3.5 stars rounded up to 4

The Suicide House is the 2nd book in the RoryMoore/Lane Phillips Series. I have not read the previous book, Some Choose Darkness, and feel this works fine as a stand-alone. However, saying that I will definitely be reading the previous book as my curiosity to Rory's past is begging for an answer.

The title, cover and blurb give enough clues that this will be a dark story. Especially when an abandoned house plays center stage. I read this in a matter of days, having the need to find out what was going on. The chapters aren't long making it perfect for JustOneMoreChapter.

The Suicide House is a complex story with many layers, characters and even time periods. Yes, I kept notes. It's a slow-paced story with a couple of mysteries on the go, though in the end it mostly works out. Yea there were a couple of things that didn't sit well. But all in all, this was well written and intricately pieced together. The author kept me entertained with some of his metaphors. I liked Rory and Lane but didn't feel they got enough time with this story. Having not read book #1 so I can't say if this is the norm.

Charlie Donlea is a new author to me, one I've been hearing good things about. Will be reading more of his books.

My thanks to the publisher (via Netgalley) for an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Suicide House by Charlie Donlea is the second book in the Rory Moore, forensic reconstructionist, series. Rory finds herself traveling to Indiana to investigate a murder at Westmont Prep, a boarding school.  A year ago two students were murdered at an abandoned boarding house in the woods in a secret society game gone wrong. The murders were gruesome and disturbing. The murderer was never found and the students  that were there are dying , one by one. There’s a popular podcast about the murders and that’s what gets the whole story rolling. The book goes back-and-forth between before the murders and present day. It is a dark and complicated story. I especially enjoyed this one. It seems like Donlea’s books get better with each book he writes. You don’t  necessarily need to read the first Rory Moore book but it would be helpful so you can understand her quirks. I can’t wait until the next book Donlea writes. You definitely should read this book! Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This book definitely kept me intrigued from beginning to end and I was not disappointed. My only complaint is this book is very busy. A lot to keep track of and several different characters wanting a piece of the pie that is the Westmont Preparatory School and the massacre that happened there.  The book read really good and was fast paced. It had all of the sweet bits..... creepy abandoned house where a massacre happened,  a secret society,  a creepy tradition known as Man in the Mirror,  and lots more.

Thank you Netgalley and  author/publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this.

It's a trend for podcast to explore cold cases. Serial, Hell and Gone.....I'm fans of both. 'The Suicide House' by Charlie Donlea is the story of "The Suicide House' at an elite boarding school in Indiana.  This is a story of murder, suicide......and a secret society. 

A cold case expert, Rory Moore, is brought in to help solve this mystery. 

There is a lot is going on in this book:
--Several different mysteries
--Several different storylines. 
--Several different characters and points of view. 

It was ALMOST too much except that the pacing of this book was slow enough that it was easy to keep track and see where stories overlapped. 

Rory and Lane are clearly a team that can't expand into multiple books, however this one can stand alone. 

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

While I truly enjoyed the story of The Suicide House, I didn't enjoy how it skipped from character to character. All of the character insights were helpful for the story, but i found myself easily confused at the beginning. As I read more, it became somewhat easier. 

The chapters I enjoyed the most belonged to Rory. She was a very unique individual.

The premise of this story is most intriguing... a house where a gruesome crime takes place then becomes what is known as the suicide house because the students involved in the original crime return and end up dead.

There were twists I didn't see coming that actually brought the story together. I was unable to solve the mystery on my own with this book, which tells me it is very different indeed.

This was an enjoyable book.  It flips back and forth between today and the year before to tell the story of what really happened,  Creepy old houses in the woods always make for interesting mysteries.  The only issue I had is that there are two main characters Rory and Ryder that I was always getting confused as their names were so similar..  Requires paying attention.

Rory Moore and Lane Phillips make a good pairing, it has to be said. Rory is a quirky woman who sees things in cold cases that other people miss. Her partner in life, and in cases too, it seems, is Lane Phillips who accepts her as she is and is always there to hand her the Dark Lord when required.

There are things going on at Westmont Prep which go a bit beyond the usual cliques and initiations that exclusive boarding schools tend to have. Why several pupils and a teacher have committed suicide after a double murder in the grounds of the school is a big mystery to be solved and Moore and Phillips are the perfect pair for the job. They are ably assisted by some members of the police force and a journalist. 

The storyline was tight and drew me in straight away. I felt myself wondering how this was all going to go and how the clues would come together and point to the perpetrator. Masterfully done!

5 stars from me. Hope there is another book starring these two!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books.

Thank you to Kensington Publishers for this book! After reading an excerpt on Bookish First, I was excited to read this one. 

The overall plot line was great. There's something about murder at a boarding school that intrigues me. The myth of the Man in the Mirror and excerpts from that fateful night read like a horror film. It reminded me of a mix of The Midnight Man and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Donlea expertly wove in multiple viewpoints and timelines that added suspense to the story and no confusion. 

