I want to take a minute to thank Oceanview Publishing and Merry Jones for my advanced copy of Child’s play. I enjoyed it more then I initially thought I would. I will be honest I picked this up not knowing anything about the author or even that this is actually the third book in a series. I am so glad that the series centers around Elle Harrison I loved her as a character. She has gone through so much hardship that I almost feel like she is a magnet for sadness.
The first day of school, Ellie goes in early to get her room ready for the onslaught of new students. She stumbles across the body of the school principal, brutally murdered. The day before school starts Ty one of Elle’s former students comes out of jail for killing his father. Or did he????? Ty’s younger brother Seth is in Elle’s class keeping the teacher and the former student still connected. Will it be a good thing will it be a murderous combination? All and all a good read I would give it 4 stars for the simple fact that I hated the character of Jerry. YOU will Love this book but learn to loath Jerry by the last page of this chilling who done it novel.
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I received a copy of this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A fantastic and twisted story that portrays the effects of tragedy accurately. I found the main character's blackout moments frustrating only because I could relate to them and because you can feel the characters own nervousness and frustration in her own responses.

I loved the relationships between the women and the children in the class were vibrant and well written, also.

A great thriller. ( )

Author's guest post at my blog:
https://bookfare.blogspot.com/2017/03/foodfic-please-welcome-merry-jones.html

Second grade school teacher Elle Harrison's life hasn't been the same since the murder of her husband Charlie two years ago. She tries to move forward with her life by putting her house up for sale, but when the first day of the school begins, Elle's life gets a tad bit more complicated when she discovers the dead body of the school's principal. And if that isn't enough, Elle finds out that there is a hit list, and she's next on the list! When dead bodies start to accumulate, Elle is determined to solve the murder mystery, and find the killer before she ends up as the next victim!

In Child's Play, the third book in the Elle Harrison Thriller Series, author Merry Jones weaves an intriguing thriller that engages the reader in solving the mystery all the while keeping them guessing along the way. This is a riveting tale of murder, mystery and suspense set in Philadelphia, and written in the first person narrative with Elle Harrison taking the reader along for the ride on her zany adventure to uncover the mystery surrounding the school murders.

Mixed with humor, danger, paranormal involvement, potential suspects and enough twists and turns that keeps you turning the pages until the surprising conclusion, you'll find yourself recruited as one of Elle's amateur sleuths on a quest to solve the puzzle of the school murders. The author weaves a masterful tale that takes the reader in many directions: between the murder mystery, Elle's psychological backstory, Elle's relationship with her best friends, and the paranormal activity, you can't help but try and keep up with this fast-paced riveting thriller.

With a quirky cast of characters who are very entertaining: from zany Elle and her hilarious best friends Susan, Becky, and Jenny; to ghostly Charlie who communicates with Elle from beyond the grave; to a host of potential suspects who each have a motive for murder; they keep the reader on their toes wondering who really is the murderer.

With witty and humorous dialogue and interactions; an intriguing storyline that takes the reader on a madcap adventure that alternates between the present with Elle's memory flashbacks to the past; and a richly detailed description of familiar Philadelphia landmarks; Child's Play is a tantalizing whodunit mystery thriller that will engage your imagination to the very end!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author /publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours.

http://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2017/02/childs-play-author-guest-post-... ( )

Having a background in psychology and suffering through my own blackout related episodes post trauma I felt really connected to this book. It very much felt like Merry Jones accurately captured that kind of trauma in her main character including the frustration with people around you not understanding to the point of judging you or believing you about what you're experiencing. The way she developed not only the main character but her friends showed a real understanding and compassion for this type of experience.

The only thing I had trouble with was how much wine the author had Elle constantly drinking because it had been mentioned she had seen a professional and been formally diagnosed for the blackouts. This means she would’ve been told to limit if not avoid alcohol which would exacerbate these episodes but that was never touched upon. Despite her friends knowing about these problems instead of them helping her to avoid alcohol they encouraged it but then would berate her later for drinking herself into oblivion.

This was such a fantastically twisted story I had to know how it would end especially because I had emphasized so much with Elle. By the time the truth was revealed I did NOT see that ending coming.

It was such a great thriller with bodies dropping left and right, it reminded me of those slasher films I become addicted to during every Halloween season. When I went to look up more information about the author I discovered this is actually the 3rd book in a series but it was so good I didn’t feel like I had missed out on anything by not reading the first two, it works as a stand-alone. I’m definitely going to look up those first two now to see if they’re as good as this one.

Thank you to Netgalley and Oceanview Publishing for allowing me to review this book.
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