It’s the last day of the month and that means it’s time to share some reviews before I can do my wrap up. Only a couple more to share and then I’ll be all caught up!
Thanks to MBC Books for the gifted copies and having me be part of the Bookstagram tours
GOTHICTOWN – Emily Carpenter (Released March 25th, 2025)
THE SUMMER GUESTS – Tess Gerritsen (Released March 18th, 2025)
GOTHICTOWN – Emily Carpenter (Released March 25th, 2025)
A restaurateur lured by pandemic-era incentives moves her family to a seemingly idyllic town in Georgia.
The email message that lands in Billie Hope’s inbox seems like a gift from the universe. For $100 she can purchase a spacious Victorian home in Juliana, Georgia, a small town eager to boost its economy in the wake of the pandemic. She can leave behind her cramped New York City rental and some painful memories. Plus she’ll get a business grant to open a new restaurant in a charming riverside community laden with opportunity.
After some phone calls and one hurried visit, Billie and her husband and daughter are officially part of the “Juliana Initiative.” The town is everything promised, and between settling into her lavish home and starting a new restaurant, Billie is busy enough to dismiss misgivings.
Yet those misgivings grow. There’s something about Juliana, something off-kilter and menacing beneath its famous Southern hospitality. No matter how much Billie longed for her family to come here, she’s starting to wonder how, and whether, they’ll ever leave.
My Thoughts: 3.5/5 stars
If you saw a beautiful Victorian home available for only $100 in a small Georgia town, would you see that as an incredible opportunity or a massive red flag? As someone who frequents horror and has enough common sense, it seems like it will definitely come with some problems – whether they be of a supernatural kind or a creepy townsfolk type problem.
Well, Billie Hope finds this to be a dream come true. Paired with a business grant to open a restaurant in town, it’s an opportunity she feels she can’t pass up for her family. So off to Juliana, Georgia, they go. A town claiming to want to revitalize and breathe life into their little economy is far more sinister going on under the guise of Southern hospitality.
I loved the atmosphere of this book and the eerie feeling and almost like an impending doom vibe to the story. Billie was infuriating with the number of poor choices made, and she wasn’t the most likable character, but I had to see where this was leading, and I was not disappointed! However, I’d say this is more mystery than horror. Things feel ominous and eerie at times, but there wasn’t really a big scare, if that makes sense? It’s still good to know before beginning, though, to adjust expectations.
THE SUMMER GUESTS – Tess Gerritsen (Released March 18th, 2025)
From New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen comes a chilling follow-up to The Spy Coast, plunging the Martini Club into the search for a missing teen—with a startling connection to their own pasts.
When former spy Maggie Bird retired to the seaside hamlet of Purity, Maine, she settled in for a quiet life with breathtaking views. But enemies from her past soon threatened to destroy everything.
Maggie survived, thanks to her wits and the collective intelligence of the Martini Club, the circle of ex-CIA friends in her cocktail-sipping book club. Their handiwork, however, caught the attention of young police chief Jo Thibodeau. Now Jo and her neighborhood ex-spies have an uneasy alliance.
After a teenager vanishes—and Maggie’s neighbor becomes the prime suspect—she joins the investigation, determined to prove her friend’s innocence. But the girl’s wealthy family pushes for an arrest. And when authorities discover a long-dead corpse in a nearby pond, the case becomes doubly complicated, with unthinkable ties to long-buried secrets.
As Jo grapples with two unexplained mysteries, the Martini Club races to uncover the truth behind shadowy secrets…before more lives are lost.
My Thoughts: 4/5 stars
The Martini Club group would be a blast to be around. Seemingly just a group of retirees enjoying their boozy book club is actually a group of former spies, CIA, and intelligence agents. Sure, they’re sipping their cocktails, but they’re also solving mysteries by using their skills and knowledge.
Now, with a new mystery at hand, the neighborhood investigators are trying to find a missing teenager to prove their friend’s innocence. To make matters worse? Another body is uncovered – one that has been there for quite some time – and now things become even more complicated for Jo and the members of the Martini Club as they try to dig through long buried secrets.
While I don’t think you NEED to read The Spy Coast, I’d highly recommend it. Getting to know these ladies has been fun, and we get the returning police chief Jo Thibodeau – you can see how their uneasy partnership began! I hope there’s more for this series. These aren’t your average civilian detectives – these ladies know what they’re doing, and I loved being along for the ride!
Jessicamap Reviews 