I loved Lance and Rory. As a true crime fanatic, these portions of the story felt familiar. From going over profiling basics and walking alongside Rory as she pours over cold cases. The two worked very well together. Despite this being the second book in the series, this did read as a stand alone. I appreciated that the plot from the first one had not been mentioned in enough detail to give anything away.

There were sections of the story that didn't seem necessary.  A lot of repetition happened around Rory and her doll reconstructions. A few of these scenes were necessary for the reader to understand Rory and what made her tick. After a while though it wasn't needed. 

I did like how all of the story threads came together at the end. Every minute detail ended up weaving together a sinister ending with an equally sinister bad guy.

The Suicide House is a thriller that delivers suspense. While it is told from different time periods and told by different points of views I love how the story unfolded. You are given small pieces of the puzzle along the way. I enjoyed this one. Thank you to #kensingtonbooks and #netgalley for my advanced copy. All opinions are my own. This one comes out July 28th.

Thank you Kensington Books and Netgalley for the free advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Donlea hits another one right out of the park with his second installment of the Rory Moore/Lane Phillips saga, and I’m already itching for more of Rory. When I read Some Choose Darkness last year, I never imagined it would become a series, but I’m so glad it did!

Rory’s character really grew on me in The Suicide House. I think when I read Some Choose Darkness, I found her to be much more awkward than endearing, but this time she really stole my heart. If you’re a fan of Holly Gibney, I think you’ll love Rory Moore.

Donlea tends to write short chapters told from the third person that focus on different characters as well as dual timelines to tell a story. He also usually inserts some form of additional media, and in this case it’s journal entries. He plants all kind of red herrings and he stumps me every time. I am truly in awe of the tangled web he is able to weave and the way he ties everything together in the end.

His books never disappoint and if you haven’t read any yet, I urge you to pick one up. You truly can’t go wrong with any of them! If you want to commit to reading all five that he currently has published, then although it’s not necessary, I recommend reading them in the order he wrote them. All of his books are tied together in little ways and you’ll appreciate the Easter eggs the most if you’ve read them in order.

Five high school students keep a terrible secret amongst themselves the night they are being initiated into a secret society. One of their teachers is blamed, but more than one person investigating this case is not quite satisfied with the verdict. A popular podcast host brings the story back to life a year later and questions are raised once again, what happened that night when two of these students were killed? And why do the others keep going to the train tracks and committing suicide?

Being a big fan of mystery/thriller/ suspense novels, this book really kept me interested and guessing until the very end. Of course, you read enough of these books and you develop your own theories. Was I able to figure this out before the end of the story? Yes, but as the story first progressed, I had suspected a few other people, but not who had done it. Where I won't ruin this story for the first time reader, be prepared to be surprised as it takes a turn near the ending. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me another enjoyable book!

4.0 out of 5.0 stars

This was my first Charlie Donlea book, but it likely will not be my last!

The premise for this book excited me from the start: Brutal murders at an elite boarding school from one year ago that are somehow connected to a recent string of suicides from the survivors of that night being investigated by a podcast. Sign me up!

I didn't realize when I picked this up that this book was a companion novel and that it was book 2 in the Rory Moore/Lane Phillips duo. I do think there is a little background that I missed that was likely set up in previous stories, but that being said I was able to be completely understand this book as a standalone and can be read first without much catching up needed.

Overall I found this to be a very fun thriller and I recommend it!

Here were the strengths for me:
Rory is a badass, who I really enjoy and I like her and Lane's relationship.
The back and forth between timelines was nice and I think lended well to the pacing of the story.
I liked the journal entries.
The actual murders from the beginning and the description of the initiation were very intriguing.
The mystery itself is solid and it's well-written.

There were some things I think could have been improved:
Toward the middle, I began to suspect a certain character. This isn't the issue as this happens and it can actually be satisfying to be proven right. The thing that bothered me was toward the end of the book it felt very obvious who it was, but there was a lot of back and forth chapters that felt like they were drawing out the reveal unnecessarily.
I didn't need quite so much doll restoration.
I don't entirely understand why one of the characters had to physically actually toward to Florida at the end. There was nothing about the case that couldn't have been discussed over the phone.
It felt like there were a few too many characters introduced -- some of this I think stems from certain characters being from other stories so they may feel familiar to other readers, but at times for me it felt like I was overloaded with a ton of new characters, some of which didn't end up being all that important.
The podcast. I love the idea of it, but I felt like it could have been better executed. The narration of the podcast didn't feel realistic as a podcast at times (it was more like a book narrator than podcast dialogue), but I still wish it hadn't dropped as part of the storytelling halfway through the book.


Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Creepy murder mystery with a side of investigative journalism? Sign me up, please!

When a not-so-secret society initiation goes horribly wrong, the remaining survivors are left with dark secrets of their own. After a grizzly double murder takes place on the grounds of a prestigious boarding school, rumors of a shadowy urban legend quickly run rampant. Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that the surviving students continue to return to the scene in what appears to be a string of suicides. With the  year anniversary nearing, Westmont Preparatory School becomes the subject of "The Suicide House" a hit podcast that follows the the clues left behind.

