Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Tiffany Crum NARRATORS: Sean Patrick Hopkins & Julia Whelan GENRE: Domestic Thriller PUBLICATION DATE: March 10, 2026 RATING: 2.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A domestic mystery-thriller involving a missing couple, one of whom is a famous podcaster. A mostly typical book for its genre, with plenty of twists, miscommunications, secrets, and about-turns in stance. Too many subtopics. One character has narcolepsy – an interesting addition that could have been utilised better. The first half is stronger than the second. Suspension of disbelief mandatory. Fans of the thriller genre might enjoy this more but I again stand as an outlier. The audio version is outstanding. Plot Preview: Benny and Joy, best friends since ages, are the hosts of a successful comedy podcast titled ‘This Story Might Save Your Life’, which focusses on one wild survival story each week. Thanks to the financial expertise of Joy’s husband Xander, their podcast business has been quite lucrative. But in the recent p...

AUTHOR: Julie Clark GENRE: Suspense-Drama. PUBLICATION DATE: June 3, 2025 RATING: 3.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A contemporary suspense-drama about a dysfunctional family and its secrets. (So what’s new, right?) Interesting characters and plot, but somehow, this doesn’t deliver on the ‘wow’ factor. I wasn’t bored, but I also wasn’t too invested. Recommended, but not a must-read. Plot Preview: Forty-four-year-old Olivia Dumont had a successful career as a ghostwriter until one day, she put her foot in her mouth and sabotaged her future. So when her agent calls her for a ghostwriting assignment for the famous horror author Vincent Taylor, Olivia knows she has no choice but to accept the job. Everyone knows that Vincent is infamous for being the prime suspect in the murder of his two siblings Danny and Poppy fifty years ago. But what no one, including Olivia’s agent, knows is that Vincent is Olivia’s estranged father. Now that he has summoned Olivia to ghostwrite his final book, is he finall...

AUTHOR: Ashley Audrain GENRE: Domestic Suspense. PUBLICATION DATE: June 6, 2023 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A contemporary domestic suspense about four families and an event that reveals their truth. Think ‘Desperate Housewives’ meets ‘Big Little Lies’. Contains all the staples of this genre: unlikeable characters, unreliable narrators, OTT proceedings, a multitude of secrets, and an abundance of questionable behaviour. An entertaining ride as long as you know what to expect. Keeping my review somewhat vague as it is best to go in blind. Plot Preview: Four families lives close to each other in the suburbs. The only thing common to them is the street they stay on. Their financial capability, the size of their houses, their professional situations, and their personal/marital state of affairs varies. Now, the ten-year-old son of one of the couples is in coma after a fall from his bedroom window late at night. This event is the trigger for many discoveries and revelations. The story...

AUTHOR: Wanda M. Morris SERIES: Alibis Collection, #6 GENRE: Short Story PUBLICATION DATE: June 2, 2025 RATING: 2.5 stars. In a Nutshell: The sixth and final story in the Alibis collection. More of a domestic drama; not much of a mystery or thriller. The characters are interesting but the plot has neither depth nor surprises. Not great, not bad. Plot Preview: To the outside world, Hannah and her husband have the perfect marriage. But only Hannah knows the emotional trauma and gaslighting she endures behind closed doors. She has her small acts of rebellion when he isn't home, but if he’s present, he keeps attacking her dignity. When he threatens to take away even the small things that bring her joy, she is forced to amp up her mutiny. The story comes to us in Hannah’s third-person perspective. This is the sixth standalone story in the 'Alibis’ series, described on Amazon as “stories about lies, truth, and deception. It’s just a matter of what you can get away with.” Woohoos: 🥳 ...

