#BookReview ‘No Rest For The Wicked’ by Rachel Louise Adams

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.

Huge thanks to Charlotte at Titan Books for my gifted review copy of ‘No Rest For The Wicked’ by Rachel Louise Adams which was published in paperback format in September 2025.

It is a terrific debut novel which spans genres, from thriller to horror,as it explores what it means for Dolores Hawthorne to grow up in a town where her family history is inexorably intertwined with the biggest , most profitable time of the year for Little Horton, Halloween.

Having left her home and established herself as a forerunner in the field of forensics, her skills become a handcuff as they are required to investigate not only the disappearance of her father, but also historical crimes that echo back to her childhood.

Generational trauma and reconnecting with her step mother and siblings , shows how much she has grown and changed, when out of the shadow of her influential family.

Working with others is not her favourite trait,her father’s disappearance is considered an urgent issue to resolve as there are rumoured links with corruption and the hiding of secrets . Except Dolores has a few of her own…

Tying in her investigation with that of a junior policewoman who is struggling to get anyone to listen to her career ambitions, sent to look into the disappearance of feral cats that previously over ran the town, the two cases are intrinsically linked with the spooky season.#

It is almost a little reminiscent of Jaws, with the whole ‘we can’t shut down the town this close to Halloween!’ replacing the beach being opened, capitalism is king and if Dolores could only just solve the case of the disappearing dad without drawing negative attention to the town at such an auspicious time, that would be swell!

What I enjoyed about this book was how well rounded and realised Dolores is, she has this coping mechanism to tackle rising panic, where she names the bones of the skull, and she has a lot to deal with in terms of grief, abandonment and dissociation from her remaining family. In the work environment she excels and I loved the procedural aspect of the story.

Her generational trauma and reasons for leaving her step siblings behind, is slowly revealed, there is constant rising tension and conflict between what she is trying to maintain as a professional, as well as her younger step brother and sister holding her to account for the missing years when she wasn’t there for them.

Closure may be needed, but there are several steps to go towards making that happen, and in order to do so, some skeletons may need to be understood as a whole , rather than as a collection of words repeated with a talismanic power.

I LOVED it and cannot wait to see what Rachel does next!

5 Things You Should Know About Me:

1) I don’t believe in rating books, so all the reviews I leave on Goodreads will be 5 stars. Happy birthday to all authors, I guess.

2) I’m the proud creature of two wonderful cats.

3) I don’t believe in choosing between a great plot and great characters. Readers deserve both. But if I had to choose, I’d choose characters.

4) Don’t open a book of mine until you’ve checked the content warnings on The Story Graph.

5) Storytelling is magical. I sincerely believe that creating makes us better humans. Part of that process is connecting with readers, so reach out to me. I’ll answer you, and I’ll be glad to hear from you.

Finally, as to the sort of books that I like–let’s just say that if a talented author rips out my heart, stabs it, and hands it back, my response will be: ‘Thanks. I’m your number one fan’.