No Rest for the Wicked: A Coldren County Novel
A USA Today Bestseller
With an expert hand, Rachel Louise Adams’s debut No Rest for the Wicked reads like an edge of your seat, heart-pounding scary movie.
In one Halloween obsessed Midwestern town, everyone’s on red alert after a local politician goes missing. Little do they know it’s only the beginning.
It’s been close to twenty years since forensic pathologist Dolores Hawthorne left her hometown of Little Horton, Wisconsin. The town is famous for its Halloween celebrations, but also its history of violent deaths linked to the holiday. To Dolores, it’s the place she fled, family, bad memories, and all. Until the FBI calls to tell her that her father--the former mayor turned US Senator--is missing under mysterious circumstances.
Some people count to ten to wake up from a nightmare. Dolores always counts the bones of her head instead: sphenoid, frontal, lacrimal. But no matter how many times she counts them, it doesn’t change the fact that her father is missing, that his final words of warning to her were to trust no one, and that now, the rest of her family is giving Dolores a chilling welcome. With Halloween fast approaching, Dolores must face the past she left behind before it’s too late.
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Community Reviews
No Rest for the Wicked is the debut novel by Rachel Louise Adams. Based on the cover alone, I thought this was going to be a fun cozy Halloween whodunit mystery with cute black cats. It is not. It is a pretty sad mystery, actually, and the cats don't really have much to do with the story other than running amok in the town and being captured/euthanized at the local pound. The story is set in a Midwestern city famous for its Halloween obsession and decorations, but also for its history of murders on that date. Doloros left home twenty years ago and hasn't returned (for reasons that are slowly revealed); however, she's received news that her father (the former mayor of the city but now a US Senator) has gone missing. Dolores returns to her family home, and the mystery deepens.
I really enjoyed this book; however, it covers many deep, significant topics. It's not a cute, cozy Halloween book for sure. Please check your trigger warnings before reading. The book is well written, and the pacing is medium to fast. I loved all the characters. There were a few surprises in this mystery thriller that I hadn't seen coming, which is always lovely! I really enjoyed the female camaraderie in this one!
If you enjoy dark, spooky thrillers with a mystery/horror vibe, you will probably enjoy this book. I would recommend it for older readers only due to mature themes of rape, etc. Thank you to St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
I really enjoyed this book; however, it covers many deep, significant topics. It's not a cute, cozy Halloween book for sure. Please check your trigger warnings before reading. The book is well written, and the pacing is medium to fast. I loved all the characters. There were a few surprises in this mystery thriller that I hadn't seen coming, which is always lovely! I really enjoyed the female camaraderie in this one!
If you enjoy dark, spooky thrillers with a mystery/horror vibe, you will probably enjoy this book. I would recommend it for older readers only due to mature themes of rape, etc. Thank you to St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
If you’re looking for the perfect book to curl up with this spooky season, look no further—No Rest for the Wicked is basically Halloween in paperback form. Pumpkins, small-town secrets, a missing politician, and enough skeletons (literal and metaphorical) to fill a forensic lab. Move over Hocus Pocus, Little Horton, Wisconsin has cornered the market on creepy fall vibes.
The setup? Dolores Hawthorne—pathologist, prodigal daughter, and professional avoider of her hometown—gets dragged back when her senator dad vanishes. Of course, this is just as the town is gearing up for its annual Halloween extravaganza. Because nothing says festive like potential murder layered on top of bobbing for apples. Dolores would rather count cranial bones (seriously, she does this like it’s a meditation app) than deal with her family, but when Daddy Dearest tells her “trust no one” before ghosting harder than your worst situationship, what’s a girl to do?
The prose is tight, the pacing relentless, and the atmosphere? Chef’s kiss. It reads like a scary movie marathon: suspenseful, a little campy, and impossible not to keep watching/reading even when you’re yelling “Don’t go in there!” at Dolores.
Dolores spends a lot of time angsting about her past, and after a few chapters, I was ready to personally hand her a pumpkin spice latte and tell her to get over it. Also, I could have used just one less bone-counting sequence. We get it, Dolores, skulls are your coping mechanism. Mine is reading past my bedtime.
Bottom line: creepy small-town vibes, family drama, and Halloween chaos wrapped in a thriller that will keep you turning pages long past midnight. Perfect for October—though maybe keep the lights on.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this review copy!
The setup? Dolores Hawthorne—pathologist, prodigal daughter, and professional avoider of her hometown—gets dragged back when her senator dad vanishes. Of course, this is just as the town is gearing up for its annual Halloween extravaganza. Because nothing says festive like potential murder layered on top of bobbing for apples. Dolores would rather count cranial bones (seriously, she does this like it’s a meditation app) than deal with her family, but when Daddy Dearest tells her “trust no one” before ghosting harder than your worst situationship, what’s a girl to do?
The prose is tight, the pacing relentless, and the atmosphere? Chef’s kiss. It reads like a scary movie marathon: suspenseful, a little campy, and impossible not to keep watching/reading even when you’re yelling “Don’t go in there!” at Dolores.
Dolores spends a lot of time angsting about her past, and after a few chapters, I was ready to personally hand her a pumpkin spice latte and tell her to get over it. Also, I could have used just one less bone-counting sequence. We get it, Dolores, skulls are your coping mechanism. Mine is reading past my bedtime.
Bottom line: creepy small-town vibes, family drama, and Halloween chaos wrapped in a thriller that will keep you turning pages long past midnight. Perfect for October—though maybe keep the lights on.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this review copy!
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