Author: Caryn Larrinaga
Narrator: Jessica McEvoy
Length: 9 hours 54 minutes
Series: The Soul Searchers Mysteries, Book 1
Released: Aug. 1, 2017
Publisher: Twisted Tree Press
Genre: Supernatural Cozy Mystery
"Grief can change us... rewire our brains and shift the way we look at the world..."
After returning home from her father's funeral to find her boyfriend in bed with another woman, Mackenzie Clair is looking for a fresh start. She thinks she'll find it in her favorite childhood vacation spot, but returning to Donn's Hill awakens more than nostalgia. Mac regains a lost psychic ability to talk to the dead, and the poltergeist haunting her apartment is desperate to make her use that gift to find his killer.
Aided by her new roommate - a spirited Tortoiseshell cat named Striker, and the ghost-hunting crew of the nationally televised show Soul Searchers, Mac struggles to learn how to use her powers. But she'd better get a handle on them fast, because someone in town is hiding a deadly secret. If Mac can't somehow divine the truth, Donn's Hill will never be the same.



Caryn Larrinaga is a self-described horror evangelist and paranormal junkie. Her debut supernatural mystery novel, DONN’S HILL, won the League of Utah Writers 2017 Silver Quill Award in the adult novel category and was a 2017 Dragon Award finalist. Her short fiction has won multiple honors and been featured in local and international anthologies. Watching scary movies through split fingers terrified Caryn as a child, and those nightmares inspire her to write now. She lives near Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband and their clowder of cats. Visit www.carynlarrinaga.com for free short stories and audiobooks.
Between peddling video games and teaching yoga in her home state of Arizona, Jessica McEvoy attempts to conduct a career as a professional voice actress. This, however, is moderately undermined by the fact that she records in a dimly lit closet with her microphone balanced on a stack of old board games (Junior Scrabble and Powerpuff Girls Monopoly form a strong foundation), but she hopes that no one holds that against her.
Though her main work consists of narrating audiobooks, her first dive into the voice world was through the NoSleep podcast after answering a post from the LibriVox forums. Having been raised on horror movies and scary stories, she was beyond excited to be able to work on the show. Many stories, tortured screams, deranged villains, and creepy little girl giggles later, Jessica hopes to work on the podcast for seasons and seasons to come.

Donn's Hill is the first book in the new "The Soul Searchers Mysteries" series. As one unfamiliar with this author, I was simply intrigued by the book teaser. Donn's Hill was a fresh and unique surprise in that it didn't fall squarely into a "typical" paranormal or murder mystery or thriller categories but was lovely, cozy blend of all the best. Mac is a wonderful protagonist - the fact that she is so vulnerable, grieving her father's death and the disastrous lossof her long term relationship, and fighting the realization that she has psychic ghost connection skills makes for an interesting heroine. She is a loner who finds what she never knew she needed in her new friends, gifts and town as she untangles the mysterious world of the dead and the dangerous world of the living with the help of the Soul Searcher crew.
The writing was well crafted, the characters fully developed and dialogue flowed easily. It made for an amazing audiobook - with Jessica McEvoy narrating brilliantly. As a narrator, she manages to capture every unique character's voice, including Striker the cat's (seriously, she can trill just like my cat does when watching birds!). The cast of ghost-hunting crew and the folks of Donn's Hill will take up residence in the reader's brain as the story flows with perfect pace and pitch. Caryn Larrinaga has managed the perfect storm, creating a story that reads out loud as well as on the page. I am absolutely looking forward to the next installment in this captivating series.
I give Donn's Hill 5 Chocolate Dipped Strawberries and our Ultimate Indulgence Award.
I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Caryn Larrinaga. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.
Q&A with Author Caryn Larrinaga