Review: Asylum Hotel by Juliet Blackwell

 

Asylum Hotel by Juliet Blackwell

Publication Date: July 29th 2025 by Berkley

Pages: 384

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Libro.fm | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Aubrey Spencer is vacationing near the old Hotel Seabrink, indulging her hobby of photographing abandoned buildings of architectural interest. The hotel has a mixed history with a few deaths and is rumored to be haunted. She finds out more about its history when she runs into Dimitri Petroff scouting the location to feature on his popular podcast. Dimitri and Aubrey have an immediate connection and end up spending the night together. However, when Aubrey wakes up, she’s startled to discover Dimitri left sometime in the night and fell to his death from the cliffs outside her hotel room.

 

The responding deputy is convinced that Dimitri took his own life, but Aubrey can’t fathom it. He was excited about his new show, and they had an amazing night together. There’s also rumors that Dimitri died because of the curse on Hotel Seabrink. Aubrey is determined to get to the bottom of things. Her friend Nikki joins her to help. I liked their supportive friendship and the fun back and forth they had even in some scary circumstances!

 

Asylum Hotel was a fun mix of paranormal and mystery! I loved the misty Northern California coastal setting which gave it an atmospheric and spooky vibe! It sounded haunting and beautiful! The past and present collide in a page-turning, thrilling conclusion!

4 Stars

Book Description:

When a mysterious figure shows up in the photograph an architect takes of the derelict Seabrink Hotel, ghostly encounters and murder are unleashed.

Aubrey Spencer loves photographing classic old buildings and abandoned places that hold old secrets. The Hotel Seabrink, perched overlooking the sea, is one such place. Currently abandoned but scheduled for a major renovation, it has a torrid history. Back in the 1920s it hosted A-list celebrity clientele, and now the locals insist it is haunted by the ghosts of two young women who died there. When Aubrey goes to photograph the site before the renovation begins, she bumps into a man named Dimitri Petroff, a minor online celebrity who shares her fascination with old buildings, the Hotel Seabrink in particular.

When he is found dead the next day at the base of a cliff, the police are quick to close the investigation. But Aubrey feels unsettled by locals who claim he was murdered and that it’s not the first time someone interested in the hotel was killed. As she digs deeper into the property’s dark history (and its origins as an asylum) as well as Dimitri’s professional rivalries, she becomes mired in an unsolved murder case from several decades earlier, one with eerie parallels to the contemporary case.  But someone is determined to keep her from discovering the truth—at any cost.

Review: Hunter's Heart Ridge by Sarah Stewart Taylor

 

Hunter's Heart Ridge (Franklin Warren and Alice Bellows Mystery #2) by Sarah Stewart Taylor

Publication Date: August 5th 2025 by Minotaur Books

Pages: 320

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

It’s 1965 and the start of deer season in Bethany, Vermont with a snowstorm fast approaching.  Detective Franklin Warren is called up to The Ridge Club, a hunting lodge, when a former diplomat, Bill Moulton, is found dead in an apparent hunting accident. As Warren and his assistant, Pinky, interview the guests they’re stranded by this intense storm with downed phone and power lines.

 

Alice Bellows is unsettled by the reappearance of an old intelligence agent, Arthur Crannock. He and his wife have bought a home nearby and are in the process of remodeling. It’s been years since Alice’s diplomat/spy husband died. Years since Alice has assisted with missions, but she’s suspicious of Arthur’s motives. Alice needs to figure out if she’s in danger.

 

Sylvie Weber, now heavily pregnant, tags along with Alice to a poetry reading. Alice gets caught out at Sylvie’s farm when the snowstorm arrives in full force.

 

This was a locked door sort of mystery with the guests of the Ridge Club stranded with Detective Warren and Pinky. There are several with a motive to kill Moulton and so they’re all in danger. Especially when the guests are reluctant to divulge information. It’s a mystery that kept me guessing!

