A storm-struck island. A blood-soaked bed. A missing man. In this captivating mystery that’s perfect for fans of Knives Out, Senior Investigator Shana Merchant discovers that murder is a family affair.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 fiancé’s sleepy … taken a job in her fiancé’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.
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I absolutely adored the isolated island setting and unnervingly creepy tone of Death in the Family. The main character, Detective Shana Merchant, comes with a traumatic backstory (and current personal life) that leaves the reader with the unsettled feeling that she may be incapable of holding it together long enough to uncover the murderer, and her failure may doom everyone on the island. The other characters were also intriguing, riddled with secrets, and slightly twisted in some cases. The unpredictable plot kept me reading quickly. An excellent, fast-paced read.
If you’re in the mood for an entertaining locked-room mystery, look no further than DEATH IN THE FAMILY, the first in the Shana Merchant series. A former NYPD detective, Shana is still recovering from the trauma of her abduction by a serial killer when she takes an investigator job in a small community in upstate New York. One of her first cases brings her to a wealthy family’s estate on a private island, where one family member is believed to be dead and the rest are acting plenty suspicious. As a storm rages outside, Shana soon realizes that she and her partner won’t have any backup coming, and they’ll need to figure out who the killer among them is, before they become one of his victims. This book was so much fun. The storm and Thousand Island setting provided a deliciously eerie atmosphere, and there were so many suspicious characters that I would have believed that almost any of them could have been the murderer! With that said, I was totally surprised by the ending and truly didn’t know whodunnit until it was revealed. Shana’s past is just as intriguing as the case she’s trying to solve in the present, so I’m extra excited to follow her into the next book in the series, THE DEAD SEASON, which is out in a few months.
Tessa Wegert’s Death in the Family assembles delicious ingredients — isolation, a ticking clock, family secrets — and creates a mystery at once familiar and distinctly her own. Bloody good comfort food.
An amazing book filled with twists and turns, not only in the main mystery but with the personal past of Shana. Wegert does such a good job of intertwining the quick action on the island with the traumatic past of the main character.
I loved that the Thousand Islands were so atmospheric and really almost another character in themselves. The twisted family, of course, reminded me a lot of Knives Out. This novel is done in the same way, exploring how a rich family has so many hidden motives. (My only minor qualm is when the narration goes to the other characters to tell their stories—I had a hard time keeping their perspectives and voices straight during those few chapters.)
What I really liked was diving deep into Shana’s psyche. It was so fulfilling watching her grow and battle her inner demons to bring this case to a close. There were a few withholds from the reader through this journey, but it was such an intense ride that I was fine with the heightened suspense.
A thrilling detective story set on an isolated island with a chilling family.
A delicious locked-room mystery with a bit of a Knives Out feel. A private island, family secrets, and a countdown you can feel ticking away as you read combine to make this a great read.
A classic locked-room mystery on a cool New York island with an entitled and very suspicious family, made even more suspenseful by the secretive and not entirely trustworthy protagonist. A solid mystery debut for Tessa Wegert!
Death in the Family by Tessa Wegert was an excellent debut and such a great take on a locked room mystery. I loved the setting of the secluded private island during a storm and having it be all about one family made the book very dramatic and tense. It ended up reminding me a bit of a game of Clue mixed with the movie Knives Out and I absolutely loved that. Shana is an incredible female lead, and she’s trying to solve the mystery of the missing man while at the same time grappling with her past and present. While the book is mostly about the case, there are also plenty of flashbacks to Shana’s past. I really liked that we don’t get her full story in the first book of the series, and I can’t wait for Wegert to peel back her layers as a character and tell us more about her.
