No Rest for the Wicked is a great small town murder mystery.

Dolores is forced to reunite with her estranged family after her father goes missing. She teams up with the FBI to figure out where he could be and why her step-mother thinks the rest of the family could be next.

This definitely had a lot of threads of plot woven together. It was interesting to see them all unravel, although it was nothing groundbreaking. You could probably figure out the main baddies after a few chapters but it doesn’t take away from the story. There’s a lot of ambience that really makes you feel like you’re in this storied town with a gruesome history.

Huge thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read and review the ARC of No Rest for the Wicked!!!

Where to start! The cover is what drew me in immediately, and after finishing it, I can now say the cats make sense!!! Love it! I also love that it’s Halloween themed if you will, so just in time for more spooky season reads!

Quick rundown: You have the prodigal daughter, Dolores Diaz (Hawthorne), a forensic pathologist who has returned home to Little Horton, a small Wisconsin town obsessed with Halloween! After all, who wouldn’t be when for some inexplicable reason something always seems to go awry - and by that I mean some of the most unusual and violent deaths in the town’s history!

This year, Dolores’ father, former Mayor and current U.S. Senator, appears to be the target and has gone missing. After a call from the FBI Dolores is now making her way back to the home she fled nearly 20 years ago to face blacked out memories, families, and the truth about what really happened on Halloween night all those years ago!

Overall, 4/5 stars!! I have to say, normally I guess the twist pretty early on, but this one got me a little bit! The writing was sharp, and witty, I don’t think I’ll ever forget the golden retriever vs the fox smiles of men. Especially as Adams described them, almost haunting when you think about the fox smiles! The story was both gruesome and gut wrenching, but had me devouring page after page.

My ONE complaint: the abruptness of each chapter’s end and another’s beginning. They didn’t flow together very well in some places, and it felt like hitting a brick wall or making a sharp turn before moving on in the story. There’s some time jumping as well.

Overall, fantastic story, definitely recommend! Can’t wait til it comes out on 9/16!

No Rest for the Wicked by Rachel Louise Adams was an intense, gripping read. The suspense kept me on edge from start to finish, and I loved how Adams wove dark secrets into every twist. The characters are complex and real, which made their struggles feel even more compelling. It’s a thriller that stayed with me long after I turned the last page.

No rest for the wicked
Rachel Louise Adams

This is the perfect book to start the fall season. Grab yourself a cozy blanket, a warm cup of pumpkin spice latte and let’s go to Little Horton, Wisconsin where Halloween is the town’s obsession and there’s cats in every corner. The story starts with Dolores who is a forensic Pathologist in LA, when out of the blue she receives a phone call from an FBI agent informing her that her father has gone missing and that she needs to come back to her hometown. Now Dolores hasn’t been home in 18 years, now with her father’s disappearance she is forced to go back and relive the horrors of her past while simultaneously having to deal with the disappearance of her father and having to rebuild relationships that she left 18 years ago.

I really enjoyed this book and read through it quickly. I needed to know what was going to happen next. This twisty, atmospheric, suspenseful thriller where literally no one can be trusted was an amazing read. There were so many twists and turns, I honestly was so shocked with the ending. The details and pacing of this book was perfect, never a dull moment up until the end. This was my first book by Rachel Louise Adams and it was amazing, I will definitely be reading others books by her.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press,Minataur Books, and Rachel Louise Adams for providing me with an advanced copy of this book for an honest review.

What a tangled web! What a surprise this book was!
It’s an edge of your seat thriller that I couldn’t put down! It was full of secrets that will keep you guessing!
I will say the cover of the book makes sense now.

4/5⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley for the EARC! All opinions are my own🫶

“Men came in a hundred different shapes but, they only had two kinds of smiles. Dog smiles, and fox smiles.”

“Good coffee, like good lovers, made her forget the bad ones.”

“Go through the motions, look and act the part. Like living in a house on fire and thinking as long as you pretend not to smell smoke , the flames won’t melt your flesh and char your bones.”

“Tragedy did have a thing for rich white men.”

This was exactly what I needed to ring in the fall season. I loved reading about Delores and her insanity.

