A treasure hunt/murder mystery in small town Atlantic Canada! With Goonies and YA vibes, things never got too dark, despite murder and other crimes (no spoilers). I did find the switch between three POVs a bit much, and while there were twists I didn't find anything too surprising; but it was a really enjoyable ‘warm’ read, and a fun mystery adventure. (Plus as a Canadian, I love a Canadian setting!)

This book kept me riveted to the page. It was a roller coaster ride. Just when I knew who was the culprit, BAM you're wrong 😮. It was a very well written book. I thought it was a 4.5 out of 5, but Goodreads doesn't do half, so a rounded up.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc.

For hundreds of years people have been coming to Maple Bay, Novia Scotia to search for the long-lost obelisk pirate treasure. The arrival of two newcomers sets off a train of events that take things to a new deadly level in discovering what happened to the treasure.

There is a lot to unpack in this novel as Ryan has an extensive cast of characters who are all important to the overall story and you switch between four distinct points of view.

You have the present day of Peter, Cassie and Dandy and each have a point of view. There is the middle time which is the treasure hunter club with Mirabel, Bill etc. and they important to development of the story. The last point of view is told through journal entries of Henry Bellwood who tells of the five boys who started the whole saga. Now, the thing is, stick with it, as all the buildup as all these characters are required to for a conclusion that makes sense.

We start with Dandy, a local to Maple Bay who has been brought into the treasure hunting fray by Grandy, her grandfather. He has spent years telling her all the ins and outs and leaving her with clues to get into a whole heap of trouble. At some point in the story Dandy goes from treasure hunter to girl detective as she tries to solve a series of crimes.

Peter is eking out an existence when he receives a letter from his estranged Grandmother Mirabel seeking a reconciliation, encouraged by his flat mate Ricky, he accepts. As Peter ingrains himself into the local community Peter discovers that his family heritage is full of secrets that he needs to unravel.

Cassie is a writer who has had some initial success as a writer but finds her writing life in disarray. She is out of ideas and doubting that she really is that talented. When an opportunity comes along to house sit for a year in Maple Bay, Cassie cannot resist. Soon she discovers the legend of the Obelisk treasure and finds her writing mojo.

Harry Bellwood leaves behind a journal that explains how the treasure comes to be found and lost again. Through Henry's words he links the past and present and provides context around the ongoing dynamics of the families in Maple Bay.

Ryan, once he gets the story running, really gives you a fast-paced thriller, with plenty of twists and turns. The possibility of who is behind a series of crimes will have you guessing. There is danger for the characters and plenty of misdirection. However, the real culprit, well there is enough in the story for you to question their behaviour and motivation.

When this book hits the shelves, you will enjoy a mystery that will have you guessing.

Set in a small coastal town, "The Treasure Hunters Club" unfolds a cozy mystery. This story weaves together the lives of three strangers brought together by a quest. Diving into this tale is like embarking on a cozy, yet thrilling adventure that keeps your pages turning with its warmth, lively pace, and characters who feel instantly familiar. It all begins with a treasure hunt but quickly spirals into an enthralling murder mystery that grabs your attention and refuses to let go.
Imagine the surprise of finding out about a grandmother you never knew, extending an invitation to her grand estate in Maple Bay, a place known to hide a pirate's treasure. Cass, a hopeful writer looking for her next big story, finds herself in Maple Bay, seeking inspiration while housesitting. Dandy, a teenager with a gift for sniffing out mysteries and healing from her own personal loss, finds herself tangled in a story that grows twistier as secrets unravel and the mystery deepens. The story surprises with a twist so clever, you never see it coming…but you should, because it just makes sense.
So grateful to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for this advance reading copy. It introduced me to an author I had never heard of and a story that was not only engaging but also a journey from start to finish.

The Goonies and a Treasure Hunt in one novel? Sounds right up my alley!
And The Treasure Hunters Club certainly ticks many of the right boxes.
We have three main characters:
Peter, who is contacting his long-lost grandmother
Cass, a newcomer to town, who is housesitting for a year
And finally, teenager Dandy, grieving fir her grandfather and intent on honouring his memory.
The three characters seem to have little in common, yet all find themselves connected through the past to the former Treasure Hunters Club in Maple Bay. And, somewhat reluctantly, in the case of Peter, agree to delve into the old mystery and try to find the missing treasure.
The story is told from the perspective of our three protoganists, and also via a series of diary entries. However, this means that we are frequently moving from the first to third perspective, and from one character to another, which becomes confusing between chapters as the reader is just settling back into the story from the viewpoint of one person.
As in all good mysteries, there are a few twists in the final quarter of the novel and I was pleased that these took me by surprise.
An unusual and fun read, perfect for the summer.

