In the book The Orphanage by the Lake, author Daniel G. Miller begins a new series featuring PI Hazel Cho. Hazel is ready for a fresh start but becoming a private investigator is not turning out like she dreamed. But then a mysterious socialite named Madeline Hemsley walks into her office to hire her to find a missing girl from what the locals call the Orphanage by the Lake. It seems like a straightforward case until Hazel begins to dig. And as she digs the mystery gets deeper and more tangled. This is a good story and I look forward to the second book. I would recommend this book. I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a lighter, enjoyable and quick read! Coming off of several pretty dark thrillers, this was much needed. I loved Hazel so much! Hazel is a Manhattan-based Korean American private eye hired by a wealthy socialite to find her missing goddaughter. Oh, and she has 10 days to find her or no money. The girl has supposedly disappeared from a mysterious children's home by the lake. Hence the title. Nothing creepy so far, right? There are a lot of strange goings-on at this place and plenty of suspects, but also plenty of clues to follow. Learning about Asian-American culture is just a bonus! I understand this will be a series and I look forward to more from Hazel.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Daniel G. Miller and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I will post my review to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Instagram and other retail and social media sites upon publication day of March 18, 2025.

The Orphanage By The Lake offers a mix of mystery and suspense. The story centers around Hazel, a private investigator who's hired to find a missing orphan girl. What starts as a straightforward case turns into a journey filled with secrets.

The plot was engaging enough to keep me going, but I will admit it was a bit of a drag for me after the first few chapters. The orphanage setting added a certain atmosphere to the story, though it felt a bit clichéd at times. Some of the twists were somewhat predictable, especially if you're familiar with the thriller genre. There were moments where the pacing slowed down, which affected the overall flow of the story.

Reading The Orphanage By The Lake was a mixed experience. While there were moments of suspense, the emotional impact was barely existent. Hazel's personal struggles added some depth, but they did not engage me that much. Overall, The Orphanage By The Lake is an okay read with a fair balance of mystery. It's a book that might keep you guessing, but it did not leave a lasting impression on me.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy! This book is an excellent demonstration of how setting, place, and environment can really set a scene that is at once foreboding and enticing. There really are fewer topics and wheelhouses that I love more than spooky orphanages and maybe haunted lakes, so this double decker whammy kept me up all night to finish the story!

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for the arc of this book!

I wanted to like this because I love a good, twisty thriller. This had potential. The writing was pretty simplistic, along with the characters. Everything was so condensed and happened so fast, to the point where sometimes it just didn't make sense. Like everything with Andrew - the FMC knew this guy for like 2 seconds and she's already sleeping over? It was weird for me. There was so much missed potential with Sonia, too. She kind of fell off the face of the earth and ended up being crucial to the investigation.

Overall, this had the entertainment factor. It was formulaic, but a quick and easy read. Just fine.

I loved this story and right up to the end I was on the edge of my seat! This was my kind of book with characters that you love to hate and nonstop action. Hazel is looking for a change. She agrees to go upstate to search for a missing girl and gets thrown into a whirlwind investigation There was so much going on and I loved every second of it. If you like a twisty thriller, this one is for you.
Many thanks to the author, Poisoned PenPress and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Decent thriller plot and pacing. I didn’t love how the main character was written sometimes. She was very tenacious and her banter with her roommate was light and refreshing. The unfolding of the mystery was well plotted, and it went somewhere I was not expecting at all. I do think it wrapped up really quickly compared to the rest of the story. Overall it was very enjoyable.

First of all, thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for approving my request to read and review! Now let’s get to it!
It was the eerie book cover and the title that grabbed my attention at first, we shouldn’t judge books by covers but this one I couldn’t help myself, it just screamed out this would be my type of read.
When I looked into this book, I could see there were some very mixed bags of reviews, so I was intrigued to find out for myself and I feel my opinions on the book may be a little controversial, but I really, really enjoyed it.
The brooding atmosphere made me feel quite tense and on edge, and I was itching to get to the end just to see how everything would come together. I will admit, the character’s aren’t the most likeable, I didn’t get attached to any, but this didn’t spoil the read for me at all, the story made up for it.
I liked the twists and turns, they were a little predictable, but in all fairness, I’ve read a lot of thrillers! I enjoyed the eerie feel throughout; the book held my attention and I did look forward to picking it back up once I had set it down. This was an enjoyable thriller, as long as you didn’t look too much into it.

