Jamie Day likes to weave lots of secrets and intrigue into her novels. My first exposure to her writing was the book The Block Party and I really enjoyed its twists and turns. Her most recent novel, One Big Happy Family set at the legendary Precipice Hotel in Maine had lots of twists, turns and secrets. However, it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. The last few chapters did wrap up all the secrets but it took us awhile to get there and sometimes I found the drama to be over the top. From the perspective of who did what, I never saw how things would play out and therefore appreciated the intrigue.
The Bishop sisters and their families come together at the Precipice hotel for the reading of their father’s will. The whole family, plus Charley Kelley, a nineteen-year-old chambermaid are a captive audience at the hotel while a major hurricane barrels down on Maine. In addition to the secrets the Bishop family is keeping, Charley has her own secrets. She has been pilfering from guests and is currently hiding a woman at the hotel who is on the run from an abusive boyfriend. This woman promises the reward Charley for helping her with money. The pilfering and hiding a guest are behaviors contrary to Charley’s personality, but she is desperate for additional income so she can pay for her nana’s rent. Charley is concerned what the sisters have planned for the hotel and if they find out what she has been up, she can get fired and this would have a catastrophic impact on her and her nana’s lives. Despite, Charley’s concerns, the Bishop sisters are no strangers to their own habit of secret keeping.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

#OneBigHappyFamily #JamieDay

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.

Each sister wants what is rightfully hers, and in the mix is the Precipe's nineteen-year-old chambermaid Charley Kelley: smart, resilient, older than her years, and in desperate straits.

The arrival of the Bishop sisters could spell disaster for Charley. Will they close the hotel? Fire her? Discover her habit of pilfering from guests? Or even worse, learn that she's using a guest room to hide a woman on the run.

With razor-sharp wit, heart, thrills, and twists, Jamie Day delivers a unique brand of SUMMERTIME SUSPENSE.



I loved this murder mystery type book! It kept me on my toes and I kept trying to figure out who I thought was the most crazy!

I thought this was fast paced and witty, it had lots of suspense, family drama, secrets and I loved the perfect Maine setting!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

THIS HAIR-RAISING, AGATHA CHRISTIE STYLE WHODUNNIT WAS UNPUTDOWNABLE!!

Charley has been cleaning rooms at the Precipice Hotel in Maine since she was 15. Now 19 years of age and dedicated to supporting her Nana financially, Charley works every day and lives at the hotel in a large closet with a small bed. Her life hasn't exactly been easy. To make matters worse, the Bishop family is difficult in their management of the hotel. George, the owner, made it known to Charley that she was hired because she looked like a previous maid named Christine, with whom he was having an affair. After his suspicious death, the rest of the family arrives at the hotel with their lawyer, ready to receive their inheritance as the will is read. When the reading doesn't go as planned, there is an upheaval, turning family against family. As more deaths occur, foul play is at large. To make matters worse, ominous rhyming messages turn up in odd places, forcing the family to succumb to the demands made in them. As this crazy family begins to process their impending doom, secrets surface and drama ensues. Caught in the middle, Charley learns the shocking dysfunction within the Bishop family, as she plans her escape. The problem - she's falling for one of them......hard. As hurricane Larry threatens the hotel, more secrets emerge while the power goes out. Trust is dwindling between everyone present, they have no cell service, and several need medical attention. It's going to be a long night.

I was on the edge of my seat with this thriller. Not only is it a nail-biter, the profundity of all characterization lured me in and held me hostage. Jamie Day has an incredible ability to keep the reader in the moment at all times. Her capacity for timing in revealing crucial information for each character without leaving the reader confused is spectacular. I felt as if I had known these characters for years after I reached the end! There are clever twists and turns that left my jaw dropped and heart racing.

Heartfelt thanks to NetGalley, Jamie Day, and St. Martin's Press for this captivating eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Pulls you in right away.

Charley, a maid at a hotel in Maine, is to make ready the hotel for the owners daughters for the reading of his will. All sorts of horridness ensues once the family is together. Many secrets laid bare as well as a few murders and deaths.