This is my first novel by Charlie Donlea, and I can confidently say it won't be my last. The characters of Rory Moore  (my new favorite female investigator) and Lane Phillips clearly have a backstory, but I was still able to go in blind to this novel and not feel too left behind. Well written using multiple POVs, this was a thriller that I was unable to put down.

The Suicide House is set mostly at a preparatory school and its grounds. Rory Moore and Lane Phillips have teamed up to solve the mystery of the suicides that have been taking place at the school because, to everyone involved, the suicides were most baffling in that they just didn’t make sense. The story is told from multiple points of view that include past and present story transitions. Which is great for understanding all the nuts and bolts of the tragedies that occurred but I can’t say that I was a huge fan of all the points of view presented in this book. There was just a lot to keep track of, especially when I wasn’t a fan of every person presented.

I loved, loved, loved Rory and Lane! I only wished that they were featured more often. I would find myself pushing through the other points of view to hurry to get back to either Rory’s or Lane’s parts. I even enjoyed Rory’s quirks and fascination with doll repair. Then there was the antagonist of the story, very mysterious and intriguing at first but my interest waned as the story went on because they stopped being fear-inspiring and became almost a poor imitation of someone I should fear. No doubt, though, that it wouldn’t be anyone I would ever want to be alone with, crazy is still crazy. Overall, The Suicide House was an intriguing thriller that delivered a well written story with many great suspenseful elements.

This review is based on a complimentary book I received from NetGalley. It is an honest and voluntary review. The complimentary receipt of it in no way affected my review or rating.

The second novel following Charlie Donlea's, Some Choose Darkness, once again featuring forensic reconstructionist Rory Moore and psychologist Lane Phillips trying to solve a double murder at an elite prep school, where students are involved in game called Man in the Mirror.  A teacher was convicted of the crime, but why are the students who survived that night return to kill themselves?

Wow!  Definitely a creepy thriller!!  A lot of twists and turns in this book!  The ending was absolutely fantastic!  I will definitely be reading more from this Author!

4.5 stars.

The Suicide House by Charlie Donlea is a twist-filled mystery. Although this newest release is the second installment in the Rory Moore/Lane Phillips series, it can be read as a standalone.

Forensic reconstruction Rory Moore joins her partner, psychologist Lane Phillips in Peppermill, IN. Lane has been asked to assist on a podcast for the year old murders  at West Prep School. Two students were murdered by a teacher at the school and several of the students connected to the victims have since committed suicide. Just as Lane begins working on the case, he is injured in an explosion so Rory is doing a lot of the legwork by herself.  Will Lane and Rory figure out the truth about what happened to the students before it is too late?

Rory is looking forward to time off but she is too intrigued by Lane’s case to stay away. Her arrival in Peppermill  is fortuitous and under the circumstances, she begins looking into the deaths a little slower than usual. Rory always notices what everyone else misses and her first discovery is a game changer. Additional help arrives from unexpected sources and this new information proves to be invaluable to her. Utilizing Lane’s algorithm and his connections provide additional pieces of the puzzle but will these important details lead to the truth?

Weaving back and forth between present day and the previous summer, The Suicide House is a compelling mystery with a clever storyline. Rory and Lane are vibrantly developed, three-dimensional characters that are quite appealing.  The investigation is multi-layered and each revelation brings Rory and Lane closer to unmasking a particularly adept murderer.  Charlie Donlea brings this riveting mystery to an exciting, edge of the seat conclusion. Old and new fans are going to love this latest addition to the  Rory Moore/Lane Phillips series.

Oh wow, this was so good!  There's a school full of secrets, a double murder, suicides and a bunch of twists and turns.  I really enjoyed the descriptive writing and the whole setup of the story.

The premise of this novel was unique and there was an overall creepiness that started from the first page and managed to continue on throughout different parts of this story. It was that creepy factor and the unexpected twists this story took that kept me glued to its pages and staying up way too late at night to finish it. I especially enjoyed all the excerpts we got from the killer's point-of-view (and their journal entries OH MY GOODNESS WERE SO GOOD) - although as some others have mentioned the POV does bounce around a bit and it takes some time in the beginning to get used to not only the changing viewpoints, but the bouncing between past and present. 

Where this one lost me was in the constant repetition of unimportant details. Case in point - how many times do we need to hear about Rory's "Madden Girl Eloisee combat boots"? It wouldn't surprise me if it was at least a dozen times that this tidbit was mentioned. Also I get it Rory's mind doesn't work the way a "normal" person's mind works. It's this quirkiness that makes her so good at her job because it allows her to see things other people miss. Again - I did not need to be reminded of this fact every couple of chapters. 

Also for those of you who have also read this novel - can we talk about that ending in a non-spoiler way? I mean what the heck!? All of that build-up. All of those secrets and THAT IS HOW IT ENDED?!?! *sighs loudly*

Despite those things - this was a thoroughly enjoyable novel and I would read more from this author if I saw their name come up again. 

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

When you find a book that you truly loved and you never want it to end, this one was it for me. It blew my mind. It was so good!! This is one of those books that had me thinking about during the day when I should have been focusing on work.  What a plot!! Amazing characters. I never reread books but I would reread The Suicide House.