This was a great read. The plot moved along nicely and was super engaging. The plot was very interesting and rather original. The characters were well devleoped.

While it isn't terrible, I do not understand the hype around this book. It is a decent read, but I feel like it has been hyped up more than was necessary for it.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Granite Harbor.

I'm always on the lookout for a good serial killer story so this was right up my alley.

I've never read the author before so I was open minded about what to expect.

Sadly, this didn't meet my expectations which I think had to do with the writing style.

The author provides exposition for nearly every character we encounter.

There's a way to offer info on minor and supporting characters without copious background info but paragraphs of back story drags the narrative down and made reading this very dull and tedious.

Second, I didn't know a person could become a cop just by attending a course, or does this only happen in small towns in Maine?

Third, the author suddenly gives Isabel the ability to have visions? Where did this come from? Just from touching the victim's possession?

This was completely out of left field and added another hard to believe subplot for readers to suspend disbelief in.

I guessed the identity of the serial killer pretty easily, though I don't think it was ever explained why he did the things he did to his victims. Because he was taught those methods?

I didn't like or dislike Alex or Isabel; I just didn't care about them.

I enjoyed the police procedural aspects of the story as Alex interviewed witnesses and suspects but the narrative was bogged down with Alex and his domestic drama with his ex-wife, and the numerous backstories from the supporting and minor characters.

Such an exciting and wild ride. If you enjoy stories about drama and mystery in a small town, this is the book for you!

Thank you to @CeladonBooks for an ARC of Granite Harbor in exchange for an honest review.
A terrifying serial murderer rocks a small town. Teenagers are being targeted, and Alex, the town detective, is worried for his 15-year-old daughter and her friends. As the investigation continues, we see the depth of the connections between people in the town. Every once in a while, a chapter shows a piece of the murderer’s childhood; let me tell you, it is twisted. I have included some trigger warnings at the bottom of the review.
In this novel, there are probably about ten main characters for which you get a varied number of scenes. The character development was so thorough that I felt these people belonged in my neighbourhood. They felt authentic, with flaws and complications. This fantastic character development made me feel deeply connected to these concerned citizens.
The downside to this much development was that the start of the book throws you into the action but then slows down considerably to learn these characters. Once the second half of the book starts, it’s go-go-go. It was a crazy, wild ride with many twists and turns that I didn’t see coming!
I also loved the snippets from the murderer’s past to understand what they went through to bring them to this breaking point. I felt sympathy sometimes for the tragic upbringing, but that doesn’t make it okay to torture and murder people, ya know? Some of these scenes are graphic and upsetting and will stick with me for some time.
If you’re looking for a new thriller, this one might be for you! Hitting bookstores on April 30, 2024!
TW: animal abuse, child abuse, murder, suicide.

This was a tour de force of a book. I loved everything about, it kept me guessing til the very end. The characters and the setting were so well formed and described in such detail, you felt present with them. I loved everything about it, except for the sleep I lost, just a few more pages. Great work, cannot wait for another gem!

This psychological thriller was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, but unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me. The pace was slow, there was a lot of history behind both the settlement and Maine that I felt was unnecessary, and the big twist wasn’t that shocking to me.

Maybe I’m a little desensitized to horror since I read so much of it and felt like this book might only be scary to those who wouldn’t normally read thrillers.

Thank you to Celadon books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Granite Harbor.

Alex Brangwen is a novelist turned small town cop in coastal Maine when a brutal murder of a teen occurs. All signs point to a serial killer who must be stopped before any more of the local youth meet their demise.

The story was engaging enough to keep my interest. While the murderer didn’t shock me, the added perspectives on his backstory added quite a bit to the unsettling nature of the story and I appreciated the unexpected hero at the end.

This was a wild ride for me, with much information on animal biology and human brains destroyed by life experiences. I have always loved Maine, but not the type of history projects written about in Peter Nichols's novel. I've been to places like the one described here. Granite Harbor Human Settlement History site attracted loads of tourists and a variety of weird and twisted people from the local population.

I've been reading so much about teenagers who hate their parents. The push-pull controversy comes up in literature and film. I haven't experienced the kind of behavior that can end in tragedy, so I'm not a big fan of teenagers who hate their parents unless their parents deserve it. Some parents in this novel fully deserve the angst, and more so because of their selfish, careless behavior toward the progeny they brought into this world.

