Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This book is about Charley, who is a chambermaid working at The Precipice Hotel. She needs this job more than ever as her grandmother is in an old age home and the rent has gone up. The owner of the hotel has died, and his three daughters have arrived at the hotel to get his affairs in order. These daughters have sordid pasts, secrets, and a few grudges.

Charley is trying to make sure the hotel is ready for the sisters and that everything is running smoothly, however, she has a woman who is hiding from her abusive ex boyfriend in the hotel which makes things a little more complicated. A massive storm is also on the way that will trap everyone in the hotel which causes more problems when someone gets murdered!

This is my first book by Jamie Day. The premise of the book was intriguing to me. A family trapped in a hotel during a massive storm, a murder, family secrets. Unfortunately this book didn't really do it for me. I didn't really like the characters and I felt bored throughout. It wasn't a horrible book but just didn't work for me personally.

I have not read The Block Party by this author and although this one fell a little flat for me I am looking forward to reading it

3 stars!

There is no way in or out of this locked-room mystery set in a remote Maine hotel during a severe storm. Our main character is a female maid who is just nineteen years old. To save money, she resides at the hotel. Besides her job duties, she must avoid the old male hotel owner, who has creepy dirty thoughts towards her. Pre-storm, he dies, and his three unlikable grown daughters arrive with their families to go over the will. The storm traps them, and that’s when the murders begin.
I guessed one of the twists early on but didn’t get the others. The book was fast paced enough and full of drama both in the suspenseful way and of course the family drama way. Learning the family secrets was fun because the sisters were all a tad crazy.
This review is my own. I was provided an ARC for my honest review.

This story was filled with twists and turns. Just when I thought one thing was going to happen, another surprise was looming just ahead. I really enjoyed reading the characters personalities and how they were all after different things against one another.

This was a fun read. I enjoyed all the twists and turns. I also enjoyed the dysfunctional family. I feel like I anticipated the outcome. Once a certain character was introduced, I knew immediately who the “bad guy” would be. I did not anticipate all the other drama that unfolded.
All in all, a good read!!

Loved all the twists. This is a perfect thriller for summer! I love stories that give a backstory and Jaime Day does a great job at that. This book will you will not want to put down. You will want to know all about the Bishop sisters and the Chambermaid.

i just finished this book....... i really enjoyed it! three sisters come back to their childhood home for the reading of their fathers will........i also have 2 sisters and went thru a similiar situation without the violence and gunshots!! nice to know things can get worse! the story was set in a small family owned hotel out east that sounds awesome! overall a good story with interesting characters

A thriller not to be missed this summer. A Maine property shared by many siblings and a mystery that entwined well.develooed characters and a gorgeous scenery. Not to be missed.

Lots of twists and turns. Every time I thought I had it figured out, I didn’t. Characters were balanced and developed. Lots of fun to read and hard to put down.

This was a slow read for me. I appreciated being able to read this early. I hope to give this author another try in the future.

Jamie Day has quickly become my go to author for mystery, suspense, and thrillers!!!

One Big Happy Family is a gripping read! The twists and turns had me engaged from beginning to end. With this many secrets, I guarantee you cannot see all of them coming.

If you only read one mystery/ suspense/ thriller book in 2024 let One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day be it!!!

Special thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Jamie Day for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

One Big Happy Family
By: Jamie Day

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

One eccentric hotel, three estranged sisters, a maid and the reading of the will followed by deception, lies and so much more kept me glue to this novel.

The owner/father of the sisters die they all must gather at the hotel they grew up in. They each have their own secrets but one they all share comes back to haunt them.

Hurricane Harry has everyone along with their lawyer and some others family trapped in the hotel. As one is found dead, everyone starts to unravel.

Thank you St. Martins Press for this advanced copy. This one comes out July 16, 2024.

One Big Happy Family is an atmospheric locked room type mystery/thriller with a little (A LOT) of domestic drama. It is a slow burn and it took me a while to get into it. There is a lot of character development and setting the scene and the action doesn't really get started until about halfway through the book. It is definitely worth the build up!

Charley is a young maid at The Precipice, a family owned hotel on the coast of Maine. She counts on this job for room and board as well as money to pay for her grandmother's care home. Her job is in jeopardy since the owner, George Bishop, recently died and his three daughters, Vicky, Iris, and Faith will be arriving soon to take over. They will be joined by the family lawyer, who will read the will so the family can find out what George has left them from his substantial estate. Unfortunately for Charley and the staff of The Precipice as well as the Bishop family, a major storm (Larry) will be making landfall right as they arrive. After the reading of the will, the sisters do not inherit what they expect. They are soon trapped with no phone service and shaky electricity. When mysterious messages begin to show up all over the hotel and family members start dying, it turns out all of the Bishop sisters have something to hide and a stranger apparently holds the key to the past and present.

This is a slow burn but I enjoyed the characters and the storytelling, especially the back story that explains the present actions of the Bishop sisters and how everything and everyone ties together. Would definitely recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The estranged family of a historic Maine hotel owner gather to read their father’s will, but an impending hurricane strands them together with disastrous results. Each has their own secrets and must reveal them before there is another murder.