 

Hunter’s Heart Ridge is the second book in a series best read in order, even though this is a new mystery. The history and relationships from the last book carry over, deepening and progressing here. We get more of Alice’s history, parts of it surprising and personally painful for her. I worry about Arthur’s presence. I continue to root for Sylvie and Warren even if it’s difficult. As with the first book, the time period was an interesting feature, and the setting of a wintery Vermont was richly portrayed! I’m eager for the next installment!

4 Stars

Book Description:

In this sequel to Taylor’s lyrical series debut, Agony Hill, Detective Frank Warren and his formerly CIA-connected neighbor Alice Bellows return to investigate the death of a diplomat.

It's November of 1965 and the second weekend of Vermont's regular deer season. Vermont State Police detective Franklin Warren is hunting in the woods when he gets a call to return to Bethany. There's been an accident at The Ridge Club, an exclusive men's hunting and fishing club for congressmen, diplomats, judges, and titans of a former ambassador has been shot while out hunting. With the war in Vietnam picking up speed on the other side of the world, Warren quickly realizes that many of the club’s members are powerful men who may have ulterior motives and connections in high places.

While Warren's suspicions about the club members build, his neighbor Alice Bellows is throwing a dinner party, preparing for Thanksgiving, and worrying about her pregnant friend and fellow widow, Sylvie Weber, whose due date is coming up. When Alice's old handler and friend, Arthur Crannock, unexpectedly shows up in Bethany, Alice begins to wonder whether his presence has anything to do with the death at the hunting club.

As an early season snowstorm bears down on Bethany, knocking out power and phone lines and blocking the roads, Warren and his assistant, Trooper Pinky Goodrich, are trapped at the Ridge Club, likely along with a killer, and Alice, increasingly fearful that her past in the intelligence world is no longer in the past, will have to act fast to save Sylvie and her baby.

Sarah Stewart Taylor’s historical series combines the intricacy of a satisfying mystery with keen observation of a time and place during great transformation and upheaval.

Sunday Post #305

 

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated reviewer book blog, and is a post to recap my bookish and non-bookish things from the last week. I'm also linking up to The Sunday Salon hosted by Deb Nance @Readerbuzz.

Happy Sunday! 

It's been an uneventful week which was nice. I worked, gardened, made blackberry jam and got my hair cut. 

We went out to dinner last night (Friday) and the venue had live music. It was a fun mix of country and rock, old and new. We came home and watched one of my favorite suspenseful movies: What Lies Beneath with Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer. I gotta say I was a little spooked going to sleep after that!

I started a few varieties of sunflowers from seed earlier this year and they're blooming now. My favorite is Golden Honey Bear (middle and right):

Sunflowers

Rose: Firefighter with lavender

Peanut my snuggle kitty!

This weeks puzzle:

 

Nantucket Breeze by Charles Wysocki, Milton Bradley 1989

Read:

(Click on cover for Goodreads description)

Knife in the Back (New Orleans #4) by Karen Rose-5 Stars

The Witch's Orchard by Archer Sullivan-4 Stars

Compulsory (The Murderbot Diaries #0.5) by Martha Wells-4 Stars

Asylum Hotel by Juliet Blackwell-4 Stars

Received:

Thank you to Berkley and St. Martin's Press! 

So My Ex-Boyfriend is a Serial Killer is available through the Audible Plus Catalog.

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Review: Knife in the Back by Karen Rose

 

Knife in the Back (New Orleans #4) by Karen Rose

Publication Date: August 12th 2025 by Berkley

Pages: 528

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Officer Naomi Cranston was falsely convicted of stealing drugs from evidence and didn’t fight it because a dirty cop, John Gaffney, threated her son if she fought for her innocence. She spent five years in prison before being freed on a technicality.

 

Now Naomi is trying to move on and rebuild her relationship with her son when she’s threatened again by Gaffney. Deliver drugs or he’ll deliver her son to her in pieces. Naomi is done listening to him. Staying quiet didn’t help her, so she hires Burke Broussard, a PI, and his team to protect her son and help prove her innocence.

 

Burke used to be a police detective until his captain and Gaffney made it impossible to stay clean and continue on in the force. He got out and started his private investigation/protection business.

