A cross between a locked room mystery and a psychological thriller.
George Bishop has died and his daughters Vicki, Iris, and Faith are coming to the Precipice Hotel to hear the will read. Hotel maid Charley is worried about keeping her job that she needs to keep her Gran in the Memory Care facility. A hurricane is coming but no one seems concerned except the hotel staff. Worse,Bree, a woman who says she needs to be hidden from her abusive boyfriend talks her into hiding her at the hotel.
Lawyer Brenda Black is there to read the will just as the storm hits. The will is a huge surprise for the sisters, giving most of the control the Lawyer Black and Vicki's husband Todd. That night Todd dies, possibly of a heart attack. Later the lawyer disappears and cryptic rhyming clues appear. The storm cuts them off from the world after the cell tower goes down and the wi-fi router is destroyed.
The bad decisions of long ago have come home to roost on ALL the Bishop sisters. Charley just hopes to survive to take care of her Gran.
The backstories of all the characters makes motive clear as the story progresses and reveals the multiple bad guys.
Certainly NOT a cozy, but a good read!

Eh, Block Party was better.
Rich family, with tons of secrets fighting over their inheritance is the gist.
None of the characters were likeable in any way, very superficial. The twists were sparse and predictable. And a weak happily ever after ending.
Not a fan of this one.
Thank you, Netgalley, publisher, and author for the ARC.

Jamie Day is back with another great thriller! This locked-door mystery is one you will definitely want to add to your TBRs!

I didn’t like this book as much as the previous book I read from this author. This one felt very long and sometimes boring, even when exciting things were happening. The story centers on a young maid named Charley who works at a hotel. When the owner dies and his 3 daughters arrive for the reading of the will, many secrets get exposed.

I thought the characters were pretty surface level in this one, though I did appreciate the backstories that were told in flashback chapters. While the 2nd half of the book moved at a faster pace, the writing style, long internal narratives, and repetitive conversations between characters made it feel like a slow read. I figured out the big twist early on, but there were a couple other surprises throughout. The end tied things up just a little too cleanly, but honestly I didn’t mind that and felt satisfied with the way it all turned out.

Overall, this was a decent story that just took way too long to tell. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

One Big Happy Family had me hooked from the beginning. Locked room mysteries are quickly becoming one of my favorite reads! This book is a labyrinth of suspenseful twists and turns! The atmospheric setting adds an extra layer of intrigue to the tale and I want nothing more than to visit this hotel. I enjoyed getting the flashbacks, mostly because they were limited to one part of the novel and we weren’t going back and forth. They really helped me understand a little more of each sister and their background. I never knew which sister to trust and I loved that none of the main characters were reliable. This was a captivating read that kept me guessing until the final revelation!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

An enjoyable and unpredictable ride, but the ultimate resolution wasn’t satisfying to me. It felt like characters who had made criminal choices didn’t deserve their redemptions

I enjoyed Jamie's first book so I had to request this one.im glad I got approved

I was hooked from the beginning. These characters and a couple storylines kept me reading page after page.

Lots of twists and turns that make this a good thriller. I completely recommend

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press. All thoughts are my own and aren't influenced by anyone else

A gothic mystery set in a historic mansion hotel on the bluffs of Maine in the middle of a storm sounded fabulous, but the writing and overall plot fell short. 20% into the book I kept hoping that the mundane story would pick up, but it never did. The characters were immature and the twists were predictable. The book had potential, but it fell short.

I initially read the description for this and was so excited. I live a good whodunnit thriller AND the location/weather mixed into it? Sign me up!

Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed in this. The story itself I think was good, but the execution of it being told wasn’t as thrilling and intriguing as I hoped it would be. It seemed to drag a little and was longer than it should have been.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC! I will still definitely read more from this author.

I loved The Block Party, so I was thrilled to get an ARC of One Big Happy Family! I was also drawn to the book based on its description -- I'm one of three sisters and also have a daughter named Charley. Once again, Jamie Day hit it out of the park. From the eerie setting to the sisters' relationships, Day truly nailed the domestic thriller. The perfect beach read for this summer!

