Charley Kelley works as the housekeeper at the Precipice hotel on the coast of Maine. She lives there in a tiny room. All of the money she makes goes to care for her grandmother living in a nursing home.

The owner of the uniquely decorated hotel is George Bishop who has recently died. Charley hated the man because he always tried to come on to her. Now, his three daughters, Vicki, Iris and Faith are coming to the hotel for the reading of the will by the man’s attorney. There is no love lost among the sisters and the reunion of sorts is expected to be difficult.

On top of everything, Hurricane Larry is aiming to strike right where they are. Some people believe it will miss them, but as the winds build and the rain pounds, it appears that they will get a direct hit.

This story is full of angst as the sisters air their grievances against one another until things become violent. We learn backgrounds of each of each sister and the anger they have toward each other. Charley is the one trying to keep things together as she is also tasked with cleaning after them and serving their meals. At the same time, she had befriended a young woman named Bree who claims to have been abused by her boyfriend and needs a place to stay until the storm passes. With her usual kind heart, Charley agrees to find a room for her to quietly remain. As secrets emerge, hatred flows and people get hurt.

I’m on the fence as to whether to give this book 3 or 4 stars. I found it tedious at times and felt the book was much too long. Perhaps the author felt that by dragging the story out, readers would become more tense. For me, it just made me roll my eyes in frustration. However, since the plot is rather unique, I will go with 4 stars. Enjoy!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

"There’s no better school for learning about human behavior than being a maid. You see it all in this job because nobody notices you’re there."

So states Charley, our main character in Jamie Day's One Big Happy Family. She's employed at The Precipice Hotel on the rugged coast of Maine, battening down the hatches in preparation for The Big Storm and the arrival of the owner's daughters. The owner has died, and the heirs are there to find out what was in the will.

They're not nice people! Along with their assorted spouses and offspring, Charley observes: "This crew makes the Addams Family seem like the Brady Bunch."

There's a lot going on. We have the will, the sisters all have BIG secrets, we have an isolated house cut off from the rest of the town (Big Storm), and people start getting murdered!

This was a page-turner! It was funny. Charley was smart. The plot was wild, with some unexpected revelations. The sisters and their spouses were fun to hate, and last but not least there were some creepy vibes woven throughout.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC.

While I enjoyed reading the premise of One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day, I didn’t find myself sucked in and engaged with the characters. I know this is a personal opinion. I strongly believe there is a right time to read every book, and unfortunately the time I read this wasn’t the right time. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I should have. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This one was slow going. I enjoyed it enough, but would have liked it more if it was faster paced. The last 80% was action packed and I flew through that part. The characters were mostly unlikeable. Family secrete galore, a couple of murders and a hurricane should have made for a more exciting read than it was.

I was so excited for this one because I really enjoyed The Block Party. Unfortunately this one was a DNF for me because the plot was just so slow. I got to 45% and just couldn’t push on. I think the plot has potential so I will probably try to come back to this one in the future because I did like the character of Charley but the Bishop sisters just weren’t holding my attention. I will try to get to this one again in the future though.

Wow! I feel like I am in the minority with this book but I really loved it! I felt invested in the story, wondering whodunit, and trying to figure out all the twists before they happened.

The author painted a picture of a granddaughter (Charley) who would do anything for her grandmother, and I could feel her pain and heartache losing her nana to Alzheimer’s. And the way she described the Bishop sisters childhood and adolescence brought the book to life. The picture that was painted shows how easy it is for a family to go from happy to dysfunctional because of the actions of one individual.

I was shocked by the twists, and I even cried at the end of the book. Definitely five stars for me. So thankful for NetGalley and St Martins Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I enjoyed this book. I like puzzles and reading mystery/suspense is like trying to figure out a puzzle. This book was interesting as it follows hotel maid, Charley and the Bishop family. The family dynamics were just as suspenseful as the story and kept me on my toes. This was one crazy family with lots of secrets. There was a lot going on but in the end I did figure out the big twist but only right before the reveal. There were parts of the reveal/big twist that I didn’t see coming which was nice. I liked that I didn’t figure it all out. All in all I did really enjoy the book and could not put it down. If you like a good locked door mystery (but instead of a locked door, trapped by a hurricane), suspense, and a crazy family, then I definitely recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Jamie Day for this book in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY is a domestic thriller that takes place in a famous family-owned hotel sitting high on a cliff in Maine. With a hurricane brewing in the Atlantic, the three troubled Bishop sisters return to the hotel to claim their inheritance after their father's death. All three are concealing dark secrets and are anxious for the reading of the will for their own sordid reasons. Anxiously watching everything go down is chambermaid Charley Kelley who lives and works at the hotel and is desperate to keep her income to continue caring for her grandmother. Not entirely innocent, Charley has a few secrets of her own that she'd just as soon not become exposed. She may or may not have developed a bad habit of pilfering through the guests' belongings, and it's minutely possible she's hiding a darker, more dangerous secret too. In her defense, she has a good reason for everything she's done, not that the greedy sisters will understand. What will happen to her if she loses her job? Or the hotel closes? She can't allow that to happen.