I really enjoyed this book! I was hooked from the very beginning. Hazel Cho is a private investigator who has a solo firm. She hasn't had very many cases and she is really really trying to make ends meet. I love Hazel! She is hilarious and very sarcastic--so funny! One day, Madeline walks into her office and aske Hazel to find her goddaughter who disappeared 6 months earlier from an children's school in upper New York called The Orphanage by the Lake. In one week. Madeline gives her money and a car with which to get started. Initially it appears as though Mia has just run away as all clues point in that direction. However, the more Hazel investigates, the more mysteries about the orphanage and Mia are uncovered. I could kind of see where the plot was heading but I enjoyed reading because Hazel and her roommate Kenny are very entertaining. Thanks to Net Galley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC!! Definitely looking forward to the next installment.

Thank you, Poisoned Pen Press for this advanced reader copy!

This was a very intriguing mystery novel that I enjoyed following. The writing was very well done where I felt like I could see the red threads on the board, slowly piecing everything together. I loved reading about the behind-the-scenes action that Hazel went through and how dedicated she was.

Overall this was a solid mystery with a dark twist.

Thank you to NetGalley, Daniel G. Miller, and Poisoned Pen Press for the eBook! I love a good private investigator mystery, and this one delivered. With all the best elements of a gripping missing person case, the twists and turns kept me on edge and left me reeling. A fantastic read!

Daniel G. Miller’s The Orphanage by the Lake is a gripping, atmospheric thriller that pulls readers into a world of chilling secrets and relentless suspense. Centered on Hazel, a struggling private investigator desperate to turn her luck around, the novel quickly escalates from a missing-persons case to something far more sinister.

When the enigmatic Madeline Hemsley hires Hazel to find a missing orphan girl, the investigation leads to the unsettling depths of a lakeside children’s home. Miller masterfully builds tension, weaving a narrative that is as psychologically unsettling as it is emotionally compelling. Bloodstains, ominous symbols, and shadowy figures haunt Hazel’s every step, and with each revelation, the mystery deepens. The orphanage itself becomes a character, its eerie presence looming over Hazel’s unraveling investigation.

Miller’s prose is both sharp and evocative, capturing the creeping dread that saturates the story. Hazel is a flawed yet determined protagonist, and her journey is one of both professional resilience and personal reckoning. The novel’s twists and turns are unpredictable, keeping readers on edge until the final, shocking climax.

But what truly sets The Orphanage by the Lake apart is its exploration of human darkness. As Hazel uncovers the home’s sinister past, the line between victim and villain blurs. And with Madeline’s true motives slowly coming to light, the novel poses unsettling questions about trust, morality, and the haunting consequences of secrets long buried.

Fans of atmospheric mysteries and psychological thrillers will find The Orphanage by the Lake to be a thoroughly engrossing read. Miller has crafted a story that lingers, reminding readers that sometimes, the most terrifying monsters are the ones hidden in plain sight.

Thank you Poison Pen Press & Netgalley for the free Arc in exchange for my honest feedback.

I'm giving The Orphanage By The Lake 4 stars based on the story alone. This one really does pull you in and grip you right away. There are possible triggers in this dark and twisty story that I won't list off as to not spoil any aspects of the mystery & suspense. Everyone seems to be hiding something and the suspect list is plentiful and will keep you guessing. What more could the thriller lover in me ask for!? This absolutely could turn into a wonderful series. I think Hazel is so likable but when I see her again I hope she has a tad more confidence.

