This is a fun cozy that revolves around Lyla and her book club, the Jane Does. Lyla was raised to be a genteel southern lady, but she loves unsolved mysteries. They intrigue her, much to her mother's chagrin. Lyla's best friend, Mel, is due to return from a vacation. A vacation where the airline lost her luggage. So Lyla, doesn't question anything when a bag shows up on her doorstep. She assumes it is Mel's and with Mel living next door, no big deal. How wrong she is. A member of the Jane Doe book club has been killed and stuffed in the suitcase. The club sets out to find the murderer.

I enjoyed the plot. It was unique, and intriguing. The Lyla is a fun character. Everyone has a little quirk which is entertaining. The writing style and plot grabbed my attention. The murderer was a bit of a surprise and so was the motive.

This is a pretty good start to a new mystery series! A clever mystery, good characters and a relatable main character lead to a book that will grab you quickly and become un-put-downable. It's also nice to have a mystery series set firmly in the South with Southern ladies.

That said....

Two notes: It's obvious that this is the author's first book and it probably needed a better editor. For example, I was initially thoroughly confused because there's the Jane Doe book Club and the Jane Doe murders and the two are unrelated. Likewise, the main character keeps referring to her "friend" leading me to say, "Which One???" Some plot bits got introduced so abruptly that I immediately thought I missed something and spent 10 minutes flipping frantically back in the book. Also, someone should tell the author not to use passive tense so much. However, I'm willing to chalk this up to "new writer."

The other quibble I had was with the advertising for this book. As others have noted, this book has too much gore to be a cozy. The setting is cozy, I suppose, but I would call this plain old mystery. This, however, is not the author's fault; I think their marketing was to fail here.

A third note: the Kindle version of this book is absolutely _unreadable_. I had to download the Netgalley app just to read this book.

All in all, this is a good series start!

This isn't a stereotypical cozy mystery. The blurb compared it to Ellery Adams and Kate Carlisle, both of which I have read and enjoyed, but it is more graphic and dark. Lyla works for her uncle at a Private Investigation company. She belongs to the Jane Doe Book Club which studies unidentified dead women and crimes, both fiction and real. It was exciting and a bit suspenseful and I didn't guess the culprit.

Oh my goodness this book was such a delight to read! I was kept guessing until the end and I loved the protagonist and her gumption. I know a lot of cozy female protagonists have a lot of gumption but this one was fearless and feisty and I appreciated her aggressive nature in her sleuthing and her no buts about it attitude in doing so.

Lyla Moody has an obsession with true crime and mysteries. She is a member of the Jane Does, a mystery book club that shares her fascination with crimes and whodunits. Unfortunately, true crime hits home as one of their members is murdered. As the story unravels in exciting twists and turns we learn there is something extremely sinister afoot in the sleepy town of Sweet Mountain, GA.

I loved, loved, loved this book. I was both disappointed to see there were no more and delighted at the possibilities that this might become a series. Oh I so hope it does. I would even be willing to pay hardcover prices for it.

I will say given this was an ARC sometimes it was a little hard to read because I did not receive the book in it's edited glory so sometimes it was difficult to tell which character was speaking. However, it certainly did not detract from my enjoyment of the story.

I will caution fellow cozy readers- this one is a little dark and there is some profanity throughout, which does not bother me. However, what seems to be the hallmark of the cozy genre is limited violence, no sex and no swearing. I think the addition of some well needed four letter exclamations add to the story when appropriate.

Oh please give us more of these!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kate Young for an ARC copy On Borrowed Crime. This is my personal review.

On Borrowed Crime is the first book in the new series A Jane Doe Book Club Mystery by Kate Young.
Lyla Moody is working as receptionist at her uncle's PI business. But her real ambition is to be a PI. What she really wants to do is to be a PI solving crimes.
Lyla is part of the Jane Doe Book Club. They read mystery books in this club and they try to solve the murder before they get to the end of the book. Little did they know one of their own book club members turns up dead and this gives Lyla the chance she needs to solve a real-life murder mystery.
This is a wonderful first book in the new series and I look forward to reading more in this series.

