One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day (2024)
It was a dark and stormy night........
And an especially eventful night at the picturesque Maine hotel, The Precipice. As the name implies, the place sits on a seaside cliff,, overlooking a lethal drop into the crashing waves below. There's more wave crashing than usual tonight in the midst of a raging hurricane that's washed out the roads and left everyone in the hotel stranded there, guests and staff alike.
What a night for a reading of the last will and testament of George Bishop, the odious owner who spent most of his time sexually harassing our narrator, young Charley Kelley, the hotel's sole full time maid. Also in attendance are George's spawn - sisters Vicki, Faith and Iris, a dysfunctional trio from hell, each holding on to backstories chock full of dark secrets, separately and together.
Excess baggage includes an imperious woman lawyer to read the will, Vicki's repulsive obnoxious husband, Todd, their grown son Quinn and Oliver, the weird little teen son of Faith and her partner Hope. A hidden guest unbeknownst to all of them except Charley, is Bree, a desperate young woman on the run from an abusive boyfriend.. Soft-hearted Charley moves Bree from room to room while the nest of Bishop vipers hurl long simmering contempt for each other.
The storm howls. The lights go and off. Threatening messages start popping up. Could it be that some folks among this group won't make it through the night upright and breathing?
What could possibly go wrong? (Feel free to insert a long evil Bwaa-haa-haa laugh here....)
Author Jamie Day obviously had a terrific time nailing down every single 'locked-room' murder mystery trope. I don't think there's a single one left out and the fun of seeing them all in play once again is contagious. The only thing missing from the apparent endless, regularly scheduled revelations is hearing an orchestra launch into one of those 'Dum-dum Dummmmmmm!' crescendos every time a twist is revealed.
More than once I was thinking that this book piles on so many of these homages that it borders on sly parody. But then again, author Day takes the time to vividly portray each of these characters, bringing all of them to life, both the hateful ones and ones to root for, like Charley. Even when its plot complications start to resemble a 'Saturday Night Live' skit on murder mysteries, 'One Big Happy Family' never seems less than fully committed to its genre.
I had such a good time with this, I didn't even mind the blatant shamelessness of the book's epilogue, tying up every little thing with pretty little bows. If the mission was to give a mystery buff a breezy good time, then mission accomplished. 4 stars (****) (For a really immersive experience, wait a night of howling thunderstorms to crack this one open.....)
And an especially eventful night at the picturesque Maine hotel, The Precipice. As the name implies, the place sits on a seaside cliff,, overlooking a lethal drop into the crashing waves below. There's more wave crashing than usual tonight in the midst of a raging hurricane that's washed out the roads and left everyone in the hotel stranded there, guests and staff alike.
What a night for a reading of the last will and testament of George Bishop, the odious owner who spent most of his time sexually harassing our narrator, young Charley Kelley, the hotel's sole full time maid. Also in attendance are George's spawn - sisters Vicki, Faith and Iris, a dysfunctional trio from hell, each holding on to backstories chock full of dark secrets, separately and together.
Excess baggage includes an imperious woman lawyer to read the will, Vicki's repulsive obnoxious husband, Todd, their grown son Quinn and Oliver, the weird little teen son of Faith and her partner Hope. A hidden guest unbeknownst to all of them except Charley, is Bree, a desperate young woman on the run from an abusive boyfriend.. Soft-hearted Charley moves Bree from room to room while the nest of Bishop vipers hurl long simmering contempt for each other.
The storm howls. The lights go and off. Threatening messages start popping up. Could it be that some folks among this group won't make it through the night upright and breathing?
What could possibly go wrong? (Feel free to insert a long evil Bwaa-haa-haa laugh here....)
Author Jamie Day obviously had a terrific time nailing down every single 'locked-room' murder mystery trope. I don't think there's a single one left out and the fun of seeing them all in play once again is contagious. The only thing missing from the apparent endless, regularly scheduled revelations is hearing an orchestra launch into one of those 'Dum-dum Dummmmmmm!' crescendos every time a twist is revealed.
More than once I was thinking that this book piles on so many of these homages that it borders on sly parody. But then again, author Day takes the time to vividly portray each of these characters, bringing all of them to life, both the hateful ones and ones to root for, like Charley. Even when its plot complications start to resemble a 'Saturday Night Live' skit on murder mysteries, 'One Big Happy Family' never seems less than fully committed to its genre.
I had such a good time with this, I didn't even mind the blatant shamelessness of the book's epilogue, tying up every little thing with pretty little bows. If the mission was to give a mystery buff a breezy good time, then mission accomplished. 4 stars (****) (For a really immersive experience, wait a night of howling thunderstorms to crack this one open.....)
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