looooooooove it

This book was NOT it for me, which is a shame because I enjoyed Foley's other book The Paris Apartment. But in my opinion, the best thing I can say about this was that I definitely felt a little on edge and unnerved reading this, which I suppose was the point. Creepy men were definitely written sufficiently creepily.

Unfortunately, otherwise, this just didn't hit the mark. I have read many a locked room type mystery and understand the need to weave a complicated interconnected cast and history (and typically enjoy them for this very reason!), but here to me it felt overdone and then far too convenient in the end. Like seriously, it just so happens that almost every single person mentioned has some dark history or occasional murderous thoughts? Instead of wrapping me up, each additional reveal didn't feel like an exciting new piece of the puzzle but instead a bit eyeroll inducing. It also made most of the characters fall into groups of either "violent" or "victim" or occasionally both. And while I did say that the creepy vibe did for the most part land well for me, there were some moments where the writing veered so overdramatic it snapped me out rather than pulled me in ("And then the lights go out." x6, really?).