Hazel Cho a 30yr old Korean woman who works as a PI is waiting for a big shot case that will help her get out of the slump that her career is in and is in desperate need of cash to survive and to prove herself.

Then enters Madeline Hamsley a rich socialte from NYC to find her missing Goddaughter Mia who went missing from the orphanage six months ago.

Despite the case being open and active there has been no lead to help her missing case which leads Madeline to the doors of Hazel and offer her insane amount of money and all things necessary to support her investigation ONLY IF SHE FINDS HER IN 10 DAYS or loose everything she have without a single Penny from her.

Yes that's the catch but Hazel in the need to survive and prove everyone along with Madeline wrong about her career choices she takes the bait.

But will it be that easy to find Mia who has gone missing six months back??

The first half of the book was very convincing and full of thrill with the fast pace, the tension and the attacks on Hazel but as the story progresses it turns confusing like how can you go on dates with someone while having a sword hanging on your head?

The end though could have been more appropriate if not rushed. Nevertheless it's a good read for beginners especially.

And while I could guess the culprit and the twist in the very beginning of her investigation, let's see if you can.


Toodles 💕

The Orphanage By The Lake is a chilling mystery that blends suspense, eerie atmosphere, and a strong, determined heroine. As private investigator Hazel searches for a missing orphan, what begins as a simple case spirals into a dark and haunting journey filled with cryptic clues and unsettling truths. Daniel G. Miller weaves tension and intrigue with skill, keeping readers hooked as secrets unfold and danger closes in. A compelling read for fans of gothic thrillers and slow-burning mysteries.

This is the perfect spooky creepy read for fall - it will keep you engaged and guessing until the end.

The FMCs work ethic at best was sketchy. Madeline was just odd and her character made no sense. I loathed the way the FMC treated her male best friend when she knew he had a crush on her and she talked to him about how hot the men were. I found that wild and so rude. not to mention her priorities were to chase men and make self depreciating comments about herself which left a bad taste. Then i find it was a white man who wrote about a female Korean FMC and I don't think he used a sensitivity reader so that was kinda yucky. Content warnings need to be added. Rape, Emotional abuse, unhealthy relationships, child trafficking, death, Eating disorder?? fat shaming??? and assault on minors/pedophilia just to name a few. Overall it felt like the handling of the more sensitive topics was extremely poor. I wasn't the most into the book but it wasn't a bad read.

This was a fast-paced, easy read. Would be good for a brain break from heavier or more literary books. I feel mixed about my experience with this book. Nothing was problematic or off-putting, but I finished reading and felt "meh." I wanted more of the orphanage storyline, I didn't really relate to the main character.

i’m disappointed to say that this book was not good. the characters lacked depth, and the story itself was predictable. i almost didn’t finish it, but i continued to push through anyways. the private investigator, hazel, pretty much focuses on whining, being late to things, and drinking sugar-free red bulls. thank you to the author and Netgalley for this ARC, though!

I really struggled getting through this book. It was hard to follow at times. I felt like I now know what it feel like to be inside the mind of someone with adhd. The amount of times I had to go back and reread pages was about 10x too many.

This cover is the perfect vibes. Honestly this book was just epic. It was such a vibe and I was invested the whole time!

Unfortunately, The Orphanage by the Lake didn’t work for me. I found the characterisation to be very comical—more caricature than complex—and I struggled to feel any genuine emotional weight in the story. Everything felt overly signposted, with little left to the imagination or surprise. Everything about the plot developments were predictable, and the writing style didn’t draw me in at all nor held my attention.

I really wanted to connect with the story, but it all felt more like a theatrical re-enactment than real life. The emotional beats didn’t land, and the characters felt like cardboard cutouts reciting lines rather than real people navigating heartbreak or hardship.

That said, readers who enjoy straightforward writing and an easy-to-follow plot may appreciate this book more. But if you're looking for nuance, depth, or a touch of grit, this might not be the story for you.

Thank you NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and Daniel G. Miller for providing me with this Arc in exchange for my honest review.

The Orphanage by the Lake is a suspenseful and thought-provoking mystery that I genuinely enjoyed and would recommend to fans of the genre. While the story takes a little time to build momentum, once it gets going, it becomes an engaging and emotionally driven read.

Miller does a great job of creating a mysterious atmosphere with a plot that, although somewhat predictable at times, still manages to hold your attention. It’s a clean read overall—there’s minimal gore, with the exception of one brief scene. However, it does address heavy themes such as SA and the abuse of children, so readers should be aware of those content warnings before diving in.

If you’re looking for a mystery that’s gripping without being overly graphic, The Orphanage by the Lake is worth adding to your list.

