Rating: 3.5 (rounded up) | Format: Audiobook

This is a fun, keeps-you-guessing locked room mystery! It’s a very fast read, told through multiple perspectives. I found it pretty predictable but still enjoyable.

She Left primarily follows Amy/Therese, the sole survivor of the “Memorial Day Massacre,” where five of her friends were brutally killed when they were teens. Fast forward twenty years: Therese, now an FBI agent, is invited to a remote house along with nine other people with connections to the case by a journalist exploring the massacre. The group quickly becomes stranded to the secluded house during a storm when more murders begin to occur.

Huge thank you to Stacie Grey, Dreamscape Media, & NetGalley for the ARC! All opinions are my own.

"She Left" by Stacie Grey and narrated by Linda Jones is an outstanding thriller that arfully blends a tight circle of suspects with an isolated locale, revenge murders and worst of all, all tech and ability to drive away are taken

Add to this, landslides, the guests being picked off one by one and one heck of a back story that builds throughout the narrative thanks to the beautifully performed multiple POV's by the hugely talented Linda Jones

Oh my goodness, this one is a doozy! I am not usually one for thrillers that involve being stuck in a cabin in the middle of nowhere with no way to get back and peril at every turn, but "She Left" is so very different.

The back story: A party on Memorial day, the popular group of high school teens get together and Amy Therese Bower thinks her social dreams have come true, that is, until the group at the party begin to get nasty and she leaves, by foot, to go home and leave it behind her. Her route is scary and fraught with unknown noises, but when she gets back home, the response is not as she would imagine. She is not told off for not calling, instead, everyone is relieved she is back. why? She is the only person that survived that party

The Present day: A group of people are invited to a remote cabin in a New England forest seemingly by a journalist. At this point, Amy is noww Therese and is an active FBI agent. She doesn't talk to journalists about what happened that day due to being the only survivor (survivor guilt) and even her dating life is affected, with one guy trying to get a date with her who turned out to be a true crime podcaster. She cancelled that date. However, this is different, so she drives up to the luxury cabin. When she gets there, she meets other people who have a link to each person that died at the memorial day massacre, some obvious, others not so. However, after a really, really good nights sleep, the group discover they have been drugged and all their tech and keys taken. Who did it? Why? And can Therese work it out before it is too late?

This book is outstanding in that as each back story is revealed, each person has a perspective and a motive to be the killer in the cabin and as each person is picked off, who the real killer is likely to be becomes less and less easy to spot. Intricately woven and utterly compelling, this is a thriller that will keep you rapt throughout. Brilliant!

Thank you to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, the author Stacie Grey and narrator Linda Jones for this fantastic ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

If you're a fan of isolated mystery thrillers with nail-biting suspense, this is for you! She Left deals with a mystery in two timelines, although you primarily deal with the present day. This is fast paced and keeps you guessing until the end.

My rating guide:
1- Hated it, don't read this
2- Not for me, you might like it
3- Very good! Add to your long list
4- Loved it, you need to read
5- NEW FAVORITE!!! READ IT NOW!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.

I listened to the audiobook of this one and I do think the narrator did a good job. This is a locked room mystery (actually several locked room mysteries within a locked house mystery) and I do have a soft spot for locked room mysteries. When Amy was a teenager she walked out of a cabin party with her friends and decided to walk home. Despite the creepy atmosphere when she gets home she realizes she made the best possible choice of her life because all of her friends are dead. After changing her name to her middle name Therese she became an FBI agent. I have to say that for an FBI agent I expected a little more, she read more like an amateur sleuth. Despite reservations she accepts an invitation from a journalist to a cabin where she finds nine other people all connected to the case where her friends were killed or one of them people involved including the confessed killer’s mother. But Therese quickly realizes that not everyone had the same motivations for coming this weekend and not all secrets from the past have truly been left in the past. I found some of the dialogue/delivery of the story to be a bit stilted but overall I enjoyed the story. I gave it 3.5 stars rounded up because I truly love a locked room mystery.

