A Stranger in the House
By: Shari Lapena
Raynee’s Review: 05/19/2026
Karen and Tom are the idealistic happy couple. Newly married, living in a nice neighborhood, and seemingly happy. Until Tom comes home from work and his wife is missing. Dinner is half prepared, the front door is unlocked, and her purse is there, but his wife and her car are both gone. Then, the police show up to his front door. Karen has been in a car accident after speeding through a stop light and crashing in a bad part of town.
Karen would like nothing more than to be able to give an explanation as to what happened that day, but she can’t remember anything. Not the accident or why she was there. Karen and Tom go home and try to move on, except as Karen begins to heal, she discovers her house isn’t quite right. Things have been moved and she begins to suspect that someone has been inside her home. Then another crime is discovered and Karen and Tom find themselves entangled in the midst of secrets and past mistakes they would rather stay buried.
This book kept my attention, and I was theorizing all the way through it, so it was worth the time listening to the audiobook. In the end though, I would describe it as “alright.” There wasn’t anything that I necessarily disliked about it, but it’s probably going to be one that I won’t remember reading. There just wasn’t anything about it that I would describe as “memorable.”
Mystery novels are all about the final plot twist for me. The ending is what makes it stand out. Without spoiling anything, all I can say is that the plot twist felt predictable. Maybe because I’ve read a few similar twists recently, but I simply wasn’t blown away by the ending.
That said, if someone was looking for an easy-to-follow mystery novel, with good writing, and plot twists, they might enjoy this one.
Assassins Anonymous
By: Rob Hart
Raynee’s Review: 12/17/2025
It was an easy read, with a unique storyline and plenty of twists. Basically, it was just what I needed at the time.
Mark is a notorious assassin, the best in the business, but he’s leaving it all behind and giving up his life of killing. In order to help him transition to his new life, he starts attending a support group for rehabilitating killers.
Mark is almost ready to receive his one-year chip when he’s attacked by another professional. It looks like his past is coming back to haunt him, so he undertakes the task of figuring out who among his long list of enemies has discovered his identity and is trying to take him out, without killing anyone in the process.
This book was a fun read with dark humor and if you choose to listen to the audiobook, it was very well narrated. There were parts that made me laugh and others that broke my heart. It was filled with action, and I don’t remember a moment when I was bored.
I recommend this one for anyone who just needs an easy read and likes a bit of mystery in their stories.
You’d Look Better as a Ghost
By: Joanna Wallace
Raynee’s Review: May 4, 2025
Claire is a struggling artist and a serial killer who attends a weekly bereavement group after the death of her father. Lucas has made a mistake. A very simple and understandable mistake. One he quickly rectified and probably never thought about again. Except that very simple mistake has put him on Claire’s radar, and she has decided that he needs to be her next victim. Except as Claire puts her plan into motion and brings about Lucas’ untimely demise, someone is watching, and now Claire finds herself at the mercy of an unexpected blackmailer. Except, it’s not entirely wise to blackmail a serial killer, and now Claire needs to show her adversary just how unwise it truly is, but can she silence her blackmailer, once and for all, before they can reveal all of her dark and illicit secrets?
A comedic thriller with a touch of mystery, this debut novel was packed with morbid humor and some fun twists. I loved the main character, and the author did well at showing the different way she sees people and the world. I’m partial to sarcastic or dark humor, so I laughed out loud quite a bit while listening to this audiobook. There was a great cast of quirky and interesting characters, and the ending threw in a few twists I certainly didn’t see coming.
There is very little negative I could say about this book. There was an instance or two where I got a little lost and thought maybe I had missed something when the story took a turn, but it all came together in the end. I was just a bit impatient.
Who I Would Recommend This Book to:
I would recommend this one to anyone who enjoys a fun and light-hearted story and who loves dry, dark, or sarcastic humor. It is also fast and easy to read, so it would be a great selection if you need something as a break in between your heavier and slower-to-read books.
The Coworker
By: Freida McFadden
It was time for a break from the fantasy romance rut I found myself in and my natural gravitation is for a good mystery/thriller. I decided to discover the reason for the popularity behind the books of Freida McFadden.
Freida McFadden has over 20 books listed on her website and is bestselling author on multiple lists. She has won awards for the International Thriller Writers Award for best paperback, and a Goodreads Choice Award.
I had a lot of options to choose from, and based on Libby audiobook availability, I chose “The Coworker.” The story centered on two coworkers, Natalie and Dawn. Natalie is the beautiful, popular, and successful sales representative. In the eyes of her coworkers, she can do no wrong. Dawn is the quiet, awkward accountant in the next cubicle with an all-consuming obsession with turtles. She always arrives to work every day at exactly 8:45. Every day. Without exception. Until she doesn’t.
One day, Dawn doesn’t show up to work at all and the only one who seems remotely concerned is Natalie who besides noticing Dawn’s uncharacteristic absence, answers a call at Dawn’s desk to hear a voice sounding suspiciously like her missing coworker fearfully uttering a single word, “help.”
Natalie investigates and soon comes to understand that not only is Dawn missing, but something horrible has happened to her and whether she wants to be involved or not, Natalie is at the center of the investigation.
I quickly understood why Freida McFadden’s books are so popular. If the rest are like this one, there are a lot of twists, and truths are slowly revealed as you go along. I found myself realizing quickly not to believe everything I was reading and the truth might quickly change. It played with my mind a bit and there were definitely reveals I didn’t see coming. That said, there were a few pieces to the puzzle that were a bit predictable.
If you enjoy reading a typical mystery/thriller, you will probably like this one. The characters were well-written, the reveals were well-timed so the reader is able to gradually put it together as the story goes, and the ending is wrapped up neat with the reader fully understanding the result and events. It was told with a comedy that I found myself giggling to, as well as giving the characters my own sarcastic commentary out loud as I listened.
If you would describe yourself as an avid mystery/thriller reader, I still think you might enjoy this one, but you would probably piece it together a lot faster than I did, which, if that bores you, might be problematic. I would call it a typical mystery/thriller read which will mean that while it might be worth-while reading, you probably won’t be talking about it weeks or months later. It is also told with a bit of a comedic element, so if you prefer your mysteries more on the darker side, this one isn’t for you.
There are a few adult themes including some references to sex (close door) and death/murder and suicide. With that in mind, I would probably recommend this one for a mature 15-year-old.
All in all, I enjoyed this one and found it a good mind-twisting, yet comical mystery with plenty of twists and mind games that kept me guessing. I will probably read another of Freida McFadden’s books the next time I need a good mystery.