{I've Been Reading} Scary Movie Night

The Last to Drown by Noelle W. Ihli

This thriller broke my heart before sucking me in and absoulutely refusing to let me catch my breath. Instead of a rafting trip down the River at the End of the World with her husband, Kaia has switched her non-refundable ticket to a trip for women. They'll be sleeping on the same beach where a rafting group was savagely butchered seven years earlier and some of her travel companions are more excited about the true crime experience than the white water rapids. The killer is dead and buried. That's been confirmed after a made for TV movie stirred up a bunch of rumors. The only danger should be from the river itself....but it's not. I've read a few of this author's other books and liked them well enough, but this one absolutely blew me away. I'm off to download her backlist.   

 Scary Movie Night by Miranda Smith

Tippi is celebrating her birthday at her grandmother's estate, along with her best friends, who have gone all out to make it a night to remember. Everyone is in costume. There's a spread of great food. Classic horror movies are set up in the cinema upstairs. And, along with the gifts she was expecting, there are handwritten birthday cards from someone who wasn't invited. This is a fun locked room mystery (you'll just have to accept that no one drove to the party and there's no phone at the house so they can't leave or call for help.) Excerpts from Tippi's book, What Hitch Taught Me About Life help, keep the movie references going after the first murder stops the festivities and there are lots more movie references if you're paying attention. 

Trad Wife by Carrie Hughes

This is my favorite of the many "trad wife" thrillers I've read so far. Faith, with her five children and daily sourdough bakes, is exactly what you'd expect a succesful influencer to be. Melissa, a social media manager with a podcast, want to get access to the perfect family so that she can expose their secrets. Which is pretty much the formula I've seen in these books so far -- except this time it works extremely well. There are layers of twists and revelations I didn't see coming. It doesn't start with the usual immediate premise that tradwives are to be despised (or at least disapproved of.) Instead, after a prologue that provides just a glimpse of how bad things are going to get,  it gives us a look at Faith and her life and some chances to see her facade slip just a bit. And it builds from there. 

{I've Been Reading} All Shell Breaks Loose

 All Shell Breaks Loose by Molly MacRae

The Haunted Shell Shop books are some of my favorite new cozy mystery titles. Maureen Nash inherited a shell shop on Okrakoke island that came with a resident pirate ghost and a lot of questions. This time they're about a haunted sword that appeared on the beach after one of her least favorite islanders claimed he was about to buy it. I've been reading this series since the first book and enjoyed them all, although this one didn't feel like it included as many details of the island setting that kept me coming back. I wouldn't recommend jumping in mid-series -- definitely start with the first book so you won't miss any of the fun! 

Murder in Miniature by Katie Tietjen

Inspired by Frances Glessner Lee and her miniature crime scenes, this book was right up my alley. I do wish I'd read the first one in the series first, because I was missing some important bits of backstory, but it works well enough as a stand alone. I loved the 1940s setting and the dollhouses and the fact that this one is a little darker than most of the cozies I read. 

Disclosure -- The publishers provided me with advance review copies. 

en Reading} The Video Store Massacre

The Video Store Massacre by Michael Grimala

A group of middle school students secretly meets in the projection booth of an abandoned drive in theater to watch tapes from the local video store. Their imaginations fueled by gory movies and back issues of Fangoria, the four kids hope to film nightmares of their own and once they find an old film camera buried in the woods, there's nothing to stop them. This is a fast paced, nostalgic read that feels almost straight out of the 1980s (except it's actually set in 1994, which explains a few of what I thought were anachronisms.) It captures the era without overdoing it and there are some genuinely creepy scenes throughout the book. It's fun horror that never gets actually scary. 

Essense of Foul Play by Daryl Wood Gerber 

The grand opening of Emma Brennan's new spa, cafe, and gift shop is only days away and she's busy making sure that every last detail is perfect. Another local spa owner has expressed her unhapiness with the new competition, but that doesn't faze Emma at all -- until the woman turns up dead. Conflicts between local business owners mean that there's no shortage of suspects or motives. The first in a new series, this mystery is set in Carmel, California, the same community as the author's Fairy Garden series of mysteries and features some of the same characters. If you want an extremely detailed setting and lots of information about sound baths and meditation, along with an occasional fairy flittering past, this is the series for you. 

Disclosure -- The publishers provided me with advance review copies. 

{I've Been Reading} The View from Here

The View From Here by Rachel Howzell Hall 

Nicole and Truman's marriage was struggling before the diving accident and, unlike the relationships in so many of the domestic thrillers I read, the two of them feel like really people with real conflict simmering between them. After Truman's body isn't discovered from the dive site after an extensive search, Nicole clings to the hope that he somehow might still be alive...and to the fear that he may be haunting her. Suspenseful and filled with increasingly unsettling apparitions, this book is an entertaining read that I tore straight through. A lot of the author's titles, including this one, are available on Kindle Unlimited so I'm adding them all to my TBR! 

Disclosure -- The publisher provided me with adance review copies.