She Left
Stacie Grey
Two decades ago, Amy Theresa Brewer left a house party angry with her friends. It was late at night, when she began walking home alone. An hour later her five friends were dead. The press dubbed the event the Memorial Day Massacre. The small community and Amy were the center of the media. Now Amy is an FBI agent.
Twenty years later a famous journalist invited ten people, including Amy, to a remote house for a memorial service. Each person has a connection to one of the victims. Their phones and car keys disappear allowing them to have no outside access. One at a time the attendees are dying.
This story had great potential but fell short of my expectations. The plot could have been a real thriller. Most of the plot was told from Amy’s point of view but a few were from various other characters. It would have worked better if the POV had just been Amy’s. I never connected with the characters. They didn’t have unique personalities and none of them were likeable. The end felt rushed and sort of bland.
Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book for review.

Stacie Grey's SHE LEFT is a locked-room mystery murder thriller about a crime that occurred twenty years ago and is revisited years later at a remote cliffside house with a suspicious agenda.

The Memorial Day Massacre rocked the small California community. Amy was the girl who escaped. But there was always the media circling. She had walked out of a house party. Within the hour, all five of the friends would be dead.

Amy was the only survivor. She survived twenty years ago. However, this time around, she may not be so lucky.

There was a bombing, and all left in the house were killed. Now, Amy is an FBI agent and returns to the town for a weekend with a journalist writing a story about what happened that night and those linked to the crime. The 10 people are invited to the remote cliffside house.

As in most locked-in thrillers, things do not go as planned. Nothing is as it appears. A storm occurs, and the guests begin dying.

Someone in the house knows what happened that night. How far will they go to keep their secrets? What was the motive then and now?

In the vein of And Then There Were None with Agatha Christie vibes. SHE LEFT is an atmospheric murder mystery that ends abruptly.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Linda Jones (which I enjoy), and her performance was engaging. Unfortunately, I did not care for the book. It was not for me.

Thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for an advanced listening copy for an honest review.

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 3 Stars
Pub Date: May 14, 2024

If you're looking for a classic isolated thriller, this will be perfect for you.
A past massacre with 1 survivor. 20 years later, 10 people with connections to the dead have been gathered together. And one by one, they begin to die.
The plot will have you jumping from one person to the next as a suspect, and also have you wondering who actually was responsible all those years ago as well. The characters are varied, from the mother of one of the past victims, to a detective that had worked on the case.

The beginning of the book was promising, but I felt the middle was a bit slow and redundant. However, did not see the ending coming.....

Excellent job by the narrator in keeping the audience engaged.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this early audio in return for my honest review.

Pub Date: 14 May 2024

Book Title: She Left
Author: Stacie Grey
Format: 🎧
Narrator: Linda Jones
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Audiobook Pub Date May 14, 2024
My Rating: 3.4
Pages: 352

Twenty years ago teenager when Amy Brewer was seventeen she left an end-of-the-school-year house party, angry. The five classmates made her wasn’t part of this group.
However, something terrible happened after she left - within the next hour, all five of the classmates were dead. It was known as “The Memorial Day Massacre’.

Now Amy is an FBI Agent but is using her middle name Therese. She as well as nine others connected to the case are invited by a journalist to a remote mountain lodge memorial service; to do a story on the five who had been murdered.

The coordinator Sophie felt off the cliff and although they tried to rescue her she soon dies after the reached her. They asked her where she put their car keys and phone but were too late to get an answer.

Story had me curious as to who really killed the teens. We know the young man who confessed to making the bomb and later killed himself didn’t orchestrate the whole thing.
I liked Amy/Therese but most of the characters were so unlikeable. They started to argue and made nasty accusations. Additional they soon find themselves in a locked room and mysteriously things start to happen to them one by one.

I read a lot of thriller and have a suspicious mind so the ending wasn’t a big shock.
Narrator Linda Jones did a great job in performing the ‘good-bad- and nasty’!!

Want to thank NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this early audiobook.
Audiobook Publishing Release Date Scheduled for May 14, 2024.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media & Stacie Grey for the audio galley of She left in exchange for an honest review.

The thriller lover in me was super excited for this book & it was a solid 4-Stars (maybe 3.75, but rounded up)

Amy/Therese was the sole survivor of the Memorial Day Massacre where four of her “friends” were killed via a homemade bomb and/or stabbing (if they survived the explosion). This happened within minutes of Amy leaving due to her friends bullying her. Now an FBI agent going by Therese, she is summoned to a remote rental property along with several other people connected to the massacre under the guise of an editorial piece. Except, they’ve all been duped and each person in attendance gets murdered one-by-one. Therese has to figure it out before it’s too late. If she can find the murderer now, it will also solve the long-cold case of who really killed her friends all those years ago.

