Thank you Lauren Street and NetGalley for the eARC!

This is the third novel in the Bishop Smoky Mountain Thrillers series, and unfortunately my least favorite so far. That’s not to say it wasn’t a good book, it just didn’t capture my interest as much as the first two in this series.

For me, I felt like the thriller type tension didn’t really happen until the last few chapters of the book. I enjoy this series as the novels are typically a quick read and tend to draw you in pretty quickly, but I found myself not wanting to pick this one up and read it as much as I had done with the previous two.

Even though it wasn’t my favorite, I still plan to continue on reading this series!

This is the third in a series and although I didn’t read the first 2 books, it was so good. I’ve never read anything by this author before but it was great. It had me hooked the entire time.
The fmc’s aunt tried to kill her and ended up in a psychiatric hospital. Then a bunch of elderly women end up going missing or dead and our FMC travels to help the sheriff if the town solve the murders.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This was an intense read! The story was fast paced and the characters were well done. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this series.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Sterling and Stone for the eARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. This is part of a series, I believe this is t #3. I still do not quite know what Rileigh's job is? I have to say her family is just plain crazy! This was an intense, convoluted mystery. 3.5 stars I would read more by this author.

Closer By The Hour. Riveting book. Rileigh, Mitch and Lily are hot on the hills of a killer like no other. I was in aww of how fast pace the characters moved with the plot. The book was just amazing.
The writing was both appealing and engaging with the reader. The severity of lives on the line was huge for the actions that the characters took to find answers and possible victims. The details actions described by the writer was a huge surprise of, oh my God, did I just read that? The whole psychological aspect was super intense and amazing. The book for me was un-put down-able. For me this was a crazy good book. I give this book two snaps and a, oh hell know you just toss me into the ground without repercussions. Have you met my Aunt Crazy Daisy? Until next time my fellow readers. Read on! #CloserBytheHour #laurenstreet #netgally #goodreads #bookbub

I like this gritty series and the gritty lead character. I think the location is accurately portrayed and I feel she’s writes plots that keep you engaged till the end

When Raleigh’s aunt, who is a mental hospital after trying to kill Raleigh , has her roommates start disappearing it is up to Raleigh to track down the killer. This was another great book in this series

Book three in the Rileigh Bishop series – Thinking her tumultuous ties with her aunt had reached an end following the older woman's institutionalization, Rileigh is pulled back into the darkness when elderly women start disappearing from the psychiatric hospital. Rileigh teams up with Sheriff Mitch Webster to find the killer – a killer who knows Rileigh is coming, adding an intriguing cat and mouse element. This is a chilling and twisted mystery that transcends the boundaries of sanity and explores the dark corners of the human psyche.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sterling & Stone and author Lauren Street for the opportunity to review the advance copy of this book.

The character Riley was interesting to me. I liked how she interacted with the other characters in the book. The book kept me engaged and reading. I was happy with how it resolved.

BOOK: CLOSER BY THE HOUR
AUTHOR: LAUREN STREET
PUB DATE: 12 DEC 2023
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REVIEW
Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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Wow! I sincerely hope these murders didn't happen in real life, especially the rat murder, it was savage! I liked the suspense, it had the perfect building up and ending. By the time I reached the end, I was able to understand how the murders made sense, and I liked it.
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I liked the team of Rileigh and Mitch, but I felt like they were too slow, like they were waiting for another victim before they did any crime solving. The actual solving occurred at the last few pages, so I was kinda annoyed. Regardless, I was still involved in the book because of the dynamics between Rileigh and her mother & Rileigh and her aunt Daisy. It was very dramatic and engaging.
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This book was very good and will leave you wanting to know what next with Rileigh. I liked the characters, storyline but it was not that thrilling. But, I'd definitely recommend it. So, go and read it, but it's savage!
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There are some pretty dark and gruesome details in this book but don’t let that deter you. It’s a clever set of mysteries and has the added appeal of so,e really interesting characters and interactions, including the aunt who might be paranoid or might be spot on…. I have read another book by this author and think this one really consolidated her talent.

Ex-police officer Rileigh Bishop is now a free lance PI , living with her Mother and still dealing with memories of her crazy aunt who tried to kill her. The aunt who is in a psychiatric hospital and is claiming patients are going missing.The book opens with an edge of your seat gruesome murder. The rest of the book was at a slower pace, but not enough to make me stop reading to its suspenseful end. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley and Sterling and Stone. The comments are my honest opinion.

PI Rileigh Bishop is struggling to find gainful employment but she has plenty of trouble. Her crazy aunt, now residing in a mental hospital, seems to think that the women in her room are disappearing. Rileigh first thinks this is another manifestation of her aunt's mental illness. However, when there's another disappearance and bodies are found, she realizes this is a real crime. Once again, she is working with Sheriff Webster to solve a crime, while the two of them dance around their obvious attraction to one another. When a new man shows interest in Rileigh, things get interesting. I can't wait to see what come next for her.

