I had not read any of Tom Ryan’s earlier novels, but with The Treasure Hunters Club being marketed as Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone (one of my top reads in 2023) meets The Goonies (a much-loved movie from my childhood) I could not pass up the chance to read it.

In terms of the nostalgic feel I was hoping for, Ryan has delivered in spades; weaving so many well-worn crime mystery tropes plus a healthy serving of pop culture references into this story. The similarities to Nancy Drew (the TV series) are hard to miss in many respects, with gutsy teenager Dandy, for me the most well-developed and compelling character in this novel.

I typically love multi-character alternating narrative perspectives and epistolary elements. For the most part, Ryan employs these constructs quite ably in The Treasure Hunters Club. They certainly kept me turning the digital pages. However, the character voices were not as distinct as I would have liked, and they are not clearly signposted. At the beginning of some chapters it took me quite a few paragraphs before I was sure whose viewpoint I was reading.

This puzzling mystery is then further complicated by the relatively long interlinked character list, particularly when you include the many references to actions by more than one generation long dead.

That said, Ryan’s small town setting for The Treasure Hunters Club, Maple Bay, is evocatively depicted. Within that microcosm he has conjured up ample intrigue and suspense, an ambitiously sticky web of deceit, and some great red herrings. Perhaps I am over thinking it, but I noted self-deprecating authorial humour woven through the metafiction elements too.

So sure, there were clear weaknesses in execution. But overall, I enjoyed this novel. The Treasure Hunters Club is an entertaining historical mystery thriller that reboots the nostalgic spirit of a classic 1980’s family adventure movie while brutally demonstrating the ageless and pervasive consequences of greed. 3.75 Stars

Such a different story that had my attention from beginning to end. And can we talk about that twist that I didn't see coming from a million miles away? SO GOOD!
I will highly recommend this book!

This book feels like a complicated one to review. Because the premise itself was incredible. A group of treasure hunting boys finds treasure, and one of them betrays them. But it's their descendants that have to solve the mystery of what really happened. I adored Dandy and Cass and could hardly put the book down as we read journal snippets and interviewed suspects to find out the truth. And as the body count grew, I became more engrossed in the story. Ryan has incredible prose that enabled me to feel like I was right there in the story, right there in Maple Bay. And then the ending happened, and without giving spoilers, I felt like I'd been betrayed as a reader. The ending left me angry because I felt like I'd invested all this time into a story that was all a lie. A lie for an ending "twist" that felt like cheating. So while I'd give most of the book 5 stars, that ending twist knocked three stars off for me because I was so upset.

We get to follow a whole bunch of characters, from different generations even, as they search for burried treasure.

This was a great book. I loved the quirky setting/plot and it had a great twist!

Just ok for me. Had hopes in the beginning as the story seemed fun but it petered out at the end and just didn’t stick the landing. Felt unfulfilling and frustrating. Maybe part of this is from just introducing too many characters at once with flashbacks and present day. None of them were especially memorable so nothing stuck around.

2.5 A lot of the reads I’ve had the highest hopes for have let me down, and unfortunately, this was one of them. This is yet another case of an amazing synopsis that doesn’t live up to the delivery or content of the book. I was so ready to dive into an adventurous, charismatic tale full of treasure hunts, suspense, and thrills, but this book gave me little to none of those things.

The major characters didn’t grab my attention, and ironically, the most intriguing and well-developed characters were the ones who were already dead. I went into this expecting an exhilarating, fast-paced adventure, but nothing about the story ever felt truly adventurous or fulfilling. Instead, it leaned heavily toward being a cozy read, which is the exact opposite of what I was looking for.

If you're after something light and cozy, this might work for you. But if, like me, you're looking for something with edge and excitement, this book doesn’t deliver.

Generations ago, a sailing ship lost a treasure off the coast of Nova Scotia. Decades ago, a group of friends found the treasure. Then, it disappeared. Since then, there has been a society of their offspring dedicated to finding the treasure. But they are all in their eighties and nineties. Or dead.
This book jumps between characters as well as between the past and present. We also move from first person narration, to third person omniscient, to a different third person omniscient, to some epistolary. And there are layers of the mystery. In other words, there's a lot going on. There's even a touch of fantasy at the end. For someone who doesn't mind a sort of sprawling book that runs all over, this is going to be a great book.

Three stars
This book came out October 15, 2024
ARC kindly provided by Grove Atlantic and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

An adventure that spans years and multiple family generations. You think you know where this is going until the plot twist catches up with you and leaves your mouth open. Really enjoyed my time with this one.

If you're a fan of "The Goonies" and have a soft spot for YA novels filled with treasure and mystery, "The Treasure Hunters Club" by Tom Ryan might be your next big adventure! This book has all the hallmarks of a classic quest—secrets, hidden clues, and enough plot twists to keep you guessing (or at least second-guessing) at every turn.

