Devils At The Door is the 5th instalment of the Shana Merchant series and is a thrilling, atmospheric, gritty read that will have you invested in the lives of Shana, Tim and her visiting rebellious niece Hen. I love the setting of 1000 islands and A Bay and was particularly thrilled to hear mention of my mother’s hometown of Gananoque, Ontario playing a pivotal role in the novel. As well I enjoyed the descriptive prose of Wegert and how she paints a picture of small town living and the secrets everyone carries with them. Another element that appealed to me was the Haunted Walks and supernatural element which added to the eerie atmosphere. I highly recommend this read particularly if you are a fan of books that you think you have it all figured out but then the plot veers in a completely different path.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for this eARC that will be published Dec, 5, 2023

OMG, I absolutely loved this book!  This is the 5th book in the author's Shana Merchant Series, and it is SO good!  The books can be read as standalones, but I definitely recommend reading them in order.  I promise you, you won't regret it!   As the books progress, you'll find yourself completely attached to Shana and the 1000 Islands region of NY.

Senior Investigator Shana Merchant is finally starting to get her life back together after the events of her cousin/serial killer Blake Bram.  She & Tim have taken things to the next level, and her career in Alexandria Bay is stable.  But when she gets a call from her brother Doug about her niece Henrietta, Hen for short, things take a turn.  Hen is out of control, and Doug doesn't know what to do.  He asks Shana to take her in for a few months, hoping that will straighten her out. The cute, bubbly niece she remembers is no more.  Hen is now a troubled, rebellious teenager who manipulates and sneaks out of the house. Shana starts to think she may have gotten in over her head, especially when she catches Hen walking around the house at night and things start to go missing.  One night Shana receives a call to investigate a suspicious drowning of a teen at the uninhabited island of Devils Oven only to discover that Hen is there and may have been the last person to see the teen alive.  But Hen is not talking, and neither are 2 others that were there that night.  Can Shana find out the truth and keep her niece from being the prime suspect?

This book has now become my favorite in the series.  I loved the enticing plot that kept me guessing until the very end.  There were shocking twists that actually made my jaw drop.  Shana is one of my favorite book characters, and Hen was a great addition.  I say this every time I write a review about this series, but I absolutely love the setting! I don't ever want this series to end!  Full of mystery and suspense, this atomspheric, police procedural/crime thriller is just fantastic!  I would HIGHLY recommend it and the series.

A brilliant addition to the series. This is the 5thbook and an absolute pleasure. Love the characters, the darkness and the many unexpected moments. Highly recommend xx

It was so good to visit with Shana and Tim again and this time we have more family involved deeply in the story in the form of her niece Hen.
As with the previous book this was fairly fast paced with the clues coming to incriminate someone fairly regularly and seeming to circle through the cast of possibilities a couple of times at least where I believed it was one person then another around the group until I was back to the first person again!
This had a very interesting set of sub plots going alongside the main one but the main one needed those minor plot points to fill in the gaps so we could gain a resolution. The whole story was expertly woven together and finished on a very satisfying note where I am keen to read the next book already!

𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤!

Tessa Wegert did it again, another unputdownable story. I read it in one sitting and it ended too soon. Shana has become one of my favorite characters hands down and I’m not ready to say goodbye.

Thank you Suzy Approved Book Tours for this tour invite.

𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝗔𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗼𝗼𝗿 by Tessa Wegert, Author releases December 5, 2023.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

An exciting addition to this compelling series.
In this, the fifth book of the Shana Merchant Series, we find Shana trying to move on from the carnage that Bram left behind. When her brother asks for her help with his troubled daughter, Hen, Shana and her fiance, Tim, agree to take her in. When Hen's classmates learn she's related to the infamous murderer she struggles to make friends. One of her classmates, Mia, is obsessed with Bram and is all too happy to befriend her. When Hen sneaks out one night Shana and Tim find her on a local island next to the body of a young man. When it's determined the man's death was not an accident and Hen's a witness and possible suspect, Shana realizes she'll never really be free of Bram.

I really enjoyed this one. The author continues to come up with interesting twists, plots and mysteries for Shana to solve. Bram was Shana's cousin and family is at the center of her story. Dealing with family though is never easy and Shana has her hands full in this one. If you've read any of the books in this series I'm sure you'll like this one, if you're new to the series, I recommend you start with an earlier installment to get a better understanding of who Bram is and the history there in.

