Special thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book. A well written, fast paced murder mystery. This one kept me guessing right til the end.

I didn’t really care for this. The characters were unlikable and the plot predictable and bogged down by backstory. The main character would say something like, I think she will say the sky is blue. And then the aforementioned character would say, the sky is blue. The end annoyed me and I think the main villain was blamed for a very stupid reason and the connection to the death was a stretch. Also, Oliver’s character drove me nuts. He sounded like he was five, not a teenager.

I received a complimentary copy of this book "One Big Happy Family" and all opinions expressed are my own. I listened to the audiobook. Overall somewhat interesting story. The book was a bit slow and I don't mind that if I am listening to the book. I like that it was set in Maine. The characters got a sort of confusing at times.

This book had such a fun setting, I think that it set the entire mood for me. Overall, it was great, part one was a little bit slow for me though.

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin's Press for allowing me to read an ARC of One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day.

Charley is a maid working at the Precipice Hotel which sits at the edge of a rocky coast in Maine. The owner, George Bishop, has passed away. The Bishop sisters are on their way to the hotel to go over George's will. Hurricane Larry is also on its way. This is a fast-paced isolation thriller.

I enjoyed the characters. Most of them were pretty ugly, which made it more enjoyable to read when they were backstabbing each other. Charley is the underdog that you root for throughout the story. She lives by her moral code and is just trying to get by so that she can support her ailing grandmother. The POV is mostly told by Charley; however, you do get background stories of the three sisters. I liked learning more about each character as you come to understand why they act the way they do and what they're after. It was hard to trust anyone at the hotel.

Hurricane Larry added to the isolation as well as the atmosphere around the hotel, along with the lights going out periodically. Everyone was stuck at the hotel for the night. Some poems were found, which gave me Agatha Christie vibes. This story also gave me a similar characterization and storyline as Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney. If you liked that story, you may like this one too.

I enjoyed the story overall; however, there were a few times when I felt like things were being repeated for some reason. In addition, I found some of it to be overdramatic. You must suspend your belief in this story.

The Precipice is a family owned hotel in Maine. After their father dies, the three Bishop sisters have come to take it over. Secrets, twists and turns, a fun novel.

With the passing of their father, the Bishop sisters are arriving home to the Maine cliffside hotel where they grew up to read the will. Unfortunately, Larry, the most recently hurricane is headed there way. What proceeds is a locked room suspense thriller with the Chambermaid, Charley, who has her own worries, thrown in the mix.

This was a fast paced thriller that was filled with secrets and twists, that while not totally unpredictable, added suspense. While I was enthralled with the characters, each of them had their own secrets and storied past that if you struggle with unlikeable characters, you might struggle with this book. The first person perspective of the story through Charley’s viewpoint required conventions to impart historical knowledge that I do not think were totally successful as it slowed down the pace and seemed to bog down the story a bit. There were a few inconsistencies or instances where I questioned “why” but it did not detract from the book. Overall a quick locked room thriller that was great while waiting in between baseball games

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the sophomore book by Jamie Day, with the audiobook wonderfully narrated by Saskia Maarleveld. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!

Charley is the maid at a family-owned inn, The Precipice, doing whatever she can to earn enough money to pay for her grandmother's care. When the owner, George Bishop dies, his family comes to the inn for the reading of the will. Along with all the surprises the will brings, a hurricane is looming.

I was a huge fan of Day's debut, The Block Party, and enjoyed this one as well. I love a locked-room atmospheric mystery, and this one had lots of characters, each keeping secrets. I did feel it was a bit slow at times, but it still kept me intrigued. While Charley didn't always make the best of decisions, I felt for her as she was trying so hard to take care of her beloved Nana. The scenes with the two of them were heartwarming and heartbreaking. This is full of family secrets and dysfunction, enough characters to keep you guessing, and a few twists and turns along the way.

I loved The Block Party and the premise of this one sounded perfect for the summer. Unfortunately, this book was very slow and not all that exciting. I don't mind when thrillers let you get to know the characters and get inside of their head, but this one felt like it gave us so much unnecessary information that it was hard to enjoy. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

This one had a great premise and setting, but the book couldn't hold on to it. The first part was very slow and aside from meeting the characters there was nothing going on. There was lots of drama after that when we learned about everybody's backstory. It picked up toward the end, but it just wasn't believable. I had never read this author before, but would like to try the first book.

As a huge fan of the Block Party, I was so excited for the new novel. It was short lived. From the start this book was overly descriptive about unimportant things. Scenes that were supposed to be dramatic and thrilling were too long and underwhelming. The end had some weird scenes that switched from first person to third randomly. Just very weird and tied up too perfect at the end.

A family comes together at their family-owned hotel each with a desire to take ownership of the hotel. A looming storm makes things come to a head.

I wanted to like this because the setting was ominous and good. I think it just took too long to get to the crux of the intrigue. It did not really draw me in like a thriller should do.

I loved The Block Party so I was very excited to reas One Big Happy Famiky as an ARC. UNFORTUNATELY, this did not hit the same mark. It was good...just not as good. The characters were hard to relate to, and seemed very shallow.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

While this mystery is interesting and suspenseful, I was easily able to put down for a while. The main reason is that unlike her other book 'The Block party', I didn't really connect with any of the characters including the main character, Charley. They weren't developed that well. It wasn't hard to tell the good from the bad people. I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher through Netgalley. This is my honest and voluntarily given review.

This is a family drama and mystery from an author that is new to me. Told from the POV of Charley Kelley, a 19 year old maid, who works at a hotel on the coast of Maine. His three daughters return with spouses and grandson in tow for the reading of the will. Of course this all happens while a hurricane is heading towards them. The reading of the will contains some surprises and more family secrets get exposed as the story progresses. They aren’t a warm cozy type of family. And there is a lot of animosity between siblings. Charley reminds me a little of Molly Gray the housekeeper in The Maid by Nita Prose in the way she is overlooked and a witness to the happenings. I could not have expected all of the twists and turns in the story. It was a good mystery with over the top family drama. I appreciate the epilogue for some extra closure. (3.5 Stars)

I absolutely loved The Block Party by Jamie Day so once I saw that One Big Happy Family was coming out, I couldn't request it fast enough. Unfortunately, I couldn't connect with this story. Most of the characters were very immature and it was hard to stay immersed in the story with the varying perspectives. Usually I don't have a problem with multi-character perspective novels but this just didn't work.

Nothing to do with the plot line or Jamie Day, but there were major issues with the formatting of the eARC I received. There were random "1" and "0"'s at the end of many paragraphs. This was very distracting.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I had a lot of fun with this one. It had And Then There Were None and Knives Out vibes. I was sucked in immediately and it held my attention all the way to the satisfying ending. This book definitely helped me out of my reading slump.

My thanks to Net Galley and St Martin press for allowing me this arc.

A smart maid, a stowaway hotel guest, murders, at dysfunctional family, family secrets,.and a past event of recently deceased hotel owner George Bishop that effects the present makes this a fun read!

My ONLY complaints, the first part of the book about Charley made me feel like I was reading The Maid and it took a bit for the action to kick in., but I liked it

3.5 stars

I loved The Block Party, however, this one didn't live up to my expectations. It was slow paced, predictable and there was too much unnecessary information included.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I’m sorry to say that this book wasn’t for me. It was just so slow that I couldn’t get into it at all. I had to DNF midway through Part Two because I was just bored. I didn’t particularly like any of the characters with the exception of Charley, and that made it difficult to continue.

If you like a locked room thriller/mystery you will probably enjoy this one.

I loved Jamie Day’s last book, The Block Party, so I was really hoping I’d like this one just as much.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my review.