The story is told through the eyes of three very different characters, each bringing their own vibe and perspective to the mix. I'll admit, the rotating first-person narratives can feel a bit dizzying at times—it's like switching gears a little too fast—but once I got used to the rhythm, I found myself enjoying the unique lens each character added to the adventure. And let's talk about the vibe: it's very current, with pop culture references sprinkled throughout, grounding the story firmly in the here and now, making it feel familiar even while the characters are hunting down age-old secrets.

One of the best aspects of "The Treasure Hunters Club" is its ability to zigzag through the plot. Just when you think you've got it all figured out—bam!—something changes, and you're thrown for a loop. Don't get me wrong; sometimes, the turns are a little predictable, but the story's constant momentum keeps you from staying in one spot too long. It does take a minute to get going, though. I wasn't fully hooked until about a quarter of the way through, but once it hits its stride, it's hard not to get swept up in the thrill of the chase.

But, fair warning, while the plot is a blast, there are moments when I felt like I was drifting a bit, almost like waiting for the next big twist to kick in. During those stretches, I'll admit I peeked ahead to see how much was left—but then, just as quickly, I'd hit a part where I couldn't flip the pages fast enough.

Overall, "The Treasure Hunters Club" is a fun read, especially for anyone craving a bit of action and mystery with a modern-day twist. It's not my all-time favorite, but I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a lively, treasure-filled adventure. This was my first time reading Tom Ryan's work, and after this, I'm curious to see what else he has in store—so I'll be on the lookout for more of his tales.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the advanced reader's copy; all opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Maple Bay is known for it's legends of pirates leaving treasure on the island, but some locals know more than they let on. Three strangers are pulled into the mystery, and as bodies begin to pile up they are not only searching for the treasure, but solving murders too! The characters in this book are truly lovable and it is fun to read from multiple POVs. I would classify this on the cozier side of mystery.

The quiet seaside town of Maple Bay, Nova Scotia is anything but. With a history of pirate treasure and locals harbouring dark secrets there is more to Maple Bay than meets the eye. High school student, Dandy, nearly 40 year old Peter, and Cass the washed up writer are on a crash course into each other and the underbelly of Maple Bay.

Written from the perspectives of these three characters you will feel like you are seeing the mystery unfold before your eyes. The twists will keep you guessing and if you’re anything like me shocked at the very end. With murder, mystery, and a treasure hunt what more could you want?

Thank you NetGalley, Grove Atlantic & Atlantic Monthly Press for a copy to review.

The Treasure Hunters Club is the ninth novel by award-winning Canadian author, Tom Ryan. Still grieving the recent loss of her Grandy, Reg, Dandy Feltzen turns up to the meeting of the Maple Bay Historical Society following his last wish: that she take his place there, and finally solve the mystery. She has a nautical chart to sweeten the deal: turns out the Society is all about finding the legendary Obelisk Treasure buried by notoriously blood-thirsty eighteenth-Century pirate Captain Barnabas Dagger.

The Society’s ageing membership, the five offspring of the original Treasure Hunters Club, has been radically reduced with the death of Reg, whose enthusiasm was their real impetus, and the walk out of Bill Jinx and Dr Frank Oakley. Rose French is fast losing the energy to participate, and only the scion of the Bellwood family, Mirabel Bellwood Johnson still has the passion needed, freshly stimulated by the discovery of her late father, Henry’s diary.

Mirabel has finally managed to connect with her grandson and only heir after her estranged daughter eschewed all contact since his birth, forty years earlier. Now, Peter Bellwood Barnett has come to Maple Bay after a lacklustre career in Vancouver. Unfortunately, before she has a chance to tell him why his presence in Maple Bay was so essential, he finds Mirabel at the bottom of the Bellwoods ornately carved staircase.

Just as Cass is despairing the state of her life, the failure of her writing career, and the need to quit New York, an opportunity lands in her lap: a year of house-sitting (and dog-minding) in the little town of Maple Bay, Nova Scotia. Might this be the place where her second novel is born?

Two of the locals she meets, Mirabel Bellwood and Bill Jinx are spectacularly unfriendly, but the bookstore owner, the bakery owner and the librarian make up for them. And although she’s not in the market for romance since her break-up, the hot jogger she almost runs over is a welcome distraction to her writer’s block. When she learns of the Obelisk Treasure and how it attracts people to the town, she feels the beginnings of a book taking shape.

Peter, Cass and Dandy each find themselves entranced with the story of the treasure buried, found and then lost again, each learning something relevant from their particular sources, but some are more willing to share what they know than others.