Closer By The Hour is book 3 The Bishop Smoky Mountain series by Lauren Street.
This was a good thriller. This book had me hooked from the start and I could not put it down. There was plenty of twist to keep things interesting and well developed characters. The story is suspenseful and twisty from the beginning to the end. The plot is well developed and brilliantly wrote by Lauren Street .

I would like to thank NetGalley and Sterling & Stone for the opportunity to read this ahead of its publication date in return for my honest review.

This book started on a high notes with a terrifying murder scene. I wish we got to see the second murder the same way, but you don’t see it on the page. After that it takes awhile to pick back up. I noticed it was the 3rd book in the series half way through, I might have liked it better if I read the first two and had more attachment to the characters. One of the reasons I rated it so low is because the author perpetuates harmful ableist stereotypes of Dissociative Identity Disorder. People with multiple personalities do not have a killer/murder alter. The killer was so predictable and the ending wrapped up too quickly.

Typos: page 49 “…and he left the actually daily operations of all his holding to the managers.” Actual
Page 58 “Tthe only ones he’d..” The
Page 59 “He did not want to get old He had too much living left to do.” Missing a .
Page 113 “.. spoke into it. This is Unit 1” missing a “ before This
Page 138 “Raleigh smiled at him, thenturned..” space missing in between then and turned.
Page 167 paragraph ending in “they’re bad men, dangerous men.’” “ is missing beginning quotations.

Closer by The Hour follows our main character Rileigh Bishop, who is an ex-police officer living in Gatlinburg with her mom. Her aunt who previously tried to kill her, is in a psychiatric ward where elderly women start to go missing. I thought Rileigh was overall a fun character, but man she was making questionable decisions throughout the book, which took away from my enjoyment of her as a character. Mitch on the other hand I thought was a great character and found myself wishing more of the book was written from his perspective. My overall impression was that this book needed another 50 pages to flesh out the plot. It felt like it was the bare bones of a novel not a completed one.
I felt like the best part of the book was the first chapter, and it is definitely going to be sticking with me for a long time. Unfortunately, the rest of the book is very inconsistent, to the point of distraction. There was this side plot, that after the climax just really didn’t fit in with the rest of the story. I wish there had been more time used on the climax. The build up in tension leading into the climax was another area where the book shined, unfortunately with how abrupt the climax ended up being it made the buildup feel unnecessarily long, and I was left wanting. I just ended up feeling disappointed with the ending all together, which has had a negative impact on my feelings towards the books as a whole.

Voluntarily Read and Reviewed for Net Galley

Another great one from Lauren Street! I love a good small town mystery/thriller, and she never disappoints. I’ve really enjoyed watching the relationship form between Rileigh and Mitch. It’s starting to get interesting, and I think us fans may get what we want in the next one! As far as this story, I knew who the killer was pretty early on. I was so bummed out though, because I really didn’t want it to be them. In the end, it works out for the better because of *things*!

Huge thanks to Sterling & Stone and NetGalley for sending me this ARC for review! All of my reviews are given honestly!

Releigh Bishop is irritated when crazy Aunt Daisy upsets her Mom with a call claiming one of her roommates from the Carrington House has been kidnapped. Another conjured story? She hasn’t seen Daisy since she tried to cut her head off with a chainsaw. Yes, that is how Daisy landed herself as a resident of North Tennessee Psychiatric hospital’s crimanally insane unit.
Trying to relieve her Mom from rescuing Daisy yet again, Releigh assures her she will take the drive to Carrington House and figure out what it is this time. Seeing as Reileigh is a freelance Private Investigator, her mother is comforted that she’ll know what to look for.
Abducted by an Angel that wasn’t taking her heaven…at least that’s what Daisy insists happened to Rosie. Releigh accepts that she’ll need to locate where Rosie is to calm Daisy down.
She discovers that Rosie has truly gone missing. Which now involves Mitch, the sheriff who has rescued Releigh twice in the past. What they discover, well you’ve got psych patients, a new guy running the hospital with questionable staff, an old creepy hospital building, multiple patients go missing and, you’ll need to read the book to see what unfolds.

Definitely have to say that I lost track of time reading this one, so much so that I found ways to multitask during the day to keep reading.

There was so much suspense and tension in this book! Overall it really kept me gripped and I didn't want to put ti down until I finished, so I read it in one sitting!

Closer by the Hour is the third book in The Bishop Smoky Mountain Thriller series by Lauren Street.

I did attempt to read book 1 in the series, but I couldn't get into that book. Closer By The Hour was much better. It sure was a cringeworthy way to die at the beginning of the book, which set the mood of the story.

I really liked the Mitch character, and Rileigh is a good, strong female protagonist. Closer By The Hour is a domestic psychological thriller that mixes secrets and lies. It wasn't as page-turning as I thought it would be since the beginning was quite strong, but overall, it was a pleasant weekend read that held my interest.

I may check out more books by this author.

#CloserByTheHour #NetGalley