The Safe Room by Lisa Unger @leheny_leheny @brilliancepublishing #TheSafeRoom

the setup…
Rae Donovan is a private investigator in New York City. She’s married with a daughter in college and is sort of estranged from her father, a retired former FBI photographer who lives in Adirondack. But when she gets a call that he may be dying, she rushes to see him, arriving just a short time before he dies. Apparently he was poisoned and Rae can’t help looking into his life to investigate the who and why. She finds a treasure trove of clues in his house, including a secret room with a safe.

the heart of the story…
As Rae didn’t know a lot about her father’s life, her search through his home was as revealing to her as it was to me. I liked the tension of going into the unknown and not having a clue about potential threats. The step back into her past to explain how she became a private investigator was helpful in understanding the risks she took.

the narration..
I always enjoy Vivienne Leheny and she completely sold me on Rae. As usual, her storytelling was excellent.

the bottom line…
While I liked the story, as a whole it didn’t quite live up to the early tension. The ending fell a little flat and left some dangling threads. However, it was entertaining and Rae is a character I’d definitely want to see more of in a longer story or series.

Book Info

• Release Date: July 1, 2026
• Narrator: Vivienne Leheny
• Audio Length: 2 hours, 10 minutes
• Publisher: Amazon Original Stories

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(Thanks to Brilliance Audio and NetGalley for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.)