When yet another member of the Society dies, Dandy is convinced that the death, and that of Mirabel, is suspicious and, after overhearing something very disturbing, even has a theory about motive. But is she putting herself in danger by sharing what she knows?

Ryan gives the reader a twisty tale of greed and betrayal, guilt and remorse, secrets and blackmail. Four separate narratives tell the story, one in the form of a journal, and another that is probably none too reliable. There’s a body count of seven before the somewhat contrived resolution.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Grove Atlantic.

Fun sounding premise with mystery vibes; however, it read more like a family tree than an actual story. The plot became bogged down with the characters. I think many will like this but it just wasn’t for me. Thanks to NetGalley for a chance to read and review this book.

I’ve never seen the movie The Goonies all the way through, but reading The Treasure Hunters Club kept making my mind flash back to the bits and pieces of the movie I have seen. And yet this is much more than just what the movie has to offer. While it was often difficult to follow three generations of characters and which character was related to which of the five boys who initially found the treasure, this is set in the present day with a tantalizing, prolonged journal entry that’s more of a confession from one of the boys woven in. It was fun trying to piece together everything that happened in the past and relate it to the present, but it was a little predictable and the main characters just didn’t have as much to do with each other as I had hoped.

In the 1920s, a group of five boys went exploring and discovered the infamous Obelisk Treasure, a treasure chest hidden by some men of pirate Captain Dagger and then lost to time. They decide to hide it and then reclaim it when they all turn 18 and can then keep it for themselves, but, when that time comes, the treasure is gone and the friends splinter. A couple of generations later, three people, two descended from two of the boys, are pulled together to Maple Bay in Nova Scotia in order to discover the secrets those boys kept and to find the treasure. Peter is a Bellwood, the great-grandson of the wealthy boy who pulled the five original boys together, and his estranged grandmother is desperate to meet him and unload the family secrets on him. Dandy is the great-granddaughter of another one of the boys, a teen girl who comes off as a modern day Nancy Drew who was close to her late grandfather and is tasked with finding the truth and the treasure. Cass is a stuck novelist whose only book flopped, so, when opportunity knocks and takes her to Maple Bay to house sit, she finds what could be the story of a lifetime. But things get dangerous when the children of the original boys start dying under mysterious circumstances, and someone might be after Peter, Dandy, and Cass, too.

This was fun to read, something of a treasure hunt crossed with a murder mystery. It’s set in the present day, but the confession of one of the boys is threaded through and paints a picture of the past. That part reminded me of the bits and pieces of The Goonies, and maybe one day I’ll actually be willing to sit through it. It was fun and adventurous, and I really enjoyed reading about the friendship between the five boys. Most of the story, though, didn’t always hold my interest. I found a little too much of it predictable, though I did like the twist at the end. Unfortunately, it made a good portion of the narrative a little confusing, and I find myself feeling very dissatisfied with how misleading it was. Still, I enjoyed the adventure, because most of this felt like a bunch of disparate pieces pulled together and whirled into a story of treasure.

There are a lot of characters, and it was often difficult to keep them separate, as well as remembering which character went with which time period. There’s the original five boys, there’s their children, then there are some grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and then the great-grandchildren had other people in their lives to deal with and, finally, there’s Cass with her own story and people populating her own microcosm. It was a lot, and I frequently forgot who was related to which boy, as well as which boy died or disappeared. Only the Bellwoods were easy to keep track of, and Dandy only made sense with her grandfather Grandy because of their names, but I could never remember their family name. There’s also not much to their characterizations to really keep them separate. Mirabel Bellwood was easy as she’s elderly, but quite a force of nature. Dandy is the youngest and reminded me of Nancy Drew. Cass was a struggling novelist, and it felt like that’s all that defined her. I only remember her friend Falia because I’ve never heard that name before. Bree, the bookstore owner, was delightful, and I loved how bright and friendly she was, but she’s a very minor character. Peter was bland, but, by the end, I kind of understood why.

Maple Bay was marginally more interesting than the characters, but I found it difficult to picture it outside of beach and forest with a bunch of houses scattered around. I did like that this is set in Nova Scotia, but I don’t know anything about Nova Scotia and I didn’t get a Canadian feel from this book. I did love how beachy it felt and that some of the characters did go out onto the water, but I struggled to place Maple Bay and the Bellwood family home, Bellwoods, in relation to each other. There are other homes dotted around, and they just kind of dropped onto different places in my mind. I kept picturing a thin arm of land curling around with a small village, an imposing house, and lots of trees. Then again, I didn’t get the sense that the geography of the place was really a big focus; it was just a convenient backdrop and not much needed to be known about it. Instead, the interesting part was just how much was owned by the Bellwoods and what they chose to do with the land through the years. That history was fascinating, and it definitely held my attention.

