George Bishop owns an eclectic hotel, The Precipice, on the coast of Maine. After his death, his three daughters and their families return for the reading of his will. Not only does the will have implications for them but Charley, a down on her luck chambermaid, working for every penny to keep her Nana in an assisted living facility, worries if she’ll keep her job.

Family dysfunction ensues as the sisters try to cover up a secret from their youth and turn on each other. Add to that, an impending hurricane and dead bodies and you’ve got yourself a suspense/mystery story.

I found this to be an enjoyable, easy to read book that was…. just…. fine. There is plenty to keep you entertained, i.e., lots of things the sisters were trying to hide from one another, not to mention, the huge secret they shared together. Some of these were fun little items I didn’t necessarily see coming but the big payoff was just a little “meh” for me.

If you’re looking for a story with a little excitement where everything is wrapped up nice and neat then this one is for you.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

WOW!!! I really loved this story. This was such a twisted thriller about family! I really loved getting to know more about each character. This book made me think and keep guessing all the way through. I loved how it was divided into parts and they all came together in the end to reveal everything! This is a must read if you love thrillers...you will not be disappointed!!!

Overall, this was an average read. It felt a little slow to me, I personally like page turners that move faster. But there is enough intrigue to keep you moving! Trying to figure out what’s going on at the little hotel in the middle of a hurricane. It felt like everything was happening - and maybe too much all at once. A forgotten/ignored child, buried family secrets, love interest, multiple murders, even suspicious caretakers. I didn’t find myself very invested in any of them.


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

"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."

Charley Kelley lives paycheck to paycheck, and spends just about every penny she makes taking care of a grandmother with dementia, so to say she's had a hard life is an understatement. She is the live in maid at The Precipice, but now that the owner has passed, and his 3 daughters are on their way for the reading of their father's will, her future is uncertain. Add to that the woman she is hiding who is running from an abusive ex, and the woman who takes care of her grandmother raising her rent, and Charley is at her wit's end. It only gets worse when the three sisters arrive and immediately start sniping at each other. With a hurricane coming and secrets coming out, the stage is set for murder.

I enjoyed this book very much. The characters were well written, the story was engaging, and the setting was described in such a way that I felt I was in the hotel with the characters. The pacing was spot on and the ending was very satisfying.

All in all, I enjoyed this book very much and highly recommend it.

5/5 stars.

*** I would like to thank NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Jamie Day for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of One Big Happy Family.

One Big Happy Family? Far from it!

Nineteen year old Charley has worked as a maid at the Precipice Hotel for 2 years. Her job includes room and board; well, if you consider a repurposed broom closet a room. But she does this in order to save money to pay for her grandmother's care at Guiding Way, a senior living facility. Every cent she makes (and a few dollars stolen from guests) goes to Nana's care. Nana was the only one Charley could depend on. But now, the monthly charge is being increased and Charley has no way to meet it. She isn't even sure she will have a job now that the hotel owner, George Bishop, has passed away. He has three daughters whose reputation as difficult and menacing precedes them,

But the Bishop sisters are not the only storm headed to Jonesport, Maine; Hurricane Larry is coming their way. The three sisters and their families arrive for the funeral, but most importantly, the lawyer arrives for the reading of the will. George was a very wealthy, eccentric, miserly and perverse man. The sisters do not get along with each other at all and speak of secrets to be kept. They expect the estate to be split 3 ways and it was; just not in the way they expected. Not everyone here is willing to live with that, which means some will die. No love lost here.

The hurricane causes trees to come down blocking the only way out from the hotel and all power has been lost. No phones, No way to call for help or to escape. Trapped with a murderer, no one is safe. but the first body will not be the last.

The second half of the book moves at a very brisk pace and can easily be visualized on the screen. There are alliances made and broken as the twists and turns of who has done what to whom just keep coming, Will Charley be able to make it out alive?