When the reading of their father's Will doesn't go as expected, nasty accusations are tossed around, and fingers pointed. Someone manipulated their father into changing his Will. Was it one of the sisters or someone else? Maybe the seedy lawyer? If that's not enough, just as the hurricane closes all escape routes and all communication with the outside world is cut off, a body is discovered. Stranded with a murderer walking among them, nerves are frayed, patience is thin. One of them is a murderer. Who is it?

Author Jamie Day expertly manipulates characters and readers through another domestic thriller in ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY. A locked room style mystery, the threat of a killer hidden somewhere within the hotel and the storm raging outside combine to drive a swift pace as the story unfolds. Tension escalates as skeletons are rattled and one by one, secrets start slipping out. While the sisters' greedy behavior is unattractive and highly questionable, a couple of the support characters deserve readers empathy. Although I tuned into the real villain incredibly early on, it didn't diminish my reading pleasure as I kept turning pages just to watch the drama play out.

ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY is a highly atmospheric, convoluted domestic thriller in which readers and characters are charged with solving a mystery by identifying a killer. While a bit predictable, I found it to be a well plotted, witty and entertaining mystery. Highly recommended to fans of locked room style mysteries and domestic thrillers.

When the Bishop sisters reunite at their parents’ hotel the Precipice for the reading of the will, the readers quickly learn just how dysfunctional this family is. Their father George has recently passed away, and all 3 sisters assume they each will share equally in his assets and this eclectic Victorian hotel and all its kitschy knickknacks equally. But secrets abound in this family - both collectively and individually. Vicki, the oldest and always controlling is married to Todd, who is quite the shady character. They are there with their college age son Todd. Iris, the middle sister, is a recovering drug addict, who blames Vicki and Todd for her incarceration and for a few other things in her life that have been tough. The youngest sister, Faith is a model and beautiful, and has come to this reunion with her wife Hope and their son Oliver, a teenager who speaks only in rhymes. Add to this mix the maid Charley, who is trying desperately to keep her job to support her grandmother’s nursing home bills. Charley has taken in a girl by the name of Bree, who is fleeing an abusive boyfriend. The only request she makes is that Bree stay out of sight, since she’s letting her stay at no charge. When the family attorney shows up and reads the will, everything breaks loose and sets the stage for what follows.

As hurricane Larry bears down on the hotel, they are all stranded together, and when one of them ends up dead, they begin to all question each other. Secrets are revealed, and Charley must keep her wits about her to survive.

A quick read, I couldn’t get to the end quick enough! A little predictable in places, but a fun read all the same. Charley reminds me a bit of Molly in Molly the maid in The Maid, and Oliver’s rhymes are quite funny. You’ll quickly see that the Bishops are anything but One Happy Family! Out now- grab this one if you like a fun thriller.

One Big Happy Family
by Jamie Day
Pub Date: Jul 16 2024

"One Big Happy Family" is a locked room thriller, about a very toxic family who have gathered together in their father’s hotel for the reading of his will. This is a family drama to say the least, lots of excitement, twists and turns some which are predictable. Overall a decent story. This is the first book I have read by this author and I plan on reading more.

Synopsis: The Precipice is a legendary, family-owned hotel on the rocky coast of Maine. With the recent passing of their father, the Bishop sisters—Iris, Vicki, and Faith—have come for the weekend to claim it. But with a hurricane looming and each of the Bishop sisters harboring dangerous secrets, there's murder in the air—and not everyone who checks into the Precipice will be checking out.

Many thanks to #NetGalley #StMartinsPress #OneBigHappyFamily and author #JamieDay for providing me with an E-ARC of this book.

Needing to pay for her grandma's assisted living apartment, Charley has been working and living at the luxurious hotel, The Precipice. The owner dies, and his three children descend upon the inn, along with Hurricane Larry. Unknown to the new owners, Charley has stowed away a girl hiding from her abusive boyfriend, and as Larry traps them all, people start dying.

I'm going to start this review out with--I think if you enjoy books like Frieda McFadden and Kaira Rouda, you'll probably like this book. It's written in that same breakneck, almost breathless, present tense style.

This book started out well, with plenty of secrets and intrigue to keep me reading--Charley, who dropped out of high school in order to make sure her grandma, dealing with dementia, has the care she needs. The job she finds is at a fancy inn, where the owner also offers her room and board in addition to her weekly wages.