I could not put this down, once I got into it. Bit of a slow burn for me, things that I didn't care about only to find out that I should have. I loved the end. Quite a few twists in the story, many that I didn't see coming.

One Big Happy Family is the latest domestic thriller from Jamie Day. The Precipice is a not-so-nice, family owned resort on the coast of Maine. When the father passes away, his three estranged daughters move back to take over the inn. There is contention, jealousy, deceit and trouble brewing, along with a hurricane! It’s a dangerous combination and not one everyone will survive.

This story featured unlikeable characters, a fairly clueless but kind protagonist, countless arguments and family drama, and predictable, traumatic events, and it’s all a bit over-the-top. That said, there is a clear sense of foreboding and an eerie atmospheric setting that you will feel on each page. There is a lot that takes place in a short period of time and the tension is palpable. There are twists, turns, shocking revelations and fewer characters at the end of the story, than the number we started this sordid tale with.

** spoiler alert **


One Big Happy Family
Rating: 4 stars
Thank you to the publisher for ARC given through NetGalley for review. All opinions are my own.

This is my first time reading this author and I'll say that One Big Happy Family is like no other mystery I have ever read. For some reason it reminded me of the movie Clue because there were times I couldn't take what was happening seriously. Some of the decisions the characters were making made me question if they actually were taking themselves seriously.
Overall it was an entertaining story, but like in real life the wealthy got away with many things.

I thoroughly enjoyed this locked room mystery (a trope I do not usually enjoy), likely due to the pre-existing relationships between half of the core characters/suspects as well as the secrets they and the rest of them hold. I was drawn into the author’s clever development of these characters, their pasts, and their attempts to work with (and at times against) each other to explore how the choices of one can drive others into actions that conflict with their own moral code. Sympathetic characters, despicable behaviors, and fast paced scenes made this an exciting escape from my own reality.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Netgalley, and the author for early access to this captivating thriller.

The Short of It:

A tense, closed door whodunit type of story. Rich family, loose morals, and lots of secrets.

The Rest of It:

You should know that this book will be released July 16, 2024 but I needed to write the review while it was fresh in my mind. This is a super fun read.

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. ~ Publisher

The Precipice hotel has plenty of history. Not all of it good. After the death of their father, the Bishop sisters arrive to hear the reading of the will but this is not a tight-knit, close family. The three sisters have plenty of secrets and unchecked jealousy so for them to be shoved into a room during a dangerous storm that literally holds them hostage, the outcome cannot be good.

Enter the hotel’s staff. Charley is the housekeeper. A housekeeper who was very familiar with the previous owner and his unwelcomed advances. She’s not thrilled to be expecting the sisters. She’s heard plenty about them and guess what? They don’t really care to know or be around Charley either.

Charley has some issues. When the guests are plentiful at the hotel, she skims from them as much as she can to take care of her grandma, who is tucked away in assisted living. Yes, she steals for a good cause but when her loose morals commingle with that of the sisters a tug of war ensues. Plus, with all the guests gone, due to the storm, how will she earn the living she needs to earn to support her grandma?

No one can be trusted in this story! That’s what makes it so readable. Someone goes missing, then someone turns up dead. Secrets are revealed and that nasty storm keeps them all inside, with each other. Alliances are formed and broken. It’s a crazy story with a hectic pace.

Suspicion is everywhere and the finger is pointed this way, and then that way, keeping you guessing. There are a lot of red herrings and in the end I did figure it all out but it was fun getting there.

I read Day’s last book, The Block Party and it had the same relentless pace so I was sure to pick this one up. If you want something to help you through the week, pick up a copy. I pretty much read it straight through.

A decently entertaining locked-room mystery, but with more of a family drama vibe. The pace was a little slower than I would have liked, and I had a hard time identifying with any of the characters. There were lots of lies and secrets to uncover and plenty of twists and turns along the way.

