I normally don’t gravitate to murder mysteries or locked room mysteries, especially about wealthy families, because they kind of all seem the same. I saw good reviews for this one though, so I gave it a try - and was highly entertained! This is one twisted family, and one twisted mystery…

We’re in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and the cherry blossoms are in bloom. It’s time for Ginny and Thom Calhoun to host their annual cherry blossom party. Despite the devastating loss of the hydrangeas they ordered, their tulips have bloomed early, and the party is in full swing. It’s a lovely and exclusive party, everyone is wearing gingham, people are playing croquet, and then to quote two songs, “gunshots rang out like a bell” and then “the bodies hit the floor”.

Someone at this party has committed murder, and now it’s time to find out who. All three Calhoun children are there: Nate, a marine biologist with a son named Malcolm. He’s engaged to his nanny, Danit, and his parents aren’t happy about it. Trey lives in his parents’ guesthouse and really doesn’t do much except drugs and evading his parent’s drug tests. Their sister, Ellie Grace, is also there with her husband, Zak. They are influencers struggling to get “Gingham Life” to go viral and make them tons of money, but it hasn’t happened yet.

Aside from the family, we have the housekeeper, the caterers, the best friends, the business associates, the neighbors, even the tourists walking around taking pictures of flowers…any of these people could be murderers. The rest of the book becomes a whodunnit, but upgraded - this family and the people who surround them are all a bit eccentric and there is a TON of drama for the reader to dive into. I loved all the shocks; all the things that are revealed about each character are scandalous and so juicy, my jaw dropped several times. The ending was as good as the rest of the story. Highly recommended for those who love trying to figure out a mystery - good luck with this one, it’s tricky! Four stars.

(Thank you to Forge Books, Aggie Blum Thompson and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released March 12, 2024.)

Before I get into the review, a quick thank you to NetGalley and the publishers over at Tor for allowing me access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Such a Lovely Family follows the Calhouns on the night of their annual Cherry Blossom Party. The D.C. elite love to show up to the family’s gorgeous house and view the cherry blossoms in full bloom. But what no one expected was for the night to end in murder. Now a police investigation is underway and this picture perfect family’s dark secrets start to come out. When their money can no longer get rid of the Calhouns’ problems and they find themselves backed into a corner, what will they do to make sure they come out on top? Such a Lovely Family comes out on March 12th and is available for preorder now.

I was surprised when I finished this book and found myself wanting to give it a 4 star rating. I usually don’t give Adult Mystery novels that high of a rating. Usually there’s a problem with pacing or something in the ending that ruins it for me. But, surprisingly, not this time. I love some rich people drama because it’s so absolutely absurd. It was giving the Grayson family from Revenge which I ate up. We follow the Calhoun family on the day of the party as little secrets start to come out and all of the drama gets laid out. Why did the flowers never arrive? Why is Ellie Grace so focused on getting the perfect photos? Why won’t Nate open up about his ex-wife? What is going on with Trey’s sobriety? And why is Thom’s grin just a little too forced? I loved this small community setting of the uber rich with all of its little daily dramas happening in the midst of the murder investigation. I also found the characters to be well rounded. My favorite character was Nate’s fiancée who is meeting the family for the first time and sucked into its vortex. I enjoyed the outsider’s perspective. And I just have to say that the last couple of pages of the book were practically perfect for me. Specifically the final sentence. It leaves a sense of foreboding that punctuates the story so well. It also leans into the conversation that could be had about communities like this, neighborhoods like this.

The main problem I had with this one was how obvious some of these little secrets are while you’re reading the book. Some of them were completely out of left field for me and were pretty good. But some of them I called pretty early on. The overarching mystery of who committed the murder and why and how was a pretty good surprise. I will also say that the ending is a little sloppy. It was sloppy in a way that can make sense, but made me feel like the author had to pull a few things together at the end to make it all work.