 

Taking on Naomi’s case quickly turns dangerous for all involved and Burke and the gang are left scrambling to protect all their loved ones as the bad guys come out in full force against them. It was intense! I loved how they were smart and careful, and kept a step ahead. In all of this they keep at the investigation, trying to figure out why Naomi was targeted in the first place and who all was involved in the frame up. Naomi proves to be an asset with her quick and sharp mind!

 

Knife in the Back was an action-packed thrill ride! The identity of the dirty cop was from the beginning, but the big mystery was who was the mastermind behind it all? I was surprised when evidence began pointing in a certain direction!  

This is book four in the New Orleans series. Each book has its own mystery and romantic couple, but the ongoing story of police corruption in the New Orleans department has been playing out since the first book with the good guys slowly rooting out the bad. In a pinch you could read this as a standalone, but I recommend starting with book one: Quarter to Midnight.

5 Stars

Book Description:

Officer Naomi Cranston was framed for stealing cocaine from the evidence locker and coerced—through threats to her young son—into not fighting the charges. After five years in prison, she has tried to put the ordeal behind her, but the crooks who framed her have returned, this time demanding she move drugs along with her flower shop’s deliveries. They threaten her son once again, but this time she’s not capitulating quietly. She hires Broussard Investigations to protect her and her son, to prove her innocence, and to put the real bad guys away.

As a former cop, Burke Broussard is well aware of the corruption in the New Orleans police department. He had always believed Naomi Cranston to be guilty and isn’t inclined to take her case. Until he sits down to listen to her side of things. Until he sees her tortured innocence written all over her beautiful face…

A relationship born amid an investigation is a fragile thing. Will it survive the danger and the threats? Will it survive the truth?

About the Author

Karen Rose is the award-winning, #1 international bestselling author of more than twenty-five novels, including the bestselling Baltimore and Cincinnati series. She has been translated into twenty-three languages, and her books have placed on the New York Times, the Sunday Times (UK), and Germany's der Spiegel bestseller lists.

Review: The Witch's Orchard by Archer Sullivan

 

The Witch's Orchard by Archer Sullivan

Publication Date: August 12th 2025 by Minotaur Books & Macmillan Audio

Pages: 320

Audio Book Length: 9hrs 28min

Narrator: Emily Pike Stewart

Source: Publishers

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Ten years ago, three girls went missing and an apple doll was left in their place. One was returned, but two were never seen again. Max’s sister, Molly, was one of the girls taken and her abduction has haunted him and his family for years. He hires Annie Gore, a private investigator and former Air Force Special Investigator, to find his sister. Annie knows there’s a slim chance she’ll find anything ten years later but can’t refuse Max or the money she’ll earn.

 

Being from a similar area gives Annie a unique advantage in dealing with the locals in this small Appalachian Mountain town. Annie was determined to get to the truth, and had to wade through old gossip and local folklore of a creepy mountain witch.  In the process she ruffles feathers and stirs up action that surprises all!

 

The Witch’s Orchard was a captivating, atmospheric mystery with a spooky vibe! I really liked Annie! She was tough and smart but also had empathy for the people marked by these events. Bits and pieces of her own past are revealed throughout the story and my heart went out to her! There was a romantic element. I was happy with the direction that seemed to be going in the end.

 

I alternately read and listened to an audio copy narrated by Emily Pike Stewart. I thought her performance was excellent and enjoyed her subtle Southern accent. She did well with all voices, male and female and a wide range of ages!

4 Stars

Book Description:

A ninth generation Appalachian herself, Archer Sullivan brings the mountains of North Carolina to life in The Witch’s Orchard, a wonderfully atmospheric novel that introduces private investigator Annie Gore.

Former Air Force Special Investigator Annie Gore joined the military right after high school to escape the fraught homelife of her childhood. Now, she’s getting by as a private investigator and her latest case takes her to an Appalachian holler not unlike the one where she grew up.

Ten years ago, three little girls went missing from their tiny mountain town. While one was returned, the others were never seen again. After all this time without answers, the brother of one of the girls wants to hire an outsider, and he wants Annie. While she may not be from his town, she gets mountain towns. Mountain people. Driving back into the hills for a case this old—it might be a fool’s errand. But Annie needs to put money in the bank and she can’t turn down a case. Not even one that dredges up her own painful past.

