You know that one where the father dies and the family gathers to read the will? Yeah, the one where nothing is as it seems - this is the book.

I had the audiobook version of One Big Happy Family and enjoyed it. There were several characters and even more twists in the plot. I was at the gym while listening and at one point, stopped mid - rep on a machine because I was shocked by the twist I had just heard. Then I laughed at myself and paid closer attention.

Set in an eclectic hotel off the coast of Maine, One Big Happy Family (sarcastically) is what you get. Money makes people crazy but money isn’t the only thing that sets the Bishop sisters on edge.

There is a large cast of players in this novel. They all have secrets and are all suspects.

Inspired by Oliver:
Read this novel if you are into thrillers.
It will definitely make your bones feel chiller

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this audio book. The narration was done well and kept me engaged.

This one was just okay. It had characters and elements that seemed familiar from many other mystery/thrillers. I was not especially shocked by anything that happened, or the “twists.” Still, I enjoyed it as a quick, easy summer read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

One Big Happy Family is about sisters and an inheritance and the rumor of a hidden treasure.

"Three sisters come back to the hotel they grew up in - The Precipice. Iris, Vicki and Faith want to hear their deceased father's will and get their inheritance. Hurricane Larry is right off the coast and could cause some problems. The maid, Charley, is desperate to know if she'll be able to keep her job. The will contains surprises and when someone ends up dead, everyone wonders who is next."

Our main POV is Charley and you find yourself pulling for her - except that she's stealing from guests to help pay the bills. Todd is awful - and you have no idea just how bad he is 'til later in the story. Everyone has a family member like Vicki - control issues and thinking no one can survive without her input. All the sisters have a secret - something bad they did together as teenagers at the hotel. And the secret guest has a secret too. It all makes for an entertaining story.

Saskia Maarleveld is wonderful on the audio, even with all of the voices. She perfectly captures Charley's desperation and naivete. And the "Karen-ness of Vicki. I could see Vicki snapping her fingers to get her way. This is great audio.

The hurricane makes this a little bit of a locked-room mystery - almost. Day throws in a couple of surprises, especially at the end. I liked the ending and the twists. This would be a great beach read this summer (or a great rainy-day in the mountains read this fall)

You know that this title is totally sarcastic. You don’t need to think too much about what you would be getting from this book: there will be a big family, and they wouldn’t be getting along.

Owner of The Precipice died and all his kids got together to hear what their father’s will would tell them. They all expected couple millions to hit their bank account, but the reality did not meet the expectation. Money and inheritance always show the real face of the siblings. What happened at The Precipice after the reading of the will was way worse than what people thought.

This is a good book to read on the beach. It was a page turner with bit of family drama, and you would have a lot of theories about who did the deed and who wanted that inheritance the most.

I loved Day's last book The Block Party, and I was so looking forward to this one. In the end, it did not live up to my expectations. I was invested in the story for the first half of the book - the setting, the locked room mystery, Charlie's character development, the family dynamics and drama. But.....the way the story unfolded continued to get more and more ridiculous and unbelievable, eliciting more eye rolls than anticipation. This book tried too hard to be twisty, and it just didn't work in the end.

The story starts at The Precipice Hotel in a small Maine town, and the owner George Bishop was just died. The staff is waiting for his family to arrive for his burial and reading of the will which could be delayed due to an impending hurricane. Charley the maid who desperately needs her job is worried about the future of the hotel. The family arrives and not long after the mystery begins. Lots of twists to this story thriller fans will definitely enjoy!
This was my first Jamie Day book and I was not disappointed. The audiobook narration by Saskia Maarleveld was excellent I hope to listen to more of her audio.

“For me, books are magic. They transport me to a different world. Opening the cover of a new book never fails to fill me with hope. It’s as though it’s whispering that I have the power to choose a different life, even if I never seem to leave the one I have.”

Money. Money. Money. The root of all evil indeed. Unfortunately this one was just meh for me. I was excited by the premise but it just did not deliver in the thriller way that I like.

