sufficient is the one hiding the biggest secret. Don't forget the spouses and nosey neighbors--everyone is hiding something.

I really enjoyed this one--it's a domestic thriller for fans of B.A. Paris and Alice Feeney, focusing on familial relationships and what it means to put family first. There weren't any CRAZY plot twists or anything over the top, but I also didn't see the ending coming and felt like everything was resolved in a way that made sense without having a perfect bow on it (which I prefer!). I do feel that there was a bit missing with Nate/Danit's storyline, and that there was supposed to be more that was cut in editing. Their relationship seems to have been a focus of the full book at one point, but it didn't always play that way, so it was a little odd when Nate's POV came back with a "primary" feeling.

After living close to this area in DC for 4 years, and dealing with people that resemble the Calhoun's--I found it pretty accurate, and had loved all the DC area references. Definitely a good pick if you love domestic suspense novels and want a quick and fun read!

Cherry blossoms blooming in Washington, D.C., captures many tourists' attention. It even captures the people who live among them enough to celebrate the season with a party. The cover of this book is stunning and if you notice there is a slight trace of blood on it because this is a locked room murder mystery. Some of the most eccentric families gather at the very wealthy home of the Calhouns. Thom and Ginny have high expectations for the party and nothing is taken for granted as far as money goes. Even the invitations suggest wearing only gingham. If you don't have gingham, Ginny has a closet full of dresses since her daughter is an IG influencer, companies sent garments to flash among the pictures.
The Calhouns have three children. Trey, considered a black sheep and left the family company to live in California, drove under the influence and his girlfriend was killed, so the family has reeled him in to live with them and paid off his mistakes. Nate returns to the party with his son, Malcolm and his nanny, Danit, whom he plans to marry. Then their daughter Ellie Grace, who lives off her father's money with her husband, Zak.
This party shows a lot of flaws within the family, unexpected twists and characters out of control. By the end of the night someone will be dead, after hearing two gunshots, leaving the guests to point fingers at one another and throw some under the bus.
It is very enjoyable and fun to unravel the mystery of each character. Some are hard to like, especially the parents, who love to manipulate their children and hold money over their head to make people disappear in their life. Some frustration over the characters and when it started out I thought I'm not sure I want to read this, but it picked up after the gunshots so you begin to see a level of drama and scandalous in all. My favorite character is Danit and appears as the only level headed one.
Thank you NetGalley, Forge Books and Aggie Blum Thompson for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

DNF @ 4% - Could not stand or care about the characters from the first page 🤷🏻‍♀️ Thanks to NetGalley & Tor Publishing Group for an advance copy

An interesting murder mystery that will keep you in suspense. Solid characters that you will keep you engaged with the story and twisted plot. Recommend.

Family drama? Extremely wealthy? Death at a party? Check…check…check! I love it all, and I loved it all in this story. You can trust no one. I am here for it!

A jaw dropping, wealthy family murder mystery that is due to please as we see the drama unfold within the family and the guests invited.

The fast paced nature of the book leaves you reeling as you go back and forth on who you believe did the crime. As the facades drop and the daylight shines and reveals the dark, murky secrets hidden in the grey I was proven wrong time and time again before the climax of the novel.

This was a great read with tensions that are kept so alarmingly high you could cut them with a knife. The ending was perfect and reflecting back on it with all of the seeds of doubt the author planted periodically — I don’t think I could have seen this end any other way.

Entertaining as ever, thank you to Netgalley, Tor Book and Aggie Blum Thompson for the eARC!

𝑺𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝑨 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝑭𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚
𝒷𝓎: 𝒜𝑔𝑔𝒾𝑒 𝐵𝓁𝓊𝓂 𝒯𝒽𝑜𝓂𝓅𝓈𝑜𝓃

𝓐𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽: The cherry blossoms are in full bloom in Washington, D.C., and the Calhouns are in the midst of hosting their annual party to celebrate the best of the spring season. With a house full of friends, neighbors, and their beloved three adult children, the Calhouns are expecting another picture-perfect event. But a brutal murder in the middle of the celebration transforms the yearly gathering into a homicide scene, and all the guests into suspects.

𝓕𝓪𝓿𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓻: Trey. I love his wittiness, and I feel so much sympathy for him.

𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮𝓭: The DRAMA! This book has so much of it, and I loved that part. Family secrets, affairs, death, deception! The banter between the siblings was great and the secrets really kept me going, I HAD to know what the heck was going on!

𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘 𝓭𝓲𝓼𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮𝓭: One of the characters truly annoyed the crap out of me the entire book. She at times took away from the terrible reality they were facing, and for me it gave a lot away.

Overall this book kept me very intrigued, and had quite a few twists I didn’t expect.

Thank you,
𝒜𝑔𝑔𝒾𝑒 𝐵𝓁𝓊𝓂 𝒯𝒽𝑜𝓂𝓅𝓈𝑜𝓃, NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for this advanced copy

A wealthy family murder mystery.
The annual Calhoun party does not go to plan when the event becomes a homicide scene and everyone attending is a suspect. Anyone could have done it, there is the family itself, the housekeepers, the tourists, or maybe the business partners. As you read the book, you will draw many conclusions about who did it but none will be right.
There is a ton of drama that keeps the pace very fast and the tension on point, it turns out that the "lovely family" is not lovely at all when all the facades come undone and their dark secrets spill.

Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Amidst the vibrant cherry blossoms of Washington, D.C., the Calhouns host their annual spring party. However, when a murder disrupts the festivities, the seemingly perfect family's hidden turmoil and dark secrets unravel. With controlling parents, wayward sons, and a disillusioned daughter-in-law, tensions escalate as the investigation unfolds, forcing the Calhouns to confront their deepest secrets before it's too late.

I really enjoyed this book. It's a great mystery/domestic thriller maybe, I don't really know what it would fall under.

I hated so many of the characters but you were definitely meant to. I did pick one of the biggest twists but there were a lot of them. It keeps you guessing and there are lots of twists and turns.

Definitely recommend for fans of a good murder mystery with some great characters

You know what they say, “more money, more problems” right? That was definitely the case for 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆.

For the most part, the Calhouns are your typical overly-rich family that you just love to hate. A prominent business owner, the perfect housewife, the children who are scientists, influencers and an F-up. Every year the family hosts a party for their closest friends around the same time the Cherry Blossom trees blossom in DC. The party is going great until there’s a murder, for which nearly everyone in the family, and even a few others, had their reason to kill.

I liked this one because who did it was obvious but also not, if that makes any sense at all. You think you know who the culprit is, but the author plants several seeds of doubt through out and while ultimately I was right, there was actually some satisfaction in that. This was a quick read, I literally inhaled it in just a few hours and will definitely read more from this author. Many thanks to Forge Books for my eARC. 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 will be published 3/12.

If you're looking for some rich people's family drama and murder go give this one a go!
The book had so many characters and different POVs that I had quite some trouble following. They all had some secrets from eachother, were very unlikeable and I wasn't really invested in them. I had moments I really liked the book and other parts just dragged on. The pacing was very off in my opinion and I'm a little sad I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked. As the secrets start to unravel and the big twist is about to be revealed I sadly was already mentally checked out from the story and I didn't really care about the outcome. It isn't a bad book per se but it simply wasn't my cup of tea. 2.75 stars from me.

Thank you to Aggie Blum Thompson, A Forgebooks and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for me honest opinion.

This is a quick read and full of twists. Figuring out the murderer was a journey and it is worth picking up this book to see the cracks in a picture-perfect family.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.