No Rest for the Wicked by Rachel Louise Adams

Item: No Rest for the Wicked
Author: BaronessMom

Posted June 10, 2026 by BaronessMom in Mystery, Review / 0 Comments

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

No Rest for the Wicked

by Rachel Louise Adams
Published by Minotaur on September 16, 2025
Setting: Wisconsin
Genres: Traditional Mystery
Pages: 322
Format: Audible Audiobook, Hardcover, Kindle
Source: NetGalley
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon

With an expert hand, Rachel Louise Adams’s debut No Rest for the Wicked reads like an edge of your seat, heart-pounding scary movie.

In one Halloween obsessed Midwestern town, everyone’s on red alert after a local politician goes missing. Little do they know it’s only the beginning.

It’s been close to twenty years since forensic pathologist Dolores Hawthorne left her hometown of Little Horton, Wisconsin. The town is famous for its Halloween celebrations, but also its history of violent deaths linked to the holiday. To Dolores, it’s the place she fled, family, bad memories, and all. Until the FBI calls to tell her that her father--the former mayor turned US Senator--is missing under mysterious circumstances.

Some people count to ten to wake up from a nightmare. Dolores always counts the bones of her head sphenoid, frontal, lacrimal. But no matter how many times she counts them, it doesn’t change the fact that her father is missing, that his final words of warning to her were to trust no one, and that now, the rest of her family is giving Dolores a chilling welcome. With Halloween fast approaching, Dolores must face the past she left behind before it’s too late.

No Rest for the Wicked by Rachel Louise Adams is fantastic. I was completely invested in Dolores drama and life.

Will Dolores find her father dead or alive?

Dolores Hawthorne-Diaz

Our main character is Dolores, who is a medical examiner in Los Angeles. She is well known in her field. The only reason that she is returning to her hometown in Wisconsin is that her father is missing. This whole trip is like a nightmare. Yet, it is also something that she needs to do if she is going to advance in her life. You see, she hasn’t let go of the tragedy that she escaped or the life that she lost. Dolores is a lovely character, with quirks, flaws, and more demons than anyone knows.

I really like Dolores. Hopefully, everything in her life will right itself once this is all over.

The Mystery

We go back years to when all of this started. The cover-ups, the bribes, the wheeling and dealing to protect the chosen. However, only a handful of people know exactly who that is. One person’s choices ruined countless lives, but the few who benefited directly and indirectly weren’t left unscathed either. There is one character that is the best mix of good and bad, or perhaps just an opportunist? Either way, Charlotte holds more knowledge about the town than most. She is a force to be reckoned with, and everyone stands down to her.

Ms. Adams does such a wonderful job of maintaining suspense and thrill throughout the plot. There are so many people affected by what is hidden. These events affect most of the townfolk, leaving a town already filled with macabre occurrences and adding to its list of freakiness. The cats on the cover were puzzling, but now I understand their meaning. Well played Ms. Adams.

Five Stars

My rating for No Rest for the Wicked by Rachel Louise Adams is five stars. I loved the story and highly recommend it to all those who enjoy a thrill with their mysteries. I truly enjoyed this story, even if I was on the edge of my seat for most of it. I had my suspicions about our culprit; I got some of it right, but there were twists that I didn’t see until they were masterfully revealed.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of No Rest for the Wicked by Rachel Louise Adams.

Until the next time,

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About Rachel Louise Adams

RACHEL LOUISE ADAMS was raised in a small town in Brittany by a French father and a North American mother. After studying literature at university, she wrote her PhD thesis on American fast foods and meat-eating. When she isn’t writing or reading, she can be found advocating for animal rights, spending time with her fiancé, her friends, and her two cats.

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