Fast paced and a thriller? Yes please! This book hits the mark on everything I love about thrillers. I was kept on the edge of my seat the entire time!

Hazel is a private investigator who has had a tough time making ends meet. That is until a wealthy woman offers her a large sum of money if she can find out what happened to her goddaughter who went missing from an orphanage. Hazel uncovers a lot more than she bargained for with this investigation and it will definitely put her ability as a private investigator to the test. Will she figure out what happened to Mia?

This was a really good read. I was hooked from the start and loved the idea of a female private investigator. The characters were great (some you love and some you hate) and I really enjoyed the pace of the story. There were constant questions about who to trust but I loved the relationship between Hazel and her roommate. I enjoyed the writing style and would love to read more of Hazel's adventures. She is a strong woman who isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes in and she definitely says what she's thinking.

I loved the setting of this book too. As someone who frequents Lake George yearly, it was really cool to read about the area a bit, especially since I could really picture it all.

I would definitely recommend this book for a quick read that will hook you from the get-go and keep you intrigued the entire time.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the chance to read this for free. This was my honest review.

Overall Rating: 4.5 Out of 5 Stars

This was my first book by Daniel Miller, and I was immediately hooked from the first page. It was different with the female main character being intelligent (I feel that normally they aren’t), and I love seeing how strong she truly was. She doubts herself a lot, but throughout the book, we see her becoming a stronger individual. Miller’s writing was super enjoyable from him providing a very high-level understanding of private investigating for us to making the reader suspicious of every character that we meet. As I read, I went from 1 to 3 to 7 suspects because no one could be trusted. With that said, around the 60 or 70% mark, I was pretty sure of the mastermind behind everything so for me, it was kind of predictable; however, I was writing down names, crossing off suspects, and creating my own hypotheses as I was reading, so I’m sure all of that led to me, figuring it out sooner than others would. Overall, the story had a really interesting plot with a good plot twist at the end. I loved the dark and moody, feel that was carried throughout the book, and how Miller brought in the classic ‘storming while visiting a creepy location’ setting.

Recommend? ✨ I definitely recommend The Orphanage By The Lake. It was a gripping and easy to read story that had twists and turns along the way to keep the reader intrigued. Before reading, please not the following Trigger Warnings: rape, suicide, child abduction, pedophilia, sex trafficking. This book is not suitable for everyone.

Great thriller! I am in love with Hazel Cho and I cannot wait to read the next book. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

A slightly creepy and captivating private detective thriller that kept me glued to the page. Private eye Hazel Cho is a wonderful character whose small business is on the verge of going under when an intriguing client, Madeline Hemsley, hires her to find her missing goddaughter, Mia. The mystery deepens as Hazel digs into Saint Agnes—the orphanage Mia disappeared from—and the staff, most of whom aren't helpful—and follows a slim trail of breadcrumbs to the end. With an elaborate cast of secondary characters, red herrings abound, and such an intriguing plotline, this is a book I highly recommend. I'm eager for the next book of the series coming next year.

—Thank you so much to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the chance to review an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was exactly what i needed. This was sure to be a great mystery from the get go and it did not disappoint.
It delivered! Shocking plot twists, amazing mystery. I was really shocked by the end.
5/5

I knew from reading the first couple of pages that this would be a good book, but it was actually an amazing read. I couldn't put this book down. It was fast paced, exciting and well written. The characters were enticing and all easy to follow. I loved it.

This book had me gripped from the start. It’s easy to read and the words flow well. This book is a mystery and thriller story about a teenage girl that goes missing in the dead of night from an orphanage. With no family except her godmother… and no clues as where she may have gone… it’s a mystery! Will the private investigator the godmother he hired, solve the case of where Mia, the missing girl has vanished to? I got a bit of a ‘Who done it’ vibe whilst reading this book. Could it be the strange headmaster of the orphanage? Is there more than meets the eye when it comes to the godmother? And then there is the security guy… hmm. I could have read this book in one sitting if I’d had the chance. I enjoyed the mystery and story build up. Great read!

Hazel, a private investigator, has been put to the test to find out what has happened to a missing teenager, Mia, in a matter of a few weeks. There are many obstacles Hazel has to tackle along the way and she finds out there may be similarities between other missing girls from the same orphanage over the span of 25 years.

This story has many twists and turns and the whole time I was wondering how in the world is Hazel going to finally find some substantial clues. There are many dangers, but Hazel is determined to find out what happened to Mia. Each character was described so well and made me feel many emotions like anger, frustration, empathy and happiness.

