Review: The Orphanage by the Lake by Daniel G. Miller

Author: Daniel G. Miller
Publisher: Houndstooth Books
Publication Date: February 2024
Hazel wants a new life.

She’s thirty years old, single, and her private investigation business is months away from folding.

Her luck takes a turn when Madeline Hemsley, a mysterious socialite, pays Hazel a visit with an offer too enticing to resist. An orphan girl has disappeared from a children’s home—The Orphanage By The Lake, as the locals call it—and Madeline wants Hazel to find her.

At first glance, it appears to be a standard runaway case, but as Hazel plunges into the investigation, she finds signs of something more: unexplained blood stains, cryptic symbols, sinister figures shadowing her every move. The more she digs, the more she realizes that The Orphanage By The Lake holds terrifying secrets, and even worse…

…so does Madeline.

In The Orphanage by the Lake, Hazel is a PI who is hired by Madeline to find her missing goddaughter.  She will get a sizable amount of money if she can find the girl within 6 days.  I'm having a hard time rating this book.  For the most part, I did enjoy it.  I liked Hazel's character. She is just a girl trying to go against what her family wants and make a life of her own. Her roommate was also very sweet.  There was one twist toward the end that I did not call.  So that was good.  

My biggest problem with the book was that  I had a hard time figuring out what this book was trying to be. It starts out like a cozy mystery and almost comical in spots.  But the last quarter got really dark and was not really cozy mystery material and not in any way funny.  Even Hazel's past was pretty dark.  So it was bit confusing and kind of dampened my enjoyment of the book.  I will probably seek out the next book in the series.  I just hope that it is more focused this time.