City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita

When a local teenager discovers a severed hand and foot washed up on the shore of the small town of Point Mettier, Alaska, Cara Kennedy is on the case. A detective from Anchorage, she has her own motives for investigating the possible murder in this isolated place, which can be accessed only by a tunnel.

After a blizzard causes the tunnel to close indefinitely, Cara is stuck among the odd and suspicious residents of the town—all 205 of whom live in the same high-rise building and are as icy as the weather. Cara teams up with Point Mettier police officer Joe Barkowski, but before long the investigation is upended by fearsome gang members from a nearby native village.

Haunted by her past, Cara soon discovers that everyone in this town has something to hide. Will she be able to unravel their secrets before she unravels?

Publisher: Berkley | Release Date: January 10, 2023 | Genre: Mystery | Source: Publisher  | Rating: 3.5

A locked room mystery but make it a small, secluded Alaskan town cut off from the outside world by a blizzard? Yes, please!

When severed body parts are discovered washed up on the shore, the local police is quick to chalk it up to an accidental death although Anchorage detective Cara Kennedy seems to think there’s more to the story. Determined to investigate, Cara gets more than she bargained for when a blizzard traps her in the secluded town. Teaming up with a local officer, the two soon embark on an odd investigation that seems to be making everyone in the building a suspect although things start going sideways when a local gang sets their sights on the building.

The story is told from three POVs: Cara (the detective), Amy (the teen that discovered the body parts), and Lonnie (she’s a young adult with mental illness and a pet moose). Each of them offer glimpses into the residents, the building, and the mystery and they all have their secrets they’re determined to keep. Besides the three women, there’s a bevy of residents, each with their own issues. Nobody is likable and it’s hard to figure out who’s trustworthy.

This was an interesting mystery in the fact that the entire town (all 200 residents) lives inside this high-rise known as the Dave-Co and that really contributes to the isolated, claustrophobic feel of the book.  Not only are they trapped in the town due to the tunnel being closed, they’re trapped in this building where a killer could be hiding out.

Am I going to say that this is the best mystery that I’ve read? No, the main mystery could have been wrapped up a bit quicker--I feel like there were a lot of things that were drawn out too much. Am I going to recommend this to everyone? Yes, while the main mystery wasn’t the best, there’s another mystery that has to do with Cara and I’m really hoping that this will be turned into a series and that we’ll see this mystery arc develop over the series. I will be really upset if this book is a standalone based on the reveal at the end.

What I really enjoyed about this book was the atmosphere; it was spot on the entire time. This book is very tense, very cold, and very claustrophobic. The author was brilliant at making me feel like I was in the midst of this isolate little Alaskan town.

I’ve been going back and forth with my rating on this one. After I finished it I gave it a 3.75, then when I was writing down my thoughts in my reading journal I gave it a 4, but now that I’m actually writing my review, I think I’m settling on a 3.5, which isn’t bad, it seems to be the standard rating I give most mysteries and thrillers.

There were just a few things I had trouble with. The pacing was a bit all over the place at the start, it’s does even out to a medium pace but it’s a very slow start. There’s a relationship that starts a bit out of the blue, which I found odd. While I did enjoy the mystery and had a feeling where this was headed, I wish it would have gone in a different direction. I think I was expecting a bit more.

Overall, I enjoyed this one but wanted a little more with the main mystery. What I’m hoping will be the series mystery arc was highly engaging (please, put out at least one more book), and I was invested in that and wanted to know more.

 

Read this for the setting and atmosphere. Read this for the diverse set of characters. Read this for what I’m hoping will be the setup for a great mystery series. It is slow but do give it a chance. 

Have you read this one yet?

 If so, what are your thoughts?

 If not, read any good mysteries lately?