George Bishop, the owner of The Precipice Hotel which is located along the rocky shores of Maine, has passed away. Charley, the maid, has prepared the hotel for the family who are arriving for the reading of the will. As they arrive, the true nature of the family indicates that they don’t like each other. A hurricane force storm and a murder of a family member doesn’t allow them to leave the hotel. Messages begin to appear that predict more deaths if secrets aren’t confessed. This is when they begin to turn on each other.
This novel has some tense moments along with humor. The outcome was a surprise.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley.

One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day - I enjoyed this book but it was just a typica thriller for me. It was interesting, engaging and held my interest but nothing earth shattering. There were a few twists that I did not see coming but I also did guess a few as well. I am happy I read the book, just not one of my favorite thrillers this year.

This was a fun locked room for those who enjoy the genre. Locked room isn't always my favorite but this one was good. THere were some slower parts, but overall I loved the twists.

This book was captivating enough to keep me interested, but ultimately was a bit lacking in parts. I felt as though the story could have been a bit more developed. I also found the plot twist to be really predictable, but maybe that is just me! Overall, it was a pretty good book and I would recommend it to someone looking for a quick thriller read.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the arc.

This is my first Jamie Day read and I enjoyed it.
This was a twist and turny story full of interesting and quirky characters. So many things going on that kept me guessing.

An entertaining read.

Charley is a 19 year old chambermaid at a historic hotel in Maine with a bad habit of pilfering from guests. The lecherous owner, George Bishop has passed away and his three daughters, estranged sisters Iris, Vicki, and Faith, come to the hotel for the funeral, but all their focus lies on the potential inheritance from their father and how it can positively affect their life circumstances.

However, an unexpected guest comes to the hotel, begging for shelter, and Charley, who all too well understands dire circumstances, agrees to let her stay for free as long as she remains undetected But as the hotel guests gather and brace for a hurricane, strange things start occurring and long-held secrets begin to be revealed. When someone is murdered, everyone becomes a suspect.

Jamie Day combines elements of family drama and thriller to create a tense locked room mystery. With surprising twists and turns and nuanced characterization, the novel held my interest and is definitely one I'd recommend.

Main Characters:
-- Charley – 19-year-old live-in housekeeper of the Precipice Hotel, preparing for the arrival of the Bishop sisters since the owner of the hotel just died, uses the money she earns to support her grandmother who is living in a care home and suffering from Alzheimer’s
-- Rodrigo – front desk manager of the Precipice Hotel and Charley’s closest friend
-- Bree – late 20s from Charley’s estimation, they crossed paths a few days earlier at a coffee shop, she shows up at the hotel asking Charley to help her escape an abusive boyfriend
-- Vicki – the oldest of the Bishop sisters, married to Todd, together they own a chain of jewelry stores in and around Boston
-- Iris – the middle of the Bishop sisters, has battled drug addiction since she was a teenager
-- Faith – the youngest of the Bishop sisters, married to Hope, made a living as a high-end model when she was younger
-- Quinn – Vicki and Todd’s son, a senior studying philosophy at Dartmouth with a minor in art history
-- Oliver – Faith and Hope’s 14-year-old son, didn’t talk until he was about five and mostly talks in rhymes, his doctors don’t know why but Hope thinks he’s “special”
-- Brenda – the attorney who will be executing George Bishop’s will and previously almost got Rodrigo’s family deported
-- Janice – runs Guiding Way where Charley’s grandmother lives, helped Charley when her grandmother could no longer be left alone, has power of attorney over Charley’s grandmother’s finances

Where to start? Like any good mystery, One Big Happy Family has a large list of main characters (aka suspects), and you expect some twists to add to the suspense. A classic locked-room mystery, the story traps the characters in the hotel with a hurricane looming, so one of the characters must be the killer when one of them ends up dead. This definitely has twists, but I would argue that there are too many, they’re a bit “out there” at times, and many of them are eyeroll-worthy.

The story here takes place over a matter of a few days, with a section in the middle of the book that flashes back to the Bishop sisters’ childhood into their 20s. Chapter 1 begins in the middle of a hurricane just as the lights in the hotel go out. Chapter 2 rolls back to three days prior while Charley prepares the hotel for the sisters’ arrival for their father’s funeral and the reading of the will.