The audiobook of Death in the Family was really good as well, and the narrator Callie Beaulieu did a fantastic job voicing this. I saw that she is the narrator for book two as well and I hope to see her as the narrator for every book in this series. She breathed a lot of life into Shana’s character, and I could listen to her all day long. There was a complexity to the plot that I was not expecting, and I was very impressed with how Wegert pulled everything together at the end. Suspense builds as the story moves, and even though I would call this a bit of a slow burn, it was still expertly paced and plotted. A great start to a series I just know I am going to love, and I can’t wait to read The Dead Season!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Locked room setting, great location…..I’m in! Death in the Family is the first book in the Shana Merchant series and upon finishing it, I was ready for the next book. Great suspense with layers that will keep you guessing
It has been a while since I read and so thoroughly enjoyed a book this much. It takes place in an island in the Thousand Islands of the Upstate NY town of Alexandria Bay, which is one of my all time favorite places to visit. The twists and turns and sideways behind the scenes action had me captivated from the start. The location, plot(s), and characters were all fabulous. Highly recommend this thriller.
It’s been a long time since I’ve read a good locked-room mystery, and to be honest, I suppose I had gotten away from them for a while. It’s mostly because I so rarely find one to hold my ever-changing interests, but every once in a while, one comes along that makes me sit up and take notice. Death in the Family is such a mystery, and I get the added bonus of knowing there will me more to come. Rather than go into story details and risk spoiling it, I’ll just tell you how much I enjoyed this one. It’s very well written, and while Shana certainly has her share of things to work through, she’s still a strong character, which goes a long way toward convincing me to want more of her in future books, The book does leave some questions unanswered, and I’m guessing that those will part of a continuing storyline as the series moves forward. I will add that if you’re looking for an in your face, breakneck pace type of story, this is not it. Think more along the lines of Agatha Christie style – maybe a bit more grit than Christie, but the style is reminiscent. What it boils down to is if you enjoy crime fiction, and like me, you’ve been waiting for a strong female character to lead a series in the genre, this one is well worth checking out. I know I’ll be watching for whatever comes next for Shana Marchant.
What a fabulous first novel and start to a new series! Shana is my kind of investigator, one who has had some of the worst life could offer and is still willing to go forward. The mystery kept me guessing to the end, with plot twists and multiple possible suspects on an island in upstate New York. It is incredibly well written with just the right amount of details and background on the characters, including the senior investigator, revealed little by little.
Shana had been a homicide investigator in New York City until she was abducted and held for eight days by the serial killer she was seeking. There is no way of knowing why he finally abandoned her, allowing her to live and be found. Her psychiatrist, Carson, became her fiance, and they moved to the Thousand Islands of upstate NY. He had her almost convinced she could never work again, and she doubted everything about herself. When she applied for and got the job on the small police force in Alexandria Bay, where there are no murders or similar major cases, he was very upset. The sheriff who hired her knows about her background, but the investigator/ partner she will supervise does not know.
In the midst of a nor’easter, they are called to Tern Island where it is believed Jasper, the youngest grandchild of the elderly owner of the island has her family gathered one more time before closing the mansion for the winter. The storm is already almost too severe for them to be out, and reinforcements are due in a short time. The young man and his girlfriend were visiting, along with his older brother and his boyfriend, and his older sister, her husband, and her stepdaughter. Each of the siblings and his brother’s boyfriend work at the family business started by their grandfather many years ago. Tim, Shana’s partner, is the other investigator. She may be the senior investigator, but he has been teaching her about the area and the families in this area where most folks don’t lock their doors.
Tim thinks this is a simple missing person case. Abby, Jasper’s girlfriend, however, awoke to blood-soaked sheets on Jasper’s side of the bed, and looking around the island and home does not reveal any clues to his whereabouts. From the amount of blood on the bed, Abby is certain Jasper is either seriously injured or dead – but how could Abby have slept through whatever occurred?
The family members are each unique, the older brother and sister acting as snobby, entitled children rather than middle-aged adults. They insinuate Abby and he had a disagreement and he must have left to get away, or he was playing a trick on them. The older brother’s boyfriend is seen having relations with the older sister. Said boyfriend, and Jasper’s grandmother, are the only ones who have anything good to say about Abby. The only other person on the island is the man who has worked for Camilla, Jasper’s grandmother, for more than 20 years, caring for whatever she needs as well as the island.
Secrets about in this family. One thing Shana learns is that the family business is near bankruptcy, with Jasper being the only one of the three siblings who has any of his portion of their inheritance from their parents left. He is also the favorite of Camilla.