AUTHOR: David Lagercrantz TRANSLATOR: Elizabeth DeNoma SERIES: Alibis Collection, #3 GENRE: Short Story. PUBLICATION DATE: June 2, 2025 RATING: 2 stars. In a Nutshell: The third story in the Alibis collection and the weakest one so far. The whole story struck a false note in all aspects except for pacing. My feelings are hence quite discordant. Plot Preview: William’s father is a renowned opera singer in Stockholm. Since childhood, William has seen not just his father’s fame but also his secret side: his vanity, his temper, his alcoholism, and his physical cruelty towards women. As an adult, William finally has a life and a love of his own, but even now, his father casts a long shadow over him. When William’s girlfriend Ebba decides that they ought to meet his father and settle the issues of the past, their lives change in an unexpected direction. This is the third standalone story in the 'Alibis’ series, described on Amazon as “stories about lies, truth, and deception. It’s just a...

AUTHOR: Sally Hepworth SERIES: Alibis Collection, #2 GENRE: Short Story. PUBLICATION DATE: June 2, 2025 RATING: 3.25 stars. In a Nutshell: The second story in the Alibis collection. Quite entertaining as long as you know what to expect from this author. Better read as a domestic drama than as a thriller, even though the mystery is decent. A nice, quick, one-time read. Plot Preview: A reputed chef is found dead in the walk-in freezer at his restaurant. On the night of his death, all three of his ex-wives and his two adult children were present at the restaurant. The former three, because they have a tradition of meeting every Friday for dinner. The latter two, because they work at the restaurant. Each of them has a strong motive to kill the chef, but each of them also has an alibi. Now it is up to Detective Charlene Li to sort through the clues and figure out what happened. If only her assistant weren’t such a nincompoop. The story comes to us from the third-person perspective of almo...

AUTHOR: Marshall Karp GENRE: Domestic Thriller. PUBLICATION DATE: March 4, 2025. RATING: 2.6 stars. In a Nutshell: An interesting and twisty domestic suspense about a woman on a mission before her time runs out. Marketed as a thriller, but not a thriller for the most way. I did enjoy the regular twists and surprises, but hated the deliberate misleading. I would still recommended this, but not as a must-read. Be ready to suspend disbelief. This is an outlier review. Plot Preview: Forty-three-year-old Maggie Dunn has it all: a handsome husband who loves her and is also a successful surgeon, twin teens who have a great rapport with each other and their parents, loving extended family (father, grandfather, and younger sister Libby), and a high-profile job as the mayor of their town. Now, something she has dreaded since the last twenty-five years has finally been confirmed: Maggie is going to die soon. And of the same illness that killed her mother at the same age. Cut to twenty-five year...

  AUTHOR: Vanessa Edwards GENRE: Suspense Thriller PUBLICATION DATE:  December 2, 2024 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A contemporary suspense with shades of cat-and-mouse thriller and revenge drama. Quite a tricky story with many characters, slow-ish pacing, and a bit too much telling in the writing. But I was so hooked by the proceedings that I still enjoyed myself. Recommended!  Plot Preview: (For the first time ever, I find myself stumped about what to write in this section. The plot is quite complex, and any slip-up could be a major spoiler. So here’s just a barebones preview.) Stephanie dies on the very first day of her honeymoon. Her estranged sister Lucy is devastated and wants to reach out to her sister’s widower to offer her condolences, but has no way of contacting him. She knows that Stephanie used a matchmaking agency named ‘MadeInHeaven’, so she gets in touch with them for his contact details. They deny having served Stephanie or her groom through their...

AUTHOR: Sally Hepworth NARRATORS: Barrie Kreinik and Jessica Douglas-Henry GENRE: Domestic Suspense RATING: 2 stars. In a Nutshell: No soul, no mate. Better if read as a family drama than as a domestic thriller. Even better if you skip it. Hello once again from Outlier Island! Story Synopsis: Gabe and Pippa live in a cottage by a cliff along with their two little daughters. This cliff-side is unfortunately a suicide hotspot, and Gabe has become something of a local hero by rescuing people from jumping off to their deaths. But he doesn’t succeed in saving the latest person, a woman. When Pippa learns that Gabe has not told her the entire truth and that he actually knew the victim, she begins to ask questions and discovers many new secrets. But Gabe is her soulmate, and it is her duty to keep him safe, isn’t it? The story comes to us in the first person perspective of Pippa in two timelines – Then and Now, and also in the first person perspective of Amanda (the victim) in two timelines –...

