Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

Forensic pathologist Doctor Dolores [Diaz] Hawthorne has not returned to Little Horton, Wisconsin since she left some twenty years ago. She communicates with her family infrequently, exchanging cards at Christmas and on birthdays. She has no plan to return to a place that holds nothing but bad memories for her.

Until she receives a call from an FBI agent. Her father, Alexander Hawthorne, has vanished . . . and may be dead.

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Little Horton is a Halloween-obsessed town with a dark history; the unfolding story is ominous, perfect for Halloween. The narrative, filled with well-defined, believable characters, pulls readers into the telling of the tale from the outset and keeps them involved as the story evolves. An undercurrent of suspense keeps readers on the edge of their seats; secrets abound, and readers will find the plot brings unexpected, surprising revelations.

The plot takes some unexpected twists, offering readers surprising glimpses into the past of the town and its inhabitants; the telling of this tale is both captivating and spine-chilling. The action is brisk; readers are sure to find themselves turning the pages as fast as possible.

Readers who enjoy thrillers, mysteries, and Halloween will find much to appreciate in this unputdownable thriller and its unexpected denouement.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from St. Martin’s Press / Minotaur Books and NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
#NoRestfortheWicked #NetGalley

I really liked this one! It was not what I expected, from the cover or blurb - it was much darker than I anticipated, but in a deliciously twisty way. The characters were a marvelous blend of personalities and secrets. Adams did a great job crafting a town that was almost a character in itself. Little H was a perfect backdrop for a dark story about privilege, disparities, and the decisions people to protect others - and themselves. I did find some of the wrap up to feel a little rushed, but the story as a whole was eerie, dark, and quite enjoyable. I'm hoping to see more from Rachel Louise Adams!

This was a good book and kind of surprising. With the title, the cover and the short description about it I expected it to be more like a cozy mystery with a cat loving female lead. I must have missed the line in the description where it said the book was dark and twisty, and it sure was. Delores is a pathologist in California and has been alienated from her family who live in a quirky Midwestern town famous for everything Halloween. She gets a call that her dad is missing, so she returns to the home she grew up in. We find out why she left and what happened to cause her to leave in flashbacks that end up explaining it all. It was a good book with some big surprises. I enjoyed the writing, the characters, and the story, and would read any sequels to this story.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

"It’s been close to twenty years since forensic pathologist Dolores Hawthorne left her hometown of Little Horton, Wisconsin. The town is famous for its Halloween celebrations, but also its history of violent deaths linked to the holiday. To Dolores, it’s the place she fled, family, bad memories, and all. Until the FBI calls to tell her that her father--the former mayor turned US Senator--is missing under mysterious circumstances.

Some people count to ten to wake up from a nightmare. Dolores always counts the bones of her head instead: sphenoid, frontal, lacrimal. But no matter how many times she counts them, it doesn’t change the fact that her father is missing, that his final words of warning to her were to trust no one, and that now, the rest of her family is giving Dolores a chilling welcome. With Halloween fast approaching, Dolores must face the past she left behind before it’s too late."

What a great novel - best book I've read in months! The dynamics between the characters is fascinating. The twists, entertaining, and keep the reader involved wondering "who done it" and what will happen next. I cannot recommend this debut novel enough.

This book was amazing! I really felt like I got to know the characters and the twists and turns had me spinning. This was my first book by this author but I will 100% be looking for more!

This was a really impressive debut mystery. I think the synopsis missed the mark. I wouldn't call this cozy nor do I think the Halloween town part was integral enough to the story to be so heavily mentioned. I don't think it gave small-town spooky vibes as much as I had thought based on the synopsis. The plot was really tragic and there's definitely trigger warnings to be had regarding rape, killing, drug abuse and everything else related to serial killing and kidnapping. I will say, the plot twists were very twisty but not far fetched and everything came together by the end of the book. I think the cats on the cover emphasized a plot point that wasn't super consequential to the outcome. I do think that the set up was well done and that jumps back and forth between the past and present made sense for the plot. The pacing was a little slow at the beginning and became a bit erratic until the last 30% or so. I'm ready for Adams' next book, I can't wait to see what she does next.