It’s no secret, I absolutely adore Tessa Wegert. This spunky little lady has produced best seller after best seller and has kept me thoroughly entertained with her wildly explosive thrillers.

Wegert does an incredible job leading you down the rabbit hole with a perfectly executed plot that will have you almost scared to flip the next page.

Devils At the Door

Yikes, I’ll be checking under my bed for weeks to come.

Check out this teaser :

A suspicious drowning throws New York State senior investigator Shana Merchant's life into turmoil in this taut, thrilling small-town mystery - perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Ruth Ware.

Sixteen-year-old Henrietta used to be happy. But that was before her family hit the national news. Before she - and the whole world - knew she was related to one of New York's most prolific serial killers.

Senior Investigator Shana Merchant readily agrees when her brother asks her to take in his troubled, rebellious daughter for the fall semester. Doug's convinced that spending a few months in Alexandria Bay with Shana will straighten Hen out.

But when Hen arrives, Shana's not so sure. She can't help but distrust the strange and manipulative teen, who binge-watches bloody movies and roams the house at night, taking things that aren't hers.

Soon, though, Shana has more to worry about than missing heirlooms when she's called to investigate the suspicious drowning of a local teenager, only to discover her niece at the scene of the crime.

What happened that night on the dark, uninhabited island of Devil's Oven? With Hen and her new friends not talking, and a community determined to keep their secrets dead and buried, Shana knows it's a race against time to uncover the truth before her niece is upgraded from key witness to prime suspect.

I love the Shana Merchant series by @tessawegert and was so excited to get a copy of the newest installment, Devils at the Door. Detective Shana is back and now her niece is living with her and gets caught up in the murder investigation of a teen on a nearby island. This book was so twisted. So many curveballs. So many gasp out loud moments. So clever in how it all tied together. The storyline was so unique and I had no idea where it was going. There were so many red herrings dropped along the way to keep readers on their toes. I don’t know how @tessawegert thinks of these stories but I am here for them! And being a massive fan of the series, I loved seeing the regulars make an appearance. I could not put this book down. That being said, it can also be read as a stand alone because the backstory is succinctly explained.

Thank you NetGalley and Severn House for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Tessa Wegert does it again with another unique, atmospheric, and suspenseful mystery! Shana Merchant is back to investigate and I'm here for it!
Shana's life is finally settling down, but then she receives an unexpected call from her brother. He needs Shana to take in his daughter, Henrietta (Hen). Shana faces some interesting challenges with Hen. Is Hen still the innocent little girl Shana remembers?
The plot was intricately done and the pacing was excellent as all of Tessa Wegert's books are.
I really love this series and hope it never ends! If you haven't picked up a Shana Merchant Novel yet, I highly recommend you do!

Tessa Wegert, the Author of “Devils at the Door,” has written an intriguing and captivating novel. This is the 5th Shanna Merchant Novel, which can stand on its own, but I recommend reading the other books in the series because they are so good. The genres for this novel are mystery, thriller, suspense, and fiction. The story occurs near Alexandria Bay, on the New York Border near Canada. The timeline for this story is set in the present and goes to the past regarding the characters or events. This well-written novel has twists and turns, betrayals, danger, accidents, and murder.

The author vividly describes her dramatic characters as complex, complicated, flawed, and dysfunctional. Investigator Shana Merchant has more complications in her life when her 16-year-old niece, Henrietta, is sent to live with her and Tim, Shana’s fiance. Shana’s brother and wife find that their rebellious daughter is a handful and hope that Shanna can straighten her out. The publicity still exists that Shana and Henrietta’s relative was a serial killer. Henrietta finds it difficult to make friends, but they seem to idolize her serial killer relative. These new “friends” of Henriettas also are interested in ghosts. When one of these friends drowns, and Henrietta is found nearby, Shana is forced to back away from the case.

The small town has very strange occurrences regarding these friend’s families. Will Shana be able to find out what is going on and protect her niece? I could not put this book down. I highly recommend this intense thriller.