In the shadow of the Blue Ridge, Annie begins to track the truth, navigating a decade’s worth of secrets, folklore of witches and crows, and a whole town that prefers to forget. But while the case may have been buried, echoes of the past linger. And Annie’s arrival stirs someone into action.

Connect with Archer Sullivan:

Instagram | Website

Audiobook Review: Out of the Shadows by Allison Brennan

 

Out of the Shadows (Angelhart Investigations #1.5) by Allison Brennan

Publication Date: August 12th 2025 by Harlequin Audio

Pages: 201

Audio Book Length: 5hrs 5min

Narrator: Hillary Huber

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads 

My Thoughts:

Logan Monroe hires Angelhart Investigations when his sister Laura and her two kids are run off the road and she finds her house has been tossed in a break in. Jack Angelhart and his siblings, Margo and Luisa, as well as their mother are all in on the investigation. Jack is more front and center, as opposed to Margo like in the previous books.  

 

Out of the Shadows starts off with a bang and was an exciting, action-packed crime procedural that I listened to straight through! I was hanging on every word as the Angelhart clan tried to locate Laura’s ex-husband and figure out why they were targeted. There was a bit of romance between Jack and Laura as they’re thrown together with Jack sticking close to her family while there’s a threat at large.   

 

I feel you could read/listen to this as a standalone, as it’s focused more on Jack and Laura, and the mystery does wrap up, but you’d miss out on the history and connections that spill into this story.

 

I was pleased to see Logan, Laura’s brother, a character from the first book, show up again. His ex, Brittany (a piece of work!), is in the story as well, and it makes me wonder if they’ll be in the next book.

 

Hillary Huber is one of my favorite narrators, so I was thrilled she’s continuing with the series! Her narration definitely enhanced the story as she seamlessly performed all voices: male and female in a variety of ages with a range of emotions!

4.5 Stars

Book Description:

In this suspenseful new novella in New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan’s Angelhart Investigations series, the PI team’s biggest client hires them to look into a burglary that quickly escalates into a case with deadly stakes.

Logan Monroe’s family is in danger. After his sister, Laura, and her kids are run off the road and their house is broken in to, Logan tasks the Angelharts with keeping them safe, and the PIs drop everything to take on the case.

But they quickly realize there’s more to the situation than anyone thinks. First, the burglars didn’t take anything—were they just trying to scare her or were they after something they didn’t find? Then Laura can’t reach her ex-husband, who was supposed to take the kids for the weekend. While Jack protects the family, Margo tries to find the ex…but he seems to have disappeared.

As she digs deeper, Margo uncovers someone hiding in the shadows who will do anything to get what he wants—including killing anyone who stands in his way.

Sunday Post #304

 

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated reviewer book blog, and is a post to recap my bookish and non-bookish things from the last week. I'm also linking up to The Sunday Salon hosted by Deb Nance @Readerbuzz.

Happy Sunday! 

I'd have had this up earlier but I had to work yesterday (Saturday) and I was too done to do anything but make dinner and listen to an audiobook! I hate working on the weekend as it throws my schedule off.

After a busy week with family visiting and working two days. I'm tired!  We had a fun visit though, rafting down the Truckee River, hiking, visiting a train museum and aquarium. We cooked dinners and went out. My sister and her husband were part of the activities as well.

Truckee River Rafting

Truckee River Rafting

We had lunch and shopped in downtown Truckee (near Lake Tahoe) after rafting. We went early to beat the heat and it was 47 degrees when we first parked!

Local author Jill Shavis signed books at Word After Word Bookstore. 

I finally managed to finish a puzzle I was working on Friday:

National Parks Map by Cavallini & Co.

It's been hot here, mid to upper 90s, but it's supposed to cool down next weekend. The days are getting shorter though, so it feels like fall is creeping up. Our front property is in full bloom:

"Spring Madia" pops up every year about this time

"Spring Madia"

I'd say I'm just going to rest today but I have flowers to plant and chores to catch up on. I have to work tomorrow.

