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A review by megaeralwrites
Hidden Rooms by Kate Michaelson
5.0
Hidden Rooms is the first book I’ve read as an ARC reader, and it was such a treat from start to finish. I jumped into the story without knowing much about it, and I’m glad I did. I’m grateful to Kate Michaelson for giving me the opportunity to take an early look at the tense, mysterious, and textured world she’s built within its pages.
28-year-old Riley and her brother Ethan are almost twins, just under a year apart. They were best friends growing up, but have since drifted away from each other, as siblings often do. Ethan has grown into an angry, troubled young man. He clings to his hometown and his rural roots, embittered by the fact that so many of his friends and family have chosen to leave the community—and him—behind. The more level-headed Riley, on the other hand, wants nothing more than to move beyond the small, close-knit town of North Haven and establish a life and identity of her own. But they are still held together by a few common threads: in particular, their mutual love for Riley’s friend and Ethan’s fiancée, Beth.
Beautiful, wealthy Beth is an outsider to North Haven, and her oddly aloof personality draws the distrust and disapproval of many of the town’s inhabitants. But Riley genuinely likes her, and they bond in part over their mutual struggle with chronic pain and illness. Beth’s health issues stem from a catastrophic car accident, while Riley’s independence and athletic lifestyle have been dealt a crippling blow by a mysterious illness that leaves doctors baffled—or convinced that it’s all in her head.
When Beth turns up dead shortly before her wedding, Ethan quickly becomes the prime suspect. But despite his troubled past, Riley is convinced that her brother is innocent. With the police stubbornly refusing to look into other leads, Riley and her older sister Audra take matters into their own hands, determined to find enough evidence to clear their brother’s name. As they investigate, it becomes clear that there was more to Beth’s quiet life than either of them suspected, and they are soon drawn into an increasingly complex and dangerous web of secrets, crime, and deceit.
Hidden Rooms is timely and topical, addressing issues such as opiate addiction, rural poverty, the COVID pandemic and, in particular, the struggles of women dealing with mysterious chronic illnesses. As someone who has been through that particular slog, Riley’s journey felt painfully real to me in that regard. The doctor who finally helps her find some answers even bears an uncanny likeness in her mannerisms to the one who helped me (down to the brusque, probing refrain of “What else? What else?” as Riley rattles off her odd collection of symptoms). Even more fascinating is how the illness affects Riley’s perception of the events unfolding around her. Brain fog and other neurological symptoms—along with the failure of doctors and even close family to take her illness seriously—cause her to question her own judgment and second-guess herself again and again as the story progresses.
Gripping, poignant, wryly funny, and persistently mysterious up until the final reveal, Hidden Rooms is a deeply satisfying murder mystery. It’s also a heartfelt story about family and community, and the characters are handled with a refreshing level of nuance and complexity. The writing is sharp and evocative, but never too flowery. I don’t read a lot of contemporary mysteries, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one.
28-year-old Riley and her brother Ethan are almost twins, just under a year apart. They were best friends growing up, but have since drifted away from each other, as siblings often do. Ethan has grown into an angry, troubled young man. He clings to his hometown and his rural roots, embittered by the fact that so many of his friends and family have chosen to leave the community—and him—behind. The more level-headed Riley, on the other hand, wants nothing more than to move beyond the small, close-knit town of North Haven and establish a life and identity of her own. But they are still held together by a few common threads: in particular, their mutual love for Riley’s friend and Ethan’s fiancée, Beth.
Beautiful, wealthy Beth is an outsider to North Haven, and her oddly aloof personality draws the distrust and disapproval of many of the town’s inhabitants. But Riley genuinely likes her, and they bond in part over their mutual struggle with chronic pain and illness. Beth’s health issues stem from a catastrophic car accident, while Riley’s independence and athletic lifestyle have been dealt a crippling blow by a mysterious illness that leaves doctors baffled—or convinced that it’s all in her head.
When Beth turns up dead shortly before her wedding, Ethan quickly becomes the prime suspect. But despite his troubled past, Riley is convinced that her brother is innocent. With the police stubbornly refusing to look into other leads, Riley and her older sister Audra take matters into their own hands, determined to find enough evidence to clear their brother’s name. As they investigate, it becomes clear that there was more to Beth’s quiet life than either of them suspected, and they are soon drawn into an increasingly complex and dangerous web of secrets, crime, and deceit.
Hidden Rooms is timely and topical, addressing issues such as opiate addiction, rural poverty, the COVID pandemic and, in particular, the struggles of women dealing with mysterious chronic illnesses. As someone who has been through that particular slog, Riley’s journey felt painfully real to me in that regard. The doctor who finally helps her find some answers even bears an uncanny likeness in her mannerisms to the one who helped me (down to the brusque, probing refrain of “What else? What else?” as Riley rattles off her odd collection of symptoms). Even more fascinating is how the illness affects Riley’s perception of the events unfolding around her. Brain fog and other neurological symptoms—along with the failure of doctors and even close family to take her illness seriously—cause her to question her own judgment and second-guess herself again and again as the story progresses.
Gripping, poignant, wryly funny, and persistently mysterious up until the final reveal, Hidden Rooms is a deeply satisfying murder mystery. It’s also a heartfelt story about family and community, and the characters are handled with a refreshing level of nuance and complexity. The writing is sharp and evocative, but never too flowery. I don’t read a lot of contemporary mysteries, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one.