Hidden Rooms by Kate Michaelson ~ Review

When murder hits home.

Long distance runner Riley has been fighting various bewildering symptoms for months, from vertigo to fainting spells. Worse, her doctors can’t tell her what’s wrong, leaving her to wonder if it’s stress or something more threatening. But when her brother’s fiancée is killed—and he becomes the prime suspect—Riley must prove his innocence, despite the toll on her health.

As she reacquaints herself with the familiar houses and wild woods of her childhood, the secrets she uncovers take her on a trail to the real killer that leads right back to the very people she knows best and loves most.

For readers who enjoy Deer Season by Erin Flanagan, All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers, and A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham.

Genre: Mystery
Published by: CamCat Books
Publication Date: April 30, 2024
Number of Pages: 320

Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | CamCat Books

Woah, I did not see that ending coming!! (Don’t worry, no spoilers.) This was definitely a mystery where I suspected everyone, trusted no one, and rooted for most 😉

The main character, Riley, was a favorite right from the start. I loved watching her interactions with her family, getting to know her heart as she let us in on flashbacks from the past, and aching with her as she suffered from mysterious symptoms that doctors couldn’t seem to diagnose.

Riley finds herself getting reacquainted with a home she once turned away from when she stumbles into a murder that paints her own brother in a bad light. Riley and sister Audra team up, desperate to convince the law and their small town (and maybe even a small part of their own worst fears) that their brother, a prime suspect, is NOT to blame. If not him, then who? Is anyone to be trusted? As clues are uncovered and characters are revealed, I have to say I doubted everyone, and I even thought our dear Riley might have some involvement at one point!

It is very well written with a nice mix of suspense, family drama, and internal struggle. Hidden Rooms was a page turner from beginning to end!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you, Partners In Crime Tours

Growing up in rural Ohio, Kate Michaelson simultaneously developed a love of nature and a strong desire to live closer to a mall. Pursuing the latter, she attended Ohio State, where she studied English and Psychology. After earning her MFA in Creative Writing, Kate worked as a technical writer and taught English at St. Petersburg College in Florida and, later, at the University of Toledo in Ohio. Over the years, she has published academic articles, creative nonfiction, poetry, and short stories. Her debut novel, Hidden Rooms, follows a distance runner who returns to her rural Ohio hometown and must clear her brother of murdering his fiancée while also seeking answers to her own medical mystery. As someone with Lyme disease and dysautonomia, Kate’s writing uses humor and suspense to explore the experience of coping with chronic illness. Ultimately, she wants to portray the reality of the challenges that invisible disabilities pose while also demonstrating that “ability” is not a binary concept—that illness does not equal a loss of self or agency.

Kate enjoys traveling, hiking, and trying (fruitlessly) to tire out her Labrador mix. She works in curriculum design and holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology. She lives with her husband and pets in Toledo, Ohio, only ten minutes from a mall she now avoids whenever possible.