One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day
Narrator: Saskia Maarleveld
Rating: 3 stars
Pub date: 7/16

Thank you so much to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced ecopy, and to Macmillan Audio for my complimentary audiobook.

I loved this author’s debut novel, Block Party, so I was thrilled to get my hands on an early copy of this book.

The book takes place at The Precipice, a family-owned hotel on the rugged Maine coast. After the death of their father, the Bishop sisters—Vicki, Faith, and Iris—reunite to claim their inheritance amidst an impending hurricane. At the heart of the story is Charley Kelley, the hotel’s resourceful chambermaid, who is trying to make ends meet and care for her grandmother. The arrival of the Bishop sisters brings tension and danger, threatening Charley’s precarious situation.

The story is divided into four parts, and the short chapters keep it moving quickly. I loved Charley, and I think her motivations were understandable and relatable. The rest of the characters were difficult to like or empathize with, as they were all truly horrible. There were a few twists I didn’t see coming lots of family drama, and I enjoyed the audiobook version.

However, the story's pacing drags, and the ending feels predictable. This felt less like a psychological thriller and more like a family drama. It wasn’t my favorite, but I’m in the minority here. I would recommend checking this one out if you like locked-door thrillers with lots of complicated family drama.

Rocky cliff-side hotel in Maine, 3 sisters with secrets, and a chambermaid who has secrets of her own. This is the start of the novel by Jamie Day. The sisters come back to the hotel after their father's death to claim the hotel and all hope that their deadly secrets stay hidden. Can the secrets kill someone or will they all get out alive?

Thank you Goodreads, St. Martin’s Publishers, NetGalley, and Jamie Day for this free book.
“One Big Happy Family” by Jamie Day ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Thriller/Family Drama. Location: Jonesport, Maine, USA. Time: September, present.

The Precipice is a Bishop-family-owned, legendary hotel on the rocky coast of Maine. The Bishop sisters arrive to claim it after their father dies. Vicki is greedy, with a profound need for order and control. She’s married to cheating, lying Todd. Faith is selfish, beautiful, trying to hold onto her youthful beauty. She’s married to Hope. Iris is vengeful, struggles with drugs and alcohol addiction. They all have secrets. Chambermaid Charley Kelley (19) is smart but naive, resilient, and worried. Will the sisters close the hotel? Fire her? Discover she's using a guest room to hide Bree, a woman on the run? Hurricane Larry is pounding the hotel, and the only road out is impassable. Murder is in the air.

Author Day has written a book that’s part thriller and part family drama. He tells most of the book from maid Charley’s point of view, with flashbacks to various characters’ backstories. Charley is a teen, so expect some not-so-rational decisions. Keeping that in mind, her narrative was my favorite. In my personal opinion, the end and the epilogue could be tightened up, but don’t let that keep you from reading the book. It’s a stranded-in-a-scary-hotel-in-a-storm mystery, it’s full of chaos and action, and it’s 4 stars from me🌵📚💁🏼‍♀️

The Precipice Hotel in Maine has been owner George Bishop’s pride and joy. When he is found dead at the hotel, his three daughters are called to travel in for the reading of his will. With a dangerous hurricane barreling toward the hotel, the sisters, the executor of the will, and a few others will be stuck inside to ride out the storm. But when another death happens on the property, all signs point to them not all getting out alive.

This was a fun locked room mystery set in a hotel full of crazy family members. The first 30% was very slow moving, but after that point the rest flew by. I felt like I needed a murder board of my own to figure out how everything and everyone was connected! I definitely didn’t figure out the twists, and I found myself rooting for the young maid Charley throughout. If you like And Then There Were None-type books, you’ll love this one.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars. The family in this murdery mystery are horrible and the main character, Charlie, really got on my nerves for some reason.
The Precipice is a family-owned swank hotel in Maine and the owner has passed away. His daughters are coming to claim their inheritance, but first secrets must be spilled.
The story is told from a young chambermaid's POV. She gets roped into serving the family for the weekend, but gets more than she bargained for when a storm rolls through and traps them all together at the hotel. Meanwhile, Charlie is trying to hide a friend in the hotel, one who has secrets of her own. And when some of the guests end up dead, it's a race to figure out the secrets and lies before they all end up dead.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this e-arc.*

An enjoyable thriller with a lot of characters to keep track of. I liked the twists and the ending was satisfying.

This is a fun read. A dysfunctional family gathers at a hotel on the coast of Maine for the reading of the will of George, the former owner of the hotel. There are a lot of hidden secrets and old family history that comes to life. Even the family lawyer has her own secrets. This is a book full of delightful characters and the story will reel you in. Charley, the 19 year old Maid, tries to hold onto her job as she seeks to unravel the mysteries surrounding her. All this takes place as a huge hurricane comes ashore. It truly snags the reader’s attention and holds it until the very end

I wish to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read a copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed Jamie Day's book from last summer "The Block Party". This book was hard for me to get into and the twists were hard to follow and not as exciting as her last book. I expected more suspense and twists.

I will happily give an honest review as soon as St Martins Press finally speaks up and takes accountability for the possible systemic issues within their marketing department. Thank you.

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Charley is a 19 year old girl who is maid at a hotel in Maine. She works there and lives in a tiny room in the hotel. Her boss, George, is a handsy guy who Charley is able to avoid for the most part. When he died, all hell breaks loose.

George's daughters and their families show up in the middle of a hurricane for the reading of will. Shortly after, someone turns up dead. Who did it? Next, the lawyer turns up missing . Where did she go?

At first, this book was kinda hard to get into. It seemed like so much drama and I'm like meh, why do I care. It was about 2/3 of the way where is started to keep my attention. Things started moving and I was OK, this is better. I didn't see the twist coming. I actually thought it would be something else.