Then he dies and his adult children arrive to fight over the will and their inheritances. Vicky and Todd bring their adult son Quinn, estranged daughter Faith brings her girlfriend Hope (yes, it really is that bad) and Hope's teen son Oliver, and Iris brings her sobriety and Jesus. Literally every character is there to fill a trope or an agenda--Todd is a bro who will sleep with apparently just about everyone, Vicky is the bitter older sister, Iris is the wayward youngest that struggles with addition and has been to prison, Faith ran away to New York to be a model, Hope is the obnoxious lesbian vegetarian that dabbles in the occult, and her son Oliver is an absolute literary tragedy. He's literally every single spooky kid from every B grade horror movie out there. He literally speaks in rhyme. And not good rhymes--he speaks in couplets. "All day it will rain, the sound eating his brain" type of rhymes. It's just awful. I don't know if the author was trying to check off boxes with her characters, and Oliver was her neurodivergent one, but if that's true, holy freaking cow how absolutely awful that is.
And when I say the author is checking off boxes...you have an abused character. A lesbian couple. A douchey, adultering husband, A maybe autistic, maybe not kid. A gay immigrant character. A shady lawyer. A hunky son the main character crushes on. Younger sibling with substance issues. A born again Christian. A vegetarian that conveniently cooks.
Speaking of crushes, the "romance" between Quinn and Charley is a joke. Charley spends 2/3 of the book thinking about how cute/hot/sexy Quinn is, but immediately follows that thought up almost every time with "but I'm just a poor! Why would rich hot Quinn go for me?" There was almost...negative chemistry between these two.
The whole book was predictable, it really needed a few more passes with an editor, and overall I was just left unsatisfied with this book. You don't even have to be paying attention to figure out who did it by about 30 pages into the book. Some of the things the characters do just make no sense. Let's tie up a character and threaten her, only to turn around 63 seconds later and let her go. And I have a bad taste in my mouth with the way she portrayed Oliver--it was like she couldn't make up her mind--like one day she was all in on neurodivergent, but then the next she was all in on "influenced by his occult obsessed mom" and then the next day after that she was all in on him just being a normal but a bit weird (like there is an entire chapter where he's just...normal, no rhymes or anything).

This book did feel a little like the movie Knives Out if you supercharged it and gave it a tropical storm/hurricane in the background.

When Frank Bishop, owner of The Precipice dies, it brings his daughters back to settle his will. But nothing is as it seems. No one has good intentions and this situation seems to be bringing out all the negativity. Thrown in with this messy bunch is hotel employee, Charley who is trying her best to keep out of the line of fire.

This book was a nice blend of mystery/thriller, romance and women's fiction. There was a solid plot and some well-timed twists. I enjoyed this read immensely.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: The audio was done quite well. The narration really lent itself to the characters and I found myself completely immersed.

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the ebook and audiobook.

I really enjoyed The Block Party but One Big Happy Family felt like a combination of The Maid (spunky/quirky hotel cleaner who is close to her grandmother) with an an evil family suspense story and a Locked Room Mystery.

For me, it was one too many elements and the combination didn't gel. The setting was fun, and I feel like I get where the author was going: a sort of Glass Onion/Knives Out kind of feel. But the book took a long time to get started and for me, never really took off.

I really enjoyed the authors previous book, it was such a fun summer thriller and I hoped this would be the same but there was something off about this one for me. One of the biggest issues I had was the pacing, there were several parts and each time it switched it seemed kind of jarring and just threw me off. I liked the locked room aspect and usually enjoy trying to figure out whodunnit with a small cast of characters to chose from but the people here were honestly just annoying and pretty awful. There was a lot of backstory about all of them that takes you out of the action, and then when you’re put back in things were so far fetched and over the top it was hard to take it seriously. I’ll definitely give the author another chance in the hopes her next book is more like her debut.

Happy Pub Week to Jamie Day!!!

I read this on Pub Day! I really enjoyed this author’s debut, Block Party. However, this one was just ok for me. Too much family drama and not enough real suspense for my liking. I did enjoy this story but was expecting more. It was predictable, a tad slow and I stuck around for the ending but that fell flat for me. If you love a locked room thriller, family drama then I highly recommend this one for you. I will be picking up more by this author in hopes she brings back that debut book energy!

A huge thank you to St Martin Press & Macmillan audio for both the ARC and ALC. my review is honest and voluntary.

3.5⭐️

The Bishop sisters and their families convene at The Precipice hotel for the reading of their father’s will. Each sister comes bearing secrets and ill will towards other family members. The hotel’s maid, Charley, looks on and narrates. The party is trapped together as a hurricane passes through. When one person is found dead and perhaps murdered, the claws and truths really come out to play.

