book pick of the month: october
October is my favorite month. Not only because it is my birthday month but also because it marks a change of seasons with summer slowly fading into fall. Days getting darker, temperatures dropping, leaves changing and flowery dresses being traded in for cozy sweaters. A switch from Iced to Pumpkin Spiced Lattes, indicates that Halloween is right around the corner. And that calls for murder mystery thrillers.
As an avid reader (on average I read about two books per month), I’m eager to share some of my favorite reads with you. While I usually stick to my romantic beach reads in the summer, I actually enjoy thrillers just as much, especially in the fall. Last year I came across the right book, at the right time and finished it within the span of two days. It was so good, I could not put it down – an obvious choice for my book pick of the month for October:
Gillian McAllister’s Wrong Place, Wrong Time (2022) is a murder mystery thriller and time travel adventure. It follows Jen Brotherhood, a successful lawyer living in Liverpool, as she tries to prevent her son, Todd, from committing a murder. She finds herself in a time spiral the morning after her son is arrested.
“The night air has that early-autumn spooky feel to it. Damp spiderwebs, the feeling of something coming to an end before you’re truly ready to leave it.”
― Gillian McAllister, Wrong Place Wrong Time
The Plot: It is midnight on the morning of Halloween, and Jen anxiously waits up for her 18-year-old son, Todd, to return home. But worries about his broken curfew transform into something much more dangerous when Todd finally emerges from the darkness. As Jen watches through the window, she sees her funny, seemingly happy teenage son stab a total stranger. She doesn’t know who the victim is, or why Todd has committed such a devastating act of violence. All she knows is that her life, and Todd’s, have been shattered.
“Her entire life, she’s been so concerned with how things seem to be. Keeping up appearances. Having it all, the house with the carved pumpkin so everybody knew they’d done it. And yet. What was it all for?”
― Gillian McAllister, Wrong Place Wrong Time
The character development, the plotting, the twists – are all brilliant and well composed. From the beginning, you think you know where the story is going but it twists and turns into so much more than what you initially believe. The themes include crime, murder, motherhood and time travel. And despite hearing this and thinking: “How can these go together?”, trust me when I tell you that McAllister found a way.
“She wishes she didn’t care so much – about divorcing strangers, about neighbors, about bloody pumpkins – but she does.”
― Gillian McAllister, Wrong Place Wrong Time
If you are looking for a cozy, mysterious read for this fall season, look no further and order your copy of Gillian McAllister’s Wrong Place, Wrong Time here: Amazon Link. Also, I would love to hear if your thoughts on the book and whether you have liked it or not, so I encourage you to share your opinions in the comment section below 🙂
Sincerely, The Blonde Yeti 
The Blonde Yeti 
Leave a comment