Well this book hooked me from the start! The story is about a private investigator named Hazel who gets hired by Madeline to find her goddaughter, Mia, who went missing from the St. Agnes orphanage. The thing is that while Madeline seems very eager and willing to pay a large sum of money so that Hazel can find her, she tells her that she has 2 weeks to solve it!
Hazel finds herself in a tough situation but she proceeds with the investigation and in the process encounters roadblocks and hurdles that get in her way of the investigation.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The storyline definitely hooked me and I wanted to keep reading to see what else Hazel uncovered. It is one of those "whodunit" type of mysteries and I wanted to know who was behind the disappearance of not only Mia but many other girls from the orphanage.

I feel like I resonated with some of Hazel's internal struggles because as a woman at some point in my life I have felt the insecurities that she felt such as her self image, her career choices and love life.
I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series as I really like Hazel.
Thank you Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 40%. This book was not holding my interest at all. I found this to be extremely slow paced, and there to be nothing holding my attention. None of the character's stand out. I’m sorry to have to DNF, it’s sadly not for me.
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this review in exchange for my honest review.

I was looking forward to this read from the change of pace from the fantasy and romance books I have been reading lately. I love a good thriller. Have to say I was disappointed. There were some areas of the book that I liked and some areas I wasn’t crazy about. It has really good potential but I would have liked it more with a change in some of the delivery.

What I liked: I liked the setting of the orphanage in the beginning is creepy and gives off a suspenseful feeling. I liked when the FMC, Hazel was finally portrayed as though she could do her job as a PI - which wasn’t often enough. I really liked the plot of the story.

What I would change - I really didn’t connect or find the FMC believeable as an Asian woman with how the author portrayed her to be or how he tried to write from her POV. Some of the lines he would have her say made her look incompetent, unprofessional, comes off dumb and flighty. What really ruffled me - not so much as to having the FMC becoming PI due to her past sexual assault, because sometimes people do choose to go into the field to help others who suffer from the trauma; what I didn’t like was how he portrayed how she handled the trauma. Insensitive. It shows he doesn’t relate to a woman, much less an Asian woman. It would have been better if the main character for this author was male and wrote from that POV. Also what Private Detective doesn’t carry, or at least have some weapon on them, and no self defense training?!?

I really was looking forward to this read especially by the description of what was to come, however it wasn’t near as good as I hoped it would be.

I had high hopes for this book. It definitely had a lot of potential unfortunately I have to admit this is the very first DNF. I have always been against DNFing in hopes it will get better, 80% through and it's really not showing any potential of getting better unfortunately.

Thank you Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the arc of The Orphanage by the Lake for my honest opinion.

Hazel, a PI, is hired to find a missing girl from an orphanage, but she has to solve the case on a tight timeline. I enjoyed following Hazel as the main character, she is quirky, smart and realistic. I found myself being drawn into the story because the characters were well written and I liked the setting. I enjoyed the story, but I do feel like there was something missing, I still can't put my finger on what exactly that is though. I thought I had the mystery figured out several different time, but I only had one part of it right. I plan on reading the next book in the series.

Okay, so this one totally blew me away!

I was hooked instantly, and surely thought I had all figured it out.

That ending was totally mind-blowing.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to netgalley & the author @danielgmillerauthor & publisher @poisonedpenpress for this ARC. It’s been amazing reading this gem.

Meet Hazel. A young woman trying to keep her PI business afloat but not having much luck. Enter Madeline. She has a job for Hazel. On the shores of Lake George, New York lies St. Agnes' orphanage for girls. Madeline's goddaughter, Mia, is missing and Madeline is not happy with the orphanage's long history of missing girls who are never seen again, much less the lack of urgency she sees from the law. She offers Hazel money, lots of it, if she can find Mia in the next 10 days. The money is too good to refuse.
As Hazel digs into the facts of Mia's disappearance, as well as St Agnes' history, the tension builds and the scene is set for this excellent thriller. The plot line doesn't sound like an original, but Daniel G Miller gives readers some original thrills and a few goose bumps along the way.