The hotel itself, The Precipice, sounded eclectic and so fun. It reminded me a lot of an Inn I stayed at in Provincetown and I loved that aspect. But the sisters were petty and not all that interesting and the hurricane baring down didn’t add much to the suspense. Overall an okay read but more of a family drama than thriller.

The audiobook was done very well and I really enjoyed the narration. I actually think it added to my enjoyment as opposed to reading with my eyes.

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for the ALC and ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I was excited to receive an ARC of One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day as I thoroughly enjoyed her previous novel, The Block Party. The story and excellent narration by Saskia Maarleveld kept me engaged throughout the audiobook but I felt it was slightly too long. It certainly won’t stop me from listening to or reading any future works by this author as she writes an entertaining book.

Thanks to MacMillan Audio and Netgalley for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for an honest review.

In One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day, we follow Charley Kelley, the maid at the Precipice. The Precipice is a boutique hotel on the Maine coast that belongs to the Bishop family. The patriarch has died and his three daughters have come to hear his will and claim their inheritance. They all have secrets, including Charley who has led a difficult life, and needs to steal from the guests to help make the rent on her nan's retirement apartment. Charley is described as smart, but she thinks with her heart, and is too trusting. She is definitely morally grey as she justifies her thefts as things that won't even be noticed. Plus, Charley is hiding a non-paying guest at the hotel without the sisters' knowledge. This becomes a locked room mystery when the chef quits as the impending storm, a hurricane, is advancing upon the Maine coast and the Precipice. That's when the first murder happens. It can only have been someone at the hotel. I thoroughly enjoyed this read, but to me, it was not the thriller it intended to be. The pacing was all over the place. If this had been very tightly plotted and paced, it could have been fantastic. As it was, I enjoyed the story and I really liked both Charley and Vicki's son Quinn. Future spin-off story? The cover for this book is gorgeous with the pastel adirondack chairs giving the summer vibe and the dark and menacing sea and sky screaming danger. Very evocative. The narrator was wonderful. I gave this book 3.75 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

It’s been years since all three Bishop sisters were at the Precipice, but the death of their father has brought them all together for the reading of the will. The sisters and their families arrive at the hotel anxious to learn what the patriarch has left them each, but their hatred of one another and a pending hurricane threaten to derail the entire weekend. There’s a storm brewing and it’s not Mother Nature – someone is killing them off, one by one. Will they survive to see the daylight, or will their darkest secrets doom them all?

Jamie Day’s sophomore novel One Big Happy Family delivers the suspense and mystery readers loved in her debut The Block Party. Day combines the classic murder mystery of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None with the modern family drama whodunit of Rian Johnson’s Knives Out movie to give readers an unforgettable novel that will keep you guessing till the very end. This is a masterpiece of family dynamics and a look at the long-term damage our secrets can cause.

I give One Big Happy Family 5 out of 5 stars. I could not put this one down! I grew up reading Agatha Christie novels and watching the screen adaptations – this felt like home to me! There were several times I thought I’d figured out the killer’s identity or the family’s secret only to turn the page and find out I was pretty far off base. Day weaves in red herrings and details that, while important for the characters backstory, completely throw you off the trail of the real killer!

If you love suspense novels and are looking for a great summer read – this is the one for you! Given the murder mystery theme, inclusion of substance abuse, and other factors, I would suggest this be directed to more mature audiences over 16. This would make a great book club pick – there is so much to unpack with each character’s story!

Similar to the cover of her debut novel, One Big Happy Family shows a group of Adirondak chairs set on a cliff with the storm coming in. The vibrant colors and drama they invoke drew my attention immediately. I knew I had to read this one once I read the publisher’s blurb – you are going to love this novel!

