Thank you to Indies United Publishing and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this novel in exchange for a review. This novel released June 15, 2022.

Brilliantly crafted and I loved the humor.
Many thanks to Indies United Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A well written face paced story that kept me interested from the start. This is a new author to me and I am so glad I got the chance to read this book. Will definitely be looking for more.

When former CIA agent Mari is asked for a favor from a judge things take a turn. I enjoyed this book but it was choppy in places

A well written perfectly paced story pulling you in from the start. A new author to me and I was glad I picked this one up as it had enough going on to keep my interest. This was how Mari and Derek worked together to solve a case they were working on. Can't wait to read more by this author.

An intriguing mystery. I especially enjoyed the locale as I am familiar with it. Interesting and unusual characters. Clever and strange mystery that kept me guessing. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley.

When former CIA operator Marissa Ellwyn is asked to do a favor for a family friend, an Appellate Court Judge, she has no idea the twist and turns that will take over her case. Mari also owns an art gallery and rotates between curator at her gallery and private investigator. She has an eclectic group of friends that she counts on in her investigative work, including Duga, her mentor and Detective Ivan Dent. Hiring former LAPD detective Derek Abernathy provided her with the sarcastic sidekick that ever P.I. needs (enjoyed their back-and-forth banter). When their case expands to include two missing journalists and a recently murdered college student the threats begin. Notes are left for her and she is attacked in her home. It seems she has also stepped on the toes of her former employer and that is never good. A methodical investigation with many surprises along the way. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (paytonpuppy)

“Change the balance of power and you can change everything.” -Hot House

Hello there, my name is Mari Ellwyn, I am a former CIA agent, currently the owner of an art gallery and playing private investigator. After taking a case for Judge Conrad McClaren, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, I started being followed and threatened. Therefore, I decided I needed a partner, cue former detective Derek Abernathy. Upon discussion, we realized that our investigations coincided with each other, involving a college student battling a mental illness who was murdered, one murdered journalist, and a missing journalist. Can we solve this entangled web before becoming targets ourselves?

Lisa Towles does a satisfying job taking the reader on a suspenseful, action-packed thrill ride. The punchy storyline led to snarky and sarcastic banter, which I love in a novel. The characters were witty, likable, and engaging making this novel a page-turner. I enjoyed the storyline of the college student, finding her struggles with mental illness both intriguing and educational. The ending leaves you wanting to read the second book immediately, unfortunately having to wait for its release.

Despite Hot House being a great crime read, I found it difficult to differentiate, at times, who was speaking, making it difficult to follow along. Furthermore, all the information dumped at the beginning of the book made it increasingly difficult to figure out what was going on at first. For these reasons, I rate this book 3 stars and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the genres of crime and mystery.

Content/Trigger Warnings: mental health issues, suicide, depression, murder, threats, sexism, and stalking

So much going on and all of it good!

Mari is a gallery owner to please her family but private investigation is her real calling now that she has left the FBI. A simple case of a murdered college student quickly spirals into foreign intrigue, multiple law enforcement agencies, an ex-boyfriend, a new partner, and of course, a dog.

Already looking forward to more from Lisa Towles!

It took a while to get into the book which involves murder of a college student, disappearance of a journalist and the extortion of a federal court judge.

It looks like the start of a new series involving a former CIA operative, now private investigator, Mari Ellwyn. Not too sure about the other characters but I loved Trevor! The fact that he is a dog possibly means I did not really like the book. Plenty of twists, though.

Thanks to Net Galley and Indies United Publishing for the chance to read and review.

This is the first time I have read this author and I can honestly say that I enjoyed her style of writing.

Hot House is the first book in the E&A Investigations series. I went in blind and was pleasantly surprised. The fact that this is a series and I’m going to keep reading about the fabulous cast of characters.

The mystery is solid. It teases with a bit of espionage and intelligence which in turn made it a great read!!

Mari and Derek are our two MCs and one is a LAPD detective (former) and Mari is not only a former CIA but also owns an art gallery.

The two were really good partners and had each other’s backs. Add in a great mix breed named Trevor, a Jack of all trades Buddhist Monk Duga and it’s pretty cool.

An absolutely solid 3.5⭐️ read for me!! Rounded up to 4⭐️

If you want to meet these characters, I suggest you grab a copy when this book is available.

Thank you NetGalley and Indies United Publishing for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A cracker of a book that reminded me of Connelly’s Bosch series.
The main character Mari Ellwyn couldn’t be further removed from the Bosh character but the settings, the writing style, and the story were all reminiscent of Connelly.
Hopefully the start of a series.
One slight, and it is slight, criticism, I’d have loved it to be longer

Not a bad read but it didn’t hold my interest much which disappointed me but someone else might love it …

This book was sent to me electronically for review by Netgalley. Murder and intrigue…government…friends and enemies…solving the crimes…red herrings…the main character is diligent at trying to determine who did what. The author has woven a story that could be true crime… al5hpugh the novel goes somewhat slowly, at times, it reaches a conclusion that is believable…. Enjoy.

Keeps you on your toes!… I highly recommend this to the armchair detectives of the world! A totally addictive page-turner that will have you racing through the pages and reeling at the twists!

First, let me say this is a great series kick off and I am looking forward to reading more about these characters. We get a bit of depth on the characters, but there are a lot of things left unanswered there. the mystery/thriller is good, a lot of little pieces and action that carry you through the slower parts of the book.

A murder of a college student. The disappearance of a journalist and the extortion of a federal appellant court judge. All become part of a new case for former CIA operative and current private investigator, Mari Ellwyn. Twists and turn at every stage of the investigation lead to a surprise ending.

Thank you Net Galley for an ARC of this book I was given for an honest review. There were parts of this book I enjoyed it just didn’t hold my attention all that well. Some parts were over the top and other chapters were a little amusing. I think I am just more into thrillers .

This book may have demolished my record for notes and highlights in my Kindle app in a good and bad way. Let me start by saying I enjoyed this book immensely. The story is seamless, engaging, and twisted. I laughed, I gasped, I just had a great time reading this. One of my notes reads “I’m not getting any sleep tonight” because I couldn’t put it down. The writing was artful in the way it weaved the puzzle pieces together in this intricate mystery.

Hot House by Lisa Towles tells the story of Marissa, an ex-CIA agent who couldn’t quite put that life behind her. Splitting her time between her art gallery and being a private investigator, Marissa takes on the blackmail case of a federal Judge in hopes of stopping the threats he’s been receiving. In doing so she seeks a partner in Derek, an ex-detective, and together they uncover the story of Sophie Michaud, a local student who was murdered. The cases become intertwined; the pieces of the puzzle weaving together in unimaginable tragedy.

There were so many things to love about this novel, but I did have some issues. The formatting is rough. The beginning of the book needs to be clearer, or people are going to discount it for the confusion and move on. It does start a bit slow but once it starts, the ride is quite fun. I appreciated the shorter chapters; they kept the flow of the story moving and didn’t leave the reader in suspense for too long.

I am disappointed that I still cannot tell you want the characters looked like. There is imagery within the novel, but the physical descriptions of the characters ended with tall. I needed more. The main character came across as wimpy at times which is an odd trait for someone trained by the CIA. It doesn’t track. There were a few confusing or incorrect sentences. I think one more edit of this would make it a nearly perfect novel.

I would highly recommend anyone who likes crime/mystery/suspense novels to pick this up. It is worth the read!

Weeell I'm not to sure about this one?! The storyline was Interesting and it had suspense, intrigue but it wasn't really my type of book that I normally read I guess?! I'm not sure it just was a little weird for me?! I don't I guess I got lost at times?! It just wasn't really for me! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!