This novel started out strong. I loved the opening chapter which was sharply written. However as the story progressed, the narrative slides into a very average form that left me underwhelmed. The story was not specifically bad but felt like the kind of tired plot I have read too many times before.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

No Rest for the Wicked is a debut novel. Dolores is estranged from her family but drops everything when told her father is missing. She dreads going home. She is not exactly welcomed by her stepmother and half-siblings. Dolores is a forensic pathologist and gets involved with the case. Soon there are two bodies.
It is an intriguing storyline with ties to the past. I really wanted to know what happened when she was a teenager- whatever it was, was very traumatic for Dolores.
It is fast paced and hard to put down. There are some interesting twists in this story - well worth reading.

If you are looking for a cutesy murder mystery this spooky season, look somewhere else, cause this book was DARK DARK, but so good!

I enjoyed all the creepy Halloween vibes in this one, the family drama, the trauma, the secrets, it was such a bingeable read. When I picked it up I had no idea how dark and disturbing this book was going to get so just be warned. However, because dark & disturbing is my middle name, I devoured it and I think it needs to be on everyone’s spooky season tbr!

🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛/5

TW: cat death (does not go into detail, and is briefly mentioned), r@pe (also, not a lot of detail, but still mentioned throughout the book)

Thank you to @minotaur_books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. PUB DATE: 9/16

Total honestly - the book cover made me a little unsure if I wanted to read the book. However, I am glad that I did - its a great mystery filled with politics, money, family and deceit. Dolores Hawthorne of the famous Hawthorne family of Little Horton left home 20 years ago and never looked back. She is a renowned medical examiner that lives in LA. Her family all still reside in Little Horton. She gets a call from the FBI stating that her father has been abducted and is currently missing. Dolores heads home to a family and past she left and thought she would never return to. Such a great book! Great mystery!

Out September 16th, 2025
Picked up No Rest for the Wicked expecting jack-o’-lanterns, haunted vibes, and maybe a broomstick or two—thanks to that cover serving all the seasonal spook—but nope. Inside, it’s a totally different mood: darker, sharper, and way more about the morally messy people than any hocus-pocus.

Rachel Louise Adams knows how to twist a character until you're not sure if you love them or want to yell at them, which I’m always here for. The plot simmers and slowly pulls you under, and once you're in, it’s hard to look away. The writing’s smart, the tension sneaky, and the emotional undercurrents? Surprisingly deep.

But yeah, let’s talk about that cover. It’s got cute Halloween vibes—like it should come with candy corn—and that doesn’t match the grit and gray morality happening in these pages. Not a huge deal, but it might throw folks off if they’re expecting pumpkin spice and get psychological spice instead.

Still, I loved it. It's one of those "oh wow, this went somewhere cool" kind of reads. Just maybe repackage it next time in something moodier?

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this fun ARC!

This was a fantastic Halloween (or anytime, if you love spooky like I do) read! A fun whodunnit set in a little Halloween-obsessed town. It has great characters, a well thought out plot, and was very atmospheric. I really enjoyed this debut and look forward to reading more from this author.

This one was good! Spooky vibes all around. Loved the main character - she was a boss.


~thank you to the publisher, the author and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read & review this book~

The perfect novel to read for Halloween and an amazing debut by Ms. Adams! Dolores Hawthorne grew up in Little Horton, Wisconsin, a town obsessed with Halloween that goes all out every year. So much so, that tourists come from miles around to participate in the holiday's festivities. Dolores fled Little Horton for Los Angeles to become a forensic pathologist, and hasn't been back for 20 years when she gets a call from the FBI that her father has disappeared and they need her help. She hasn't spoken to her father or family for 18 years, and barely recognizes her teenage sister, Josie. Dolores fled town after an incident with one of the Winslow boys, whose family has strict ties to her family, in more ways than one. She and her father used to be close, and she imagines him in all the familiar places of her childhood as she drives through town.

As soon as she arrives, she finds a letter her father left her, telling her he's sorry and to not trust anyone. As several local community leaders, and an unsavory doctor turn up dead, Dolores is thrust into the past as she tries to remember what happened, with who, on October 31st of 2003. Everyone is not who they seem and enemies become friends and vice versa. All her emotions come to the surface as she tries to clear her father's name, and finds out how many lies and secrets that he and her stepmother kept from her back then. The plot culminates on the night of Halloween, as the town comes out in costumes, covered in blood, but some are not disguises. This was well written, had good pacing, and there were some unexpected twists that took me by surprise. It's about revenge, love, loss, and the powerful bonds of family. The cover is a great throwback to the horror books of the 70s and cats do play a role in this book, albeit an anciliary one. Well done and entertaining!