Jamie Day has created some truly contemptible characters with the Bishop family, But it just makes it more fun to loathe them. This was an entertaining thriller with surprises going off like little hand grenades.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the Arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This story takes place in a hotel in Maine - the Precipice during hurricane Larry. The owner has just died and his daughters have gathered at the hotel to hear the reading of the will. Our heroine is a young maid named Charlie who works in the hotel. She is responsible for taking care of her Nana who has dementia and had to be placed in a home. Her only income is working for hotel and she supplements it by taking a few extra dollars when she can. The 3 sisters and 2 sons and a lawyer come to the hotel during the hurricane. A stranger comes to the hotel - Bree who talks Charlie into letting her stay to escape an abusive boyfriend. Charlie agrees, but Bree must stay hidden. The story gets interesting after the reading of the will - this is not a happy family! Many secrets, twists and turns, gunshots, deaths!
Thank you Net Galley and St. Martins Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

One Big Happy Family was a fun read filled with twists and turns. I LOVED the character of Charley and felt myself getting anxious and cheering her on at the same time. I think anyone that reads this book can find a little bit of themselves in each character, making it a very difficult book to put down.
I enjoyed feeling like I had to question everyone's motives and feeling at times like I was on a rollercoaster in the dark.
Will definitely be keeping an eye out for this release so I can add it to my shelf, what a great stormy night read!

One Big Happy Family

It was a dark and stormy night. Plots intertwine, poems predict (or do they? Perhaps.
It gets darker and you will be in the dark.
What is sure? You will be engaged start to finish.
Surely one you will want to share or gift.

I would like to thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read the advanced copy.

This one was a cat and mouse mystery set in a hotel in the Maine coast. Sometimes books like that lose my interest snd this was one of those. It wasn’t a bad thriller mystery but I kept wondering and looking for more. If you are newer to thrillers this is a good start.

One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day

Review: 4/5

This was a fun read. First, I love any book about the Maine coast! It’s so vibey & cozy. I’ve also been into books about family drama lately & this one had TONS of it. This will be the perfect summer read.

Off the coast of Maine, at the Precipice Hotel, a huge storm is on the way. The owner of the precipice hotel suddenly dies, and his three daughters - Iris, Faith & Vicki along with their families arrive at the hotel to discuss the will. Charley, the 19 year old live in maid, who is torn between leaving her toxic job or not being able to afford her grandmother’s nursing home fees, gets locked in the hotel due to the storm all while harboring a friend in need. Dark, dark secrets are revealed, people turn up dead and no one is sure who did it. Will Charley survive the weekend? Will she keep her job? Was helping her friend hide away worth it?

If you love locked room mysteries, slow burn thrillers, family drama, dark family secrets, murder, revenge & lots of unreliable characters , this one is for you!

Thank you, @netgalley for the ARC! I loved Jamie Day’s writing style and am looking forward to reading the block party next!

Pub date: July 16th, 2024

I wanted to enjoy Happy Family, I really, really did, but it fell flat for me. The premise sounded interesting enough. Family drama set against a closed door mystery in the middle of a storm?! I’m in! Unfortunately, it just never took flight for me. This was one of those books that was just a chore to read. That you know you have to get through so you can go read something good, but that you really just don’t want to have to pick up and suffer through day after day. I feel like the plot could have potentially made and interesting short story, but drug on into an eternity of uninteresting details. None of the characters were likeable, but not only weren’t they likeable, they just weren’t interesting. At the end of the book I still wasn’t sure which 3 were sisters and not because the author didn’t explain it, but because I genuinely just did not care! Very glad to be through the doldrums of this one and on to read more interesting things!

I had no idea what to expect with this book but I couldn't put it down. The locked room mystery is so good in a big hotel on the Maine Coast. There is also a hurricane coming, and a crazy family arriving at the hotel to settle the will of their father that just died. The family members all bring their own secrets and drama and I like how it unfolded. Charley is the maid that lives at the hotel and she of course gets sucked into the family drama. I highly recommend this book! A great thriller/mystery read!

This was such a good book! I loved the characters, and their story. The dialogue was realistic and enjoyable. I was very surprised by the ending!

