Not To Be Missed Monday: Death in the Family (Shana Merchant, #1) by Tessa Wegert @tessawegert @BerkleyPub

Hot Golden Diggity Dang! Death in the Family (Shana Merchant, #1)
by Tessa Wegert is one well written, exciting modern-day take to a locked room /impossible crime mystery. If you are looking for something a little different from those dark and twisted thrillers that is well-plotted and draws you into an interesting puzzle to solve, this is one not to be missed.

Norma’s review

Atmospheric, compelling, & characteristic!

DEATH IN THE FAMILY (Shana Merchant #1) by TESSA WEGERT is a gripping, thrilling, dark, twisty, and entertaining whodunit locked-room mystery that was an absolute pleasure to read. Right from the get go I knew that I was going to thoroughly enjoy this one. It has this classic whodunit vibe going on here that I find so appealing and absolutely love.

The mystery takes us to a remote private island and has this absolutely perfect story setting. I loved the dark, dreary, and rainy atmosphere.

TESSA WEGERT delivers a slow burn, classic, well-crafted, and well-written read here that builds suspense and intrigue slowly as the story progresses. It was quite an effective way to envelop me fully into this mystery and I absolutely loved the unsettling feeling that this produced. Even though the story has a large cast of characters I didn’t find myself confused once at keeping them all straight. Our main character here, detective Shana Merchant is a strong flawed female lead, and she has her own story to tell here. This leaves us with unanswered questions but definitely entices us and leads us into the forthcoming books in this series.

Brenda’s review

This was another pleasant surprise for us from the stack of not our normal books Elisha from Berkely sends our way. When that happens, I am like this excited kid running around with a big bag of candy, wanting to share it with everyone who will come and chat about all the different flavours in the bag with me.

The story has the elements of an impossible crime mystery here and is not your typical twisty read. There are no shocking reveals or turns that will come out of nowhere to surprise you. It follows the classic detective fiction with a locked room crime. Author masterfully presents us with a puzzle and clues to solve a mystery before the dramatic solution is revealed in the end by our Senior Investigator Shana Merchant.

You can’t spell family without lies and secrets and Shana needs to level up to figure out who is hiding what dirty and messy secrets in what laundry basket that are hidden away in the closets of these eccentric characters. The members of this family are not the only monsters here that are trapped in this moody, stormy private island. Shana has an inner monster from her past that adds some tension and suspense to the story.

I missed some clues along the way and didn’t solve all the pieces to this puzzle and need Shana to pull it all together for me in the end. I thought the mystery came together so fun and exciting but what I loved the most is how I am left wanting to know so much more about Shana and her past. I can’t wait for the next one in this series.

Norma’s Stats:
Cover: An intriguing, eye-catching, bleak, claustrophobic, revelant, and fitting representation to storyline.
Title: Intriguing, foreboding, worrisome, straightforward, and a fitting representation to storyline.
Writing/Prose: Well-written, gripping, engaging, readable, and suspenseful. I absolutely loved the writing style!
Plot: Intriguing, mysterious, suspenseful, slow burn, unsettling, atmospheric, entertaining, captivating, intense, dark, and steadily-paced.
Ending: A surprising, exciting, pleasing, and satisfying conclusion.
Overall: I pretty much found myself suspicious of almost every character and honestly when we got to the reveal I was totally taken by surprise. Well played! I highly recommend it!