To set the stage, Charley began working at the Precipice Hotel two years prior. Her grandmother needed full-time care, and Charley was desperate for money, so she didn’t realize or chose to ignore the fact that George Bishop was a bit of a lech with a thing for young girls. It never got to THAT point with Charley, but he definitely made advances.

During her time at the hotel, Charley started stealing from customers—a little here, a little there—to help pay the rent for her grandmother at Guiding Way. When Janice tells Charley that she’s going to raise the rent, Charley becomes even more desperate. When Bree approaches Charley about needing a place to hide out from her boyfriend and being able to pay a good sum of money in a few days, Charley agrees to let her stay hidden in the hotel.

Charley feels a lot of pressure because she isn’t sure what the sisters will do with the hotel, and she needs her live-in job. Despite the weather forecast, the Bishop sisters haven’t changed their plans to come to the hotel with their respective spouses and children for their father’s funeral and reading of the will. So in the midst of Charley’s personal financial crisis, with a hurricane bearing down on the coast, Charley still has to prepare the hotel. She also has to keep Bree well-hidden since she’s pocketing the money Bree has offered.

That’s the gist.

Before I get to the spoilers, this book challenged me in a bunch of other ways. The description calls Charley “older than her years.” I would argue she’s the exact opposite. Yes, she holds down a full-time job to take care of her grandmother, but she put herself into this horrible situation through her own naivete AND she’s a thief.

The attachment and loyalty she develops to Bree and Quinn is completely unrealistic in a couple of days. She literally met Bree because Bree asked for her recommendation on coffee. Granted, the money Bree offers for Charley to hide her out is a huge part of Charley’s feelings about Bree, but the fact that she trusts someone she doesn’t know at all is naive at best as well as ridiculously stupid.

In regard to the writing style in general, the point of view makes sense…for the most part. The majority of the book is in the first person from Charley’s perspective. The flashback to the Bishop sisters 40 years prior changes to third person, which is fine. It’s a flashback, and a lot of books use this—different timelines, different points of view. But at one point in the present day…randomly…the story shifts to the third person. Why? Because it’s focused on something Quinn is doing outside, and Charley isn’t there. The story can’t be told otherwise, and this is a huge flaw in the writing. I would have preferred Charley seeing him from a distance and running out to help.

On top of that, so many times, I just shook my head and thought to myself, “Really?!”

-- “Faith works hard to maintain her thin frame but learns soon enough that the good advice she gets about diet and exercise is empty words, as toothless as a newborn.”
-- “After the reading, Oliver appeared drained, as though the experience had depleted him of his lifeforce.”
-- “Vicki holds her ground. Tension rises. The air holds an electric charge. I’m thinking of the greatest standoffs in film history, movies I watched with my nana before her memory declined. Darth Vader versus Obi-Wan Kenobi. Harry Potter versus Voldemort. The Ghostbusters against the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.”

***SPOILERS*** SPOILERS***SPOILERS***

Now for the convoluted spoilers that come out during the hurricane when everyone is trapped in the hotel. Buckle up. In chronological order (versus plot order):

