This is probably the best Minotaur Sampler yet! Very excited to finish these stories when they are published. “Every Time I Go on Vacation Someone Dies” by Catherine Mack: Eleanor Dash is on a book tour in Italy, ready to kill off her main character, Connor Smith, even though he is a fan favorite. When a murder attempt on the real Connor occurs, Eleanor’s enlisted to solve the case. I laughed multiple times during the sample and cannot wait to read more of this wild romp. Some people may be distracted by the footnotes, but I enjoyed them. “If Something Happens to Me” by Alex Finlay: For five years, Ryan Richardson has relived the unsolved abduction of his high school girlfriend. Ryan was never charged as there was no proof he was involved, but many hold him as the primary suspect. Ryan changed his last name and enrolled in law school, trying to put the past behind him. The case is reignited by the discovery of his girlfriend’s car—with two dead men inside and a note with Ali’s handwriting. Pieces of the story continue to be exposed…will Ryan finally get answers? There was an instant interest in Ryan’s character and how he handled this profound and tragic event. “The Nature of Disappearing” by Kimi Cunningham Grant is one of my most anticipated reads of the year. Emlyn is working as a fishing and hunting guide in Idaho when news of her best friend’s disappearance brings her ex, Tyler, asking for her help to find out what happened. The details of the scenery and fly-fishing were well done and I am eager to get to the bottom of this mystery! “Trouble in Queenstown” by Delia Pitts: Vandy Myrick is working as a private eye back in her home town of Queenstown, New jersey. Trouble is brewing in this small community. Her newest client, the mayor’s nephew, has a case that seems straightforward, but quickly becomes complicated. Visceral and crude, this story may not be for everyone, but readers will be hard-pressed to not find themselves rooting for Vandy. “Agony Hill” by Sarah Stewart Taylor: 1960’s rural Vermont is the setting for multiple mysteries, including a suspicious death in a barn fire. Warren is new to town and determined to do his job well. I found Warren very easy to get invested in. Hope that he find the answers he is looking for. “Red River Road” by Anna Downes: Katy Sweeney is retracing her sister’s steps using the social media accounts that documented her travels in Australia. An unforeseen encounter with a stranger complicates her plans, but may be the key to finding out what is going on. This one was unsettling right from the start. Not sure who is trustworthy or who is truly lost.

This was such a great sampler pack! The stories pulled you in almost immediately, and left you wanting for more!

I can't give a detailed review of each of these books, as I have not read them yet. But they are on my to read list and I'm so excited to have gotten an introduction to them. They all have their own plots and twists, but the one I'm most excited about is "Every time I go on Vacation Someone Dies". This is funny and has great characters. I can't wait to see where the story goes and how it ends.

Agony Hill is another one I can't wait to read. It is set in the 1960s in Vermont I was born in 1964 and grew up in New York, not far from the Vermont border. I've traveled all throughout New England and this series sounds like I could really relate to the area and the history.

I would love to read each book in this sampler, they all had things that interested me. I've never done a sampler before because I didn't think I would like just a tidbit of a story. After reading these, I totally understand why people can enjoy them. You can get a taste of the book and a feeling of whether it would interest you before you dive into the book itself. It was totally worth my time.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to preview six great new titles in The Minotaur Sampler, volume 11.

I am most excited about The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant, since I read and loved her first book.

Lately, I have loved the idea of sampling books. I read a few chapters of a few books, and based on which one excites me the most is the book I choose to read. I am such a mood reader, and this Minotaur Sampler gave me great look inside different novels.

I appreciate the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read the samples in exchange for an honest review.

This Minotaur Sampler, with passages from some of my favorite authors (Sarah Stewart Taylor and Alex Finlay) will have you running to pre-order these books. They are all quite different, but each had me hooked! This is a really good way to get introduced to more authors. I am really looking forward to reading all of them!

This sampler was amazing and is perfect for finding your next read!
There are three stand-alones and 3first in series. This is one of my favorite samplers to read and included many books I’m interested in. They have all now been added to my TBR list and I have requested some to read &review.
Huge thanks to Netgalley for this ARC!