Devils at the Door is a solid small-town mystery with complex, intriguing characters. I soon realized I was reading the 5th book in an ongoing series. References to past events in the life of Shana Merchant from earlier books make this more accessible for new readers, but I felt that these made the past books seem more interesting than the present crime story. I intend to add the Shana Merchant books for future reading.

Shana is a NY State investigator and lead detective in this series. She is engaged and lives with a fellow detective, Tim. They are renovating their home and preparing for their wedding. She receives a call from her brother, who hopes she will take in her troubled niece Henrietta (Hen) and try to straighten out her rebellious behaviour. He and his wife can no longer cope with her antics. Shana and Tim agree but soon realize that Hen can not be trusted. The sullen 16-year-old is non-communicative, roams the house at night, watches slasher movies, snoops in Shana's belongings, takes things, and sneaks out at night.

An uninhabited, eerie island, Devils Oven, is situated in the river near a small tourist town. The locals know teenagers go there at night to party, drink, hook up, and swim. There are rumours that participants have a cult-like interest in dead serial killer Blake Bram, who once terrorized the town. A group is said to go there to try to use occult methods in attempts to summon the dead.

Shana is called to the island to investigate the death of a local teenage boy who drowned, and his death is suspicious. She is shocked to find her niece, believed to be home in bed sleeping, at the scene of the crime. The dazed Hen and her friends are not talking, but it seems that Hen pulled him out of the water and tried to save his life. Shana is invested in discovering the truth about what happened, or her niece may be moved from witness to the crime to guilty. Shana must withdraw from the investigation as a relative is involved, but she cannot do so.

The townspeople still are haunted by serial killer Blake Bram, who stalked his victims there. A small tourist business takes people on tours to crime scenes and local ghost stories. Bram was discovered to be related to both Shana and Hen. Hen had no friends at her former school and was bullied when the family connection was revealed. While attending her new school (while living with Shana and Ted), she has used her former notoriety to make friends with a girl who guides the ghost tours and her followers. They are obsessed with death and the supernatural.

The mystery of the drowned boy expands from the investigation of the teens to adult members of the community. The group's past suspicious presence at a drowning and their hidden secrets may involve them in the death of the teenage boy.

I wish to thank NetGalley and the publisher for this engaging psychological mystery in a small-town setting. I am pleased that it introduced me to an author and series that was new to me. Devils at the Door is due to be published on December 5.

Devils at the Door by Tessa Wegert is another gripping crime fiction story.
I really enjoyed reading book five in the Shana Merchant series.
I love the atmosphere of this book. It’s written with the intensity and a feeling of dread.
Brimming with an eerie mystery and hair-raising details this was a compelling read.
A solid and convoluted plot, great characters, suspenseful writing, and perfect ending made this story so much fun and exciting.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Severn House for the opportunity to read this ahead of its publication date in return for my honest review.

This is my favorite Shana read so far! This one was so good! Just when you think with how the last book left off, that just maybe she can try to move on from the horror she has endured at the hands of her cousin. But when her brother calls with a very large favor, she cannot say no. Her niece moves in and Shana not yet being a mother, is in uncharted waters with rules and expectations, what is right or wrong and just why is normal for a teenager. When she gets a call about a body out on Devil's Oven Island, she gets the shock of her life to find her niece in shock from having been the one to pull the lifeless teenage boy from the water. Just what in the heck is going on and what is the real reason Hen was pushing to come to her aunt Shana's? Now being directly tied to the investigation, Shana has to treat lightly with her niece being considered a suspect while trying to get to the bottom of what is really going on with Hen, and who are these friends of hers that always seems to bring about trouble and her past. This was such a crazy read and I loved every page! I am extremely curious to see what Shana's future looks like in the next novel. Thank you to Suzy Approved Book Tours for the invite and to the author and NetGalley for the free ebook. This review is of my own opinion and accord.

Devils at the Door is book 5 in the Shana Merchant series. I didn't realize this was part of a series until I began reading.

Without reading the previous books, Devils at the Door mostly works. The mysterious death that begins the story is eventually solved within the novel, in a way that makes sense. For me, there were no huge shocks or surprises in the mystery, but it was a solid story.

While I was not familiar with the characters going in, I did feel that I had a chance to get to know them as the story progressed, and didn't feel like I was struggling to know who was who.

