One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day is an exhilarating, suspense-filled read that delivers exactly what fans of locked-room mysteries and family drama crave. Set in a remote Maine hotel with a hurricane looming, this book is a perfect blend of thrills, dark family secrets, and well-developed characters that kept me hooked from start to finish.

The story centers around the Bishop sisters—Vicki, Iris, and Faith—who return to the family hotel, the Precipice, after the death of their father. Each sister is vying for what she believes is rightfully hers, and the tensions between them escalate quickly, making for an incredibly engaging read. Vicki, in particular, stands out as the most unpredictable and ruthless of the three, while Faith and Iris bring their own unique layers of dysfunction to the story. The family dynamics reminded me of Succession—toxic, manipulative, and full of dark, hilarious moments that kept me guessing who would do what next.

Enter Charley Kelley, the 19-year-old chambermaid with a tough exterior and a heart of gold. Charley’s struggles to keep her job and support her grandmother add a poignant layer to the book. She’s forced into a web of lies and danger when she agrees to hide Bree, a woman on the run from an abusive boyfriend. Charley quickly finds herself caught between the scheming Bishop sisters and the dark secrets of the Precipice Hotel. I loved Charley’s character—she was the light in a very dark, chaotic world, and I found myself rooting for her survival.

The atmosphere of the novel is perfect for a summer suspense thriller—isolated, stormy, and filled with characters whose motives are hard to decipher. The mystery at the heart of the story, involving a murder and a tangled web of family secrets, is deliciously suspenseful. As the storm rages outside and the electricity fails, the tension inside the hotel builds to a fever pitch, with each sister harboring secrets and sins that tie them all to the crime.

The pace of the story is tight, and the twists kept me guessing. The book’s eerie setting and clever structure make it hard to put down, and Day does an excellent job of keeping the suspense high until the final pages. While the plot does lean on some familiar tropes, the characters are strong enough and the writing compelling enough to keep it fresh and engaging.

The only reason I didn’t give this book a full five stars is that I felt a few aspects of the plot were a bit predictable, and some of the side characters, like Quinn and Oliver, could have been developed more deeply. However, these are minor critiques in an otherwise thrilling read.

Overall,One Big Happy Family is a fantastic whodunnit with a Christiean vibe that’s sure to satisfy anyone who loves family drama, suspense, and twisted secrets. Jamie Day has crafted a compelling story with memorable characters.

One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day was a fantastic whodunit reminiscent of Agatha Christie. Great plot points and twisty character ARCS and development.

ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY is a domestic thriller that takes place in a famous family-owned hotel sitting high on a cliff in Maine. With a hurricane brewing in the Atlantic, the three troubled Bishop sisters return to the hotel to claim their inheritance after their father's death.

This book definitely follows the standard vibe of a murder mystery book. It's a stormy night in Maine at a resort in the off season aka no one can leave and no one is coming to help. This book had some really good twists and turns with an interesting reveal at the end.

While this book was a normal length for a murder mystery I felt that the book kind of dragged at points. Also felt that the time hops were oddly placed, and the point of views kept changing and I got lost in the story a few times trying to figure out who was talking.

I listened to the audiobook and thought the narration by Saskia Maarleveld was just ok. Not sure if it was the writing or the narration that caused my confusion on whose point of view was whose.

This story revolves around the (potential) new heiresses of Precipice Hotel: a legendary hotel located on the rocky coast of Maine. The three Bishop sisters gather at their family resort to hear the will of their late father, George Bishop, who has just passed away. When the will doesn't exactly include what they thought it would, and a hurricane traps them in with the workers... what will happen?

Surely not a murder... right?

A fun, fast paced thriller set on the rocky coast of Maine- the setting alone sold me. This author did a fantastic job of sucking me in to this story from the beginning and introducing characters I didn't know I would care about! I was along for the ride, and boy did I enjoy it.

The audiobook was very good, and helped me to really picture this whole setting!!

What to expect:
- an immersive setting
- a locked room mystery
- a dysfunctional family
- long-held secrets
- a creepy child
- riddles

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for an advance listener copy of One Big Happy Family.

When the patriarch of the Bishop family passes, daughters Iris, Vicki, and Faith, meet at the family’s coastal Maine hotel for the weekend to claim what they all believe is rightfully theirs. When they arrive, a 19 year old ‘chambermaid’ named Charley makes her presence known. As a favorite of their father, she poses a threat to the sisters and their inheritance.


While the sisters each have their own secrets, so does Charley - in the form of a woman on the run hiding in a guest room harboring her own dark past. As a hurricane approaches, it’s hard to tell which is the bigger threat - the weather or the people trapped in the hotel together.

First and foremost, I want to give Jamie Day props for having two books with very similar covers that are also very different. I can only hope that in future books she continues to find ways to play with the “empty scene with chairs” vibe. It might be small and silly, but I appreciate it and think it’s something fun!

I think this book had a lot that intrigued me: the cover (as stated), the secluded location, the strained sister relationship, the storm, and the mysterious younger girl who is a stranger to the daughters. Unfortunately it didn’t quite come together for me. I never fully got invested in the sisters which left the story severely lacking for me. I wish I could explain why, but I can’t and so that fault may lie with me. I was super intrigued by Charley and enjoying her portion, but again when I was dragged into the sisters portions I’d find my attention waning.

Maybe it read more as a ‘contemporary mystery’ than a thriller and that’s what did it? I tend to struggle with books like that (think Apples Never Fall). I feel like I’d enjoy this much more as a movie than I did a book.

