Hello hello, and welcome to my first blog tour and first book review of 2024! I’m delighted to be kicking off the blog tour for Signed Sealed Dead, the latest thriller from Cynthia Murphy, and the book that helped me reach my target of 200 books last year. A big thanks to Scholastic for sending this book my way.
Synopsis
True-Crime obsessed Paige, and her family, move across the Atlantic to her father’s eerie hometown, and it’s not long before she uncovers the town’s dark history – a string of unsolved murders and disappearances in the 90s.
And then notes start appearing at their dilapidated old home, about the secrets the house is keeping. The clues lead Paige to a diary concealed in the walls that belonged to one of the missing girls. Could this be the key to solving a quarter-of-a-century mystery, or will this make Paige the next target?
Review
Young adult thrillers are some of my favourite reads, and Cynthia Murphy never disappoints. Once again, the book kept me on edge all the way to the very end, never quite sure where to place my trust, and waiting for whatever might come next.
The creepy notes that Paige receives are a great plot device, and I adore things like that; it’s a way of communicating with both the main character and the reader with a bit of a twist, allowing information to be gathered in a different way. This was one of the most effective uses of this plot device that I’ve read in a long while, and it was absolutely thrilling. With everything that Paige is discovering, and everything still up in the air, it’s all very much the unknown factor coming into play.
There were a few loose ends that I would have liked to see tied up, but there were also answers provided that I didn’t predict, so it balanced out! It’s a book that throws you head first into the action, with Paige finding the first note within hours of arriving at the house, and meeting some of the leading characters in the same time frame.
Immensely satisfying, utterly thrilling and incredibly chilling, Signed Sealed Dead releases in the UK today, so be sure to pick up your copy soon!
Thanks for stopping by for this review today. If you’d like to read more, be sure to check out my interview with Cynthia, and my reviews of her other books, Win Lose Kill Die, Last One to Die, The Midnight Game and Welcome to Camp Killer.
And On She Reads 