Wonderland
Jennifer Hillier
11 hours and 39 minutes
MacMillan Audio
Released April 11, 2023
Amazon | Goodreads
No this isn’t a new book by the author, but a new audio release on a previously published book. I’ve read her last few books and have really enjoyed them, so I dove right in. This one held a lot of nostalgia for me, because my first real job was working at an amusement park. Luckily no one went missing (that I know of).
I really liked that as a twist on missing teenagers, it is the pretty blond boys that go missing. And with plenty of suspects, I did not easily figure this one out. I knew to eliminate the most obvious suspects. The mystery unfolds in a slow methodical pace, but since I honestly did not know who or why. I am not usually a fan of slow paced books, but this one worked for me. Not sure if it was the story, the audio or the nostalgia, but I was never bored.
Eunice Wong narrates this one and I am not sure if I’ve listened to her before, but she nailed it. She kept me interested in a slow paced mystery and brought the story to life.
This should appeal to the author’s fans since in an author’s note, she mentions some of the characters appear in another of her books.
About the book
After a personal tragedy and professional scandal forces homicide detective Vanessa Castro out of Seattle, she takes a new job in Seaside, Washington, determined to make a fresh start for herself and her family. The small beach town, best known for its popular amusement park, Wonderland, seems like the perfect place to raise her young son and teenage daughter.
But it’s not that easy starting over, especially as the town’s new Deputy Chief of Police. When a dead body turns up at the park her first day on the job, and then a teenage Wonder Worker goes missing, Vanessa’s investigation is met with resistance. After all, Wonderland is the largest amusement park in the Pacific Northwest, attracting tourists from all over the country and providing thousands of jobs for the locals. A scandal that hurts the park hurts the town, but the more questions Vanessa asks, the more questions arise . . . especially when she learns that the missing teenage boy is the not the first park employee to disappear. The deeper she goes, the more she begins to suspect that the terrifying rumors about Wonderland’s dark past might actually be true.
Surrounded by secrets, lies, and corruption at the highest levels, Vanessa’s family is now in the center of a serial killer’s twisted game . . . and there’s nobody she can trust but herself.
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