3.5/5 stars

ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY is filled with, secrets, lies and and greed. I liked trying to figure out who was sending the threatening letters and learning more about these sisters' past. The hurricane also added another element to make this an entertaining read!

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for my gifted ARC.

This review will be shared to my Instagram (@coffee.break.book.reviews) closer to publication day.

I have mixed feelings about this one. I was very excited about the one-room mystery of this, and the mystery elements were on point. I just felt like it was a little disjointed. The pieces didn't come together as nicely as I wanted them to. I still enjoyed reading the book to see what happened, but the journey wasn't as much fun as I was hoping for.

This thriller was a wild ride and had me on the edge of my seat! This is my first time reading Jamie Day, but I truly enjoyed this book and want to read more of her work. This book kind of gave me similar setting vibes as The Only One Left by Riley Sager, and the family drama in the story reminded me of the family from Knives Out. The hurricane really added to the suspense factor, and this twisty mystery had me guessing who the killer (or killers??) was until the end. And as a romantic, I liked the little romance sub plot that was thrown in there. Overall, I really fun thriller for summer!

Content Notes: There was some profanity used throughout the book. There were some political undertones at times, which I could’ve done without. There was also a character who is portrayed as Christian, but does not act very Christian-like throughout the book. There is also a very New Age/hippie character who spouts off some strange beliefs, uses tarot cards in one scene, and claims her son can connect to the spirit world (this is semi-spoilery so beware: he later admits that he has no connection and just faked it to make his mom happy). As a Christian, I did not like reading about these aspects of the story, however I felt like the book itself was really good and that these elements didn’t play a big enough role in the story for me to lower my rating.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and MacMillan Audio for sending me an advanced copy of this book! All thoughts and opinions above are my own.

My third hurricane book in a week! In this one, the hurricane took a back seat to the family drama but functioned as a way to force a locked room environment. Mostly told through from the point of view of the maid Charley but every once in awhile someone else popped up to take over and it was a bit disorienting. Otherwise, it was a solid twisty story of lies, deceit, and good ol fashioned greed! Oh, and don't forget the rich people behaving badly. This is another book that does a great job of proving the principle that inherited wealth isn't necessarily a good thing and tends to negatively impact behavior. Some of the twists were thoroughly expected, it was more a wonder of which way they would twist and what the fall out would be. I spent the book thoroughly engaged and wondering how everyone would get their just desserts!

An isolated hotel, a devastating hurricane and a vindictive father’s will are the catalysts that start this twisty murder mystery. When estranged sisters gather to claim their inheritances, old grievances and family secrets come to light. Told from the POV of the young hotel maid, this is an edge of your seat novel that will keep you guessing until the very end. ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY by Jamie Day gets 5⭐️’s from me. #netgalley

Jamie Day does it again with ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY! With a family like this, who needs enemies!?

When the family patriarch dies, Vicki, Iris and Faith return to The Precipice Inn for the reading of the will and to put their father’s things in order. Vicki, the oldest, owner of six jewelry stores, seems to take her birthright for granted until the will is read. Then an unfortunate incident changes the circumstances of the will within 24 hours of its reading. Iris, on the other hand receives her one-third of the estate but due to her past drug abuse and legal troubles, her money will be managed by Vicki‘s husband Todd. Faith, the youngest child left home at 18 and never looked back. She became a successful model but has since left that profession. Her father had had dreams of her taking over the business, but Faith was not interested. So should she really expect to be in the will? She does.

Meet Charley Kent, Chambermaid/housekeeper for the Precipice . While she had ambitions of leaving Jonesport, Maine as soon as she could, she’s found that she had to remain to care for her grandmother who was in a care home. Rodrigo, all around handyman and concierge rounds out the major staff members and is close with Charley. Charley is also helping Bree, who is hiding from an abusive boyfriend and now from the sisters and their families

The cook up and quits and Hurricane Larry is knocking at their doors and windows as the sisters try to decide what to do about the will. Then bodies start turning up and long buried secrets begin to surface. Incidents from the past affect all of the major players in this novel. There were so many twists and turns in this one that I felt like it was a tornado, not a hurricane. The secrets revealed are crazy and it seems that no one’s identity is safe.

I have read Jamie Day in the past, so was excited to see if this thriller stood up to the last. It did not disappoint. The writing was clear and concise and I could feel the air pressure changes and felt the need to batten down the hatches. I can’t wait to see where she takes me next.

Thank you too NetGalley and Saint Martin’s Press for this ARC opportunity. All opinions are my own and given voluntarily.

This one was a fun one / locked room mystery - the maid always gets all the action. We have one big happy family with many many secrets. George Bishop passes away and his will is read off to his surviving family members. But after that - all the shenanigans begin. It felt like I was reading about the game CLUE - who DUNNIT - it was entertaining. As it picked up, I found myself glued to my kindle. I also had access to the audiobook, but I think overall I preferred reading this one. Thank you to Netgalley and St. martins press for this ebook in exchange for my honest opinion.

A locked door style mystery set in a peculiar hotel in Maine. Charley has been working as a maid at the hotel for the last two years as she has to have money to pay for an assisted living for her Nan.
I did guess some of the who in the who-done-it but not the why. No spoilers here . Definitely worth the read (or listen).
I received a ARC of this title. All opinions are my own.

With a hurricane bearing down on the historic hotel in small town Maine, this thriller becomes a locked room mystery with the eccentric and obnoxious Bishop sisters reuniting for the reading of their father’s will. This one didn’t hit the right notes for me, the characters were a bit cliche as was the overall plot going in many directions. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this free advanced reader copy for an unbiased review.

This was a very meh read for me. The characters were pretty unlikeable, there wasn't much character development, and the twists were not super exciting or earth shattering.