Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

I have to say… What a surprise! Not how the book ended up everything about it. The writing was done well and the suspense was great.

I really enjoy a book where I think I know the “who-dun-it”/”the truth is out there” info but find out that the author was able to trick me. Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen enough with me. But this one did! I was sure I had it all figured out…. But nope!

I enjoyed the characters which were plenty but not confusing and who always had a bit of suspense to them.

I liked Callie who gave off that “I only came here for the house” feel and ended up with so many more questions than answers.

Pleasantly surprised!

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

A complex, suspenseful plot with tension so thick that it felt palpable. Wonderful characters with depth and substance. I was immediately drawn in and held captive from beginning to end.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.

#13StepstotheCellar #NetGalley

I enjoyed reading this book. It had a good story to it. I liked the variety of characters in it. It was a well written book. It is a debut novel by this author.

The story started off with a bang and it had me both curious and intrigued but regrettably, it failed to capture my attention as more characters are introduced and the dialogues seemed a bit forced to me at times. Though the characters are interesting, they seemed one-dimensional in my opinion. Nevertheless, I still think the story has potential with some editing. I'd like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for this digital copy in exchange for a honest review.

Secrets can stay hidden for a long time, but they can fester, eat away at the soul, and eventually the only relief from the guilt is to spill the beans and tell the truth.
Richmond, Maine is a town littered with secrets and each of them is linked in some way to the murder of Dr Laverne.
40 years later, after losing her father, Laverne’s niece, Callie, comes to Richmond to try and find out what really happened to her aunt.

13 Steps to the Cellar is an excellently placed mystery. It has a great cast of characters, some fleshed out better than others, but I really felt the suffocation of small-town closeness, the toxic relationships/friendships, and the desperation to keep a lid on the unravelling secrets.

Using third-person point of view narration allowed for good insight into each of the character’s thinking, and I believe it was applied well in this book, though it took a little getting used to as there were a lot of them to keep track of.

One thing I think this book did quite poignantly is illustrate Callie’s connection to her aunt, though they’d never met, and highlighted the concept of inter-generational trauma.

Thank you to Teresa Mathews, BookBuzz.net and NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book absolutely captivated my entire world for 24 hours. Every one of my senses were engaged with the characters, the environment, the sights, the sounds and the emotions. I could picture the beautiful Kennebec and the mansion overlooking it. I could smell the coffee and paninis at the Railway Cafe. This is so beautifully written and the characters are so detailed. There are a lot of characters and they are all important to the story but in the beginning I had a hard time keeping track of them, however the author distinguished each one so perfectly that after while I had no problem following along with who is who.
I loved Callie and I think she just became one of my favorite book characters ever. Her relationship with Carl was so sweet and made me laugh out loud a few times.
I want this book to become a Best of 2020!! It truly deserves to be noticed. And YES there were twists and turns!! Lots of them! And murder and lying and cheating and backstabbing friends. It was all in here along with some powerful displays of relationships and a whodunnit mystery! If you have this in your TBR, open it up :-)
5 stars across the board! Thank you for my free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It was a pleasant surprise to find that what I thought would be a nice, traditional mystery went beyond expectations and also offered great character analysis and relationship building. The mystery itself was interesting but it was really the relationships which took this book from good to great. It will appeal to readers of mysteries and romance and also to people who love books with a strong focus on building characters.

Through Net Galley, I was fortunate enough to read 13 Steps to the Cellar by Teresa Matthews, a romance/murder mystery set in a small coastal Maine town. Callie is a 31 year old real estate agent dealing with the recent loss of her father after a prolonged illness. Callie decides to take a trip from her Alabama home to Richmond, Maine, where her aunt, Dr. Laverne Doss, was murdered 40 years previously. Soon after she arrives in Richmond, there is another murder, the first since Dr. Doss had been killed, and she finds there is more to her aunt’s murder than meets the eye.

Essentially a light romance, the mystery was engaging and truly kept me guessing right until the end with a twist ending that I did not see coming. Impressively, the author included some very subtle foreshadowing that made the payoff all the more satisfying. Additionally, Ms. Matthews is masterful at allowing the reader experience the beauty and quaint charm through first time visitor Callie’s eyes.

Callie is an attractive, likeable lead and the author surrounds her with a bevy of interesting characters. (Carl, the gruff bodyguard/driver being my favorite.) Callie begins a relationship with Matt, a local architect/contractor whose family seems to be at the center of both murders. As referenced within the book, Peyton Place has nothing on this town. Murder, rape, extramarital affairs and blackmail are all at the root of the mystery.

13 Steps to the Cellar gets an enthusiastic 5 stars. Well written, interesting characters, great setting and a mystery that made me keep reading late into the night.

An e-book copy of 13 Steps to the Cellar was the only compensation received in exchange for this review. My thanks to Net Galley and the author, Teresa Mathews, for the opportunity to read this book and provide feedback.

I really wanted to like this book, but I couldn't get into it. That may totally have been due to the nature of digital ARC copies making it difficult to gauge where I was in it or because the dialogue seemed stilted at times. I do truly look forward to reading more of this author's work!

This book was a really surprising read. You know when you think a book might go a certain way and find it doesn't? Well, this was one of those for me. Many years ago a woman is found dead at the bottom of the cellar stairs. Ruled accidental death, not everyone believed it at the time, nor now.

Enter a curious niece who travels to her Aunts old house and home town curious to find out more about the Aunt she never knew. She gets so much more than she bargained for as the town becomes aware of her visit and not everybody is happy for her to be there. A lot of different characters come into the plot but not for a moment was that confusing or had me losing track of who is who. It's not easy to do that. Each character stood on their own merits.

With more and more questions asked the town closes in, some want to talk, many don't and not everybody is who they claim to be. What is a visit to know her Aunt becomes so much more. I thought I had the answers but was surprised by the final reveals and truths that came out.

The author had obviously done extensive research on the town and the region with fascinating little bits of history and details weaved through the novel. It gave you the sense of being in the town and knowing the people she met. Friends and foes. There is a touch of romance but not enough to make is sickly if you are not a romance fan. This is more an intriguing book of hidden things, the nature of everyday people and the determination of finding the truth.

A really enjoyable read that I devoured over a few hours. Highly recommended for curling up with a cup of tea or coffee and getting stuck in. This book will appeal to a lot of readers including those that like mystery, crime, family sagas, intrigue and amateur sleuthing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy. All opinions are my own and totally unbiased.

Callie Harris and her two older brothers have always wondered why their father didn't visit his beloved sister. They knew he mourned her death deeply. She was murdered, a crime that had not been solved in forty years. Now with their fathers passing Callie has decided to travel to where her Aunt and uncle had lived and see if she can discover any new information on her murder. I
The small town soon learns of her arrival. Gossip is flying all over the place. Some people are scared some are curious some may die.
A great psychological thriller with astounding twists.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. After the death of her father, Callie Harris travels to Maine to find out who murdered her Aunt Laverne over 30 years ago. I thought that the book was ok. The book kid of dragged on in certain sections.

I didn't think I'd ever finish this one. Too long, too many tourist ads for Maine, too complicated. Plot was one tangle after another.