I have been hearing about this book for months and when I was able to get an ARC of it, I dived in immediately. The book was good but not sure it was is worth the hype that is everywhere for it, however it was an easy read which I like. i am not mad I read the book and will read more in the future by Daniel G. Miller. About half way through the book, you can see the pieces coming together. it felt similar to a frieda Mcfadden book and I enjoy her books so it was a good fit for me.

This one was made for the crime junkies!! If you like True Crime then this one is for you!!

Our story follows Hazel who is a PI. Hazel is contacted by a lady whose Goddaughter went missing 6 months ago and she wants Hazel to find her.
Taking this case sends Hazel down a rabbit hole that may just end up costing her more than she bargained for though. Everyone has secrets and these secrets are deadly!!

This was a good story but I’ll be honest when I say that it was a solid 3 star until I got to about 80%, after that I was HOOKED!! The last 20% of this book had me in a chokehold and gained another star!
I think if I was a big True Crime lover then this would have been an easy 5 star though!

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC.

thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review!

2.5, largely for the main character. idk she wasn't the deepest but I really enjoy characters who WILL keep going no matter what. I really enjoyed that about her.

however, oh my god, this book had the worst case of Written By A Man that I've experienced in a long time. like, big zoinks. I also was super into the plot at first, but I think the resolution was really predictable and... not that it shouldn't have gone the way it did, but I don't think it was handled the best or treated as anything other than shock value. idk. I'm still rooting for you, Hazel!! even if the author has you like constantly drooling your food down your chin because teehee ladies are just so clumsy I guess

This book was just so hard to get into. Multiple times I had to drag myself back to it and keep going. I wanted to enjoy it- the premise of a PI looking into a missing girl is definitely a book I enjoy reading. However, the author really struggled to write, in my opinion, a realistic woman. The actual story itself was good, with the payoff being a nice shock/ending. I felt like the MC was completely unlikeable, which, since this is setting up to be a series, is not ideal.

Characters 1/5
Twist/Story 4/5
Writing 3/5

Overall, 3/5.

Hit or miss, but everyone is different, so you might like it!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

I was so graciously given an ARC of this title. I really liked the idea of the book and where it was going. But it was a painfully slow pace for me. It's a personal preference for me to like a fast paced book with big shock factors. I was just a tad underwhelmed. It eventually picked up, but then I didn't feel like it was a steady pace and I feel it dropped to a slow pace again. I just think it was not my cup of tea.

This book pulled me in and got me hooked immediately. I was, however, disappointed with the love interest and felt that the main character would have been more skeptical and guarded, in some cases that would have kept her out of trouble. It just seemed like some of the plot was forced to move to the climax of the story. It was a good read, but not great.

Liked this but didn’t I love it. I hard a hard time connecting to the main character. I think she felt a little like a caricature instead of a real person. I felt her friendships/relationships a little hard to get behind too.

But I liked the investigation itself, up until the ending which felt like a lot all at once. And pretty much what I guessed. But the steps taken to get there kept me interested and rooting for Hazel.

I’d probably give the next one a try to see if once the series gets going it feels a little bit more organic.

This book is about Hazel who is a PI and is hired to find Mia who goes missing from the orphanage. She is struggling and really needs the money from this job.

Pros:
I requested this book because the plot was interesting and I liked the cover of the book. I liked Kenny and thought he was a good friend to Hazel. I also liked the detective in the book and felt bad for him. This was an easy read but took awhile to get going. There where some go parts of the book when Hazel wasn’t worried about food and her new boyfriend and actually focused on the doing the job she was hired for.

Cons:
I do not like how unprofessional Hazel acts showing up late to the meetings and spending all night before out late. Hazel was really getting on my nerves and I think i would of enjoyed the store better if the main character was a different person. I figured out who the bad guys were going to be at the very beginning so there was no excitement at the end.

What an insane, out of left field read.. in the best way.

Let me start by saying that the first 10 or so chapters, while I was intrigued enough to keep reading, kept me saying “yep, a guy wrote this trying to portray a female” and so a few things that were said in the beginning were making me scrunch my nose and say “really?”.
However, I could look past that. It’s not a man’s fault that he can’t TRULY portray a woman.
But seriously, after the first 10 chapters or so, I absolutely flew through the book. I mean I really couldn’t put it down. The plot, the story line, the absolute TWIST that is the ending, makes this a fantastic book. You will NOT guess the ending, so if you really need a twisty, fast paced read with a kick ass female private investigator, grab this book!

Hazel, a struggling private investigator, is hired to find a missing orphan girl from a mysterious children's home. As she delves deeper into the case, she uncovers dark secrets and sinister figures lurking in the shadows. I could see her stories becoming a successful series.
This is a fast paced story and very easy to read. I did enjoy it, however, I feel like this plot had happened before with the “hot, rich guy” being the villain. You know- the one the main character falls for and oh no! He’s really the bad guy. And surprise the girl she also made a connection with - bad too.
BUT - I did really like the main character, Hazel. I enjoyed her wit and determination to not fail and that’s what saved this story for me. As I stated earlier, I could see this becoming a series and I would totally read more “Cho and Shum”.