Set in Maine at the iconic Precipice Hotel where the patriarch has died, leaving his three privileged daughters to hear the reading of his will. Oh, and there’s a hurricane aiming for them. The lowly maid, Charley, is used to being less than, but is hardly prepared for what’s to come. Victoria, Iris, and Faith arrive with more personal baggage than actual suitcases. They come with complicated relationships and each has petty grievances, serious transgressions and secrets they need to keep buried. Charley has aided a stowaway, she’s is lurking in one of the empty rooms, hiding from an abusive boyfriend. Before the storm can cause them harm the sisters own greed may end in murder. None of my hunches could come close to unraveling the motives behind this family’s drama. If you enjoy crazy family dynamics this one is full of surprises. It was a romping good read. I have read Jamie Day before and would again.
Thanks to NetGalley for the uncorrected digital galley of “One Big Happy Family” by Jamie Day, St. Martin’s Press, expected publication date 07/16/2024. These are all my own honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without compensation.

Overall, I think this was a solid book. Admittedly, it took me a while to get into it. The book started off very well with the intro. However, when giving a lot of the background on the main character and the hotel, it started to drag a bit. It wasn’t until about halfway through where I felt it started to get going again and pick up momentum. Although, I figured out “whodunnit” ahead of time, the story line and the “why” was not what I was expecting, so that was a pleasant surprise. The ending for me felt too convenient and was too wrapped up neatly for me, but I think I’m used to reading series, so there is always something left to hang onto until the next story - so that could just be a “me” issue. I think it’s a solid story and a good read.

First things first, I would love to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's press for allowing me to partake in reading authors I love before the books are even released. I have also read "The Block Party by: Jamie Day, that book was also written exceptionally well. "One Big Happy Family" was a great, fast paced read. Tons of well described characters and a plot that would keep you guessing until the end. Thank you Jamie Day for writing edge of your seat books, that are hard to put down.

One Big Happy Family is a well written suspense. I was throughly entertained by the plot. The plot is fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat. I received an advance ebook from the publisher and Netgalley. This is my unbiased review.

First, thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. This book is a follow up novel to the author’s first – which was widely enjoyed. Alas I had not read that one – only this one.

“One big happy family” is about anything BUT a happy family. Obviously the book title is tongue in cheek. A legendary, small hotel on the coast of Maine is inherited by the Bishop sisters when their father dies. The three sisters descend upon the hotel one weekend to review. In the mix is also a young chambermaid who may have had some type of relationship with the old man. When a hurricane hits as they are all there – it makes it impossible for anyone to leave – a convenient plot device.

The plot is full of secrets that are slowly meted out as the book progresses. I found it difficult to feel favorably about this book as I didn’t identify with or like any of the characters. At first I thought Charley was a sympathetic character as the maid who could potentially be ousted from her “home” and her job that she needs to pay for her grandmother’s care. But I grew bored with her personality and her decisions. When she agrees to let a young woman who claimed she was hiding from an abusive boyfriend hide out in an empty room, she too becomes a captive of the resort due to the storm and a key figure in the plot.

The character backstories go on a bit too long and don’t provide the necessary support for the plot. While the author tries to create an atmospheric, moody vibe, the whole book fell short for me. The plot twists weren’t so twisty and I had it figured out before the reveal.

This book was kinda all over the place, but very suspenseful at times. The last 1/4 of the book flew by, however I felt the ending was rushed.
Lots of characters and a couple storylines will keep you on your toes. From the struggling maid barely making ends meet to the “entitled sisters” who arrived right before a major storm. Several others sprinkled in the mix as well. I had to go back a couple times to sort them out. Since I was not able to find the time a couple days to read more than 10-15 minutes. Not that the pace was slow, I just have tons going on in my life right now.
I did enjoy it, didn’t see any glaring holes in the plot or grammar errors.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and this my honest review.

This was definitely a story with a lot of twists and turns, but some of the connections you could see coming. It's a locked room mystery, technically, so if you like that type of story, you would enjoy this. The thing that I kept having a hard time with is that the dialogue just didn't seem authentic, like real people. It felt like the characters were just saying exactly what they needed to in order to drive the plot. Overall, it was enjoyable, but it wasn't my favorite.

This was one of my favorite sub-genre tropes! Secluded who-dun-it- /one-by-one type. It's set at a secluded hotel during a really bad storm. The family was unhinged and a mess and the whole thing was just chaos. Oliver was my favorite character, tbh. Everyone in the book kept acting like he was Damien from The Omen or something with his creepy rhyming but ALL I pictured the entire time was Cody from Scary Movie 3. Will definitely check out other books from this author! Thanks for the e-arc of this book!

This book hoooooked me from the first chapter. I really enjoyed it and couldn’t put it down. The only part that lost me was the epilogue. That was long drawn out and felt… well it felt unnecessary.

All in all I really enjoyed my first arc

This book has a messy cast of characters and enough skeletons in the closets to keep you hooked. Some of the twists become predictable, but they remain well-written and engaging.