The Treasure Hunters Club
By Tom Ryan

Uncorrected Proof ARC

Do you enjoy adventures, twists and turns, mystery and murder? This is the book for you.

Peter's parents died when he was young and now in his 40's he is stuck in a dead end job, living in a crappy apartment with a roommate he doesn't like. Then out of the blue he receives a letter from his maternal grandmother he never knew existed and gets the chance of a life time. She asks him to go live with her in a mansion on the East coast of Nova Scotia and finally have a family. When he takes the offer he has no idea the chain of events he is about to set off.

As it says above I read an uncorrected proof of The Treasure Hunters Club and even with the errors yet to be fixed, I enjoyed this book so much. This was an adventure, a mystery, a twisting and turning ride of pure fun. All of the main characters were fun to read about and root for.

There were some downsides. I kept getting thrown by the changes between first person and third person but not enough that it ruined my enjoyment and though I'm sure some of it was error, most of the time it was a deliberate choice to switch perspectives and I'm sure some people will really enjoy the differences.

While I personally feel like one of the main characters could have been completely cut out and there wouldn't have been a whole lot of difference to the overall story, that character was part of my favorite scene in the book which I am still chuckling about.

The flow of the book was pretty good overall. I'm sure it will be even better in the finished product and the book has twists and turns, some of which I saw coming but more enjoyably, some that I didn't. I never felt like it was a chore reading The Treasure Hunters Club. It was a book (if migraines allowed) that I would have happily read in one sitting.

I plan on reading the book again once it's released (currently scheduled for October 15, 2024) just to see any changes made but I hope there aren't many.

Would I recommend this book to friends and family? Yes, in fact just before writing this review I was telling a family member to keep an eye out for it when it is released. I think this book is one that will be liked by most mystery lovers and definitely worth a read. Tom Ryan is an author to keep an eye on.

4 Starts out of 5.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book!

I was so intrigued by the description and I really feel like it was a mash up of Goonies and Nancy Drew.

I absolutely loved Dandy and Grady and found myself wishing that more of the story was told from Dandy’s point of view.

I found Cass to be an unnecessary and somewhat of a throw away character. Her story line only seemed to complicate the story in a way that wasn’t necessary.

Spoiler…..





I absolutely could not stand Peter and couldn’t reconcile his personality during the first 75% of the novel. Of course the reveal brought into focus why I couldn’t stand Peter! Didn’t see that twist coming.


Overall an enjoyable read but I did feel it was a bit slow to start, building on some characters that didn’t matter or weren’t necessary to the plot.

For me it was just reading the synopsis and immediately knowing that I would enjoy reading it and I did.
The plot is driven by three very different characters to whom you immediately become attached, and through their particular perspective you become entangled in a plot that I did not think was so complex.
What begins as childhood adventures becomes the drama of a town.
Super well done, because you receive information from the characters little by little and you become trapped by the mystery needing to know more.
I admit I didn't see that ending coming because I had started to suspect someone else.
In short, very well created characters, who captivate without respite and very well achieved that feeling of small town, big hell.
A super enjoyable read that I know would not have been worth anything if I hadn't had so many health setbacks in recent weeks.
Very good!!!
Very grateful to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC. It was a great first experience and a very good way to meet an author who was not yet on my radar, I will surely read a lot more of him.

The lure of pirate treasure has enticed many people to Maple Bay. Peter, Dandy, and Cass are three strangers drawn together by family ties to the mystery. The stakes are raised as people begin dying. They must solve the mystery and stay alive in the process. I had a blast with this book. I'm not sure if there are plans for this to be a series but I would happily read more books with this crew. The characters and town are all very interesting. There are some really good twists and turns in the mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

an absolutely stunning study in family and friendship transcending time and distance. i enjoyed every moment of this.

the treasure hunters club skilfully weaves together the perspectives of three special people: forty year old Peter with no job, sharing an apartment with a bum, thirty something year old failed writer Cass, and self proclaimed teenage detective Dandy (though aptly dubbed ‘gen z Nancy Drew’ by others.) though unlikely in both circumstance and situation, these three are interconnected in something far more intricate and older than they could ever imagine, spanning all the way back to three generations ago.

the promise of a new beginning draws peter back to maple bay, fed up with his dead end like on the east coast. cass desperately needs a hard reset after her failed book publishing, and house sitting in maple bay is the perfect gig. dandy has been here her whole life, and when mystery strikes, she can’t keep herself away- especially when her instincts tell her something is up.

this was a marvellous read. it was engaging from start to finish, with easily digestible prose. though it feels a little low stakes, the title is accurate— it is a treasure hunt, just not your typical one. it’s a treasure hunt of clues and hints from decades ago, a trail of letters and notebooks and torn out pages to piece together a mystery that’s been long since buried in the beach. the twists at the end- i did NOT see them coming at all, and that’s the best thing about reading a good mystery book: all that suspense and tension and you’re anticipating one thing, only to be utterly blindsided (in a good way) by something you never even entertained the thought of.

i only just received the ARC today, but i finished it within four hours. a gloriously fun experience. thank you so much for the ARC: this is the best mystery i’ve read in ages. will definitely be looking out for tom ryan’s works in the future!