Definite suspense - missing people, murder and decades old secrets. Plus a town obsessed with Halloween. Add in a couple of FBI agents and it’s. The perfect combination.

An engaging whodunit thriller that held my interest from start to finish. I have a love/hate relationship with the characters—mostly love for four of them, and definite hate for the rest (who absolutely deserve it!).

It feels like an R-rated Halloweentown, minus the supernatural creatures, because the real monsters here are the people themselves.

My only gripe is that the ending dragged a bit longer than necessary. Otherwise, a solid, darkly entertaining read.

It’s been almost twenty years since Dolores Hawthorne left home. She’s now a successful pathologist in L.A., but one call changes everything: her estranged father is missing—the very man she fled from all those years ago. Something bad happened back then, and as Dolores digs into the mystery of her father’s disappearance, it becomes clear that the past is coming back to haunt her.
No Rest for the Wicked is a dark, twisty, and surprisingly layered mystery that leans more toward a character-driven police procedural than the cozy crime novel its cover suggests. Set around Halloween, the story follows an estranged daughter returning home—a familiar trope—but it’s executed with freshness, emotional depth, and a solid sense of suspense. The plot is packed with secrets, lies, and glimpses into a painful past that explain why Dolores stayed away for so long. The novel avoids veering into bleak territory. Nearly every character is quietly unravelling, but in a compelling, honest way that never feels forced or overly depressing. The small-town setting is vividly drawn, adding realism and mood to the unfolding mystery. While it’s not quite “cozy,” it’s a more accessible, low-gore version of a Kathy Reichs novel. A strong debut that delivers well-paced suspense, emotional weight, and a satisfying number of twists. 3.5 stars, rounded up for a confident and promising start to the author’s career.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for this ARC. This is my honest review.

How could I turn down a book with that glorious cover full of kitties? A story set in a town obsessed with Halloween also sounded like catnip to me. I liked Dolores, the main character. Something happened in her youth and she left her home and family, making a great life for herself as a pathologist in LA. When her Dad, a Senator, goes missing, she has to come back to help. Little by little, the chapters unravel the story in the past and soon it’s clear how it’s affecting the present mystery. My problem is that I don’t enjoy inner dialogues, characters rehashing the same grudges and talking about their feelings, and a large part of this novel was just that. There was also a lot of action, but bogged down by character development, which is not my thing. The plot includes a serial killer, a missing girl, a lot of family drama and an “infestation” of stray cats. Unfortunately, that was the main reason I didn’t care for this novel. The author is involved in animal rights and lives with two cats so how come this book includes so much animal death? It’s not graphic, but it’s also not pertinent to the plot. Maybe readers who are not obsessed with felines, people who can make their brains understand how this is fiction and no animals were hurt in the writing of this novel will enjoy it. I just couldn’t get past that.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books.

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Rachel Louise Adams, and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

Always eager to tackle books by authors new to me, I gladly accepted this ARC by Rachel Louise Adams. A debut thriller provides readers an insight into the ideas Adams has to offer, presenting both a thrilling and resourceful piece that is sure to keep people reading well into the night. Delores Hawthorne is returning to her Wisconsin hometown after being away for decades. Her purpose is to assist with a missing person investigation surrounding her father. However, as people turn up dead, Delores learns that there may be more going on of a notably sinister nature. She will have to watch her back as Hallowe’en spirits stir.
Adams pens a great first book for readers to enjoy.

Forensic pathologist Dolores Hawthorne has been away from her hometown for many years.
Little Horton, Wisconsin has a history of being one of America’s great Hallowe’en communities, but this is not why Delores has come back. Her father, a high-ranking politician, is missing and the FBI are seeking answers. Delores tries to find her father and determine what might have happened.

With a cryptic letter left for her, Delores tries to decipher what her father might be trying to tell her.
As Hallowe’en approaches, a number of violent murders turn the town to looking at past events or a similar nature. Delores is baffled and trying to solve things swiftly, permitting her to return to L.A.