Crime scene techs cannot come out to the island, as the storm is considerably worse and the boat bringing out additional help was in an accident. The older siblings do not want Shana and Tim there asking questions. Some of the stories gained through questioning don’t match up. The older brother has a foul temper. As stress ratchets up, tempers flare, Shana and Tim discover their boat is no longer on the island nor is the smaller craft the caretaker uses, and another body is found. Shana tries her best to get beyond the flashbacks she is having as they are causing her to have over-the-top reactions. Whether Shana can keep it together long enough to survive on the island with Tim and at least one potential murderer is anyone’s guess, as is when the murderer might act again.
This stunning, intense thriller kept my attention! The first few pages didn’t immediately grab me, but I was drawn in for good within a chapter or two. Shana is my favorite character, especially when she has the opportunity to either give up or draw deeply within to get through the case and the storm. Plot twists and turns revealed motives and how almost everybody except the elderly Camilla have at least one or two. The ending is explosive, and while I had figured out part of the situation, there was so much I was missing! My only discomfort at all with the novel is some of the language used and one brief sexual scene. I highly recommend Death in the Family to anyone who enjoys well-crafted mysteries reminiscent of the “good old days” of classic thrillers, a brilliant, seasoned, investigator, and a whodunit that can keep one up all night.
From a thankful heart: I had a complimentary copy of this novel and this is my honest review.
Death in the Family is a terrific suspense novel in the classic, Agatha Christie tradition. With a masterful hand, Tessa Wegert combines slices of serial-killer thriller with a locked-room mystery to guide her readers through an atmospheric and riveting story full of fascinating characters and complex relationships… Simultaneously claustrophobic and hauntingly beautiful. Wegert offers an intense read that will grab your attention and not let go, even after the last page is turned.
Intricate plotting and a razor-sharp narration keep the pages turning in this up-all-night murder mystery. Menacing and atmospheric, Death in the Family will have you on the edge of your seat rooting for Detective Shana Merchant to uncover the truth and triumph over the scars of her own dark past. A tense, riveting read!
A deliciously complicated locked-room mystery that would make Agatha Christie proud. Add a savvy sleuth battling her own demons and the result is an up-to-date and thrilling ride. Death in the Family definitely deserves a place on your must-read list.
Death In The Family is an ominous, compelling take on the locked-room mystery, teeming with old secrets, twisty motives, and a prickly, damaged detective determined to prove herself. Tessa Wegert expertly ratchets up the tension, turning an idyllic island claustrophobic as the characters’ tangled pasts unravel and the killer closes in. Compulsively readable and utterly satisfying, with an ending that will leave you desperate for Shana’s next case.
Shana has recently returned to work after being abducted and is given a case to investigate the disappearance and murder of a wealthy man and heir to a company. The entire Sinclair family is gathered on a secluded island. Jasper, the favored grandson, has evidently been stabbed, but he is missing. Everyone in the house is suspect.
Shana and her partner, Tim, work their way through the family members and others as they break down the facts of the case to determine the killer.
Very good start to a new series.
I liked the setup, with investigators Shana and Tim making the voyage to the island despite out of control rain and waves. The isolation of the island setting and that the characters are all stuck there due to the storm, no matter what danger they may be in from their fellow housemates or anyone else on the island, adds suspense. Recommended for fans of character driven mysteries.
Content Warnings: SPOILERS
Inappropriate relationship between psychologist and patient; gaslighting; racism (countered)
4.25/5
I read this one for a mystery book club and really enjoyed it. Creepy, suspenseful locked-door whodunit focusing on a wealthy family who have gathered on their private island on the Saint Lawrence River. Detectives Shana Merchant and Tim Wellington are called out for a missing person/murder investigation during a nor’easter. Shana has recently joined the force after being kidnapped/terrorized by a serial killer in NY.
The writing and plot are excellent. My only complaint is the drama of/number of times Shana becomes lost in her memories…a bit over-the-top maybe. I intend to stick with this series.
I didn’t really care for any of the characters, so I didn’t mind when some died.
great setting—family conflict–unpredictable ending