To be honest, the cover drew my attention from the start. Then the description and cats held my attention the whole time. I couldn't get enough and can't wait to own it to read every halloween season!

This was twisty and entertaining, well thought out, and fast paced. I loved the backstory of the town's fascination with Halloween, I just wish that Halloween vibe was a bit stronger through the story. It was definitely more of a police procedural with a touch of Halloween vibe, and less of the creepy, Halloween mystery I was expecting. I love the cover, it was one of the things that drew me to the book, I figured the cats would fit into the Halloween theme, or that there would be a cat(s) in the story somehow, but they were very minor and their portion of the story was actually the only part I didn't enjoy for a couple of reasons- I didn't like what happened to the cats, and I felt like it was just popped into the story just to be popped in.

The writing was great, if I didn't know, I wouldn't think this was a debut. I am looking forward to reading other books by the author in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press Minotaur Books for the ARC copy! All opinions are my own :)

Ok this one actually surprised me so much! It was the perfect moody slow burn thriller! It was creepy and eerie without being TOO creepy. It kinda gave me the same feeling as watching Vampire Diaries except no vampires just a murder mystery.

This will be such a fun read for the fall and definitely surprised me with some of the twists!

My only complaint is just like… what was the point of the cats?

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

This was such a great mystery-- I can't believe it's a debut! So rarely does a twist truly surprise me anymore, but this one was really shocking!

Dolores, a forensic pathologist in California, has been estranged from her father, Alexander; stepmom, Charlotte; and two half siblings since age 18. She left her hometown of Little Horton, Wisconsin and never looked back. Little Horton is famous for its Halloween celebrations--and violence that has occurred over the years on that date--but for Dolores, it's just a holiday that she studiously avoids since she left.

But then she receives a call from the FBI: her father has gone missing. She reluctantly returns to Little Horton to investigate with two agents.

This book is spell binding! It effortlessly draws you into the claustrophobic and judgmental town of Little Horton, with its relentless focus on Halloween--and secrets and lies. Everyone in Little Horton reveres Alexander as their former mayor and Senator. For Dolores' family, especially the formidable and scary Charlotte, nothing matters more than appearances.

Adams weaves a taut and dark tale, as the bodies pile up, and Dolores looks into her father's life and disappearance, while slowly remembering more and more about why she left Little Horton so long ago. This story is dramatic and well-written, filled with plenty of suspense. It keeps you guessing, while also featuring nuanced, flawed characters. I would love a sequel!

If you are looking for something that screams fall and Halloween, look no further than Rachel Louise Adams’s debut novel, No Rest for the Wicked.
If there is one thing Dolores never thought she'd do, it's return to her hometown of Little Horton, Wisconsin. A small town known for Halloween and all the freak accidents that have occurred on that day in the town's history. But when an FBI agent calls to say her father is missing, that's exactly what she does, albeit reluctantly.
No Rest for the Wicked reads like a fast-paced, scary movie with crazy plot twists and a little bit of gore. I can honestly see this being the perfect spooky season read with hot chocolate by the fireplace.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Dolores Hawthorne is called back to her hometown of Little Horton, Wisconsin because her father is missing. She hasn’t seen or talked to her father or her siblings since she left twenty years ago and is having a hard time coming back to the life she has tried so desperately to forget. Her father was the former mayor so Dolores thinks that his disappearance will eventually lead to a ransom for his return, but then the bodies start dropping. She soon realizes that the skeletons in her closet from twenty years ago have finally caught up to her and it’s up Dolores, a local cop, and a couple of FBI agents to figure out what’s going on in this little Halloween town.

