3.5 rounded up.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this audio-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I found this to be a compelling mystery told over several decades. While I predicted much of the outcome, I enjoyed the journey. The alternating focus on sisters, Willa and Sawyer, worked well for me and I liked how the story unfolded. The dual mystery of Willa's death and decades-old kidnapping held my interest.

I also enjoyed the narrator of this audio book - her voice and pacing,

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

Kate Robards creates a captivating psychological thriller and mystery with The Three Deaths of Willa Stannard. I survive on a steady diet of police procedurals, mysteries and psychological thrillers so it is difficult to surprise me but this novel definitely did!

An excellent job with plotting and character development.


Until next time, dear readers, spend time with your loved ones and with your family while there is still time to spend... You might learn more than a few surprising 😮 secrets!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a great mystery and I enjoyed how Sawyer stepped in to discover if her sister had really died by suicide or if someone had killed her. I was not anticipating that she would instead solve the mystery her sister had been covering. The twists in this novel were great.

Thank you net galley for the advanced audio version.
The book follows Sawyer who learns of the death of her sister Willa from an apparent suicide. Sawyer cannot accept this so she embarks on her own investigation where she uncovers her sister a journalist was investigating a case involving a missing child. We see the story mainly from Sawyers point of view but occasionaly in flashbacks from Willa which bring a good dimension. As family secrets are revealed the story becomes more tense and rewarding.
Overall a good solid debut for the author.

An engaging mystery-suspense novel by Kate Robards, The Three Deaths of Willa Stannard is a quick read, easy to burn-through, and while easy to guess the main twist, I still enjoyed the process of the story and the narration of the audiobook. The twisty timelines and character narratives keep the reader focused on the plot; while not the most memorable novel--since it does feel a bit like "something I've read before"--that actually works in its favor, in my opinion. A bit of a strange twist on the "cozy mystery" feeling, for readers and patrons with similar genre tastes to mine?

Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to read this title in exchange for my honest review.

#TheThreeDeathsofWillaStamard
This thriller threw me for a loop, and I enjoyed it! I sort’ve guessed part of the plot but getting there was not how I imagined at all. Not how Sawyer imagined it either I’m sure! In this thriller, a young woman named Sawyer is baffled by the suspected “suicide” of her older and somewhat estranged sister Willa. Sawyer cannot accept that Willa killed herself and plays amateur sleuth to look into what was happening in Willa’s last days. She stumbles onto Willa’s work on a true crime story, told about a missing child one state over from them. And the story goes on from there alternating between the POV of Sawyer interviewing and meeting with people, and Willa’s POV in her last few weeks. Craaaazy shit goes down and I know it’s so unreal - a kid busting open a mystery that decades of police work couldn’t - but I kinda like this trope. Silly but amazing to wonder if that could happen in real life (it has im sure by crime writers and investigative reporters). This was great on audio! Fantastic job by #susannahjones and great story by the author @katerobards !! Many thanks to @dreamscape_media @crookedlanebooks @netgalley for making this audiobook available in exchange for an honest review ❤️
This book and audiobook are currently available for purchase! Check this one out!

The Three Deaths of Willa Stannard is a debut novel from Kate Robards. In the book we are following Sawyer, who is told one day that her sister, Willa has committed suicide. Only that does not make sense to Sawyer, her sister would never do something like this, she was slightly depressed and struggling after losing her career due to a public panic attack. But she wouldn’t kill herself…..right?

Sawyer launches herself into figuring out what really happened to her sister, which leads her on a wild goose chase through multiple states. She figures out that everyone in her family had secrets to hide. How well does she really know her sister?

I had so much fun while reading this book, it felt very fast paced right from the start. We follow Sawyer most of the time, with little snippets from Willa before she died, as well as another little surprise element that we get throughout the book. I found that I really enjoyed all of the POV’s and it was very easy to follow along. It felt more like a mystery for about 75% of the book, and the last 25% really kicked into the thriller parts. Overall, I really enjoyed the book and the audio was also great. It had a couple of twists that I didn’t see coming, and I just found myself not wanting to put the book down, I needed to know what was going to happen. I really enjoyed the book, and would recommend it if you want a fast paced mystery/thriller.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for my early access copy!

Many thanks to Net Galley and Dreamscape Media for an audio copy of The Three Deaths Of Willa Stannard for an honest review. Willa and Sawyer, sisters, are grown now. Willa does investigative journalism, and starts investigating a cold case of a kidnapped baby. Fast forward, Willa is found deceased. What happens in between, in this twisty turny thriller.

Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC.

Story: 🌟🌟🌟
Narration: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟💫

The Three Deaths of Willa Stannard is an entertaining debut thriller. It follows sisters Willa and Sawyer who are bonded by their difficult childhood with their single mother. When Willa is found dead in her apartment from an apparent suicide, Sawyer does not believe that her sister would take her own life. Sawyer becomes determined to understand what happened to her sister and finds out that she was working on an explosive true crime book that would uncover many buried secrets. As Sawyer finds out more and more about her sister’s work, she begins to realize she may be the next target.

The storyline for this book was great and very mysterious and atmospheric. It is a bit of a slowburn and I had some difficulty getting into the story, but when it picked up, I was engrossed. I highly recommend the audio format!

ALC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

When I first saw the title of this book I was immediately intrigued. Reading last night kept me up til 3 am wanting to finish it and find out what happened.....

