An enjoyable thriller with a lot of characters to keep track of. I liked the twists and the ending was satisfying.

An enjoyable twist on a locked room mystery taking place in a hotel. Everyone is brought together by the death of the head of the family and hotel owner with a fierce hurricane approaching. As the hotel's limited staff prepares for the impending storm and the family members' arrival for the reading of the will, and that's when the drama begins. As old memories and sibling relationships are rejuvenated, we learn who is keeping secrets, who is telling lies, and who is willing to go to the furthest lengths to keep everything they know quiet. But the big question is - Who will inherit the hotel and George's assets?

I will happily give an honest review as soon as St Martins Press finally speaks up and takes accountability for the possible systemic issues within their marketing department. Thank you.

Charley is a live in maid at The Precipice Hotel, she struggles to make payments for her Grandmother's care even with her living expenses covered. The sleazy owner of the hotel, George Bishop, passes away and Charley is afraid that her job is now in jeopardy. An actual storm is brewing as the three Bishop sisters and their families descend on The Precipice Hotel to sit for the reading of their father's will. Precariously set on the cliffs in Maine with picturesque beach views, the famous Precipice Hotel's ownership is up in the air.

One Big Happy Family is a character-focused locked-room mystery told from multiple perspectives. The family drama kicks off immediately and we meet three very unique and mostly unlikeable sisters. There were a lot of flashbacks that made the middle of the story a little slower, but it did work to establish the characters fully. My favorite part about this book was the setting. Day did a great job creating a tense and claustrophobic atmosphere.

Saskia Maarleveld was an excellent choice to narrate. I loved her performance! She was fun to listen to and made each character have a distinct voice. 5 star narration!

Thank you to Jamie Day, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook!

From The moment this story started, you need to be prepared to be hooked! So many twist and turns. This book will be leaving you guessing who did it and who’s the next to die. Woohoo what a ride!
TBR Worthy!
Absolutely loved the audio version. Thank you Net galley & Macmillan Audio for this advanced copy.

ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY is filled with, secrets, lies and and greed. I liked trying to figure out who was sending the threatening letters and learning more about these sisters' past. The hurricane also added another element to make this an entertaining read! I recommend the audiobook, the narration was excellent.

Many thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for my gifted ALC

Thriller and mystery fans will love this novel by Jamie Day. One Big Happy Family releases on July 16th and will keep you on the edge of your seat! What mess, poor Charlie has gotten herself into a disaster of a family with surprises that just keep coming. Thanks to @netgalley for the advanced copy. The audiobook is well narrated if that is your preference!

#bookish #bookstagram #travelgram #wilderness #mystery #fiction #thriller #thrillerlover #travelgram fiction #maine #netgalleyarc

A twisty story of rich family infighting in a locked room scenario, told from the maid's POV. The drama begins when the owner of an old Maine hotel dies and the three self-absorbed daughters, their families, and a lawyer shows up to read the will. As tensions over the will mount, the catfights begin. It quickly becomes clear that not everyone will make it out of the hotel alive.

I truly enjoyed the great setting, premise and tension. Loved the set up of the hotel staff vs. the owners (now guests) in a stormy remote hotel. I was definitely hooked on the storyline and read through it at a record breaking pace.

I felt the main character Charley (a nineteen year old maid) was a bit hard to fathom. She waffles between naivety and brilliance. I also had a hard time with the narrator of the audiobook, who I did not find to really differentiate the minor characters enough.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.
Expected publication date: July 16, 2024

This thriller was a wild ride and had me on the edge of my seat! This is my first time reading Jamie Day, but I truly enjoyed this book and want to read more of her work. This book kind of gave me similar setting vibes as The Only One Left by Riley Sager, and the family drama in the story reminded me of the family from Knives Out. The hurricane really added to the suspense factor, and this twisty mystery had me guessing who the killer (or killers??) was until the end. And as a romantic, I liked the little romance sub plot that was thrown in there. Overall, I really fun thriller for summer!

Content Notes: There was some profanity used throughout the book. There were some political undertones at times, which I could’ve done without. There was also a character who is portrayed as Christian, but does not act very Christian-like throughout the book. There is also a very New Age/hippie character who spouts off some strange beliefs, uses tarot cards in one scene, and claims her son can connect to the spirit world (this is semi-spoilery so beware: he later admits that he has no connection and just faked it to make his mom happy). As a Christian, I did not like reading about these aspects of the story, however I felt like the book itself was really good and that these elements didn’t play a big enough role in the story for me to lower my rating.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and MacMillan Audio for sending me an advanced copy of this book! All thoughts and opinions above are my own.

The Bishop sisters are returning to Maine after their father has passed to lay claim to the Precipice Hotel. Vicki, Iris, and Faith all have different agendas, and all want their fair share. The women fled from their past years ago with a dark secret haunting them, never expecting it to reemerge. And now a hurricane approaching does nothing to lighten the mood.

Charley Kelley is just trying to do her best by her beloved grandmother who is suffering from Alzheimer’s. George Bishop let her have a job cleaning rooms at Precipice, but not without dealing with his unwanted advances. Charley makes do so that she can give her grandmother the best care she can afford. Now with the Bishop sisters arriving, she only hopes she will still have a job at the end of the day, and they don’t find out about her secret guest she is harboring at the hotel.