This was a quickly paced book & held my attention. It was a little predictable. I did figure out who the murderer was extremely early on. But, this was a solid thriller than I think anyone who likes this genre would enjoy.

She Left by Stacie Grey had classic makings of a locked door mystery to solve a decades old crime and we were hooked from the beginning. However, a slower middle part of the novel had us struggling, the ending tied things up nicely.

She Left tells the story of Amy Brewer and the Memorial Day Massacre that rocked a small California community. The novel follows Amy as she is drawn back into the events of that tragic night twenty years later when a journalist invites those connected to the crime to a remote cliffside house. As the storm closes in and guests begin to die, Amy realizes there is someone in the house who knows more than they admit about what happened that night long ago.

The beginning of She Left captivated us with its intriguing premise and sets up an engaging mystery. We are immediately drawn into Amy's world and her struggle with guilt and survivor's remorse. However, as the story progressed, the middle section of the book felt slow-paced and was challenging to get through. While we were deterred a bit by the slower section, we pushed through and were rewarded with a thrilling race to the finish.

Despite the pacing issues, She Left features a lot of interesting characters that add depth and complexity to the story. We find out that each character connected to the Memorial Day Massacre brings their own secrets and motivations to light, keeping us guessing about their true intentions until the very end. Interactions between characters are fraught with tension and suspicion, adding layers of intrigue to an already suspenseful plot.

Like a lot of mystery thrillers, the twists and turns throughout She Left kept us on our toes to try and figure out the mystery surrounding not only the fateful night twenty years ago, but the events at the cliffside house. Stacie Grey weaves together past and present timelines, building suspense as secrets are slowly revealed and connections between characters become clear. We are typically not huge fans of books with a ton of characters, but Grey did a nice job allowing us able to follow along.

We listen to the audio version of this novel and it was wonderfully narrated by Linda Jones. Her voice is fitting to the story being told and was extremely captivating allowing us to get through the middle part of the book.

She Left by Stacie Grey is not a perfect novel, but one that was worth the read. The book has some wonderful elements outside the pacing issues that made the ending rewarding.

This entertaining thriller has a strong And Then There Were None vibe about it. There are growing doubts and a diminishing cast in this murder mystery set in a closed chamber.

She left was a well written exciting thriller. I didn't expect so many surprises throughout the story. I will be recommending to customers.

Many thanks for my gifted copy.

Thank you NetGalley for this audio ARC. This book started out really interesting but slowly fell apart for me. One of the reasons being there was zero character development. It jumped from character to character, and I honestly found myself spacing out while listening and not caring what was happening.

Amy Brewer is the sole survivor of a mass murder that took the lives of many of her friends and acquaintances as a teen. She is invited back to the area for a retreat by a journalist writing a piece on the 20th anniversary of the Memorial Day Murders. Immediately she recognizes things aren't right when one of the guests dies in a suspicious manner. Amy and the others will have to work together to find the murderer before each are killed off one by one.

I really do enjoy the locked-in mysteries style. This one just fell a little short for me. Although there was murder and suspense, I felt the action was kind of bland and the events were really drawn out. There are so many characters to keep up with and honestly not many of them were memorable or likeable. Usually, I find myself rooting for a character and I did not honestly care much for the wellbeing of any of them.

Overall, I felt the story was fun. It reminded me of a game of clue as a kid. The plot was enough to keep my interest enough to finish the book but not much more than that. I will say that by the end I was not sure who the killer was so that was a little treat/surprise at the end.

I received the audiobook for this and will say that I enjoyed the narration and felt that the narration really helped hold my attention with this one.
Thank you, Poisoned Pen Press, NetGalley and Stacie Grey for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A classic close quarters mystery/suspense novel. The cast of characters was well developed and engaged throughout the novel. I wish there would have been more set up for what happened 20 year ago. I feel like I didn't get a good understanding of what happened back then

This was a fun thriller that felt very much in the vein of And Then There Were None. It's a locked room murder mystery with a dwindling cast and mounting suspicions.

The Writing:
The writing definitely stood out to me from early on, as there's something about it that's both likable and very consumable. It's not overly flowery or bogged down with unnecessary information/details, but each POV does have a different lens they view the world through and I felt that carried into their separate narrations.

The Reveal:
I think that the reveal was probably the most lackluster part of the book, but it was satisfying, the clues were there the whole time, and it completely made sense. I would've personally preferred a few additional twists or conspiracies with more layers, but I have no complaints about the ending we got.