I had only a couple issues but none are deal breakers for me.

I wish Delores current life played more into the main plot line for how much it was featured. The marriage and friends felt underutilized but I appreciate the glimpse into the life she’s built and not just focusing on her past.

As accurate as it is I wish the FBI wasn’t so disjointed😭 how are they not background checking their employees and letting someone SO close to an investigation participate unsupervised by the bureau?? Things like this unfortunately happen in real life (things slipping through the cracks not this story obviously) but it made the story a little less believable and satisfying.

I can appreciate so so much though the balance of different POVs and think it did this story so well to see not just what and how Delores experienced but the entire town.

I also think the plot was perfect for me. I had my suspicions but could never settle on what I thought was going on until the characters did, and as a chronic movie and book ending guesser- it was nice. The ending was one of my initial theories but I really couldn’t be confident with all the other clues.

Overall kickass debut and the perfect intro to spooky season ✨

Add this to your spooky/moody fall TBR! I’m so impressed by this debut

The plot: Dolores Hawthorne left Little Horton, her Halloween-obsessed hometown, almost two decades ago. Her plan was to stay away forever until the FBI calls demanding her presence - her father, former senator and mayor of Little Horton, has gone missing under suspicious circumstances. He left her a cryptic note with a chilling instruction to “trust no one,” likely including the estranged family that gave Dolores a half-hearted invite to live with them during her stay. With just a few days until Halloween, and a town history of violent deaths on the date, can Dolores find her father and face her demons before time runs out?

My review: The cover art pulled me in but the plot made me read this in a single day! The specter of the feral cats is a perfect recurring motif that somehow adds dread but also (somehow) coziness throughout the story. I devoured this so quickly because it truly keeps you guessing throughout - I wasn’t confident in the direction of the ending until very few pages were left. In some places, the book reads like a police procedural, in others a mystery, but throughout there’s a propulsive plot and deep characterization that make it hard to put down. I enjoyed seeing Dolores’ personal growth in relation to her family and her past, but also in relation to her future. Despite the tragedy and darkness throughout, there was an optimistic tone that left me content. This almost read like the start of a series of small town horrors/mysteries - I would love to read more of that’s the case!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press - Minotaur Books for this ARC!

🎃 T W I S T E D T H U R S D A Y review 🎃 featuring “No Rest for the Wicked” by Rachel Louise Adams!

Little Horton, Wisconsin is a town famous for its big Halloween celebrations … but also its dark history of violent deaths linked to the holiday. The townspeople are on high alert when they find out that one of their local politicians has gone missing and the crime scene indicates much more than foul play.

It’s been almost 20 years since forensic pathologist Dolores Hawthorne fled from her hometown of Little Horton to start a brand new life in Los Angeles. Haunted by her childhood memories, Dolores barely kept in touch with her family over the years. When the FBI reaches out to her about her mysteriously missing father, Dolores must face her past and return home to Little Horton.

To no surprise, Dolores does not receive a warm welcome from anyone and is shown a letter from father telling her to trust no one! Now it is up to Dolores to dig up the past, face it head on and find out the truth before it’s too late!

💭 What a great read to kick off Spooky Season! I am obsessed with Halloween towns and it adds an extra layer of creepiness to the story! What I thought would be a cozy mystery turned out to be a slow burning, dark and twisted mystery that is jam packed with lies, secrets and unburdened history! Little by little you start to learn about why Dolores stayed away from Little Horton for so long and this creates anxiety and tension like no other!

Thank you kindly to @rachellouiseadams @minotaur_books @stmartinspress @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review. This book releases on September 16, 2025!

Dolores Hawthorn, a forensic pathologist left Little Horton, Wisconsin – twenty years ago with no plans to return. When the FBI informed her that her father, who is the former mayor and now a Senator, had disappeared, she had no choice but to come home.

His disappearance coincides with Halloween and Little Horton celebrates that holiday in a big way. Dolores hates Halloween about as much as she hates facing her family.

Her father re-married after her mother died. She has a stepmother and two step siblings. She has a relationship with the brother who is closer to her age but doesn’t know her youngest sister very well.