I was craving a small town missing person’s story and this thriller was one of the best that I’ve read this year! Don’t let the cover fool you, I thought it would be a cute and cozy mystery but this was a full blown murder mystery where no one is safe. I’m usually pretty good at solving mysteries, but this was so well written that the ending took me by surprise. This was a debut novel and I can’t wait to read this author’s next book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Dolores is a forensic pathologist that left home at 18 and hasn’t been back or been in contact since. She received a phone call from the FBI stating that her father is missing. She's forced to return to her hometown of Little Horton to face her demons as well as get involved in her father’s disappearance. We soon found out everybody is hiding secrets, including Dolores.

I enjoyed this book and as a murder mystery with some horror elements, it hit the nail on the head. The story was engaging and I became invested. I liked Dolores as a character and thought her becoming involved in a case that could be related to her father’s disappearance because of her professional background was wild.
We, as readers, keep getting breadcrumbs as to why Dolores left town way back when, and you think you know, but you have no idea.
I enjoyed the set-up of the novel, the progression of the story, and the development of the plot and characters. I often try to think of a similar book to compare it to, to suggest to readers “if you liked xyz, you’ll enjoy this”, but this book was unique enough that I don’t have any particular book to compare it to.
One thing I did dislike is the cover and title. I felt it doesn’t really convey the essence of the story.
I will be reading another book by this author in the future.

I will start off with the positives of this book, the story line was engaging for the most part. Small town girl moved away just to be dragged back by unforeseen circumstance. Family drama all that good stuff. It was also a pretty easy read (which I quite enjoy).
The downsides to this book was I found the pacing to be slightly odd.The beginning was very very slow in my opinion then about 50% in I was a bit more hooked, then the last like 20% dragged and I just kind of wanted it to end. This book was a middle of the pack book for me. I didn’t dislike it but I can’t really say I much enjoyed it either.

DNF. Too much angst for my taste. I didn't care about the characters, but I shouldn't have chosen something described as dark in the first place.

📖 Book Review 📖 Close your eyes, feel the cool breeze, and inhale the pumpkin spice - you are imagining yourself living in the grown-up version of Halloweentown. Welcome to Little Horton, Wisconsin, the town obsessed with Halloween, accompanied by a macabre pairing with gruesome deaths. It’s been nearly two decades since Dolores Hawthorne left this tiny town, changed her last name, and never looked back. But when her father goes missing, she has no choice but to return home. What follows is a chain of unfortunate events that lead Dolores to finally confront her past in the hope of finding her father. Rachel Louise Adams combines elements of mystery and familial saga. No Rest for the Wicked is one impressive debut novel, gripping readers from the first chapter and as the countdown to Halloween closes in, the frequency of visits to the morgue increases as Dolores works closely with the FBI to solve this case. The pieces to this puzzle are far more complicated than anyone could have imagined and yet Adams puts them together splendidly!.

The main character of this story is Dolores, a woman searching for answers about her father. The characters around her each have rich descriptions just enough to get to know them and how they're connected to Dolores. The plot keeps you guessing till the end with a nice, unexpected twist. The short chapters enable the plot to flow smoothly. I stayed up late reading this book!

The cover of this book caught my attention first, and I’m so thankful I picked it up. I LOVED this one. Complex characters, twisty plot, this missing person mystery caught my attention and didn’t let go.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC ecopy of this book! Opinions are my own.

“No Rest for the Wicked" by Rachel Louise Adams is an absolute gem that captivated me from the very first page. The narrative is both gripping and thought-provoking, blending elements of suspense and emotional depth seamlessly. Adams has a remarkable ability to create relatable characters, each with their own struggles and complexities, making it easy to become invested in their journeys. I highly recommend "No Rest for the Wicked" to anyone looking for a compelling narrative that lingers long after the last page is turned

A cozy Halloween mystery that tilts on the darker side. Honestly, I would have enjoyed more darkness, but I appreciated what was there. I would have liked more of the town. A fun read with a satisfying ending.