Charley Kelley is the maid at the Precipice hotel in Maine. The patriarch of the Bishop family has just passed away and she isn't sure what is going to happen to not only her job but also her home. She can't afford to move because she needs all her money to pay for her grandmother's care. So she needs to get the hotel in perfect shape for the three daughters to come and decide what to do with the old hotel. Oh and there is a hurricane coming, and it is a big one. These sisters are a real piece of work and they each have their own baggage and secrets. The reading of the will is interesting and sets the sisters against each other. Then a dead body is discovered. Who committed the murder and how will the killer be discovered since they have no way to contact the authorities. Charley isn't sure who she can trust.

Charley Kelley is a young chamber maid who works at the famous Precipice Hotel on the coast of Maine. She struggles to get by, supporting her self while also paying for her nana’s healthcare. She feels lucky to have the position she has, even if it involves fighting off the advances of George Bishop, the hotel’s owner. But with the sudden passing of Bishop, Charley fears she may lose her job as the three Bishop daughters swoop in to claim the hotel. As a hurricane approaches the coast, she juggles accommodating Faith, Iris, and Vicki, while also harboring an unexpected woman named Bree who seeks her help. The toxic relationship between the sisters quickly surfaces, and when one of their husbands ends up murdered, Charley has no idea who to trust. This was a fun read that kept me guessing throughout the story with a nice twist in the end.

Thanks for this advance copy. I loved this book! I just read it in a day, so it's so good. If you are looking for a book to inmerse you as much as you forget about the outside world, this is it!

I simply did not like it. This story was a classic murder mystery “whodunnit”. It seemed like there were too many plot holes, the characters were bland and flat, and I guess the “twist” pretty early on. This book lacked intensity. The reveals were delivered very flat, as if it comes up in a normal conversation. I didn’t get any shock value, jaw dropping, edge of my seat, leave me reeling feeling. Then at the end you expect me to believe they did alllll that outside in a hurricane? Not a tropical storm or depression, but a HURRICANE. Nah. And the prologue didn’t match up to what happened in the story. This was my first read from Jamie Day so maybe their style of writing just isn’t for me, but I probably wouldn’t recommend.

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this Advanced Reader’s Copy of One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day due to be released on July 16, 2024.

I requested this book not only based on the synopsis but also because it was based in Maine. Imagine my surprise when I began reading and found that it was based in my hometown! Of course I know that a work of fiction is exactly that, but it was pretty clear that the author either maybe visited once or (more likely) Googled.

You aren’t driving to Belfast to go bowling and making it back by midnight, but I digress. Fiction. My review is not based on these details. They just amused me.

Not sure he’s weathered a hurricane either, or a rural Maine power outage. Hahaha.

The story started out strong and interesting but soon turned into something else entirely. I’ve read enough thrillers to know how they play out and they generally leave you guessing but there is always some sort of connect. At times, this felt more like spaghetti was being thrown at the wall to see what would stick.

It was all over the place at times, and a lot felt contrived, including the ending.

All said and done, it wasn’t a bad read. It just wasn’t for me.

This book was so much fun. It is a murder mystery with a hint of sass. The author made me feel like I was a fly on the wall in this weird house. The hurricane adds to the feeling of being trapped. The characters are outlandish and funny, like Oliver and his rhymes.

Thanks for the advance review copy.

it's remarkable how much this book is the better version of Daisy Darker. there are even cringey rhymes!!! (I promise this poetry is not AS bad.)

anyway this is a very readable and fun thriller, but also man there are so many parts that are very goofy. like I didn't TOTALLY mind them, in fact I found them kind of endearing, but like... be prepared to roll your eyes. and then smile anyway.

on a side note oh my god please take the "except they're not" off the cover, that is groan-worthy in the BAD way

I feel like I'm coming off as very negative here so I'll end with a final note that like, this really is gonna be a fun beach read for the summer and I really found myself rooting for the main character, who is like the most beleaguered character in the history of ever and also just generally likable.