I was truly shocked by the ending! Definitely check trigger warnings, there are some very disturbing and uncomfortable scene's. This mystery thriller was very suspenseful throughout the whole book and the twists were not easy to guess. Which added to the suspense.

I highly recommend if you can handle the trigger warnings, and gave this 5 star's.

I could not put this book down!! I thoroughly enjoyed it and was gripped from the first chapter. There are so many twists and turns to this story that you think the culprit is one person then another and in the end you are still stunned. I would highly recommend this book and I definitely will be buying it when it is released!
5***

Thank you NetGalley and Houndstooth Books!

This mystery was a quick, enjoyable read, featuring a female private investigator who is flawed in all the right ways. I was so tense for her the whole time, as she tried to beat the clock and find the missing girl.

I really enjoyed this thriller and it most definitely kept me intrigued and wanting to keep going. I would have easily given it five stars but I was able to put the ending together by about the 75% mark so it became somewhat predictable at that point but it was still a decent read and I would definitely recommend it.

***Thanks to NetGalley and Houndstooth Books for the E-Arc. All opinions expressed are my own.***

This book was a brilliant read it keep you guessing right till the end . This is so worth a read brilliant .

I love any thriller set I a dark and creepy mansion so this was absolutely doen my street and did not disappint. A really strong police procedural and an original premise. The tension is built throughout and there's an amazingly creepy atmosphere built. A really decent thriller!

Thank you, NetGalley for the opportunity to read this early access book. I LOVED it!! This book drew me in from the very first page. There were so many twists and turns!

I highly recommend anyone that loves thrillers to read this one! 👏🏻😍

A terrifying thriller with the perfect set up. When you think of horror classics, we are all drawn in to spooky manors and especially a spooky orphanage. The premise of the book was superb, an excellent work in the thriller community. The pace remained steady, ultimately showing great promise for the author in his future thrillers to hold true to the goal of releasing quality plot twists.

What a great book, very detective noir.
I loved Hazel Cho and enjoyed learning more about her throughout the intriguing plot.
The book was steadily paced, with a few curveballs thrown in to send you off the track and the storyline was immersive and drew me in.
The normalised setting against such a horrific backdrop was well worked and the characters were written perfectly, to the point where I needed to know more about them, even the bad ones.
Would love to see how Hazels agency pans out and I can’t wait to read more.

I read this book in one sitting, I could not put it down and I just wanted to keep going until I could see what happened at the end! I love books like this that hook you and keep you addicted and interested to the point where you can’t stop reading!

The orphanage by the lake follows Hazel Cho, a private investigator living in NYC who needs a big win and a stack load of cash to keep business afloat.

Enter Madeline who wants to hire her services to find her god daughter who went missing from an orphanage six months ago. Although it’s still an active police investigation, no new leads have come up in a long time and it’s clear they aren’t invested in finding answers.

I really enjoyed reading the behind the scenes investigative work, following the threads until new leads come up, interviewing people who don’t want to talk and what their motives may be for potentially helping to cover something more sinister up.

This book is action packed full of crooked cops, car chases, illegal pop up clubs, kidnapping rings and more! I was a big fan of Hazels room mate Kenny and all the sweet things he did for her.

This is my first Daniel Miller book and definitely won’t be my last! I would even love to hear more about Hazel and her next adventure in the PI world!

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Houndstooth books for the ARC!

Publish date: available now

Rating 5⭐️ for the vibes and the addictiveness of the plot

Sometimes I want to read a thriller but overall, it is not my preferred genre. I am incredibly particular about the genre and often trying to guess what will happen next either distracts me entirely or I guess it too early in and lose interest. This was not the case with The Orphanage By The Lake. Hazel was initially written in the way a male writer writes a female character (but without the sexualization that would cause me to DNF) but once the story sucked me in I forgot about my issues with the writing of a female character. The twists and turns of this were fantastic. It was dark and twisty but in some ways felt lighter than many thrillers. If you are into thrillers I imagine you will love it and if not, I bet you will still be entertained.

Thank you to NetGalley and Houndstooth Books for the eARC! All opinions are my own.

The story kept me on the edge of my seat and I had the urge to read it in almost one sitting. It kept me guessing and suspicious of everyone. The writing is good and the characters are well-built, can I say that I like the cover too? I will look into other books written by this author in the future.