This book made me fall in love with ( and despise) characters! I listened as I worked it was easy to keep up with the characters and their drama

I really enjoyed the Block Party so I was excited to get this one. I read most of it on audiobook and it wasn’t until the last 15 percent or so that I became impatient enough to switch to kindle to get through it faster. I found the twists and turns to be pretty predictable once they came and I do wish the book had moved a little faster. I thought the characters were interesting and I loved the way the narrator brought them to life. Charlie works as a maid with an old closet for a room as part of her wages. She struggles to get enough money each month to support her Nana who has dementia and is in assisted living. The likely new owners of the hotel, three sisters, are coming for the will reading after their father dies despite the fact that hurricane is on its way in. Soon the three sisters, the attorney, Charlie, her friend Bree, and the sisters’ families are trapped in the hotel, but there are a lot of secrets and not everyone is ok with them all being kept. I enjoyed this book a lot even if it was a little more drama and not quite as many twists and turns as I was hoping for.

This was a decent read. It was a bit confusing here and there but overall I enjoyed it. Good pacing.

The title is something of a misnomer. This family is in no way happy. Not in the childhood of the three sisters and not in novel present day. Charley’s story isn’t any better.
The outcome of the book was interesting.
The narrator did a good job.
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press and MacMillan Audio for the chance to read this book.

“This crew makes the Addams Family seem like the Brady Bunch.”

🔎Toxic family dynamic
🔎Complex unpredictable characters
🔎Locked door thriller
🔎Who-dunnit mystery

This was my first book by Jamie Day and I enjoyed it. It felt like I was in a toxic, drama filled game of Clue…who murdered who, in which room, and with what weapon? It is safe to say, this is not One Big Happy Family.

Like most thrillers, there is a large cast of complex characters, each with secrets of their own, who could all be possible suspects. The story was a little predictable but there were still a few twists that I didn’t see coming. I really liked the first part of the story that was told through Charley’s POV. She is probably the only likable character. She is young, resilient, and works incredibly hard in order to support her grandmother.

The pairing of the epub and the audiobook made for a great immersive experience. Saskia Maarleveld gave each of the characters their own unique voice making them easy to distinguish, not an easy task when there are so many characters, delivering an impressive performance throughout the entire book.

Thank you @NetGalley, @stmartinspress, and @macmillanaudio for the #gifted ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I was lucky to be picked and given the opportunity to be an ARC reader for this book on NetGalley and I would say I’m glad I was. It’s a book that got me hooked from the start and as soon as each new character was introduced it was very well done and amazing read and I’d say thriller and whodunit lovers would enjoy this book as well

This locked room mystery was intriguing. The premise of the book was good and drew me in. I liked the narrator, although I wish she would have distinguished between the characters more. Overall, I enjoyed the story.

One Big Happy Family

Suspend belief and you’ll enjoy this ride. I wouldn’t call this a complex read but rather quite complicated family dynamics and a lot of drama. There were at least a couple characters that were good at their core and that helped balance the absolutely crazy ones. I loved the audio because it was Saskia Maarleveld and ended up doing the majority that way and with short chapters and clear character timelines it was a very easy book to follow even with a heap load of characters.

If you enjoy over the top stories with mildly insane characters while also dealing with a hurricane then this will be right up your alley!

3/5⭐️

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the alc and St. Martin’s Press for the arc via Netgalley.

This is one of those "such a promising premise" books. A closed-room mystery on the coast of Maine with a dysfunctional family and a hurricane bearing down on them all. Unfortunately, the beginning is so slow and loaded with too many characters that I decided to DNF this at the end of Part One. From what I read from reviews, Parts 2 and 3 will explore backstories more and focus more on the dysfunctional aspects of the sister relationships and then the "thriller" part of it all gets moving in Part 4. I just wasn't really to invest that time, so I decided to call it quits. I listened to the audiobook, and though the narrator was okay, she didn't distinguish clearly enough among all the characters that the narration sometimes was confusing. This is not necessarily the fault of the narrator (like I said, so many characters!). Perhaps if the novel itself had been multiple POVs (which could have worked well, I think) the narration could have worked more effectively, too.