When the patriarch of the family passes away, his three daughters return to the family owned hotel for the reading of the will. While the current employees are trying to save the hotel and their jobs, they don't know who will be the new owner will be. While everyone is gathered, a major hurricane hits and bodies start dropping. This is a suspenseful read that keeps you guessing on who is the murderer. Great and interesting characters with a great plot.

Thank you to NetGalley, along with the author and publisher for an ARC of the book before it was available.

This wasn't for me. I wasn't really engaged from the start, and it unfortunately never picked up for me. I haven't read anything else by this author, and I'm not sure that I will. I was left bored.

A locked room mystery where everyone has a secret. There was a lot of subplots going on, but I feel like everything came together nicely and nothing was left hanging. Several of the twists were easily guessed early on, but the story was still enjoyable.

This was my first time reading Jamie Day and it probably won't be my last. I have mixed feelings with this story. While I loved how fast paced and atmospheric the story was, but I did find it a bit predictable. Although I will say I was throughout enjoying myself while I kept flipping the page. The writing style of this author is a funny and entertaining. I will say I loved how the author was able to immerse me into this setting. I also did not appreciate the romance--it was completely unnecessary in my humble opinion.

Overall it was a good read, but not really anything I haven't read before. A pretty basic domestic thriller.

I figured out part of the plot, but I didn't care because of the writing. Reading how the characters reached the same conclusion kept me turning pages. This was very different from the author's first book, The Block Party, and demonstrates her ability to write a riveting mystery.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a little backlogged with my ARC’s but working diligently to get caught up. This book was a little different than I initially thought it was going to be. It was very complex with multiple narrators, storylines, and timelines that are explored. I really enjoyed all the twists and turns but had some trouble keeping track of who was who at the beginning. Overall it was a good read and if you like psychological thrillers and mysteries surrounding family drama, try this book out!

3.5 ⭐️


I absolutely loved The Block Party, so I was excited to read Jamie’s newest book.


George Bishop owns Precipice Hotel, well he did until he passed away. Precipice Hotel is unique, filled with antiques and it’s secluded. A hurricane is set to hit very soon, and George’s daughters are arriving along with their families to claim the hotel.

Nineteen year old Charley, is the chambermaid for the hotel. Her life depends on this job. Will they close the hotel on her? Charley has secrets too.

With murder, secrets and family drama- it’s a recipe for disaster.

I wanted to love this one so bad, but it just fell flat for me. It started off so good. But I felt it dragged on with the characters and their back stories, it was a little predictable and more drama than suspense.

However, this didn’t deter me. I will definitely keep my eyes out for more books from Jamie in the future!

Thank you to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a DRC. One Big Happy Family is available now.

I didn’t love it but didn’t hate it. There was more drama than I’d like - when reading a thriller I want all the thrill and less soap opera feeling. This was my first book by this author so I might try again - but this one just didn’t seem to fit the description and wasn’t all I’d hoped it to be.

One Big Happy Family is a family drama and mystery. I think the title and blurb are a bit misleading, but I enjoyed the story anyway. It had quite a few twists and unexpected events, but I didn’t really like or relate to any of the characters.

I could not finish this book. The characters were very unlikable. I was not interested in the story at all after many chapters.

I thought this one was just ok. I enjoyed the multiple characters and the diverse family dynamics, but I felt the pacing was off at times making if difficulty for me to keep my interest. I also didn’t find it suspenseful and the ending left me wanting more.

