thrillyourdarlings 's review for:

Parents Weekend: A Novel by Alex Finlay

3.0

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another pub day, another review! alex finlay is back with a quick, light, and entertaining mystery that takes place at a california college during parent's weekend. this book has a lot of twists and red herrings, which i normally love, but these ones all got squared away a little too quickly. i wanted them to breathe a little bit and cause some more tension, but it didn't bother me too much. i have personal opinions about the whodunnit/ending, but i won't spoil it for anybody.

my main issue with this book is that i didn't have enough time to get to know anybody in it. there were just way too many characters and not enough space. the only person who we get to spend time with is special agent sarah keller. i liked her and her family, but even she could have used more of a deep dive because they all came across a little too perfect (then again, i did audibly shout "BOB!!" at one part of the book). this is the third of finlay's books that keller has been in, but i didn't remember (and i LOVED the night shift!) her. overall, i think she's a strong and levelheaded lady and i appreciated her steadiness, but i just wanted to get to know even more.

also, the author's note at the end made me laugh — i didn't know alex finlay and david ellis were besties and this quick little acknowledgment was a very fun way to wrap up the book!

thanks to st. martin's press and minotaur books for the digital copy of this book on netgalley in exchange for an honest review.