A Stranger in the Family is the 11th book in the Maeve Kerrigan series, however, it stands strong on its own. I went into the book with no former knowledge of the series and was able to keep track of the characters. 

 

The book begins with the disappearance of the Marshall’s young daughter Rosalie. Jumping to the present day, Helena and Bruce Marshall are found dead. At first look, it appears to be a murder/suicide, but Maeve Kerrigan thinks otherwise and begins her and Josh Derwent’s investigation. 

 

As I said, despite being so deep into a series, this novel can standalone. I did feel a lack of connection to the characters though as I’m assuming most of the personalities have been established previously in early books, making the book dialogue/plot heavy. For that, I would recommend reading at least the first book. Otherwise, it was a solid mystery. (And the book does end on a bit of a cliffhanger!) 

 

A huge thanks to Harper360 for sending me an ARC of the book to read and review! 

Significant storyline and character development. My fave mystery series, now to wait at least another year for the next one after that cliffhanger ending 🥲