There’s a lot of story to tell here and I thought it rambled a little too much. Guessed much of the outcome 🙁

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

There is regular drama in every family to a certain degree and then, there is Bishop family that brings another extreme in family drama quotient. Thanks to all their secrets being unraveled in a locked-room mystery style but in their own family owned hotel while finding out their inheritance after their father's death. There are three sisters and their lives are more intertwined than normal families and the book mainly focuses on Charley who works and stays at this hotel. During a storm, they are all stuck at this hotel leading to multiple deaths and people going berserk about the situation. Adding a stranger always makes them suspect right away and gave up some suspense and yet overall, it was engaging and interesting.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: July 16, 2024
“One Big Happy Family” by Jamie Day, author of “The Block Party”, is a locked room mystery with so many family secrets at its core there is only way it could play out- with murder. Epic suspense and constant twists and turns fill the pages, and the plotline is deliciously addictive.
Charley has worked (and lived) at the Precipice Hotel for years, since her beloved grandmother was admitted to a nursing home. Tolerating abuse from the guests, and from the owner himself, Charley has become resilient, brave and determined. But after the death of the owner, George, Charley’s fate is in the hands of his daughters- Vicky, Iris and Faith- but once they show up, things only get worse. Once the will is read, Vicky’s husband is discovered, dead, and the women instantly turn on each other. Charley is soon fighting for more than a roof over her head as she starts to discover that the Bishop sisters have secrets worth killing for.
I am a fan of locked room mysteries and this genre is overflowing as of late, as it seems most of the new books I’ve read have a locked room mystery vibe. Somehow, though, Day manages a creative and refreshing story, and I was not disappointed.
Charley is young but hardened by life and not all naïve, which made her instantly likable. I wanted her to succeed and I cheered for her from the first page. As an avid reader of this genre, I guessed some of the plot points, but that did not put a damper on my enjoyment. It’s obvious something is up with the Bishop family, but Day manages to keep these secrets until the last moment. “Family” flowed well, building tension until the final pages, when the ending provided a satisfying release.
I was a fan of “The Block Party”, and I was excited to get another chance at a Jamie Day novel. Day’s writing is razor sharp, clever and intriguing, and I will eagerly anything else she puts to print. “Family” is far more than another locked room mystery, and I highly recommend it!

One Big Happy Family was a fun mystery with elements of romance, family drama and suspense. Personally, I found it to be a little cheesy but a sweet story! It kept my attention well but not necessarily hanging on the edge of my seat. I truly had no clue how the story would wrap up. Jamie Day does a great job weaving stories between a large group of diverse characters.

The premise sounded interesting, but it missed the mark a bit for me. I'd expected more suspense, but, instead, there was more dysfunctional family drama. It felt more like a young adult vs adult read. Some parts were overly wordy, and the storyline could've benefitted from a bit more dialogue and action vs. narration. I enjoyed the creepy hotel vibe, and the oncoming hurricane season added a nice touch. It's a quick read, but the ending wraps up a bit too neatly.

Such a good book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn’t keep it down!!! Unexpected twists!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Description: 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.

Review: A cast of unlikeable characters, in a remote hotel, trapped by a storm....you couldn't get more Agatha Christie/Clue than that. But where And Then There Were None is suspenseful and tension filled, and Clue was simple outrageous and fun, One Big Happy Family is none of those things. The plot revealed itself to be a bit too predictable (for one who has been reading these types of books for most of their life) and the chapters often too long. Worse, I didn't feel anything positive for any of the characters., not even Charley. They weren't all bad characters, they didn't all do anything wrong. They all simply felt flat and one dimensional, If three times as many characters had died, I wouldn't have been upset about the loss. The ending wrapped up almost too nicely but I did appreciate that Charley was able to have a special moment with someone she loved.

Who is this book for Readers of mystery, locked door puzzles, dysfunctional family dynamics and secrets that come back to haunt you (and you haven't been jaded by years of reading this particular genre)) may enjoy this book.

I really enjoyed this book! It took me a little while to get into it at first. For me it just started off a bit slow but once it picked up and we really got to know the characters it was quite captivating. I LOVED the setting of this book and that ambiance that the author portrays here is amazing. The hotel and the way the author describes it so well that I feel like I can see each room. I loved that there is this storm happening and all of the characters are stuck here with these weird things happening. This was really my kind of book. I also loved the family drama aspect of it, it really gave it that extra piece that it needed. The family secrets give this story so much more to dive into and I just ate it up! Literally reading and my jaw on the floor the whole time !! I could not put this book down and I know for a fact no one else will be able to either.

I feel like this book would be a great summer evening read curled up on the couch with a glass of wine. I anticipate that this is going to be a hit ! The book comes out on July 16th 2024.

Thanks so much NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read and review my very first ARC ! I’m so excited to see what other things you have to offer and I looking forward to reviewing again soon! This was a HIT !!