Amazing book! I think this book is one of underrated books.. I LOVED the characters. Especially the main character. She was very relatable and likable. I also liked the Korean vibe in this book.

Hazel has her work cut out for her with only a week to solve the mystery behind the disappearance of a woman's niece from the orphanage. As someone who has lived in Lake George, I appreciated the author's attempts at authenticity. He didn't always get it right, but it was cool to have the setting somewhere familiar. The depth of what's happening at the orphanage becomes apparent when Hazel realizes that girls have been disappearing from there for years. To solve the case, she puts herself at risk and is shocked by her discoveries.

The Orphanage by the Lake has a great premise—an investigator looking into a missing girl at a creepy orphanage—but it falls flat in execution. The main character is frustratingly unprofessional, the writing feels basic and full of clichés, and the mystery itself isn’t compelling enough to make up for it. The ending is rushed and unsatisfying, making the whole book feel like a letdown.

This was a decent thriller but my gosh, what an unlikeable main character. Hazel was really hard to connect with. The beginning was really strong but my interest fizzled about halfway in. Pacing picked up for the ending though and the ending was solid.

Wow Just Wow … this is my first book by this author & I will definitely be checking out others by him! As I was reading I kept thinking oh they are sketchy then I’d change my mind and opinion on them and kept thinking I had it figured out but by the end my jaw was on the floor ( super shocking ) and crazy makes you think! I love a good suspense thriller & this was Great! Thank you NetGalley!

Thank you for the ARC. This book gave me Taken (the movie) vibes. I did predict one art of the book but I didn’t guess who were the bad guys. This was a quick and twisty read. I like the female PI angle. In another life I would be some sort of investigator as I find that work so interesting.

Ｅｂｏｏｋ Ｒｅｖｉｅｗ
3.5 ☆
Hazel wants a new life. She is thirty years old, single, and her private investigation business is months away from folding. Her luck changes when Madeline Hemsley, a mysterious socialite, visits with an offer too enticing to resist. An orphan girl has disappeared from a children's home—The Orphanage by the Lake, as the locals call it—and Madeline wants Hazel to find her.

Now, this book cover and premise are what made me super interested in this story. A missing Black, biracial girl missing from an orphanage. Sign me up! This book definitely gave me Frieda McFadden vibes, in a good way. It was a super quick and easy read. It doesn't drag on and pretty much gets straight to the point. Once you hit the 40% mark, the book falls into place and becomes predictable, in a good way. I enjoyed it.

Thank you, Netgellay, and Poisoned Pen Press for the Ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Ok wow. I devoured this entire book in one day! It was so easy to read. Sure there were some things the main character did that were annoying like show up late for work, get drunk and go dates while supposedly working but clearly she didn’t have her life together. That’s what makes this book believable! This book follows a female Private Investigator who is about to go broke in NYC. A difficult client offers her a huge sum of money to find her goddaughter who went missing from an orphanage. She desperately needs the money but the deal comes with a short and firm deadline. We see the PI struggle with her past, the expectations of her family, her relationship with her male roommate and her romantic life while trying to solve the case that will likely make or break her career. 10/10 recommend for an easy and suspenseful thriller!! **trigger warning for Sexual Assault**

The main character, Hazel, is a private investigator who was hired to find a girl who went missing from an orphanage. As Hazel digs into the missing girl, she uncovers so much more than she bargained for.

Hazel was a cross between a smart bad-ass and an overly trusting, gullible woman. The latter almost cost Hazel her life.

This book was a fairly easy read that definitely captured my attention from the first page.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion/review.

This cover drew me in. Hauntingly large mansion by the lake, atmospheric vibes, throw in an orphanage, and I am cracking that cover open. Even though most of the twists and turns and who done it were predictable, I still devoured this read. The main character Hazel was likable and yet I was yelling at her throughout our time together. She is stubborn, wants to get to the bottom of the mystery. Yet you throw a halfway handsome man in her way, and she is done for. Forgets she is investigating them, forgets they could cause her harm, forgets everything!

Hazel has gone against all her parents' wishes and has become a PI. She is proud of her office and what she has accomplished. She is still riding right on the red. If she does not get a new case, she will not be able to pay rent or pay any of her bills. When the elegant and pretentious Madeline Hemsley blows into her office. Her Goddaughter has gone missing, and the police are not investigating. Madeline throws money at hazel, gives her a tight deadline, and a car to sweeten the deal. Hazel cannot say no and dives headfirst into investigating Mia and the orphanage she has grown up in. There are so many questions and suspects to hunt down and so little time.

The descriptions of Korean food left my mouth watering. I could smell the crisp fall air and visualize Lake George in all of its glory. Even though Hazel is a little naive and tends to get waylaid I was still entertained throughout the book. Thank you to Daniel G. Miller and Houndstooth Books for my gifted copy.