Such a Lovely Family

By: Aggie Blum Thompson

Narrated by: Whitney Dykhouse

The cherry blossoms are in full bloom in Washington, D.C., and the Calhouns are in the midst of hosting their annual party to celebrate the best of the spring season. With a house full of friends, neighbors, and their beloved three adult children, the Calhouns are expecting another picture-perfect event. But a brutal murder in the middle of the celebration transforms the yearly gathering into a homicide scene, and all the guests into suspects.

Behind their façade of perfection, the Calhoun family has been keeping some very dark secrets. Parents who use money and emotional manipulation to control their children. Two sons, one the black sheep who is desperate to outrun mistakes he's made, and the other a new father, willing to risk everything to protect his child. And a daughter: an Instagram influencer who refuses to face the truth about the man she married.

As the investigation heats up, family tensions build, and alliances shift. Long-buried resentments surface, forcing the Calhouns to face their darkest secrets before it's too late.

©2024 Aggie Blum Thompson (P)2024 Tantor

Fantastic

Great story with well-developed characters. Narrator did a wonderful job. I highly recommend it.

Lack of character development and predictable

What I love most about a good whodunit is trying to piece together the mystery as I read—but with this book, it felt like everything was laid out in the first few pages. I could pretty much tell exactly how it was going to unfold. The subplot twist was interesting, but it also felt kind of thrown in, like an attempt to shake up a story that was otherwise really predictable. I’m not a fan of endings that feel rushed or patched together—I want to be taken on a journey, to question everything and be surprised. And honestly, the lack of character development early on made it hard to care about what happened to this family. Everyone came off as entitled, self-absorbed, and just… unlikable. So when the father died, and the twist happened, I wasn’t emotionally invested because I didn’t really care for any of them. There was no one to root for.

Suspense

So good, crazy how you just don’t know who did it…the entire time!! Love how the narrator used different voices for each character!

Hooked me in

Loved it. Started out too slow for me but really hooked me in after a few chapters!

Slow to start

This was a slow to start title with almost too much information in the last few chapters. The narrator was very "breathy" almost to the point of distraction. Overall, OK but not very realistic. Left the listener hanging on several points throughout.