When a couple other bodies are discovered, it made me wonder whether her father could have been the killer.

There are plenty of suspects including questionable family members.

Dolores is pulled into the investigation as a pathologist, so she helps investigate along with the police. I did find that hard to believe since she is related to a possible victim.

The story had an interesting twist at the end that kept me guessing.

This is Adam’s debut novel, and I am guessing it may be the beginning of a series. I enjoyed the setting, the well-developed characters, and the plot. I would read more from this author. It was a fast read for me.

I do think the cover was a little misleading. It gave me the feel of a cozy Halloween mystery with the black cats. The murders are gory making it not feel so cozy, but it wasn’t too gory for my tastes.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves small town mysteries.

This book is scheduled to release September 16th.

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for my advanced readers copy with their expectation of my honest review.

3.75⭐️: I didn’t really have any expectations going into this one so I was pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed all the forensics/autopsy talk. When I was younger, I was obsessed with wanting to be just like Abby from NCIS. So this filled a little bit of the void. The mystery itself was a little predictable but still had many twists. The perfect amount to where it didn’t feel like twists just to have twists. The ending did make it seem like we may see more of Dolores but I wouldn’t know how that would be done.

This book is the perfect spooky season read. It’s an amazing combination of Halloween imagery and theming along with an intense murder mystery that has moments of relevant gore. I didn’t feel like the gore was extraneous and it was used to illustrate intentionality and the emotionally heightened state of the killer.

I loved the family dynamics and the relationships between generational legacy families in a small town.

This one all ties together beautifully and is a MUST READ this spooky season!!

I had such a great time with this book. I wasn't sure what to expect since this is a debut author but I loved the cover so I decided, why not check it out. So glad I did that. The vibes were immaculate and I'm always a sucker for a small town mystery setting.

No Rest for the Wicked had several of my favorite thriller tropes; small town, Halloween obsessed town, years old mysteries coming back up, and feuding legacy families. I found myself trying to guess who the killer was and honestly until the reveal, I was still guessing. That's my favorite thing about thrillers and mysteries. If I guess the killer at the beginning, I get mad and can't join the story as much.

Overall, I had the best time. I read both the ALC and eARC. I highly recommend the audiobook for this one.

Can't wait to see what this author releases next!

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review!

Dr. Dolores Diaz gets a phone call no one ever wants to receive: her father has gone missing, and the FBI want her back in her hometown to answer some questions. Her father isn’t just anyone – he’s a U.S. Senator and the former mayor of Little Horton, Wisconsin, a town notorious for its Halloween pageantry and the violent deaths that always seem to shadow the holiday. Dolores hasn’t set foot there since she bolted at eighteen, cutting herself off from her family and from memories she can’t quite piece together. Still, before vanishing, her father managed to leave her a cryptic message: Trust no one.

That warning isn’t wasted on Dolores – she’s never been one to let her guard down. Like the stray cats haunting Little Horton’s streets, she bristles at threats and knows when to bare her claws or bolt. Coming home means more than FBI questions: there’s her icy stepmother, a half-brother who grew up in her absence, a half-sister she’s never met, and the usual tangle of grudges that thrive in small towns. And as fresh murders hit the Halloween-obsessed community, Dolores has to choose between running again or finally facing the darkness she left behind.

At first, I was hooked. A small Midwestern town drenched in Halloween, a missing politician, a forensic pathologist pulled back home, a book jacket covered in black cats? Great. Sounds fun. I was happily along for the ride, enjoying the mix of local intrigue and federal-level stakes, plus some side characters who added color. But even early on, little cracks showed. Like, why did the FBI need her to fly in from California to answer questions about a father she hadn’t seen in eighteen years? Surely that’s what phones are for. You're using one now? No? Dolores is boarding a plane right now? Doesn't she have a job? Oh... ok.

And then the mask slipped further as the plot progressed. Dolores left town at eighteen because of a half-remembered trauma, which veers into one of my least favorite tropes: amnesia. Worse, it brushes up against my other nemesis, miscommunication. The lengths to which adults refused to talk to other adults about life-altering facts stretched plausibility thin.