One Big Happy Family is a locked room mystery filled with family drama. The first half of the book dragged a bit for me, but the last quarter definitely picked up the pace, though I did not find the twists hard to figure out. Overall, this is an easy read that doesn’t require too much focus, maybe best read beachside.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and author Jamie Day for the advanced copy of the audiobook. One Big Happy Family is out on July 16th! All opinions are my own.

Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld, One Big Happy Family is the ironic title of this 'locked room' mystery. After the death of the patriarch, the constantly battling Bishop sisters are all trapped in the family's resort, The Precipice, during a hurricane in Maine.

Author Jamie Day centers the tale around Charley, the hotel's chambermaid who is hoping to continue living and working at The Precipice for whichever sister ends up in charge. She's concerned, not only because she desperately needs the money but because she has a secret. She is hiding a non-paying guest in one of the rooms--a woman who came to her begging for help, claiming running from her abusive boyfriend.

Everyone has secrets and when the group of three Bishop sisters--Iris, Victoria, and Faith--show up with spouses and children in tow arrive, it's obvious they are NOT one big happy family. But. no one expected a murder and the plethora of secrets that burst out of each of them as they try to survive the storm, and one another. Tensions explode as each secret comes to light.

You won't be able to put this one down (or stop listening) until each twist and turn is revealed. Recommended for all those who love a good suspenseful mystery.

This one was a fun one / a locked room mystery taking place at a hotel - the maid always gets all the action. We have one big happy family with many many secrets. George Bishop passes away and his will is read off to his surviving family members. But after that - all the shenanigans begin. It felt like I was reading about the game CLUE - who DUNNIT - it was entertaining. Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.

A locked door style mystery set in a peculiar hotel in Maine. Charley has been working as a maid at the hotel for the last two years as she has to have money to pay for an assisted living for her Nan.
I did guess some of the who in the who-done-it but not the why. No spoilers here . Definitely worth the read (or listen).
I received a ARC of this title. All opinions are my own.

One Big Happy Family is a mystery by author Jamie Day and narrated by Saskia Maarleveld. Charley is a young woman who is a chambermaid at the Precipice Hotel, where she worked under Mr. Bishop. But when he dies Charley must entertain daughters Iris, Vicki, and Faith and their families while they sort out their father’s will. Unfortunately this is all occurring while a storm is on its way, and Charley is seeming to realize through the book that the relationships in this family are stormy as well!
This is my second book that I have read by the author, and I greatly enjoyed it. I appreciated the variety of characters and what they brought to the story, as well as the opportunities the reader had to keep guessing through the book. I definitely recommend this one! Thank you to NetGalley, and to the author, publisher, and narrator of this book for an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very meh read for me. The characters were pretty unlikeable, there wasn't much character development, and the twists were not super exciting or earth shattering. The narrator was great, though!

This book unfortunately fell very flat for me. The characters were all so unlikeable and the plot was repetitive to others I’ve read before.

I did not read Jamie Day's other book, "Block Party", but I am thankful I had the chance to read this book.

This book may move relatively slow for some, but I enjoyed the plot of this book. It was nothing earth shattering with twists I didn't see coming, but I liked the pace of this story and the way it was told.

I like how the lives of all the characters end up winding together to bring this story together in the end. If you would like a book that has a slower pace, interesting characters, and good story telling, this book is the book for you.

And I think I have decided I like books that score more on the middle of the road (3.5-3.8ish) because often the hype isn't there, so people will give a more genuine opinion (obvs just my opinion), but there are several books that I have listened to that were *5 STARS* and I could barely finish them.

So, if the premise of this book sounds appealing (I don't like recaps at the beginning of EVERY review, you can read that on good reads) or you like to try books without knowing anything about them (that's me), try this one. It won't blow your socks off, but it is enjoyable. 3.5 stars for me, and I am rounding to 4.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an early release of this novel!

4/5 stars for me! I loved this fast paced, suspense book. I listened to it and thought it was great and easy to keep track of everything going on. I enjoyed the characters and the speed of things. I loved the setting in a hotel, during a storm, where everyone is trapped. Trying to figure out who did it and what is going on is always fun! There are characters you are suspicious about the whole time but can’t quite figure out and those twists were surprising and I didn’t figure them out till I was told which I also enjoy! The family drama is great and I never felt bored!

I will preface this by saying that I tend to listen to audiobooks at 2x or 2.5x speed. My opinion on the narrator is always based on whether or not I need to slow down the audio or replay anything at a faster than intended speed. This narrator was fantastic and kept me engaged the entire time.

Charley is trying to get by. She has been living and working at a family-owned hotel. Her life is upended when the owner dies, and his three children travel back for the reading of the will. Everyone gets stranded in the hotel during a massive storm, and some people are not going to make it out alive.

The book is packed with family drama and secrets.

I found it very easy to read.

"One Big Happy Family" is a thrilling novel set in the Precipice Hotel, where Charley, a maid, finds herself in the midst of a family crisis (not even her family) during a major storm that traps everyone inside. As the body count rises, Charley races against time to uncover the identity of the killer, all while fearing for her own life. The unfolding family secrets add layers of suspense, making Charley's predicament increasingly perilous.

The novel excels in maintaining a fast-paced narrative, with unexpected twists at every turn. The buildup to the finale is masterfully done, providing a satisfying conclusion that ties up the plot neatly. "One Big Happy Family" is perfect for readers seeking a gripping thriller, especially those looking for an engaging read during a vacation.