A Family of Strangers (Spoiler-Free)

Thank you to TLC Book Tours and MIRA Books (Harlequin Books) for sending me a free copy of A Family of Strangers by Emilie Richards to read and review! Check out my spoiler-free thoughts below!

Genre

Fiction, Mystery, Suspense (Don’t worry, there’s a bit of romance in there too 😉)

Intended Audience

All those who enjoy unraveling a good mystery!

Overview (from author’s website)

“All her life Ryan Gracey watched her perfect older sister from afar. Knowing she could never top Wendy’s achievements, she didn’t even try. Instead Ryan forged her own path while her family barely seemed to notice.

Now Wendy shares two little girls with her perfect husband while Ryan mourns the man she lost after a nearly fatal mistake in judgment. The sisters’ choices have taken them in different directions, which is why Ryan is stunned when Wendy calls, begging for her help. There’s been a murder—and Wendy believes she’ll be wrongfully accused.

While Wendy lies low, Ryan moves back to their hometown to care for the nieces she hardly knows. The sleuthing skills she’s refined as a true-crime podcaster quickly rise to the surface as she digs for answers with the help of an unexpected ally. Yet the trail of clues Wendy’s left behind lead to nothing but questions. Blood may be thicker than water, but what does Ryan owe a sister who, with every revelation, becomes more and more a stranger?

Is Wendy, who always seemed so perfect, just a perfect liar—or worse?”

Setting

Mainly the town (city?) of Seabank, Florida

Characters

As noted in the overview above, the novel’s main protagonist is Ryan—daughter, sister, aunt, and podcaster extraordinaire. Okay, Ryan probably wouldn’t describe herself as “podcaster extraordinaire,” but I sure would, so I’m sticking to it, because she’s awesome and makes me want to listen to podcasts (something I currently don’t do… yet). But in addition to Ryan, readers are also introduced to a range of multifaceted supporting characters.

What I Liked

For starters, I found this to be quite the page-turner; always a promising sign for a mystery/suspense novel! Richards didn’t waste any time jumping right into the action, so I was hooked from the get-go and could barely put the book down. The characters and the plot were intriguing and my brain immediately went into overdrive trying to solve the mystery at hand.

I tend to favor the type of mysteries that drop enough hints for readers to attempt to figure things out for themselves and A Family of Strangers definitely fell into that category. And my, oh my, did I have some theories. So that was fun!

There was also romance, which I can’t live without. (Seriously—my first question to my friends whenever they recommend a book to me is: Does it have romance?) I also liked that the romance didn’t overshadow the mystery and suspense. I’d say it was well-balanced.

And last, but not least, I appreciated the familial aspect of the story. It had its fair share of drama, of course, but there were also a lot of heartwarming aspects to it that left me a little teary-eyed. And by “a little” I mean enough to make me pretend there was just something in my eye when I was reading in public 😂 (You all know I cry easily, don’t judge me.)

What I Liked a Little Less

Nothing

Score

A Family of Strangers gets 4.5/5 ✨ I thoroughly enjoyed it and will definitely be checking out all the other books Emilie Richards has written.