With the pressure on, Delores works with the feds to shed light on the case, but can only wonder if she would have been better to stay away from Little Horton. Nothing is as it seems and Delores Hawthorne is soon in the hot seat to explain everything that has been taking place. A strong first novel by Rachel Louise Adams that has me hoping she has other ideas brewing.

I quite enjoy discovering new authors in genres familiar to me. Rachel Louise Adams delivers a strong debut novel that mixes a great thriller with something a little scarier. She keeps the reader on the edge of their seat as the mystery blossoms, with Hallowe’en serving as a great backdrop. Strong characters provide decent pathways for the the narrative to gain momentum. Plot points are sharp and keep twisting the reader in ways they might not have expected. I am eager to read more by Rachel Louise Adams in the future.

Kudos, Madam Adams, for a great debut!

So if you have read the synopsis you have a general idea about the story that takes place between the pages, but I want to give you something the synopsis doesn’t tell you.

This story is heartbreaking. It is about family secrets and who really knows what they are, or do they? It is about perception after a traumatic event. Not only how it changes the person directly but those around them.

It is about learning who you can trust and do your experiences up to that point in time cloud what you think you know.

It is about the pure love a father has for his daughter and asking her to remember him as she did when she was younger. It is about a stepmother more concerned about appearances than the truth or doing what is right.

It is about the loss of your first love and a reminder of the worst night of your life.

It is about a friendship you may have had under different circumstances.

It is what our body and mind does to protect us when we can’t protect ourselves.

This was a brilliant debut novel, and I wholeheartedly recommend it. It is dark, the bodies keep dropping and not everything is at it seems in the town known for Halloween. It will break your heart in the way only the best books can.

Thank you to the author, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own and my review is voluntarily given. As always, I wish you happy reading!

It is what our body and mind does to protect us when we can’t protect ourselves.

This was a brilliant debut novel, and I wholeheartedly recommend it. It is dark, the bodies keep dropping and not everything is at it seems in the town known for Halloween. It will break your heart in the way only the best books can.

Thank you to the author, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own and my review is voluntarily given. As always, I wish you happy reading!

Looking for your next fall/halloween read? Look no further this one is it. It is a fast paced scary movie vibe type of thriller with so many crazy plot twists that kept me absolutely hooked. It is not a cozy mystery, it does have some gore and a high body count. For a debut novel this was absolutely outstanding.

This was a 3.5 star read for me. It started off with a lot of promise and dropped off a bit as the book went on. The main character was likable, but it took far too long to find out what had happened to her in her past. Overall, this is a book that I would recommend, but I wish it had a bit more suspense or thrill!

This review was also posted on Goodreads.

4.25 stars
Thank you NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for this Advanced Reader Copy
Looking at this cover you would think it's a cozy Halloween spooky/mystery or something along those lines. Well, most people would think that, I was thinking of the 1992 movie Sleep Walkers :D Or, a horror of an old lady with a ton of kitty cats that do her bidding. Wrong on all accounts lol.

This is a cozy horror/thriller for those of you who are well read in horror genre. It's a slow burn that is addictive with every turn of the page. It's certainly horror/thriller/mystery. As our main character Delores goes back home after being gone for 20 years, she slowly investigates her fathers disappearance. Delores is a forensic pathologist and finds forensics a comfort-zone. Her character is very relatable. Bodies begin to pile up as Delores helps the detectives since they couldn't find a forensics pathologist to assist them and finds clues upon clues that lead to more mayhem.

You're going to love this one and it is extremely Halloween themed. Release date is Sept. 16th, 2025

Thank you, St. Martin's Press, for providing the copy of No Rest for the Wicked by Rachel Louise Adams. What a great book! I loved the characters and would love to read more about Dolores and her exploits. The engaging story kept me riveted to the pages and I liked how the past and the present were skillfully woven together. I read lots of thrillers and enjoyed the gobsmacking big reveal that shocked me but made perfect sense. I can’t wait to read more books by Adams. 5 stars.

4.5 stars!! This book is so good! The author did a great job creating an atmosphere in the story that’s eerie and creepy. If you like to read a creepy book with feral cats, that’s full of secrets, tension and twists, this is your book!

Dark, fast-paced, and full of edge. This supernatural thriller had me hooked from the start. The worldbuilding was vivid, though I wanted a bit more emotional depth. Still, it was a thrilling ride with plenty of bite.