Smaller sins piled on. The FBI inviting Dolores to perform an autopsy in Wisconsin despite her being licensed in California felt… improbable. Especially given her connection to the other crimes they're investigating! Isn't conflict of interest a thing? And without spoiling anything, the elaborate backstory behind Dolores’s exile left me scratching my head — there's some blackmail logic that seems backwards, like the characters hadn’t read their own playbook or had no idea how to hire a lawyer despite their money and connections.

And then there’s the Halloween branding. Black cats on the cover, a town obsessed with spooky season — and yet none of it truly mattered to the mystery. Strip away the pumpkins and cobwebs, and the plot plays out the same — Halloween window dressing without any real bite. Boo, indeed.

So yes, No Rest for the Wicked was fun — until it fell apart in the final act and I realized I couldn't overlook its earlier flubs. Once the holes started to show, they multiplied faster than I could patch them. If you’re craving a seasonal mystery and don’t mind suspending disbelief, this could still scratch that Halloween itch. But for me, it was more trick than treat.

This book was so good. I spent the entire book trying to figure it out and I couldn’t. It was written well. It kept me on my toes.

3.5 stars
✨I let the cats on the cover fool me. I expected this to be cozy mystery read and instead got a deeper suspense read with unsettling subject matter - but also with plenty of thrills and chills to go around. The town that goes all out for Halloween which is the perfect backdrop for the unfolding mystery in these pages.

✨To be perfectly honest here, I would have given this book a higher rating, but there was one element that I just couldn’t get past – that of one of the characters getting away with a grisly crime at the end as though there was simply no time to deal with pesky consequences. I also felt like there were a few unresolved threads as well. Nevertheless, this is a positive review. I did enjoy the book overall, and I think others who enjoy books set at Halloween will as well.

🌿Read if you like:
✨Halloween settings
✨Spooky season reads
✨Debut novels
✨Small-town atmosphere
✨A mystery to solve
✨Estranged family dynamics

A woman returns to her small town, known for its Halloween celebration, to look for her missing father and must co tend with a slew of murders and past secrets. I wanted to like this one, thought the idea of the Halloween-themed town would be cool. Unfortunately the story was a bit repetitive and the characters were hard to connect with. Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this one.

This was a little darker than I usually read, but it was absolutely scintillating! And started reading and didn’t put it down until I was finished. Dolores and her story, along with her trip home, had me hooked from the very beginning.

No Rest for the Wicked is a thriller following a woman who returns home to speak with FBI after her father went missing. I thought this novel was fast paced and was entertained from start to finish. The characters were realistically flawed, and I enjoyed the MFC. I did not guess the ending, which seems to be a rarity for mystery thrillers lately. I would check trigger warnings if that is something you look out for.

I found the cover a little misleading. I went into this book thinking there would be a cool cat element, and I did NOT like the cat element. Nothing too graphic or abuse, so I was able to read without getting upset.

I received an ARC and ALC from St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The writing in this book is phenomenal, and the plot was fantastic. I loved the humor, the creepy parts, the HALLOWEEN TOWN, the spooky, and the ending was actually pretty satisfying. A couple of the family dynamics were a bit confusing, but all in all I loved this book. The character is so sarcastic and I loved every minute of it. Solid thriller for the Halloween season. Coming September 16, 2025, so make sure to add it to your TBR!

So this story just didn't connect with me. There were a lot of things to like, but I think certain parts of the plot or timeline became confusing to me.

It felt like a small town noir story - if that makes sense. I enjoyed that aspect of it. The darkness that was underneath the Halloween cheer - darkness with secrets of the residents.

But, it just didn't click for me. I think part of the problem was perhaps there were too many points-of-view (in third person). I think I would have enjoyed it more had we just gotten Dolores' story and that's all? Hmmm, I'm just not sure.

I enjoyed the Halloween aspect and the black cats, but those were lost to the mystery itself, I think.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-copy of NO REST FOR THE WICKED to review.

I rate NO REST FOR THE WICKED three out of five stars.