Overall I enjoyed the book. It was solid writing but marketing it as The Goonies is a step in the wrong direction. It absolutely does not have the sense of adventure. It's a bit of a slow start to the book, taking about half the book to really gather the main characters and threads of the plot.
Of the main characters I liked Dandy the best. She was the most enjoyable to read about.
The twist about 70% of the way through the book was just absolutely wild and fully out of left field. There was no foreshadowing and it added almost nothing to the book. Really, the whole thing could've been left out and it would've been fine.

This is a murder mystery with a treasure hunt with a cozy vibe. I was not surprised to learn that the author has written YA books because this book is fairly PG for a mystery. He also spends a lot of time on following characters as they deal with loss, starting over, and new friendships..

My only complaint is that the shifting POVs felt distracting rather than flowing.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Three strangers, three reasons for being in Maple Bay and one mystery that brings them all together. The way the story plays out isn’t quite what I expected…it was WAY better! It’s hard to put this one down as you read on, so prepare to settle in for aa good read!

This was a fun read, lots of twists and turns. I never saw the big twist coming, though it almost didnt make sense with the overall lightness of the read. The mesh of light and very dark could be disjointing at times.

What a fun vacation read, and the real success of the book, is the big twist. I never saw it coming, and it really works. It’s a book I’m happy to push, and has all the necessary bench marks to be a hit!

Rounded down from 4.5 stars

Started out really slow with a lot of character development and world building which isn’t usually my thing, but it kept me hooked the whole time. my biggest challenge with it was when changing POV the narration style would change, i found it hard to jump from one “style” to the next- <spoiler>i LOVED the fake Peter reveal, It totally caught me off guard, i kinda wish the treasure had remained unfound to our knowledge OR had been found in a more exciting way, it was greatly over shadowed by the Ricky ordeal, while the ending was very sweet and sentimental found the ending to be a little lack lustre</spoiler> all in all i really enjoyed this book and it scratched the itch i’ve had for a good treasure mystery book!

Thank you to Grove Atlantic Press through NetGalley for an advance copy of this book!

This was a wonderful mystery thriller that you can easily sink your teeth into.

Imagine finding out that your Grandmother (who you had no idea even existed) reached out to you and asked you to come to her mansion on the east coast of Nova Socia. That was what happened to Peter, an orphaned man who jumped at the chance to have some family in his life. The mansion in question is set in Maple Bay, where there is the mystery of a buried and missing Pirate treasure. Cass is a good but failed author, who has come to Maple Bay to house sit and wait for inspiration to strike her once again for a new story. Dandy is a teen with a nose for a mystery and a deep sorrow in her heart after the death of her grandfather, though she has been set on a course that will tie the three of them together as more bodies start to drop in the idyllic seaside town.

Someone is after money, though which kind is it?

This was a great read, easy to go with, and fun to boot. A great pick-up for a fan of this genre of books.

This was a fun, quick read. I enjoyed the twist and the inter-generational story. The author weaves journal entries throughout the book to overlay different groups' attempts to find the hidden treasure. To be honest, my favorite part of the book was the description of scenery - really made me want to take a trip to the Canadian coast! The writing was somehwat clunky -- there were sentences that I struggled to get through somehow, and some of the character development felt a bit forced. Overall, I enjoyed this one and it was a great plane read!

Thank you to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for making this title available ahead of the publication date. It's always a great opportunity to read books ahead of the masses!
This particular book was not to my liking. It was very predictable and held little interest for me. It read quickly and the setting was nice, but I thought the editing was off. Too many british-isms, when the book was clearly set in North America.

My 6P review

This is the story of a long lost treasure found by five young lads. Two generations later, and their descendants are looking for the same treasure. As they search, family secrets are revealed and long-held unforgivable grudges are disclosed.

The story was more of a telling, rather than the characters developing the story itself. Speaking of characters, there were way too many. Each had a backstory, and yet none of them really seem to be developed enough. Perhaps the author should have concentrated on fewer of them. I didn’t even really know the purpose of some of them. The use of Grandy and Dandy as names was annoying and by the end of the book I’d had enough. How old was Dandy any way? She sounded like a child and acted like one, and yet we were told she was 17.

The big reveal was a letdown and it fizzled after that.

The one thing, the author did REALLY well, was the setting. I could envisage it, feel it, and I wanted to be there.

This story is more suited to a younger audience.

I was also disappointed that it was compared to Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, as I loved that book.

Thank you to Netley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review .