AUTHOR: Freida McFadden SERIES: Housemaid, #2  GENRE: Domestic Thriller RATING: 3.5 stars. In a Nutshell: The good news is that this is just like ‘ The Housemaid .’ The bad news is that this is just like ‘The Housemaid.’ A fun thriller, as long as you don’t overanalyse it. Better if you read the series in order. Story Synopsis: Millie is back, still working as a maid, and still struggling for finances. She is in a steady relationship with Brock, a lawyer who doesn’t know anything about her past. Not that she loves Brock, but as Enzo isn’t around, he will do. After Millie loses her current job, she gets a call from Douglas Garrick, a wealthy tech specialist. He wants Millie to clean and cook, but on one condition|: she is NOT to interact with his wife Wendy, who is ill. As Millie is desperate for a job, she agrees. However, things are, but obviously, not as declared, and Millie finds herself in a quandary; risk her job by helping Wendy, or go against her values by ignoring what’s ha...

Author: Sarah Alderson Narrator: Stephanie Cannon Genre: Domestic Drama Rating: 3.5 stars. In a Nutshell: Loved a lot of things about this book. But also disliked quite a few. Plus, it is more of a domestic drama than a psychological thriller. Go in blind. Story Synopsis: (I meant what I said above. Go in blind. So here’s the most boring and blandest synopsis possible.) Rose Reed has recently begun living in a cabin in the woods. She is afraid of something. She is also waiting for something. Who, what, why? You will need to read and find out. The story tells us about her present and her past through her first person perspective. ✔ Now some of you smart readers might go to the book page on Goodreads to check out the blurb. That blurb is outstanding – whoever wrote it knew how to get the pulse of the readers going. ❌ That blurb doesn’t match the story at all. It appears to promise a psychological thriller but the book is more like a domestic drama with a couple of thrilling scenes. ✔ The...

Author: Faith Gardner Series: The Jolvix Episodes #1 Genre: Contemporary Drama, Domestic Thriller. Rating: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: Contains the usual psych/domestic thriller ingredients of gaslighting, mental health issues and an unreliable narrator. What makes it different is the outstanding role that AI plays in the proceedings. Works pretty well because of the intelligent and twisty writing. However, requires a fair bit of suspension of disbelief at the end. Story Synopsis: Rowena Snyder is a newly-married young mum who has left her job as an editor and moved from NY to her husband Jacob’s childhood home in California. Not only does Rowena miss her old lifestyle and friends, but her anxiety and depression are exacerbated in the new location. To help Rowena, Jacob gets home a new product that is still in beta testing at the tech company he works with. Enter “Maxine”, the digital AI who bonds with any one individual and can “do anything to help”. In addition to the usual assi...

Author: Shanora Williams Narrator: Tracey Conyer Lee Genre: Domestic Thriller Rating: 2 stars. In a Nutshell: Oh boy! With such hateful characters, I didn’t care who lived or died. I just wanted to reach the end. Story Synopsis: Samira Wilder, basically a classy good-for-nothing, has fallen in love with the rich and handsome pro golfer Roland Graham. The only hitch is that her brother Kellan and her best friend want her to stay away from Roland. Reason? He’s been accused of murdering his late wife, though the crime was never proved and her death was ultimately ruled an accident. Samira trusts her new beau and accepts his proposal willingly, even when it involves moving to his house in Miami, where he stayed during his first marriage. What follows is the usual secrets and misleading communications that make Samira question her situation. The story comes to us in the first person pov of Samira, and also of Melanie, Roland’s first wife whose communication happens through the journals sh...