This was my second book by the author and I really appreciate how he writes interesting unlikeable characters. The banter and the storyline were both interesting, but drawn out at times. Parts of the story were a bit far-fetched, but it was still a fairly enjoyable quick listen.

Thank you to @netgalley @macmillan.audio and @stmartinspress for the ALC and ARC copies of this title!

The cover for One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day drew me in. I wasn’t sure it would be mystery enough for me, but I was pleasantly surprised. It had more depth than I originally gave it credit for.

The Bishop Sisters come to the Precipice after the death of their father. Who is going to get what is on their mind. I think most of us have heard how ugly things can get when there’s a lot of money involved, but these sisters have more than money on their mind and someone is determined to bring to the forefront their secrets.

Charley has been working at the Precipice and counts on the paycheck to pay for her Nana and herself. That held a story I never saw coming and I loved it.

We also have a stowaway with a killer story that caught me by surprise.

I will definitely keep my eye out for more from Jamie Day. On the surface her books might seem like light reading, but there is so much more than a colorful cover.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day.

See more at http://www.fundinmental.com

A great, fast paced read that will keep you engaged. Absolutely brilliant character development and a unique plot.

Her work situation gives new meaning to “dead end job”.

At the Precipice Hotel in a small town on the coast of Maine, 19 year old Charley has been working as the housekeeper for owner George Bishop. When he recruited her for the job, it seemed perfect….for a high school dropout who is the sole support for her one living relative, the grandmother who raised her and has Alzheimer’s, having her lodging and meals included for free on top of her salary and tips sounded too good to be true. And it was, because George Bishop turned out to be a nasty man who regularly hit on his pretty employee. With the ever increasing fees at the facility where her grandmother lives and limited employment opportunities from which to choose, Charley is pretty much stuck in a job she hates. When George dies of a heart attack, Charley hopes that his three daughters, the apparent heirs to the property, will be an improvement and sets out to impress them with her usefulness. But Vicki, Iris and Faith prove to be many shades of difficult, with long simmering resentments ready to boil over and some seriously dangerous secrets that need keeping. When they arrive, ultra-organized businesswoman VIcki with her unpleasant husband Todd and handsome son Quinn, recovering addict Iris with a prison record, and glamorous former model Faith with her wife Hope and odd son Oliver, Charley and her friend and front desk manager Rodrigo have their hands full, especially given predictions that a major hurricane is going to hit that same weekend. Add in Olga, the longtime hotel cook who walks off the job when Todd refuses to let her leave to ready her home for the storm, lawyer Brenda Black who comes with bombshell news for the already tension-filled family reunion, and Bree Bradford, the mysterious young woman whom Charley has agreed to let stay for free at the hotel for a few days in order to evade her violent and abusive boyfriend, there is a limited group of suspects when one of those staying in the hotel turns up dead. Was it natural causes, or is there a murderer on the loose? A second person soon goes missing, and it seems clear that it is the latter. Cut off from the world by the weather and unable to contact the authorities for help, Charley and Bree team up to identify the killer and (hopefully) avoid becoming victims themselves.
The Bishops are poster children for dysfunctional families. Old secrets, bad life choices, and a healthy dose of toxicity are just the start of their problems. Charley was struggling to make ends meet even before this tumultuous weekend, and quickly finds herself in trouble for offering shelter to Bree. That decision may cost her her job, which will result in her grandmother having neither a place to live nor the care she needs and Charley will be out on the street. Rodrigo wasn’t in favor of letting Bree stay, and is now in a foul mood due to his previous (negative) interactions with the lawyer who just arrived. The three sisters.have some serious issues both with themselves and with one another, and its hard to know whether they will turn against one another or decide that blood is indeed thicker than water. It’s a locked room type of mystery wrapped up in a thriller, with plenty of suspects, red herrings and plot twists. Fans of the movie “Knives Out” and of authors like Frieda McFadden, Lisa Unger and Sally Hepworth should pick up this summer read perfect for taking to the beach or pool. Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me access to an early copy of this fast-paced and suspenseful tale.

When the owner of the family-owned hotel The Precipice passes away, chambermaid Charley Kelley awaits the arrival of his three daughters. She needs this job and the small room where she lives rent free. Will the sisters keep the hotel open and what will she do if she has to leave? Where will she go? Her grandmother has dementia and needs extended care and she can barely afford for her stay at the assisted living facility. When she allows a young abused woman, Beth, to stay at the hotel, but off the books, she knows that this could get her fired. When the sisters arrive, chaos arrives as well as Charley must keep moving Beth from room to room, the sisters do not get along and have their own secrets, and the cook has quit. The results of the reading of the will adds the final gothic touch to this mystery as they await Hurricane Larry which is bearing down on the coast. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (paytonpuppy)