The story was probably supposed to be the star here, but I grew frustrated when I reached the halfway point and the main characters felt as separate from each other as they had at the very beginning. They barely know each other, hardly ever interact with each other, and certainly don’t spend much time working with each other to find or solve anything. I was hoping they would form a second treasuring hunting club and would work together to find the treasure, but the treasure ended up being more secondary to the murder mystery. There were some subplots that were so easy to see through it was almost agonizing to read through them. The romance was uninspired and I really couldn’t understand why it needed to be included. Cass’s story was interesting, but she felt more like a record keeper than a real, involved character. The murder mystery part managed to hold my attention, and I liked the twist, but I was disappointed it didn’t add any depth.

The Treasure Hunters Club was a fantastic story about opportunity, though. I liked how it was there at every turn and given to each character. The fun part was seeing what each character did with it, and how it affected their lives. By the end it did make me feel like it was hitting me on the head with a very obvious bat, but I liked that message. I had a lot of fun reading about the five boys, and just wish the present day characters were just as engaging. It felt like the five boys started the story and the rest of it was built around it to make it more interesting, and I’m not sure if it succeeded

Still, The Treasure Hunters Club proved to be a quick read. I found it well-written enough to hold my attention. Sometimes, though, I found myself wanting to read just to get to the inevitable reveals so I could feel I was right. So much of it was easy to see through, and there are enough interestingly weird things that happen early on that I felt my curiosity was piqued. Unfortunately, most of the characters were lackluster and all of them lacked depth, though Dandy felt the most interesting and thus most developed. I was also not a big fan of the way the story ended as it kind of made me feel like I wasted my time. But I loved the adventure, and I had fun wondering who was going to turn up dead next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

The long-told story of pirate treasure in Maple Bay holds the base of our story. People have searched for years and years but there are some who know the truth and when three people look in the present day, people start dying and truths are revealed.

Peter finds out on his 40th birthday that he has a very wealthy grandmother who has been looking for him. His mother moved them away from Bellwood, the family estate, when he was young. His aunt and uncle took him in when his parents died in an accident. His grandmother sent them money all along for his education. He never knew. He never got any of it. His roommate convinces him to go to see his grandmother, she is very old and probably doesn't have much time. Plus, she is rich.

Cass is at a standstill with her new novel she is writing and just when she thinks she will have to move home with her mother, she gets an offer to housesit in Maple Bay for a friend of her late father's. She jumps at the chance and as she meets the town's characters, she finds her new storyline.

Dandy has just lost her dearly loved Grandy and he leaves her a satchel with a mystery for her. The treasure!

These three begin their search for the treasure and the truth. People start dying (killed) and they get deeper into what's going on.

It is a bit slow for most of the book but the climax is fantastic and took me somewhere I hadn't expected at all! That was a twist!

Thanks to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for a copy for review.

I think this had a great plot and some fantastic characters. I could easily see this becoming a series because the mystery was well written and engaging.

Concept was intriguing but execution left much to be desired. Sooo many characters to keep track of. And some "chapters" (which are not numbered) did not indicate whose POV it was and so I'd go into the chapter wondering who was "speaking". If have to guess based off story clues and that was annoying. Also, strongly disliked the ending!

This was an intriguing read with a clever plot revolving around the search for the Obelisk Treasure. The wonderful storytelling connected the past and present together beautifully. There were so many plot twists and turns as secrets from the past and present are revealed throughout the story. I never knew what was going to happen next! I loved that each character had quirks that made them both unique and relatable. I was surprised when the present killer was revealed. I didn’t see that coming! Dandy also surprised me at the end by the choice she made. Why didn’t she involve Peter? Was she trying to protect herself or trying to protect Peter’s dream project and other treasure hunters?

Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

There was a lot of character work happening - 5 families are represented, with multiple generations and timelines, so once in a while I had to sit back and figure out the "whos" - especially if it had been a couple days between readings. 

However, I loved the adventure, mystery, and treasure-hunting aspect of it - perfect for a girl who loved The Goonies as a kid and has been present while her husband was caught up in episodes of Outer Banks. I loved that Treasure Hunters Club was a Canadian-setting. It was an easy, enjoyable read with a bit of a twist that I didn't see coming until right before it happened... and overall, I was entertained. I was pleasantly satisfied with this one!

My thanks to the author and publisher for the ARC- opinions are entirely my own.

This book was a delight to read! I actually thought it would be more focused on the pirate and the treasure, but this was more about the murder mystery. Oh, the treasure is a big component, but it isn’t what the novel is ultimately about.

Each chapter is a different characters POV, which allowed the reader to see a well-rounded situation. However, this also allowed for the author to add an interesting plot twist. One that I did not see coming.

Overall, I rate this novel 5 out of 5 stars.