"A shoe-in read for fans of Ellery Adams and Kate Carlisle, On Borrowed Crime is the first in Kate Young's new Georgia-set, sweet tea filled, Jane Doe Book Club mysteries.

The Jane Doe book club enjoys guessing whodunit, but when murder happens in their midst, they discover solving crimes isn't fun and games...

Lyla Moody loves her sleepy little town of Sweet Mountain, Georgia. She likes her job as receptionist for her uncle's private investigative firm, her fellow true crime obsessed Jane Doe members are the friends she's always wanted, and her parents just celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. But recently, with her best friend Melanie on vacation, and her ex-boyfriend and horrible cousin becoming an item and moving in next door to her, her idyllic life is on the fritz. The cherry on top of it all is finding Carol, a member of the club, dead and shoved into a suitcase, left at Lyla's front door.

Unusual circumstances notwithstanding, with Carol's heart condition, the coroner rules Carol's death undetermined. But when they discover the suitcase belongs to Melanie, who had returned from her vacation the following morning, Sweet Mountain police begin to suspect Lyla's best friend. Determined that police are following the wrong trail, to clear her friend's name, and to not allow Carol become one of the club's studied cold cases, Lyla begins to seek out the real killer. That is, until she becomes the one sought after. Now, finding the truth could turn her into the killer's next plot twist, unless she wins the game of cat and mouse."

OK, yes, I'm all here for the true crime and the book club angle!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was a very cosy murder mystery novel full of twists and great detective work. It also had a good structure, was well written and I quickly got into it. The main character Lyla is a lovable and determined woman, which I liked. This is the first book in a series and there were some open storylines at the end of the book that I can't wait to explore further in the next book. At the same time it does work well as a stand alone book too, so it is also something for readers that are not fans of series. Leaving the best to last: I had no idea on who dunnit until it unfolded!

Many thanks to NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first in a new series.
Although it has cozy aspects, it is far too dark and graphic in my opinion to be classified as a cozy.
It was okay but not what I expected.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

Thank you to Kate Young, Kensington Books and NetGalley for letting me read On Borrowed Crime: A Jane Doe Mystery.

Lyla is a young southern belle with an odd obsession - she and her book group ‘The Jane Doe Bookclub’ can’t get enough of Murder mysteries. But when one of their own is the next victim; will the truth be stranger than fiction?

I loved the character in this book and they beautiful way you, as the reader, find yourself situated right in the middle of complex, endearing relationships that are easy to resonate with. Lyla is a smart, headstrong girl following her passion despite the naysayers and it’s great how every time she’s targeted by the killer, she just gets more determined to solve the crime! I’m excited to see how she develops in future books as a butt kicking belle.

You’ll be guessing till the end with this one as the story is well crafted and everyone looks guilty! Interestingly, I found myself casting some of the psycho chicks from the Bachelor AU as the divas running around in this book! 🤣

In all, a great book with smart characters and a well paced story. Keen to watch this series unfold.

I didn't much care for writing style of this book. There was too much dialogue with so many characters that all sounded the same that it didn't even seem to matter who was speaking. I also felt the transitions were abrupt and sometimes made it difficult to understand what was going on.
The story itself was okay, with potential to be better if I had liked any of the characters but I didn't very much. The main character, Lyla, was the most interesting and only really developed character. All the characters had formal and unnatural sounding dialogue.

On Borrowed Crime is the perfect starter for the Jane Doe Book Club mystery series. If you're a fan of book clubs, and the Aurora Teagarden Mystery series by Charlaine Harris then this is going to be a book/series you'll want to check out.

Having enjoyed other titles by Kate Young, On Borrowed Crime, definitely did not disappoint! Reminiscent of Ellery Adams' Secret, Scone, and Book Society, (which I loved), I can't wait to read more of the Jane Doe Book Clubs' antics!

Any lover of cozy mysteries will love this series.

