Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exhange for an honest review.
I thought this book was a funny and cute 1st book in a new cozy mystery series.
It had great characters, an interesting job description for the main character and a good murder mystery.
I would definitely read more books in this series.

Former reporter, current PR rep, and more recent than that a murder suspect. In order to stay off the radar and out of prison Alex Vlodnachek is going to have to use all of her skills to find the real murderer.

Living up to the title, there are a lot of red herrings and twists in this mystery. Alex is a former reporter, a tough enough protagonist to not succumb to her boss' outlandish request, but when he is found dead, she is a suspect. It was a good debut with lots of twists to sift through.

This is the cutest new cozy series. We get to meet Alex and her adorable family just as she becomes a murder suspect. Using her reporter skills she starts investigating with help and uncovers all kinds of crazy stuff. It was fun to follow the twists and turns in the story coming to a shocking conclusion. Great for fans of the genre. I really enjoyed it so I give it 4/5 stars.

DNF Review

*I received an eARC of Confessions of a Red Herring from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.*

I made it 25% through this modern cozy mystery before deciding I would not finish it. Unfortunately, I am not a fan of Dratch's writing style, and could not force myself to keep reading. Not only is it annoying that many words are abbreviated (i.e., "sibs" and "obit"), but Dratch continually uses the same sentence construction throughout the book.

Keeping in mind that I only made it a quarter through the novel, I highlighted five instances of this sentence structure. Emphasis is added in each quotation.

"My first thought: 'We're saved! I can pay my bills!'" (Location 1081).

"Say one thing for my sibs: every single one of them had come through for me," (Location 1084).

"When the flow of words dried up, it always came back to the same thing: not enough information," (Location 1102).

"My read: the police didn't know squat and weren't talking," (Location 1112).

"What I hadn't anticipated: long hours, stress, and worry had gifted me with deep, dark circles under my eyes," (Location 1193).

In addition to this repetitive writing style, there are factual errors in the novel. For example, the main character claims she is a huge Law and Order fan, and attempts to impress the reader by saying she watches "All three versions," (Location 917). However, there are, in fact, four versions of Law and Order. A simple Google search reveals that. I am also quite disappointed with the use of mock Spanish in the novel.

Thus, based on my experience reading the first section of this book, I cannot recommend it. While the mystery itself is intriguing, the writing did not compel me to finish the book.

Synopsis:

As a reporter, she’s used to covering the news.
Now she’s the headline.

Alex Vlodnachek has been a reporter for 12 years, a P.R. rep for three months, and a murder suspect for all of 24 hours. When her agency's double-dealing CEO is stabbed, scheming co-workers cast the new redhead as a compelling red herring. The story is media catnip—especially her salacious nickname: Vlod the Impaler.

Even Alex has to admit she looks guilty.

Out of a job and under suspicion, Alex is running low on cash, when she’s visited by a second disaster: her family. Soon her tiny bungalow is bursting with her nearest and not-so-dearest. To keep herself out of jail—and save what’s left of her sanity—Alex returns to her reporting roots. She goes undercover to reclaim her life, break the story, and unmask a murderer. Pretty much in that order.

What she doesn’t know: The killer also has a to-do list.
And Alex is on it. (Goodreads)



Review:

The characters are well rounded and well developed. Alex is fiesty and spunky and does not let much slow her down. When the CEO of her company gets murdered, she is considered a person of interest. It is a good thing that she used to be a reporter. She will need all of her skills to clear her name. I enjoyed getting to meet her crazy zany family and they added a lot of humor to the book. Her two brothers and her grandmother were quite a handful and I had to laugh at some of their antics.

The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and those descriptions drew me into the story. The language was a little harsher than most cozies but not offensive in any way.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a humorous lighthearted cozy mystery. If you like funny you have to give this book a try.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Kensington Books, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.

After leaving a poorly paid job she loved for one in PR that paid her well, Alex Vlodnachek discovers that she may have made a mistake when her new boss seemed to think the salary included her sleeping with clients. Quitting immediately, her second thoughts increased exponentially when her boss is murdered. As a last resort, she investigates to keep from having to move into jail. Tone is smart, yet humorous. Mystery fair and well-developed.

I haven’t given a five star rating in a long time. This book was that great. I could really connect with the main character who used to work for a newspaper since I still do work for a daily newspaper. (And I do have a weakness for British chaps too.)

All the situations that happened to Alex had me involved in a plethora of emotions ranging from fear to awe. It all seemed so plausible to happen in real life that I had to set the book down for a bit to find my bearings. This writer is that good.