Willa has always been a writer. She worked as a reporter, then a news anchor, and then tried her hand at writing a novel. When Willa is found in her bathtub dead from what seems to be a suicide, her sister Sawyer just will not accept it. Sawyer just knows Willa would not have killed herself. The police are not investigating as Sawyer would expect them to, so she starts digging into her sister's life to see what or who could have caused this. While looking for answers, Sawyer finds out the book Willa was writing was a true-crime cold case from decades ago, about the mysterious disappearance of a toddler from a small town in Michigan. While trying to uncover the truth about her sister, now she starts piecing together the mystery of the missing baby in hopes that answers about her, will bring more answers about Willa. What Sawyer doesn't know, is that there are many more secrets than she might be ready for, and someone might come after her if she gets too close to the truth.

This book was intense! I thought it was great, especially as a debut novel! I listened to the audio and thought the narrator did a great job keeping up the suspense. I did have an inkling as to what the twist might be, but I did not guess it all! Also while some characters could have used more information, or more development, I think what we were given worked fine if you are reading the story to read the story. When you start to over-analyze it, you may find yourself disappointed in one thing or another. I for one will be looking forward to more by Kate Robards.

Thank you to #Netgalley & publishers for the opportunity to listen to a free audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

Went in kinda blind. A bit hard to get into but it got there. I kinda saw the ending coming. It got better as the time went. I was wanting more creepy and twists and turns. It was good.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

I would love to thank NetGalley for allowing me an audio copy of The Three Deaths of Willa Stannard by Kate Robards. It was truly wonderful to listen to as I was doing my household chores. And I even found myself stopping to make sure I did not miss anything.
I did figure out the twist when I was just coming up with theories but still there was more and more as the story went on. I loved how you get two perspectives of the two sisters. Willa's being in the past before she dies and Sawyer's being present and trying to get answers to why it happened. Willa's hidden life starts to come around the more Sawyer digs about even though everyone is pretty much thinks it is a waste of time. I cannot say much more since it all does lead to the end but it was a wonderful mystery and I highly recommend it.

The Three Deaths of Willa Stannard is a dual POV/dual timeline mystery thriller. The story primarily follows Sawyer after she finds out about her sister Willa’s apparent suicide. Sawyer follows in her sister’s footsteps in investigating a cold case of a toddler who went missing from her bedroom over 25 years ago that Willa was looking into in the months leading up to her death. The story had enough suspense and interesting characters to really grab my attention and I was invested pretty quickly and held til the end! I did guess the twist at the end, but it was still interesting to see how it all played out!

Thanks to @dreamscape_media for the audio arc via @netgalley

This was SUCH a great thriller. Towards the end as everything was coming together I was open mouth shocked. I loved how it was alternating between Willa/her book and Sawyer to get the before, during, and after. This could be a contender for my favorite thriller of the year.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advanced listener copy.

This was a great mystery! Sawyer's sister Willa is dead and they're calling it a suicide, but was it or did Willa go to far researching a crime from the past? Sawyer is determined to find out and in the end, things might not be what they seem.

The ending took me by complete surprise - the best kind!

This was kind of odd. I would get interested, and then get bored, get interested, bored again etc. The end was decent, but if someone asked me for a detailed synopsis, I wouldn't be able to provide one. 3 stars.

I’ve been itching for a good thriller and this one DELIVERED.

We follow Sawyer, a spin instructor who just found out she’s lost her sister Willa by suicide; cue the self-conducted investigation after being unsatisfied with the police findings.

I found this story to be exhilarating and I had so much fun following along trying to figure out the mystery along with Sawyer. My only qualm was with the excerpts included from Willa’s book, as they almost served to confirm any suspicions after Sawyer’s chapters - meaning that some mysteries were a bit short-lived.

All in all, I had a good time and flew through this audiobook. Thank you to NetGalley and DreamScape Media for the ARC!

Willa Stannard is dead by suicide, but even as cut and dried as it looks, her sister Sawyer doesn’t believe it. Is there a possibility she was murdered? Sawyer starts to dig into Willa’s life and find the threads that will lead her to the truth, but Sawyer just might not be ready for the truth. Willa was working on an independent novel about a little girl that went missing many years ago, a cold case that has never been solved. As Sawyer gets closer to the truth, her own life is suddenly in danger, will she be able to find out all the answers she needs and save herself in the process? I wasn’t a big fan of Jones voice on the audio, but as often happens with an audio book, once vested the voice becomes easier to listen to. Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for an ALC of this book.

i just finished the three deaths of willa stannard audiobook and let me tell you, it was a rollercoaster. it got me right in the feels. the way it depicted family dynamics was so tragic and real, it hit home. i could relate to the struggles and tensions between the sisters as well as of them with their mother. the character of sawyer was one who made me feel so seen, with her struggles as well as her nature and her relationships with other people. her codependency on her mother was also something so interesting to read about.

tho the plot twist.... woah. it came out of nowhere. even though there were hints along the way, i never saw it coming the way it did. it was totally unexpected and shocking. my jaw dropped like actually. it had me hooked from the beginning till the end.

big thanks to netgalley for the ARC. i'm so glad i got the chance to experience this gripping and heart-wrenching story. definitely recommend it to anyone who loves a good family drama + thriller with a mind-blowing twist.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishing house and the author for the opportunity to listen to a complimentary copy of this audiobook.

I had great hopes for this book and honestly up until I guessed the ending I was hooked. Even knowing the ending was okay, but the way the last third of the book played out, I was disappointed.

The narrator was good, I enjoyed her voice. The storyline was okay, just not was I was hoping for. It appeared that the book would have more twists and intriguing plot, but it kind of fizzled for me.