Read:

Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory (The Murderbot Diaries #4.5) by Martha Wells-3 Stars

The Dead Come to Stay (Ardemore House #2) by Brandy Schillace-4 Stars

Sweep of the Blade (Innkeeper Chronicles #4) by Ilona Andrews-5 Stars

I didn't get much reading done. Home was a short story, about 19 pages, haha! 

Received:

Thank you to Harlequin Audio, Kensington, Atlantic Monthly Press, and G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers!

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Review: The Dead Come to Stay by Brandy Schillace

 

The Dead Come to Stay (Ardemore House #2) by Brandy Schillace

Publication Date: June 3rd 2025 by Hanover Square Press & Harlequin Audio

Pages: 368

Audio Book Length: 12hrs 26mins

Narrator: Imogen Church

Source: Publishers

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | HarperCollins | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

After the events of the last book, Jo Jones is settling into Yorkshire in the cottage on Ardemore. The Jekyll Gardens on the estate are about to open and Jo is still investigating the mystery of her ancestors, but that doesn’t pay the bills, so she’s refurbished the attic space to rent out. However, the first booking doesn’t go as planned and a body turns up right before the Jekyll Garden opening.

 

Detective James MacAdams is called in to investigate this puzzling murder and isn’t surprised when he finds a connection between Jo and the victim.

 

Jo’s memory for detail comes in handy with the murder investigation, but she’s more involved with the mystery of her ancestors and the history between Jo’s mother and uncle. She gets more background from an unexpected source revealing information her mother never shared.

 

The Dead Come to Stay was another fun cozy murder mystery and I enjoyed seeing the relationships solidify and deepen. It was nice for Jo to get some answers and closure, as well.

 

I alternately read and listened to the audio version. I enjoyed Imogen Church’s performance of the female characters, but some of the male voices sounded stuffy and silly. Maybe it was to convey a bit of humor? Even so, I enjoyed the audio version overall.

4 Stars

Book Description:

A delightful new cozy crime novel from the award-winning author of the "twisty, engaging, and thoroughly unexpected" (Deanna Raybourne) The Framed Women of Ardemore House

An amateur autistic sleuth. A wry English detective. A murder case that thrusts them both into the wealthy world of the rare artifacts trade...

Jo Jones can't seem to catch a break. Trading in city life for the cozy, peaceful hills of North Yorkshire to take over her family estate should have been a chance for a "fresh start.” Instead, she's been driven further into the past than she thought possible -- and not just her own. The estate property is littered with traces of ancestors that Jo never knew existed, including the mysterious woman in a half-destroyed painting – and hints about Jo's late uncle, who may hold the key to her cryptic family history. Then there’s the gossipy town politics Jo must constantly navigate as a neurodivergent transplanted American… And of course, the whole murder business.

When prickly town detective James MacAdams discovers a body in the moors with coincidental ties to Jo Jones, they're forced to team up on the case. The clues will lead them into the wealthiest locales of Yorkshire, from sparkling glass hotels to luxury property sites to elite country clubs. But below the glittering surfaces, Jo and MacAdams discover darker schemes brewing. Local teens, many of them international refugees, are disappearing left and right, and each case is somehow linked to a shady architectural firm -- which also happened to employ the dead man from the moor-side ditch.

What begins as  bizarre murder case quickly plunges them both into the black market world of rare artifacts and antique trading... and a murderer who will do anything to cover it up.

About the author:

BRANDY SCHILLACE is the author of several works of nonfiction, including Mr. Humble and Dr. Butcher. She is the creator of Peculiar Book Club, a twice-monthly live-streamed YouTube show. A former professor of English and gothic literature, she writes about gender politics and history, medical mystery, and neurodiversity for outlets such as Scientific American, Wired, CrimeReads, and Medium. She is also autistic, though has not (to her knowledge) been a suspect in a murder investigation.

Connect with Brandy Schillace:

Website | BlueSky | YouTube | Facebook