She was gas-lighted and forced to work a horrible job just to get the evidence she needed to prove who had really done in her PR boss. There were a lot of characters introduced which is logical since this is book one in a series. And I think the author handled that well.

I felt bad for her brother who had almost as many ups and downs as she did during the duration of the book. I look to see him and grandma make more appearances in future offerings from this author.

Since book one was so amazing, I kind of wonder what is up for book two. I hope it is just as awesome.

If you love a good cozy mystery, definitely check this one out.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

Former reporter Alex Vlodnachek is trading a twelve-year career as a journalist to become a PR rep. But when her agency's CEO tells her she has to sleep with a client she tells him what he can do with his idea. The next day he is found dead, and Alex is the main suspect

Out of a job, and the subject of rampant speculation in the media, Alex and her best friend, Trip, use her reporting skills to try and track down a killer, before she becomes their next victim. Adding to Alex's problems is the fact her brother and his new bride have shown up on her doorstep, looking to stay for a while until they can get on a new home.

In an effort to keep herself out of jail, Alex goes undercover, to break a story, and find a killer.

This is one of the more entertaining books I have read this year. Ms. Dratch's writing flows perfectly and takes the reader on a journey that provides an entertaining tale and makes them laugh from time to time. I figured out the whodunit fairly early in the book, but I still enjoyed taking the journey to figure out why, and to see what would happen next. The only thing that kept this from being a five star book was the fact I did figure it out so soon.

I liked Alex, maybe because as a former journalist I identified with her as she went about the investigation. I liked her style, and that made her a very likable heroine and made me wonder what will come next of her. It was a good thing there was a sample of the next book, Seeing Red. I have put it on the top of my wish list.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

This was a very interesting book with some unique twists. I loved the kooky cast of characters - especially Alex's family. I really enjoyed the mystery, but it did feel like it was missing something.

4.5 stars.

This was so fun! I loved the characters in this one. The murder was only part of the pile of garbage going on in the main character's life. But that tension was balanced with some awesome, triumphant moments and great humor. I will definitely be sticking with this series! (some language)

This is a strong start to what i hope is a long series. I enjoyed this book. I look forward to more books by this author.

Awesome cozy mystery! Filled with great characters and lots of laughs. Can’t wait to read more in this series.

A well-written story with interesting characters. A nice debut to a new cozy series! I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

This book had interesting characters aplenty and some good chuckles. The book tended to drag a bit for me which brought my rating down to 3 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book, which I voluntarily chose to review.

I was unable to finish this book. I read a few chapters and found the writing and story to both be lacking in any interest.

I'll admit I had my doubts about this one at first. Alex seemed to fall into that too-common cozy-mystery category of young woman who can't get her life together. And for a while, it looked like that might be all she was. Then the author cranked up the disasters in her life until I was rolling my eyes.

If you hit that point and want to quit, take my advice: keep going. Right when I was ready to quit, the story grabbed me by the face and I was rolling through it at high speed, laughing at the insane plot and dying to know how it would all come out. So why the slow start? It's not that the book starts off slow--it doesn't. The author jumps right into a wild story. It just took me a while to warm to Alex, I guess. Once I did, the characters began to become real to me, and I wanted more.

I did notice that the book is a bit longer than most first-in-series cozy mysteries, and maybe that led to my feelings that we were spending too long piling up the misery before it began to unravel. It was the point where things began to go right where I really bought into the story, so that's possible. Maybe I was just having a bad week. In any case, after passing the middle, I read the remaining 200+ pages in 2 sittings.

The mystery itself wasn't too hard to figure out, but the author manages to create enough doubt to keep you reading (even aside from the desire to find out what Baba will do next). Alex's decision to root out the truth herself is pretty well justified (though it turns out the police are not being at all incompetent, just not fast enough for her). She needs to put a stop to this both to protect herself and because she is a reporter at heart, and for the most part it works, though there are some things she did that should have gotten her in a lot of trouble.

My take-away: This cozy isn't obsessed with food, with romance, or with handicrafts. As far as I'm concerned, that's a huge plus. There are interesting characters, including the most annoying and adorable puppy ever. The mystery is a little transparent, but it holds together and the story is a blast. Read it! I'm rating 3 stars for the slow start, but it's really 3.5, solidly.