This is the first in a new series by Kate Young. What a great start! Lyla works as a receptionist for her uncle in his PI office. When one of her friends is found dead,or rather dumped at her door in a suitcase, it is only natural for Lyla to become involved.
Lyla also belongs to the Jane Doe Book Club, these women that are friends, yet have flaws that can be related to.
Dysfunctional parents, fast paced read and had me guessing until the very end. Love Lyla's grandmother!

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read this book.

I loved this one! It was the perfect blend of cozy mystery and thriller! On borrowed crime kept me on edge until the very end and left me shocked when the killer was finally revealed! I loved Lyla and I loved her grandmother and uncle! Such incredible characters!

I went back and forth about how I'd rate 'On Borrowed Crime' book 1 in the Jane Doe Book Club mystery series by Kate Young, but ultimately I give it 5 stars! The few qualms I had with this novel couldn't outweigh the good time I had trying to unravel the mystery along with the main sleuth Lyla. So let's start with the positives! This cozy married a cold case with a fresh case of murder which forced our sleuth to dig into a past murder to uncover the present murder - a really fun dynamic that I see rarely in other cozies!

There's also the character dynamics to consider - the author wasn't afraid to show a sort of ugly side to everyone. Lyla's parents were having arguments, her mother is cold, withholding and judgemental, her ex love interest is mostly dismissive, and some of her fellow book club members were nasty about her interest in wanting to help solve the case. There were a lot of not-so-cozy, prickly personalities which at first felt unpleasant to read, but that I ultimately decided was a nice change of pace. It's ok to be different!

I honestly couldn't put the book down and just wanted to know how everything tied together. And a bigger part of me wanted Lyla to overcome all of the negativity that was coming at her from all directions (her parents, her ex, her 'friends'), and I was not disappointed.

The only negatives I felt were... that as a northerner I struggled with the southern aspect of the novel to a small extent. Not so much the 'ya'lls' and cultural differences but the use of 'Daddy' coming from a 31 year old is weird to me, and the Mother constantly talking about Lyla needing to get married and have babies - ugh. The constant show of disrespect from the Mother about Lyla's 'dead' club and her choice of profession, the one member of the book club who had kids acting like she was fed up with Lyla because she was just trying to have "me time" and solving the murder of her friend wasn't as important as relaxing while she had time away from her kids - wow. The book also lacked diversity - you definitely get the sense that it's the white south and the characters are in their own bubble of privilege. But if I'm being honest - we all know that some social circles really are that insular in real life.

A very well written and entertaining cozy mystery. A good plot and character development. I look forward to reading more books in this this series. I received an advance ebook from the publisher and this is my unbiased review.

The author did a great job in telling this evenly paced drama that had me immersed in all aspects. From meeting the various characters and the pivotal role they played, this was an enjoyable read. The mystery was well-written where the potential suspects were hiding in plain sight and the clues, were told in a way that kept me guessing. I had my suspicion as to the perpetrator and it was fun watching all the pieces fit together. There were a few red herrings, one in particular, that enhanced my reading pleasure. Lyla is a likable protagonist and I like the relationship she has with her friends and family. Overall, when all was said and done, this was a great start in this debut series, and I look forward to more exciting cases with Lyla and her friends.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an ARC of On Borrowed Crime in exchange for an unbiased review. This book is the first in a new series that follows members of the Jane Doe book club. The writing is good, the plot is engaging and the book is a relatively quick read that is able to keep the reader interested until the end.
I look forward to more character development in future books. I need to know, for example, how the club members get along, why they continue to meet and more about some individual back stories. Their chemistry felt flat to me. I'm also curious to know more about Lyla's mother and uncle and their history. In short, there are some loose ends that will make me want to read the next book in the series.

I've not read this author before, so it may just be me, but I was finding it hard to keep track who the characters were. Very early on one of the characters gave me creeps. The actions of police was also a concern. It was a little heavier than my normal cozies.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

On Borrowed Crime is the first book in the new Jane Doe Book Club series. This was my first Kate Young book, and I absolutely loved it. I loved the protagonist Lyla, and all the secondary characters involved. Makes me want to start my own Jane Doe Book Club! If you're a fan of cozies, this is a fantastic book!