I’m also not sure I loved the narration. I’ve listened to a ton of books narrated by Saskia and I think overall she is a fantastic narrator but something about this one didn’t mesh well for me.

I will absolutely read Jamie Day again, The Block Party was just too much fun for me to give up on her. And like I said - it’s not that this was bad, per se, I just don’t think it was my kind of thriller.

I enjoyed the back stories and how they intertwined in this book. I also thought the setting and the twist were fun. Overall, it was good but felt more like a drama than a thriller. I was hoping for more thriller and suspense. Would still recommend!

The narrator on this one was great but even a great narrator can't salvage a mediocre book.

The characters were okay in the beginning, but continually got worse over the duration of the book.
The sisters and the husband with so many secrets between them are there for the reading of the will. These characters obviously have baggage but I didn't realize what an absolute disaster that would be.
The stranger that is staying there under radar and for free and the friends/coworkers. The attorney, and of course Charley and the other employees.

By part two, I knew who had done it and why and was just trying to finish it. The characters by this point were wholly unenjoyable and all at each others throats. The secrets were so over the top and wild that I had a hard time believing it and everyone thought they were right.

Aside from the annoying characters, the plot was decent and the reasoning for them all being there was pretty good.

This was a book I couldn’t put down. I needed to keep listening to know what happened. The twists and turns this book throws at you are absolutely perfect.

There were a lot of twists and turns in this one!

I was on board for the young female protagonist who’s fighting for her job and her nana. I think where some things derailed for me personally was the amount of twists - or supposed ones. At some points I would stop and think…what is going on here?

Lots of lies, a stormy setting (which I love), and family history made this interesting but I may have liked it better had it been more straight forward and the ending more believable.

A well-narrated audiobook though!

I’d recommend to dans of Lucy Foley and those who don’t mind suspending belief. This just didn’t hit well for me but might be a big hit for you!

My rating: 2.8*

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Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

3.5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

While the premise of the story was interesting, I had a hard time listening to the audio book because the narrator has a very nasal voice, which distracted me from the story. however, the story itself was pretty good and kept me on my toes. I loved the twists the story took, even if some of them were predictable, they did not detract from the story for me. The book could have done with ~100 less pages as sometimes it seemed a little redundant and the beginning was a bit slow to me, which is why I gave it 3.5 stars. I’m not going to rate the book on the narrator but I will be avoiding this narrator in the future. All in all, I enjoyed the book, especially the second half when the storm traps them and things start picking up and I will definitely be recommending this book.

Thank you to Negalley and the publisher for this ALC. I didn't not get to listen to it in time before it expired. Once I actually read this I'll update my review.

When the three Bishop sisters are trapped in what they all thought would be their own hotel, The Precipice all hell breaks loose. Although the weather had different plans than they did, it will either push them closer together or tear them further apart.

This book definitely has everything a thriller needs. From the power going out to a murderer on the loose with a huge hotel thrown in the mix, this book definitely gets 5 out of 5 stars from me.

A very interesting, locked room, mystery!

I felt like this one was a bit slow paced in the first half, but then it picked up a lot in the second half. I really enjoyed the flashback portions of the story, but still found it a bit hard at times to remember who was who (this one has lots of characters). Overall though it was interesting and kept me wanting to know more. I listened to this one on audio and I flew through it. I wasn't a huge fan of how chaotic the ending was, but overall it was still a good read!

Part of the story dragged for me, but it is a classic rendition of Agatha Christie is you favor those.

Audiobook narration was okay; I had to listen at double the speed I usually do.

One Big Happy Family was a great read by Jamie Day. The Precipice is a family-owned hotel on the coast of Maine. The Bishop Sisters; Iris, Vicki, and Faith; have come for the weekend to claim the hotel after their father’s passing. There’s a hurricane looming and the sisters all are harboring dangerous secrets. Unfortunately, not everyone will be leaving the hotel with murder in the air. Add the nineteen-year-old chambermaid Charley Kelley in the mix. I enjoyed reading this book and can’t wait to read more by the author.

Every now and then I get in the mood for a mystery and One Big Happy Family sounded like a good choice. This was my first book by Jamie Day, but I'll definitely be looking for more by her in the future. I loved the setting in Maine with a storm looming on the horizon. Immediately I felt for Charley and speed through this book as fast as I could to find out what happens to her!

I read/listened to the audio version of this. Saskia Maarleveld is a master narrator and once again does an amazing job!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Publication date: 16 July 2024

The audio for this book was well done and I enjoyed the narrator. I think she made the book easier to continue. For me, the story sort of lost me in the second half. It seemed like a slow burn but I was enjoying the story and wanted to know where it was going. But the second half slowed way down and had a bit of an info dump and seemed dragged out. The story for me is 3 stars. The narration I’ll give 4

I just wanted to connect more with the characters and for it to have a quicker pace. I also struggled a bit to remember who was who.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I really loved the last book by author Jamie Day that I listened to, but this book was a huge disappointment. I didn't really like any of the characters and, therefore, didn't really care what happened to them.

If you like locked room mysteries and domestic thrillers this story is for you. I loved the setting, all the secrets, lies and family drama, of course the hurricane also added that extra to the story, but it took me a bit to get into the story, it was a bit slow for me. Overall is a good domestic thriller.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this complimentary audiobook.

𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 released July 16, 2024.