Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing Group for my DRC in exchange for my honest review.
RATING: ★★★★☆
TITLE: The Suicide House (Rory Moore/Lane Phillips, bk 2)
AUTHOR: Charlie Donlea
RELEASE DATE: July 28, 2020
SETTING: Indiana, US
PUBLISHER: Kensington Publishing Group
GENRE(S): thriller, mystery/thriller, crime drama, suspense
This was my second dive into the Rory Moore/Lane Phillips series. While this one didn’t have as much insight into their pasts, it was still so good.
It starts out explaining some loose ends of the previous book and a case that Rory worked on. That was such a relief for me (and this is a no spoiler tidbit because it wasn’t the bulk case of the previous book).
In The Suicide House we join Rory and Lane on their trip to a prep school in Indiana. A teacher is accused of murder and a popular podcast is unearthing some interesting information about the case.
There were so many elements to this story. A group of students involved in a night of teenage fun ends in two murders. Now, the survivors are all coming back to Westmont Prep to commit suicide. We get to see if Rory and Lane can uncover the truth and dig up secrets hidden for years.
This was so gripping and thrilling. I can definitely say that Rory Moore is a favorite female investigative lead from now on and I cannot wait to read more of Charlie Donlea’s work!
BLURB
A chilling murder in a prestigious prep school is at the heart of this riveting new novel from acclaimed author Charlie Donlea, featuring forensic reconstructionist Rory Moore and her psychologist partner, Lane Phillips.
Inside the walls of Indiana’s elite Westmont Preparatory High School, expectations run high and rules are strictly enforced. But in the woods beyond the manicured campus and playing fields sits an abandoned boarding house that is infamous among Westmont’s students as a late-night hangout. Here, only one rule applies: don’t let your candle go out–unless you want the Man in the Mirror to find you. . . .
One year ago, two students were killed there in a grisly slaughter. The case has since become the focus of a hit podcast, The Suicide House. Though a teacher was convicted of the murders, mysteries and questions remain. The most urgent among them is why so many students who survived that horrific night have returned to the boarding house–to kill themselves.
Rory, an expert in reconstructing cold cases, is working on The Suicide House podcast with Lane, recreating the night of the killings in order to find answers that have eluded the school, the town, and the police. But the more they learn about the troubled students, the chillingly stoic culprit, and a dangerous game gone tragically wrong, the more convinced they become that something sinister is still happening. Inside Westmont Prep, the game hasn’t ended. It thrives on secrecy and silence. And for its players, there may be no way to win–or to survive. . . .
feather bound books 