Less successful for me was the messaging in the novel. There was a sense of judgment of some of the characters here that felt like the author's opinion laid on the story. The novel also ends with a surprise in Shana's life that felt unearned by the story, and not supported by events in the novel.

This novel does heavily refer back to events from previous novels in a way that was sometimes distracting for me, as I didn't have that shared background. As a result, I would recommend reading the books in order if you are interested in the series.

👀 OMG, she’s back again! The most BAD ASS Senior Investigator Shana Merchant returns in Book 5 of the series by Tessa Wegert! “Devils at the Door” surrounds the aftermath of the death of Shana’s cousin Blake Bram … a small town serial killer that will follow Shana like a shadow forever 🫣!

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

When the news of Blake Bram’s true identity hits the national news, his family members take a huge hit for being related to a serial killer. Not just Shana. Her brother Doug asks Shana to take in his 16 year old daughter Hen who has been acting out and needed a change of scenery for one semester.

When Hen shows up, she begins to hang out with a rebellious crowd from school which leads to sneaking out, drinking, stealing and being secretive. One night when Shana is called to the crime scene of a teenager who drowned in the water surrounding Devil’s Oven island, she is SHOCKED to find her niece there when she was supposed to be at home sleeping. WHY were Hen and her “friends” on this deserted island in the first place??

Shana and her team are given the run around from the teenagers involved and it gets harder for them to keep their stories straight. When the drowning is suspected to NOT be accidental, Shana is desperate to find out the truth before Hen becomes the primary suspect.

This series is HANDS DOWN one of the best thriller series there is!! I have totally devoured every single book and highly recommend this series to everyone! If you enjoy GRITTY police procedurals, fast paced thrillers and atmospheric mysteries, then you need this book (and series) in your life 💯!!!!

Thank you kindly to @tessawegert @severnhouseimprint @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases on December 5, 2023!

Great read!

Well-written with interesting characters and some twists and turns!

I will definitely read more rom this author!

I love this author.
This series has kept my interest from the first to the last page every time.

The characters are strong and the spin on the story line will have you wondering who is the murderer.

A must read series and author for sure.

Shana Merchant is a small town investigator. Rumors have followed her all her life due to being related to her serial killer cousin, Braum. Shana is trying to dispel the rumors by keeping a low profile and being engaged to local detective, Tim, Shana starts to feel she is finally breaking free of the curse. Out of the blue, Shana’s brother calls and asks Shana and Tim to take his 16 year old daughter, Henrietta for the rest of the school year. Shana reluctantly agrees and “Hen” moves in. Immediately Hen disrupts the household by being non communicative and hiding in her room. Within a few days Hen sneaks out of the house in the middle of the night and is found stranded on an uninhabited Island, Devils’s Oven, with a drowned local teenage boy, and a teenage girl who tries to communicate with the dead. Shana is thrust into chaos once again as her niece is the prime suspect and Shana is barred from the investigation due to conflict of interest. Is Henrietta following in her serial killer uncle’s foot steps? Shana is bound to find out.

Thanks to NetGalley and Severn House publishers. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.

My favorite of the series so far. Giving myself a high five for figuring it all out before the reveal - not easy to do with this author. I like where the relationship is going between Shana and Tim. I love that Shana is so flawed - her life isn't tied up in a neat bow now that Bram is (mostly) out of the picture. This story features Shana's 16 year old niece, Henrietta; talk about throwing a wrench into your life! Again, I love how Shana handles her (or doesn't) and how she doesn't have all the answers. This series keeps getting better.

The writing is solid and the pacing keeps you reading, but I could not stand Shana's irrational decision-making - and this frustration of mine has been building since book two. I liked the small-town locked room mystery of book one, where the island location and the town politics combined to create a rich and unique mystery. But once the story shifted to being about Shana and her family (solving her uncle's cold case, chasing her childhood bestie the serial killer, now taking care of her niece who's in deep shit), Shana's clout as an investigator just... Unravels. She's paranoid (trauma response, which is fine, but like homegirl should not be investigating crimes when she's this shaken up), she's engaged to a subordinate, she inserts herself into active investigations where she has conflicts of interest (and everyone simply lets her?) She's not methodically and cleverly uncovering clues; she's bulldozing through tense situations with a series of bad decisions and... Getting away with it?

Honestly I think I'm done with Shana Merchant