Up next is another Freida McFadden book titled Do Not Disturb.
After committing an unthinkable crime, Quinn Alexander flees toward the northern border, desperate to outrun the police. But a brutal snowstorm strands her at the isolated Baxter Motel, where the charming owner, Nick Baxter, offers her a room for the night.
What seems like refuge quickly turns sinister. The motel hides a disturbing past—and Nick’s frail wife watches silently from a house across the way. If Quinn wants a chance at freedom, she’ll have to survive the night first.
When we first meet Quinn, she’s killed her husband. He was controlling and abusive, and Quinn had had enough. You feel for her, and her options are limited. Stay and fight a battle she can’t win or run. Since he and his family were rich beyond wildest dreams and extremely well-connected, she chose to run.
Try as she might, Quinn could not keep a low profile. She ran into a guy she used to babysit when they were younger and then got pulled over for a broken taillight. And to make matters worse, a snowstorm prevented her from getting out of town as quickly as she’d hoped.
She ends up at a seedy motel run by Nick. The only other guest is a former Fortune Teller named Greta who stays there long-term. Nick’s wife Rosalie is stuck in their home with a debilitating illness. Occasionally, Quinn sees her in the window, and it’s so ominous to me. Gives me Bates Motel and Psycho vibes.
We learn that there was a death in the hotel in room 201, and I can’t quite put my finger on who did it. The police thought it was Nick. I thought maybe the twist was that Rosalie, jealous of the beautiful women who end up there, couldn’t take it and miraculously could overcome her MS symptoms to bludgeon them to death.
After Nick reluctantly helps Quinn dig her car out of the snow, Quinn tries to kiss him. That sends alarm bells off. Did Rosalie see that? What would she think? And then Quinn is attacked, and we don’t know who did it.
The book then switches to Rosalie’s perspective. I love when Freida does this. It gives depth to the story, especially in this case when I thought Rosalie was the problem. But then we also get Claudia’s perspective. She’s Quinn’s sister. Turns out she was sleeping with Quinn’s husband and came to the hotel looking for her. Not because she was worried about her sister, but because she wants to take revenge on her for killing the person she loved. Mind you, Claudia was also married.
Anyway, Claudia had stuck Quinn’s body in her trunk. She also killed Greta and then tried to kill Rosalie. Thankfully, Rosalie was able to take Claudia down, and Quinn is able to move on with her life.
This was a very fun and twisty book. Another one I had to stay up late to finish because I needed to know the end. I absolutely love Frieda books and can’t wait to read the next one.