Home Is Where the Bodies Are by Jeneva Rose

Jeneva Rose is one of my autobuy authors when it comes to mysteries. Her books are like potato chips; they're super easy to consume, and by the time you get to the bottom of the bag, you still kind of want more. HOME IS WHERE THE BODIES ARE might actually be my new favorite of hers, even more so than YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE COME HERE. She absolutely nails the bickering sibling vibe, and the pacing had me paging until the end, with a twist that was *chef's kiss.*

This book is about three adult children: Beth, Nicole, and Michael. Beth is a single mother, Nicole is a heroin addict, and Michael is the success story of the family. When their mother dies of a terminal illness, they're forced to put their differences aside as they come together to mourn their mother's death. While dividing up her assets and cleaning up the house, they come across a box of old family video tapes and decide to watch one from the summer of 1999. But what should be a bittersweet exercise in fond reminiscence ends up becoming dark, fast, when they see evidence of what appears to be the cover-up of a murder on one of the tapes.

I saw some reviews complaining about the pacing and I do think that the focus of the story is on the interpersonal relationships as much as it the whodunnitry. We get to know Beth, Nichole, and Michael as people, and how they view each other and their very troubled relationship with their parents, and it's meant to set the stage for the suspicion and paranoia that will come next, and how being products of their various upbringings will affect how they respond to fear and pressure. Every time I read one of the different POVs, I found my loyalties shifting, which just shows the power of a compelling narrator; sometimes they can trick you into thinking that they're reliable when they're not.

4 to 4.5 out of 5 stars