The Empty Chair

Olivia goes to St. Thomas to take care of her mother's affairs after a phone call that she has passed away in a boat accident. She meets Colton at the airport and offered a ride ot take her to her mother's house. She is having trouble finding out anything about her mother's death. No body and no accidents reported. Then things start happening which can't be explained/ The house is ransacked but then it seems like one thing after another happens Olivia does not know who to trust. Olivia does some growing up as this story progresses too. It seems like anyone who comes in contact with her gets hurt. One of those stories that keeps you guessing on who to trust or who is behind what is happening.

Good crime drama. I was kept guessing and couldn't wait to find out "whodunit!"

Really enjoyed how descriptive author was in providing the beautiful background of St Thomas lanscape (and St John) throughout the book. It's a good mystery read.

I loved this mystery set in the beautiful Caribbean island of St. Thomas! When Olivia is summoned to the island after a mysterious phone call about her mother's demise, she assumes it will be simply a matter of taking care of paperwork and final affairs. What she hasn't planned for is a handsome stranger, a bar fight, dead bodies, and many secrets and lies. Set in an idyllic setting, the novel made me want to book a cruise (without the bodies of course)!

I really enjoyed this book. Olivia travels to the Virgin Islands where her mother owns a home after receiving a call that her mother has died in an accident on the island. When Olivia gets there she discovers that there is no body and no record of a recent boating accident. Is her mother alive? This is a very well done mystery with beautifully descriptive surroundings and suspense that builds throughout. The ending threw me for a loop and leaves open the possibility of a second book. I highly recommend this book!

Penny Goetjen's The Empty Chair: Murder in the Caribbean was a great thriller. Olivia Benning travels to the Virgin Island of St. John after a call from authorities notifies her that her mother has died in a boating accident. When she arrives she is befriended by a young man at the airport named Colton, He gives her a ride to her mother's home on the island. After that nothing is as it seems. The police know nothing about her mother's death, Something suspicious is going on and it appears that her mother was linked to some sinister plot but why and what? Is it possible that her mother is even still alive? This book has everything murder, arson, breaking and entering, vehicle sabotage, animal cruelty, shady and suspicious characters. This is a book that will keep you guessing until the very end. (ARC)

When they received a call telling them her mother had died, her father sends her over to make the arrangements needed to sell the house and bring her mother back for burial. When she reaches the island and visits the police station, they know nothing of her mother's death. They tell her to come back the next day and fill out a missing person report.

Secret Harbor Press and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you). It has been published.

The mother was supposed to have drowned but even the Coast Guard know nothing about a boat accident. Where's her mother and why is she gone?

Olivia has been to her mother's home on the island before. She finds no clues there. She met an interesting man at the airport and he's inviting her for drinks. She asks him what he knows and doesn't find much out. In the meantime, she keeps looking for her mother.

This story talks about island life and how things move slowly there. It's hard to get a police investigation started. She's an outsider and the residents don't want to help. When she overhears a conversation, she decides to snoop and see what's going on. She almost gets killed there. Her mother's house is torched. Her mother's car is tampered with. Nobody wants her snooping around. Then her father gets impatient and comes to "finish things up". He just gets in the way.

I wish the main character had been portrayed as a stronger woman, but she did what she needed to do.

The last line of the book, though, makes you wonder if it's really all over...

The Empty Chair is a great vacation read! The Virgin Island setting adds to the mystique of this mystery. I was compelled to read this story in record time - it was hard to put it down. The chapters are short, the characters are well defined, and the story kept me enthrall to the very end. Would have given it 5 stars, but I did have to go back and reread a tad in order to confirm the ending.

This was an interesting story about a young woman who returns to St. Thomas because she received a phone call that told of her mother's death. This was well written and I found myself struggling to trust any of the characters. Olivia was a bit frustrating at times because I felt as if she was being careless and not using her brain when it came to trusting everyone.

I enjoyed this story and the mystery of her mother's disappearance and/or murder. The twist of not really knowing if Olivia's mother was alive or not made this story a bit different from other mystery novels I've read.

Here is a book I can do. Warm waters, missing one mom, and a twisty good read is coming your way. I love the photography parts as well. From the romance to the mystery and back again, this book was a nice diverting read.

My copy came from Net Galley. My thoughts and opinions are my own. This review is left of my own free volition.

Riveting. More scenarios than I thought could fit in one book. And more trouble than I thought one person could summon at a young age. Having never been to “The Islands”, except for an overnight in Bermuda on a submarine, I am convinced I do not care to go there, yet feel I may be missing something. For sure I would not be doing any driving but that is a small part of this mystery/thriller. An all-inclusive story, that’s to say most every adventure one can imagine. Love, or sex anyway, loss of life, bad guys, good guys, police, parents, friends and new acquaintances some desirable many not. A missing mother and a condescending father. A burned cabin, or two, and illegal activities being investigated by an amateur, in and out of jail and too many visits to the morgue. Not wanting to put is down and then being left hanging at the ending. So, I anxiously await the next chapter and hope it is as good as this five-star novel.

This thriller starts with a journey for Olivia to the Caribbean to find out details about her mother's death. Her mother was a photo journalist and was presumed drowned in a boating accident, but no body has been recovered. A friendly good looking neighbor happens to be at the airport when Olivia arrives and offers her a ride and to help her as he lives close to her mother's bungalow. Soon after Olivia's arrival there is a break in at the bungalow and it is obvious that someone was looking for something of her mothers. Then her father arrives unexpectedly and just adds to the mystery surrounding her mother's death. Olivia begins to unravel the series of events, but then wonders who she can really trust. The book will keep to guessing until the final page and definitely has an unexpected twist at the end.