Filled with snarky fun, this crime caper takes the reader on a wild ride inside the world of public relations. Alex is one of those people who just seems to have stuff happen to her. Her great plans are often upset by others, much like in real life, making Alex feel like a good girl caught in bad circumstances.

There are hard lines drawn in the sand on the characters in Confessions of a Red Herring. And while I would have liked to have seen the bad guys not completely black-hearted, their roles suited the plot very well. The stakes continued to be elevated for Alex until a final showdown with the ultimate bad guy.

This was a fun story that kept me reading, laughing, and wondering, who the ultimate bad guy really was. A good read for fans of madcap capers.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Alex Vlodnachek’s life is a mess, she left a job she had for years that she loved for a job that pays extremely well that she hates. She can’t believe her boss tried to get her to entertain a client in his hotel room. She turned her boss down flat and walked away. She even called in sick to work on Monday to try to wrap her head around the insanity and plot a new future. That was until the police knocked on her door to tell her that her boss had been killed and she was their prime suspect. Say What??

She tries to return to the office to find out what the heck is going on but she is escorted out by security. How is she going to clear her name when she doesn’t even know the whole story? She decides to use what she learned as a reporter and start doing her own investigation. Even going undercover in the building where she was unceremoniously booted out.

If being out of a job and being a murder suspect isn’t enough she has to deal with family members that have come to visit unannounced. Her tiny little house is exploding at the seams but what’s a girl to do. Maybe they will be able to help. She just hopes she doesn’t get them killed in the process.

What a great start for this series. First of all, I absolutely love Alex and her grandmother, Baba. Don’t ask me to choose, they are both wonderful characters. In fact, the entire cast is fantastic including dog Lucy. Alex’s best friend “Trip” is the perfect best friend. We all need a Trip in our lives. Her brother, Nick, a former emu farmer, has also come to town, hoping Alex can help him smooth something over with their family. The last person they expected to arrive on the doorstep was Baba. She takes over the house, cleaning and “cooking” and she takes the job of protecting her granddaughter very seriously. Alex is a strong woman but Baba can bring her to her knees. These are strong characters and very well developed for the first book in a series.

So much happens in this story. At times, I felt my head was spinning, but the author brought everything together for one fantastic ending. I was drawn deeply into the story following leads with Alex. What was happening at that P.R. firm was just crazy, but Alex stuck with it, trying to show police there were many other suspects. She was also dealing with her old firm messing up her life in unbelievable ways. There was drama at home to stay on top of too. Alex was a real superwoman to keep juggling all those balls in the air.

This book was suspenseful and also funny. The title really fits the story. The characters were engaging and eclectic. The dialogue was realistic, there was a bit of explicit language, minimal. I really enjoyed this book start to finish. I am more than excited to see where the author takes this series.

If you are looking for a new cozy series with a fun protagonist, look no further. The one is a perfect escape!

Former crime reporter (and redhead) Alex Vlodnachek anticipated different experiences when she changed careers, but never imagined a scenario in which she'd be accused of murdering her new boss, Everett Coleman. Nevertheless, when the unscrupulous public relations firm partner is found stabbed to death, Alex's competitive co-workers launch a vigorous p.r. campaign to pin the murder on her--even though she is the least likeliest suspect. Yes, Alex had a very public disagreement with the victim shortly before his demise, but there are plenty of others with stronger motives for murder. The vengeful wife, the conniving mistress, the peculiar business partner, the unfulfilled twin adult children, and a number of disgruntled current and former employees--any one of them would benefit with Coleman out of the picture.

Unhappy in her role as the "red herring" of the murder investigation, Alex decides to put her reporter skills to work and conduct her own search for the killer. What ensues is a hilarious series of events beginning with Alex going undercover as a cleaning woman to gain access to her former office. Along the way, she is both helped and hindered by family members who arrive unexpectedly on her doorstep. Alex must press on, relying on her resourcefulness to restore her reputation, survive the overprotectiveness and well-meaning actions of her family, and safeguard herself and them from danger.

Confessions of a Red Herring is an engaging murder mystery made more enjoyable by snappy dialog, laugh-out-loud scenes, and a cast of quirky, lovable supporting characters. The close-knit and humorously dysfunctional Vlodnachek clan, headed by the intrepid Baba, family pup Lucy, and Alex's friends and neighbors in her Fordham, Virginia community add the vibrant ingredients readers expect to find in a successful cozy series. In this first installment, Dana Dratch introduces relatable characters with promising future storylines. I eagerly await the arrival of book two, Seeing Red, and Alex's next adventure.