Death in the Family

Shana Merchant Mystery Series, Book 1

By: Tessa Wegert

Narrated by: Callie Beaulieu

Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Thirteen months ago, former NYPD detective Shana Merchant barely survived being abducted by a serial killer. Now hoping to leave grisly murder cases behind, she's taken a job in her fiance's sleepy hometown in the Thousand Islands region of Upstate New York. But as a nor'easter bears down on her new territory, Shana and fellow investigator Tim Wellington receive a call about a man missing on a private island. Shana and Tim travel to the isolated island owned by the wealthy Sinclair family to question the witnesses. They arrive to find blood on the scene and a house full of Sinclair family and friends on edge.

While Tim guesses they're dealing with a runaway case, Shana is convinced that they have a murder on their hands. As the gale intensifies outside, she starts conducting interviews and discovers the Sinclairs and their guests are crawling with dark and dangerous secrets.

Trapped on the island by the raging storm with only Tim, whose reliability is thrown into question, the increasingly restless suspects, and her own trauma-fueled flashbacks for company, Shana will have to trust the one person her abduction destroyed her faith in -herself. But time is ticking down, because if Shana's right, a killer is in their midst and as the pressure mounts, so do the odds that they'll strike again.

©2019 Tessa Wegert (P)2020 Tantor

Suspenseful

Liked this book because it’s background takes place near my hometown. Very good description of the area, and good story line.

Love both books in the series!

Death in the Family and the second book Dead Season are both well written and keep you engaged from beginning to end. Listened to them back to back! Looking forward to the next release!

Ok+

Everything about this book was just an OK+. The threatening storm was just there, not woven into the story to heighten the suspense.

The psychologically damaged female lead was not likable, nor was she competent. She occasionally swore. It was not excessive, but it was present.

The narrator was good, but not outstanding. She ensured everyone sounded different. However, I wasn’t a big fan of some of her voices. (I don’t like it when accents are added just to ensure the listener can distinguish between characters.) For the hearing impaired, this narrator could be heard well. No whispering.

Bottom line, on sale it might be a good one to snag. To use a credit, I think you can do better. The 9+ hours took me a week to get through. Generally, I burn through an audible in 3 days.

I’m reviewing this in 2020. This year mentally we are all challenged. This book might be totally fine in some other year.

I believe the author has potential and I would be tempted to experience her future works.

Vivid Descriptions & Compelling Characters

I’m a fan of locked-room mysteries and really enjoyed this one. The Thousand Islands setting was new to me, and Tessa Wegert’s vivid descriptions created the perfect atmosphere for the story. Although this is only the first book in the series, Shana’s character development is compelling. Her actions frustrated me at times, but I credit Wegert for crafting a complex, flawed character. I’m looking forward to reading book two!

Solid entertaining read

Ah the elusive locked room murder. Tricky to master, but this was a very engaging attempt. Narration was maybe a little flat, but overall a very good book

Ehhhhh...

The pauses in the voices of the characters made them sound like they all had speech impediments or were all mentally slow. Is it not possible to have a female and a male narrator?

Really good

Suspenseful and a great performance. The twists were unexpected. I enjoyed this read. Five stars.

The main characters background story

I felt like there were some loose strings and questions not answered especially about the main character Shana.