I wished for the furnace Isabel so desperately needed. I wanted Alex to have more time with his daughter and to be able to write the novel everyone expects from him. This story was full of all kinds of life, normal and harrowing. I would love to read another wonderful story by Peter Nichols.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book, which will be published on April 30, 2024.

A small town in Maine, where everyone knows everyone. Where one man is faced with the crime of the century. A serial killer targeting teens. A man new to law enforcement, who must track this killer down, before his own teenage daughter is caught in the cross-fire. A small town, where people are living two lives, two lives separated by hundreds of years. This was a real page-turner. It pulls you in from the very start and doesn't go till the end. A surprise ending that leaves you wanting more, that leaves you wanting to return to Granite Harbor, just to say hi, but also to find out how things are continuing with them. I highly recommend this one!!

3.5 - This was a really interesting thriller with so many twists and turns. Personally, I love it when I can't figure out who the mystery murderer is and this book had me guessing until the last second!

Granite Harbor follows a small community in Maine, where a teenager boy is found murdered in a most peculiar way. Alex, the county detective, is responsible for determining how the boy was killed and uncovering the secrets at play. This book had so many fun magical elements in it which kept it interesting. However, the backstory of the killer was so sad and horrible that at times I was disturbed even reading the book, which is often the point in a thriller. I loved the community aspect of this book, the different relationships between the characters and victims, and how the characters relied on each other to try and save their children and their town. I loved the concept of Alex, the detective and one of the main characters, being a writer, and him using his knowledge as a fictional writer to try and navigate the murders and decipher who the killer was.

Overall, this was a quick and easy thriller to read/binge and I enjoyed it! Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon books for providing me with this advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review!!

Thank you to Celadon Books, NetGalley and author Peter Nichols for my gifted physical copy and e-arc!!

Ok ya’ll. This book is one dark and creeeeepy ride! For realz.

Not that I expect a serial killer thriller to be rainbows & puppy kisses … but everything from the setting, to the tone, to the characters to the gory descriptions of the crime itself is way cringe. Addicting … but ya, so perfectly cringe!

It’s one of those that you may not want to turn the page & find out more, but ya just gotta! I would love to have seen my face when reading through the serial killer scenes! The author also shows us flashbacks into the killer’s life growing up, giving us a great backstory, explaining A LOT! So well done!

I did predict some things pretty early on … but it did not ruin the experience for me! This is a definite page turner that is hard to put down & will definitely give you a big healthy dose of heart pounding suspense!

A gritty detective story, Granite Harbor follows residents of a small coastal town in Maine as the murder of a local teen leaves the community in shock. Told from the perspective of our lead detective Alex, single mother Isabel, and an unknown narrator, we follow our narrators through the investigation and feel the lingering impact of the murders.

Perfect for fans of slow burn mysteries and those who enjoy a darker atmospheric detective story, Granite Harbor was a great ‘thriller’ palate cleanser for me. With clearly defined and developed characters, I enjoyed getting to know our characters and the town. I primarily listened to this on audio, and nothing is more soothing to me on long drives than a slow burn murder mystery. Not sure what that says about me, but either way, I certainly enjoyed this story and am hopefully it’ll turn into a series!

*I don’t always add Trigger Warnings, but based on reviews for other readers, felt I should add my thoughts on the subject matter. The murders are more descriptive and there are a few incidents that could be defined as ‘animal cruelty’. They are a critical part of the story and they can be disturbing to some readers. But if you’re use to reading Karin Slaughter, S.A. Crosby, or other Gritty and dark murder mysteries, you’ll most likely be okay with this book. In the context of the story the plot line makes sense, but if you are sensitive to animal cruelty you can skip Chapter 34 but you won’t get the full picture of the killers or the murders. Do with that information as you will. No house pets are harmed in this story. *



Granite Harbor comes out April 30, 2024! Huge thank you to Celadon and Macmillan Audio for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof.books or on Tiktok @speakingof.books

“Granite Harbor” is a thriller that will keep you up at night while holding your loved ones close trying not to think of all the seemingly innocent people out there who could, quite possibly, be a serial killer.  You will become up close and personal with the evolution and devolution of a serial killer as you come to understand him  as only the serial killer can despite the fact that only a handful of chapters are told from his perspective.  