Overall, I had a surprisingly good time with this one. It had a lot of the things I was really looking for in an Adult Mystery. I was originally planning on taking five days to read this one so the fact that I read it in three really speaks to its readability.

From the outside, the Calhouns look like another nice, wealthy family, but if you scratch that gleaming surface by even a millimeter, they are a toxic waste dump of crazy.

The parents are manipulative, egomaniac liars. Their three adult children are fifty kinds of stupid, irresponsible, and dreadful. The neighbors are just there for the gossip. Everyone in this book is completely f-ing BANANAS and there are like 9,000 twists and turns and crazy reveals and not a boring second. I usually don't like books where everyone is irredeemably awful -- and Thompson has created an epic cast of truly over-the-top terrible people -- and yet... I LOVED THIS BOOK. I tore through it and had the best time reading it.

Highly recommended for spring break and/or pool/beach reading this summer!

Will I love watching murder mysteries, I haven't read many book with a plot like that. In 2024 I wanted to remedy that and I'm so glad this is the book that did it! What a roller-coaster. I am incredibly satisfied. I was truly not expecting this to end the way it did and that's saying something given that I can usually guess the plot twists half-way into the story. This one kept me guessing till the end so full points for that!

The Calhouns celebrate DC’s Cherry blossoms with their own blooming party. Their annual party turns into a murder scene.

This one ends with a bang (the same way it starts) and I never saw it coming. I truly couldn’t figure this one out and was shocked when all was revealed. It was slowly revealed in pieces, so it didn’t make complete sense until the end. I loved that this was in my locale- Montgomery County, Maryland- and I recognized several places!

“She used to think there was an absolute right and wrong, but now she doesn’t know. Not after tonight.”

Such A Lovely Family comes out 3/12.

Yikes. A domestic murder mystery centered around the death of the patriarch. This family is beyond screwed up and totally wretched and honestly the rot starts at the root. I kind of felt bad for some of the people in the Calhoun orbit because the more you learn, the soapier it gets and it's twist and turns and would be a fantastic telenovela.

This book right here was so hard for me to put down. From the family secrets, the many twists and turns, the characters and writing style, it kept me engaged the whole time! Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy!

The basic elements of this story are fairly common in psychological suspense: a well to do family appears perfect on the surface, but secrets and anger and resentment boil underneath. When one of the parents is murdered, it's not a surprise. But the superior, insightful writing lifts Such a Lovely Family above the competition. The characters are hard to like, the victim is not sympathetic, but this is an enjoyable, intriguing read for fans of the genre.

This is a popcorn, rich people drama, thriller if I’ve ever seen one. If you like reading about rich white people, family drama, in Lucy Foley’s writing style, then this will be perfect for you. We follow multiple POVs at the Calhoun’s annual cherry blossom party when a murder occurs.

I didn’t think the plot twists in here were anything amazing or unbelievable. Reading this, I figured out that I don’t care about rich family dramas hahaha cause I didn’t care about any of the characters. They were all unlikable, all had their secrets from each other. The ending wasn’t anything shocking. Unfortunately, a pretty average thriller for me.

Rich people behaving badly, very badly. This one had a lot of juicy secrets to it.
The patriarch of the Calhoun family is shot and killed during the family
Cherry Blossom Party and his wife is shot but survives. Who is the murderer when everyone there has motive to kill him? This was good but a lot of the twist and turns were a little implausible to me. It was a fun read but not my favorite

In a seemingly perfect, elite-socialite family in DC, what could possibly go wrong at their annual cherry blossom party? So many secrets, and I mean SO MANY juicy secrets start to unfold in this clue-ish story to solve who murdered Thom. You either love or hate every character, but hang on every word to try to unravel the truth. This one kept me hooked through every page! Thank you Netgally and Goodreads for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The calhoun family celebrates every cherry blossom season in D.C. with an anual party. They seem like the perfect wealthy family, no flaws, no mistakes. Til a marriage in the family goes south, their secrets have been quiet. Now, theses dark secrets are being exposed. THis was so juicy!