A fast read with a captivating plot. Maybe not a book that will become a classic but it did what it intended to do, entertain!


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an aARC. All opinions are my own.

Despite I have found this book a little predictable it was a really good read. I devoured it in one day and it had all my attention since the beginning. I love thrillers and this one was full of twists, I loved the story line was well developed.

I really enjoyed this! I feel like it was quite slow to start but once it picked up I was IN. I really liked the main character and I am so interested in reading the sequel and continuing to follow along her journey as a PI.

I loved how the mystery all came together in the end.

This is the first book of The Orphanage by the Lake series and what a great start to a series it is. Loved the storyline, a missing girl from an orphanage with many secrets, a private investigator (Hazel) who is struggling to keep her business afloat. Now it is her time to find out what has happened.

This book is a thrilling read with many twists and turns and introduces Hazel as a person who doesn't give up until she finds the truth. I love teh writing of this book, the characters are great and if this book is any indication then the ones to follow should be exciting as well. I can't wait to read more.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Netgalley ARC

What on Earth happened here? This one has a really solid premise: a PI is hired to investigate the disappearance of a child from a children's home. Solid. I was expecting a compelling mystery and a spooky setting.

Instead, what we get is a completely inept PI who is absolutely insufferable. She spends the whole book talking about how her finances are terrible - even as she shows up late, fails to catch every obvious clue, and never seems to answer her client's calls. All while bragging about how awesome she is. Her roommate is in the police academy, but apparently letting him help her would be beneath her, because reasons. Also, nobody should be drinking that much Red Bull, goodness. This book screamed female main character written by a man. Moreover, the writing itself felt very unpolished and full of cliched plot twists.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

PI work is never easy. In this story I enjoyed the characters and the flow of the story. Just enough drama to keep reading. Missing children from an orphanage that has never been solved. Police has an active case but no followup. Hazel has taken on the case of current missing Mia. Possibly a runaway but clues show something more may be hapoening. An enjoyable thriller, mystery.

Dangerous Secrets

Hazel is trying to get her private eye business up and going, but it is going nowhere. She needs something big to get her business started. When Mrs. Helmsley offers her a case to find a missing girl she jumps at it.

Hazel doesn’t know that it will be dangerous and that Mrs. Helmsley is withholding secrets from her that could have helped her solve the case.

There are so many people at St. Agnes school that are suspect, she doesn’t know who to trust and as Mrs. Hemsley only gave her so much time her time is running out to find her granddaughter Mia.

Then she meets the gorgeous Andrew at a party and is smitten. Her roommate Kenny is very jealous of him but Hazel is smitten. It is when she visits the mysterious Dionysus club that things begin to become dangerous.

This was a good detective book filled with suspense, danger and some humor. I loved the character of Hazel and also that of her roommate Kenny.

I enjoyed reading the book.

I received a free copy of the book to read and review. The review is my own.

I appreciate being chosen by Poisoned Pen Press to receive an ARC of this book. PPP is my favorite press and I am eager to read most everything published across genre by them. This book, unfortunately, proved a rare exception to my continual love and appreciation.

I chose to not finish reading this book at about a quarter of the way through, after struggling to find anything compelling or likable about the main character. She felt fictional and lacked the depth of reality that is necessary to make a main character interesting. The supporting characters and settings also had the same transparent, cookie-cutter unreality. I wanted desperately to buy into the intrigue and be swept up in the mystery, but the hook was not there. I read a plot summary before deciding to permanently set aside the book, and it confirmed for me that not finishing was the right choice. I admittedly did not get far enough to judge for myself firsthand, but I feel that it is in poor taste for a male writer to depict a female character with a history of sexual trauma being threatened with rape.

Thank you again for the opportunity to read and review this and other titles, and I look forward eagerly to the opportunity to do so again in future.

This was good but don’t know if I would read it again. It deserves 3/5 stars, thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book to read!

I should have seen it coming. Really, I should have. But somehow Daniel G. Miller managed to keep me guessing, and I found myself right there with Hazel, trying to untangle what happened to Mia.

This is one of those slow-burn thrillers that doesn't rely on shock value or jump scares—it’s all about tension, grief, and the gut-punch of discovering truths you didn’t want to be true. Even once I had a sense of who might be involved, I wasn’t ready for the what. The reality of what happened? It hit hard.

Hazel's perspective is sharp and relatable, and the mystery unfolds with just enough complexity to keep you flipping pages but not so much that you feel lost in the weeds. It’s not flashy, but it’s effective—and emotionally grounded in a way that gives it staying power.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This one snuck up on me in the best (and worst) way.