I should warn you, at times this is a gritty   psychological thriller with some very graphic descriptions that feel rather visceral.  The killer’s signature will mean you never look at —— <sorry, no spoilers> the same ever again.

And while I did have the killer narrowed down to two possible culprits from about half way, there was enough intrigue and possibilities that kept me guessing from one heart pounding moment to the next.  This book gripped my attention from the prologue and held it through to the end.  I especially enjoyed the detective’s character and his backstory as he worked to put together the pieces to solve the case.  I have a lot to say about a lot of the characters, though I fear saying anything about them will result in spoilers.  Let’s suffice it to say that I had some words to say about a couple of characters that were not very nice.  

I read this between audiobook and ebook, both of which were very well done. I found the narrator was able to differentiate the voices of different characters. I did prefer the ebook - only because I felt I could read it faster and highlight important quotes and moments which I though I might want to refer back to in solving the case.    

Thank you to @celadonbooks @macmillan.audio and @netgalley for the advance drc and audio copies of this book.  I highly recommend you read this dark and grittty thriller.  

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I enjoyed the main detective character built in this novel, but the plot itself was unremarkable. In a nutshell - someone has murdered a teenager in a small, coastal Maine town and the plot is revealed through the investigation of the detective and through flashbacks from the killer's upbringing. Most chapters are fairly short. This read was "fine" but I can't see myself recommending this to patrons .
Check the trigger warnings if you are sensitive to certain topics - there were several scenes involving harm to animals that really made me cringe.

Alex Brangwen is a single father, a British ex-pat, and a failed novelist living in Granite Harbor, Maine. He is also the town’s only police detective. A teenage boy is found murdered in The Settlement, the town’s archeological dig and restored old-time town (think colonial Williamsburg.). This is Alex’s first murder case.

Isabel is a single mother who works as a character at The Settlement. Her son, Ethan and Alex’s daughter, Sophie were close friends with the murder victim. Then a second body is found. Alex and Isabel fear their children may be next unless they find the killer.

This was a decent thriller, detective novel. Both the main characters were interesting and were fleshed out, as were Ethan and Sophie to a reasonable degree. There just wasn’t that much detecting going on. Put I kept turning the pages.

DNF @ 30%
There’s some really big content warnings that weren’t disclosed for Granite Harbor. I found out when making notes in Goodreads 😭 this may be a DNF as well.

CW: animal abuse throughout, SA+child abuse, lots of teen bullying that includes urinating and defacating on the face of another student. And that’s not including the gory serial killer things but that was expected

This was the first book I have read by Peter Nichols. I like the premise of this book but it just fell flat for me. I didn't like the animal cruelty. I know a lot of people write like that and it's fine but it's just not for me. I also felt like the pacing was slow going. Although this was not for me doesn't mean someone else won't like it. I will still tell people to give it a try.


Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest opinion.

Granite Harbor is an atmospheric, slow burn crime thriller. I found this book to be very character focused. There are alternating pov's in this novel and the writing is divided into five parts.

I am thankful for the trigger warning provided to me by the publisher as I did skip/skim over that page of the book. I don't generally have much understanding of why writers feel it is necessary to include animal cruelty in a novel as it doesn't tend to add anything of value to the story and, in my opinion, there are other ways the information can be shared with the reader. I felt the animal harm didn't add enough to the story to be included as much as it was.

Overall, Granite Harbor was an okay read for me. I did appreciate the ending which gave the reader a glimpse into the future for the main characters and ended on a more hopeful note.

I took more time to read this book as I was also reading (re-reading) a more joyful pleasant genre novel at the same time, especially for my time reading in the evening.

What could be a better mix than Maine, a serial killer, and a writer turned detective? Yes, this book has all of these and so much more! It is a fast-paced race to the last page once you start... yes, I had a very hard time putting it down!

I thought Alex Brangwen was a very likable detective, a divorced dad of a teenager, living in a small town, where the townsfolk are a curios mix of writers and historical reenactors! And one of them might be the killer... maybe.

The story is told in two timelines... and I thought this worked well! I had suspects... but it did not occur to me until much later in the book who the actual murderer was.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Celadon Books for the digital copy of this book. It will be published April 30, 2024.