This locked-room thriller was full of family drama and suspenseful moments. I liked that the drama and creepiness were escalated by Hurricane Harry raging outside during the turn of events. The characters' quirky personalities also added intrigue to the story. The reader never knew what would happen next, what family secret would be revealed, or who had murdered George Bishop because everyone had a motive. I had my suspicions about Bree from the beginning, but the reveal twist at the end was a surprise. The one thing I didn't like about this story was the sisters' backstory chapters. I thought it gave away too much information before the reader needed it revealed. I would have preferred to find out the family secrets at the same time as Charley because it would have added more mystery and shock to the story. Although this wasn't my favorite book by the author, I would still recommend it to readers who love a good thriller!
The audiobook narrated by Saskia Maarleveld was enjoyable to listen to. It was read with lots of animation and expression that added to the suspense of the story. I also liked that each character was given a different voice. It made it easier to determine who was speaking.
Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for the ARC and audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

I read Jamie Day's last book and loved it, so jumped at the chance to read One Big Happy Family. Charley, a 19 y/o maid, works at a hotel in Maine. The owner has passed, and as family floods in, so does a hurricane. This turns into a not so happy family gathering as the murders begin. Another great thriller!

One Big Happy Family is part historical novel, part mystery, and a lot of family drama! The Precipice Hotel is under new management as its proprietor has died and his daughters are coming to Maine for the reading of the will. Housekeeper Charley is unsure what will happen - will the three women keep the hotel and allow her to remain at work, or will they be selling it and therefore making Charley find a new job?

Overall, I enjoyed this book but found one of the storylines to be pretty predictable. Some of the characters I was rooting for, others I was fine seeing them disappear. There were definitely some twists, but overall I found the plot to be just okay; which could also be because I read multiple books set in Maine recently.

I enjoyed this book. The setting and having to figure out what happens next made this an enjoyable read. I look forward to what Jamie writes next! Well done!

One Big Happy Family is not a thriller, it’s a soap opera. And like a soap opera it just keeps going on and on and on, sometimes without even a hint of plausibility, limping far too slowly toward a ridiculously impossible conclusion and a romance novel epilogue.
It seemed the author couldn’t make up her mind what she was writing about, so she threw in everything from soup to nuts. There was a heavy emphasis on nuts, as in crazies. At its core, it was a sad tale of dysfunctional families and the outcome of being children of parents who are any of the following: narcissists, philanderers, substance abusers.
For me, Ms. Day’s strength as a writer is in character development. Whether likable or villainous, they are well developed. I found myself more into the characters than the storyline. That saved it from being a DNF. There were certainly enough elements that could have made the story a real page turner and reasonably realistic at the same time.
Thank you to the author, the publisher St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an ARC.

A fast and enjoyable domestic suspense novel!

I enjoyed Jamie Day's previous novel, The Block Party so I was really looking forward to checking this out too.

After reading many emotional stories recently, I found this was the perfect read at the perfect time.
I read it in just a few sittings this last weekend.

Nineteen-year-old, Charley Keller is a maid at The Precipice, a family owned hotel located in Maine. Charley's previous boss and the owner of The Precipice recently passed away. His daughters will be coming to the hotel for the reading of the will.

There is also a hurricane coming! So as well as making sure the Bishop sisters are happy, Charley needs to prepare for the upcoming tropical storm. On top of everything else, a woman Charley barely knows desperately needs her help. Charley has some family issues and is desperate to keep her job at the hotel. It turns out, Charley isn't the only one with issues or secrets.

Not everyone will survive Hurricane Larry and all the dangerous secrets that will be revealed.

Another enjoyable read from Jamie Day. There were some great twists and turns and though I correctly guessed a couple things, I was still entertained by the story. The story had many intriguing and well developed characters. Some like Charley, were easy to like while others not so much.

A perfect summer read. Great for the beach!

Loved the Maine and hotel setting, there were some interesting twists, however the overall mystery seemed rather far fetched. The secrets the sisters kept were the basis of this story and there seemed to be far too many by the end of this. Charley was my favorite character but the romance seemed forced in the story, not sure it was needed.

I wrote about this on Goodreads and Storygraph and mentioned it on various social media sites: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6801686979

I really wanted to like this, but I'm not a fan of locked room mysteries or stories filled family drama, if I had realized that, I wouldn't have downloaded this book. Overall, it had parts that were decent and other parts that were boring.

Thank you to St Martin's Press for providing this eARC. All opinions are my own.