Looking for something to read? This book is perfect for finding it! There are three standalones and three first in series. The books will be published in spring and or summer. This one of my favorite samplers to read as I always find at least two books I end up reading when they are published (usually it s more like six).

I appreciated being able to preview this helpful compilation offered by St. Martins Press | Minotaur Books. Timely selections include a sample from Alex Finlay’s seductive If Something Happens To Me and the well-received Every Time I Go On Vacation Somebody Dies. It’s an expertly varied and inviting selection of titles that curious readers will enjoy reviewing for future reading.

This sampler is amazing. It included so many books that I was interested in. Now they have all been added to my TBR list and I have requested some to read and review. Thanks so much.

Thank you so much for this sampler! I can’t wait to read all of them! Next on my list is Every Time I go on Vacation Someone Dies. Alex Finlays If Something Happens to me is going to easily be a 5 star! Thank you thank you thank you!!!!

I don't read much in the mystery/thriller genre but I'm always looking to branch out. I've had my eye on Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies for a while now and this sampler has me hooked! It sounds so fun and I can't wait to read it. The other books also seem interesting, I'll definitely keep them in mind for the next time I'm in the mood for something different!

Thanks to Minotaur for this great sampler of the following titles:

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack
The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant
If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finley
Trouble in Queenstown by Delia Pitts
Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor
Red River Road by by Anna Downes

I enjoyed the quick glimpses into each of these, and added several to my TBR. RED RIVER ROAD and AGONY HILL are both in my sweet spot, and I enjoyed the opportunity to comp some titles I might enjoy that are upcoming.

Great sampler- I am super excited for Alex Finlay's new book and I just got a physical arc of Kimi Cunningham Grant's newest. Thank you for the sampler.

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review The Minotaur Sampler, Volume 11 collection of snippets of upcoming releases. This collection is comprised of mystery/thriller books that are sure to get your heart racing. I love this sneak peek because it gave me new books to be add to my TBR and re-excited me for the books I was already looking forward to reading!!

Highlights:
Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies, by Catherine Mack: I am currently reading this one and it truly only gets better! Best-selling author Eleanor Dash is finishing her book tour and wants to end her vacation mystery series by killing off the main character, but PLOT TWIST, somebody may be actually trying to kill him in real life?! I love the addition of the footnotes to break the fourth wall- Eleanor is truly hilarious and this book will have you laughing, puzzled, and feeling like you want to take a vacation to Italy.

If Something Happens to Me, by Alex Finlay: I’m a huge fangirl of Finlay, so this was already on my TBR and now I’m anxiously awaiting its release! A story of a man whose girlfriend disappeared five years earlier, and only now is her car being resurfaced. In the sampler you are already introduced to two of the characters, and we love a dual POV with a mystery attached.

Red River Road, by Anna Downes: It’s been a full year since Downes has published anything and I’m here for this one! A woman desperate to find out what happened to her sister on a solo trip through the Australian Outback. I love the premise of using social media to try and unlock clues!

First, thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this collection. This collection is made up of soon-to-be released books by six authors, Anna Downes, Alex Finley, Kiki Cunningham Grant, Catherine Grant, Delia Pitts, and Sarah Stewart Taylor. In this collection, 3-4 chapters of each book is published as a way to grab the reader’s interest. It worked for me. I read one each day, giving each a short reflection and adding books to my tbr list. All six titles grabbed my interest. I really enjoyed reading this collection and recommend reading it to help make your summer reading list.All six authors were new to me, and I can hardly wait to read each one of the books.

As always, all opinions on this publication and review are my own.

Thank you Net Galley, St Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books for another great sampling of upcoming books. I love these seasonal short pieces of upcoming releases. My only wish is that more publishers would do this. Fantastic idea!

Volume 11 had six tastes of some
new releases coming up this spring and summer. Six chances to find a new stand alone, or the first in a series. As in previous volumes, I found all the books very readable, just some struck my fancy more than others. In fact, I immediately requested Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor and looking forward to starting this new series featuring a Vermont State Police Detective investigating a case set in the 1960’s. This is a book I’d likely have passed over if not for the sampler. This is a great tool!