This one was interesting and had me entertained. I had several guesses throughout on who I thought the murderer was. The author did a good job giving info slowly to make the reader continue to guess who was guilty. The finale seemed to be a little much and took a bit away from the story for me.

This was such a lovely book. I have not had the privilege of reading this author before and was very happy to receive this book as an ARC. The book had a nice flow crossing between points of views of multiple characters. The author did great at creating many viable suspects for the murder mystery we the readers find out at the very beginning of the novel with some great small touches and attention to minute details. If one is looking for a great beach read or rainy day read - this is it

Such a good family dramatic thriller! such interesting character dynamics that all the family shared however I just wish they one deeper. The story itself lacked a little punch or suspense but definitely good on the twists and turns of the story.

I’m not sure what I can say about this book because my feelings on it are very middle of the road in pretty much every aspect. Such a Lovely Family follows the Calhouns and how a murder on the day of a party upends the lives of the parents, their three children, and those caught in the crossfire.

The book starts off at a good pace but then slowed down to the point that it felt glacial as we see how each member of the family reacts and goes through the police investigation. Secrets are revealed and the pieces of the puzzle are offered throughout, but in the most uninteresting ways. The mystery and ultimate reveal does make sense, but there’s none of the explosiveness or tension that you’d expect.

The characters are also very by the book for the most part although I was surprised none of them were as insufferable as they initially appeared to be. Even by rich people standards, they weren’t interesting at all which kind of takes away from this story, which is supposed to be about the twisted things wealthy people do to hold onto power–-including murder.

Overall, Such a Lovely Family is a pretty lukewarm book that doesn’t do anything especially well. I definitely think more interesting murder mysteries and thrillers about the rich and corrupt have been written and this book does not scratch that itch.

Thanks to NetGalley and Forge Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This review will be published on my blog (clearsummers.wordpress.com) and Goodreads on February 27, 2024.

I've read and enjoyed Aggie Blum Thompson's previous books and was excited for this one. I found it a little hard to get into at first and was thrown by how many characters there are to keep track of and how they fit into the family's orbit and the murder. By halfway through the story though, I was hooked and would recommend this to anyone who likes complex domestic suspense. On a fun note: Cookie reminded me of Cam from Modern Family and that's who I pictured as I was reading. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this early review copy.

The cover of this book drew me in, but it was the story that kept me hooked! This was a fun thriller that kept me on my toes with several unexpected twists. There are a lot of characters to keep track of which was difficult at times, but if you are looking for a good "who did it" mystery that will keep you guessing the entire time this one hits the nail on the head.

A fun little domestic thriller from Aggie Blum Thompson.

The Calhouns are a well-established family in the Chevy Chase neighborhood of Washington D.C. Every year, they host a party to celebrate the cherry blossom. This year, the perfect family starts to show some cracks.

Before the party is over, someone is dead and everyone is a suspect. The Calhouns are not as perfect as they look. The oldest son, Trey, is in D.C. against his will, he's being treated like a child again after messing up his life in California. Ellie Grace is trying to be an influencer after her quickie marriage to Zak, who she met at the gym. Nate and his son, Malcolm are in town for the party and have brought Danit, the nanny-turned-fiance, who has secrets of her own.

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.

Such a Lovely Family

I love this book. I thoroughly enjoyed almost every aspect of it.
It is extremely well written. It has just enough characters. It has a solid plot and all the twists. The storyline meet my expectations!

The story is about the Calhoun family. The father is in real estate. The mother is/was the stay at home mom, turned housewife. They have three children: the problem child, the one who is making something of themselves on their own, and then the spoiled one.

I was disappointed in the person who figured out the murderer. I didn’t see that part coming. I had a hunch as to who the murderer was towards the end, but it wasn’t a certain feeling. I was also kind of disappointed in who the murderer was. Plus, the daughter and her husband frustrated me too with their marriage. So many red flags and they were all ignored.

Overall: Really great read. I highly recommend it.