Though it's definitely nice to have a protagonist who not only thinks with a level head, but also encourages the other characters to do the same.

Overall:
This is certainly in the upper tier of thrillers I've read and I would easily recommend it to anyone looking for a light, fast summer read.

Audiobook Notes:
I really enjoyed the narrator for this one. I think she did a great job with all of the voices, the way she varied even the narration to mimic the style of the characters in their different POVs, and the pace at which she delivered.

It was honestly one of the smoothest audio productions I've listened to in a while? Which isn't normally something that catches my attention, but everything here was very crisp and didn't even include any obvious hiccups from bits they had to correct.

She Left offers a gripping idea that promises tension and mystery. Amy Brewer's past, haunted by a tragedy she narrowly escaped, collides with the present as she reunites with figures connected to the Memorial Day Massacre. The narrative unfolds against the backdrop of a remote cliffside house, setting the stage for suspense and revelation.

While the story captivates with its story, the execution falls short in delivering depth. The plot feels idle at times, with minimal investigation of both past events and present developments. Despite the promise of intrigue, the narrative lacks significant progression, leaving readers craving more substance. At times, it felt like this story lacked and left me wanting more...it does compensates with its pace, offering a relatively quick read!. The way the characters interact, with lots of arguing and blaming each other, creates tension that keeps the story moving. Despite the amount of characters introduced, keeping track of them was manageable!

Overall, She Left is a well paced thriller that entertains with its suspenseful premise and easy-to-follow narrative. While it may leave readers wishing for more depth and development, it remains a solid 3 star read for those seeking a quick escape into a world of secrets and betrayal.

Thank you to Netgalley, Poisoned Pen Press and Stacie Grey for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC read.. this one gave me 'Clue' vibes. A bunch of suspects tossed into a cabin together 20 years after the initial murders and then one by one they end up passing away. I enjoyed the occasional chapter from a different characters perspective instead of just hearing from Amy's. The small details throughout the book led up to the ending. I wouldn't say it was predictable. For suspense or thriller, I feel like it could've had a bit more oomph on the scary parts. Overall a fairly decent read though.

Oh boy. Where do I begin with this one. It started out okay but then it felt like it got super boring and long. It's one of those books I found myself just half listening to because it was just over the top and like a 90s movie feel which don't get me wrong I do enjoy those. But this one just lacked some spark that kept me from really caring about what was going on. I was quite bored and over it. I almost dnfed it but I had gone so far already. The ending was very anticlimactic. This wasn't quite for me but if you're in the mood for something that feels a little over the top give this a try! The audio format was enjoyable and the only reason I kept going.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this awesome eARC.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. 😁

In the realm of mystery and suspense, Stacie Grey’s “She Left” emerges as a compelling narrative that intertwines the past’s shadows with the present’s ominous uncertainties. The novel, set against the backdrop of a small California community still reeling from the echoes of a decades-old tragedy, is a masterful exploration of guilt, survival, and the relentless pursuit of truth.

The protagonist, Amy Brewer, is a survivor of the harrowing event known as the Memorial Day Massacre, where she narrowly escaped a fate that befell her friends. Twenty years later, the past refuses to remain buried, and Amy finds herself among ten individuals connected to that fateful night, all summoned to a remote cliffside house under the guise of a journalistic piece. As the storm rages and guests begin to meet untimely ends, Amy’s resolve is tested, and the reader is swept into a whirlwind of suspense.

Grey’s narrative is a homage to the classic whodunit, yet it stands on its own with a fresh voice that commands attention. The pacing is relentless, each chapter peeling back layers of the characters’ facades, revealing complex motivations and secrets that are as unpredictable as the storm outside the house. The setting itself becomes a character, the isolation and the cliff’s precipice mirroring the psychological precipice on which each character teeters.

The author’s background in biotech research lends authenticity to the scientific aspects of the story, while her passion for mysteries is evident in the meticulous crafting of the plot. The homage to Agatha Christie is palpable, yet “She Left” is not merely a reflection of the past but a beacon for the future of the genre.

“She Left” is a novel that will resonate with fans of tense, clever, and goosebump-inducing stories. It’s a book that demands to be read in one sitting, and even then, it may just compel you to start all over again, searching for the clues you might have missed the first time. Stacie Grey has indeed left her mark with this novel, and it is one that will not be easily forgotten.