Every so often, Minotaur Books publishes a sampler of mysteries, which is a wonderful way to introduce future publications of new novels or series. The Minotaur Sampler, Volume 11: New Books to Make Your Heart Race came out March 26, with the six works featured to come out in the near future. They are:
Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack
The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant
If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finley
Trouble in Queenstown by Delia Pitts
Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor
Red River Road by by Anna Downes

Of the six samples, there were four that I definitely want to read. Alex Finely’s If Something Happens to Me is the story of a man whose girlfriend disappeared five years earlier, just after they’d graduated high school. Now, her car’s been found submerged in a lake. In the car is an envelope with a message in his girlfriend’s handwriting…The second book to make my “must read” list is The Nature of Disappearing . Emlyn is working as a fishing guide and no longer thinks about the past. The love of her life is history, as is her best friend. But when Tyler, her ex, shows up with news that her former friend is missing and asks for her help, Emlyn realizes something is amiss and hesitantly joins in the search. But is there danger for her ahead?

Trouble in Queenstown has a great blurb that immediately drew me in. Evander “Vandy” Myrick is named for her dad. She’s a tough, Black woman in her 40s who works as a PI, which usually means divorce cases. Not exactly a glamorous job. But when a surveillance job for a relative of Q-town’s mayor comes along, there could be trouble ahead.

The fourth one intrigued me. Agony Hill seems to involve slow, steady detective work. Franklin Warren is a cop from Boston who takes a job with the Vermont state police. His first assignment is in Bethany, Vermont, where a farmer has been found locked in his burnt-out barn with the door barred shut from the inside, The initial appearance is suicide, but is it really as simple as that?

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is one that I’ll skip. The protagonist is a bestselling author who wants to finish her book tour and somehow kill off her main character in her next novel, but now someone has made an attempt on his life - for real. Eleanor - the author - just rubbed me the wrong way, and it felt like an irritatingly un-cozy cozy mystery. The last of the group is Red River Road , and I’m on the fence about this one, Katy Sweeny is looking for her sister Phoebe, who’s been on a solo van-life trip on the coastal highway in Western Australia. But she seems to have vanished without a trace. Now, Katy is using her sister’s social media posts in an attempt to retrace her sister’s steps. She encounters another woman who’s on the run for reasons of her own, and the two women form a bond of sorts. It felt rather strange, but it’s difficult to tell where this will go after just a few short chapters.

As a sampler, I am quite pleased to have found four books that I am eager to read when they are available!

Thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur Books/St.Martin Press, and the authors for a digital ARC copy of The Minotaur Sampler, Volume 11 in exchange for my honest review. My opinions are my own.

4.5 stars
To the publisher:: I have submitted this twice to Amazon.. The link they have sent me does not work.. I tried working with customer service and have not had any success as of April 8.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R2404GS4URJ2A/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

I always look forward to the Minotaur samplers because I get to have a sneak peak at the titles coming up and decide if they should go on my TBR. This time around I was really impressed by 4 of the books featured and will definitely finish all of these as soon as possible!

I mainly read crime fiction & thrillers but I also like to mix it up with some cosy crime or dark comedy novels too. Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is the perfect choice to add to my list for a lighter, funny mystery.

The Nature of Disappearing seems like a really interesting suspense novel with a bit of a wilderness twist. I was hooked by the first few chapters of this one.

I'm a huge fan of Alex Finlay - If Something Happens to Me looks like it's going to be another massive hit and I requested this one in full straight away. Full review coming soon!

Red River Road - I do love a bit of Outback Noir so this book is definitely going on my list - loved the descriptions of Australia.

I LOVE a good sampler!
They are such a great way to get a sneak peak at upcoming releases from publishers. Most of these books were on my radar already and it was helpful to get a taste of them. It is also a great was to get to know new authors. I can't wait to read the real books now. Many thanks to Minotaur and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

I am thankful to have been gifted this sampler! Most of these books were already on my radar, but it was nice to get to read a bit to see which I thought would work well for me. Giving this 5 stars because I have to give a star rating and because, well, book samplers are wonderful.