-- The Bishop sisters caused an accident when they were younger that resulted in a fatality. We (and they) assume it was a previous housekeeper Christine who their father took a liking to. The sisters vowed never to tell anyone what they had done.
-- Iris goes into a tailspin, presumably from the guilt, and becomes a drug addict, acting up in school. Her father kicks her out of the house at 18 and tells her not to come back. Two years later, Faith sneaks away on her own, promising never to return.
-- Iris becomes pregnant and decides to get clean because she wants to keep the baby. She goes to a home for unwed mothers, starts attending Narcotics Anonymous, and gets a job cleaning houses. At some point, exhausted from caring for her newborn son, she finds Vicodin in the medicine cabinet of a home she’s cleaning.
-- Faith meets someone who promises to help her with her modeling career. She starts a sort of quid pro quo relationship with him (but falls in love with him), and he secures her the cover of Vogue by ruining the career of another model. When she finds out she parts ways with him.
-- Vicki attends the Vogue cover launch, and before she can find Faith at the event, she meets a man off to the side and spends quite of bit of time talking and flirting with him. She introduces him to Faith as her “new friend.”
-- If you haven’t figured it out yet, Faith’s agent and Vicki’s new friend are both Todd. Faith never mentioned Todd’s name to Vicki because she didn’t want Vicki to dig up dirt on him. She lets Vicki marry Todd without ever telling her.
-- Back to Iris, the one-time Vicodin turned into a downward spiral. When her son is about two years old and she is about to lose him to foster care, she calls Vicki begging her for help. Vicki and Todd agree to adopt (you guessed it) Quinn as long as Iris never tells him who she really is.
-- Several years later after Faith and Hope are together and wanting a baby via IVF, Todd and Faith reconnect and start an affair. Faith gets pregnant and tells Hope that she went to a special clinic. Unbeknownst to everyone, Oliver overhears a conversation between Todd and Faith when he is about four years old and learns that Todd is his father (which he reveals in the middle of the hurricane).
-- Fast forward to the present day, George Bishop is dead and has divided his property. Vicki (and therefore Todd) gets one-third. Iris gets one-third, but it’s in trust, which is run by Todd. The final third goes to Todd because Faith left when George assumed she would be the one to take over the hotel. And if something were to happen to Todd, Brenda the attorney controls his portion.
-- And let’s not forget about Bree, who is not actually an abused girlfriend. She’s Christine the housekeeper’s daughter, and Christine was impregnated by (maybe you guessed this too) George. She didn’t die in the car accident because it was the cook’s son Samuel driving the car. Samuel and Christine were in love and planning to get married. Christine died years later from cervical cancer caused by HPV, which she presumably caught from George.
-- George willed to Bree a painting worth several million dollars. Brenda the attorney knows about it and doesn’t say anything to the sisters because she plans to find the painting and keep it for herself.

Oh…and the killers? Hope kills Todd because she knows about the affair, and Bree kills Brenda because Brenda wants the painting.

Through all of this, Charley thinks that Bree is her friend and the person she can trust the most in the house since Rodrigo is nowhere to be found. And she starts feeling romantic toward Quinn. Despite the fact that someone in the house is a murderer and there is a looming hurricane, she talks about how romantic it feels to be searching the house for him and how she loves the way he says her name.

WHAT?!?!

Talk about a crazy family! I could not believe all the secrets that they kept. This was such a good book. There were so many twists that I did not see coming. What a great book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After "The Block Party" by this author falling "flat" with me, I was wondering if I would enjoy the next book.

Glad to say I really enjoyed "One Big Happy Family". The Precipice is a family owned hotel in Maine - the owner has passed and his 3 daughters are traveling to the hotel to claim their stake in in.

Unfortunately, a hurricane is not too far behind, threatening to strand them there.

Charley works at the Precipice and is harboring a secret of her own, and with the sisters incoming, she is unsure of her future.

There are several twists and turns and I'd recommend to anyone that loves twists!

I was so excited to read this one when I saw it was a hurricane-based locked room thriller. But really this felt like more of a drama, and the slow pace was difficult for me. I wanted to love it more than I did. I paired the print with the audio, but it still just wasn’t my favorite read, I’m sorry to say.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

One Big Happy Family is a locked room mystery narrated by Charley Kelley, a young woman who both works as a chambermaid and lives at The Precipice Hotel in Jonesport, Maine. The predatory George Bishop owned the hotel prior to his death, and his three daughters and his attorney are converging on the hotel for the reading of his will and funeral as Hurricane Larry is poised to hit the coast. Everybody has a secret, but the weather prevents anyone from leaving.

Although the novel has plenty of twists and turns — some more plausible than others — it does not really pick up steam until halfway through. The ending is also too pat and optimistic given everything that has gone before. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary advance reader’s copy of this book.