Ok, so Kate Young has quickly risen to the top ranks of my favourite cozy mystery authors. She is such a talented writer & reading her work has been a joy. This time around, the murder has occurred during a big charity party at Lyla’s parents house. Lyla discovers the body & the crime is all too similar to the Jane Does current read for the book club. It’s always a good thing to have Agatha Christie references, imho. Young paints a completely charming & quirky town filled with rich characters. But just as in book one, what I really love about her writing is that she’s not afraid to be a little gritty & dark. It’s still a cozy, that’s for sure, however it has a little edge to it that I’m loving. It’s very unique & I think a lot of readers will enjoy it. I can’t wait for book 3 of the Jane Doe Book Club.

I had listened to the first of the series and thought it was a fun cozy mystery.

I am pleasantly surprised at how much more "grit" this one had to it!

The story moved along at a good pace and the characters are developing in ways I'm so happy with.
Lyla has matured and has backbone and a strength she did not have in the first book. It is so nice to see her developing into a formidable PI. I especially like that the character has her eyes open in her romantic life too. So happy to not read about her pining away after Quinn.

I am looking forward to book three.

Kate has done it again with a brilliant outing in Sweet Mountain. Lyla Moody is back, fresh, feisty and on the hunt of a killer who’s put her own family in harms way.
The stand out character in this series for me is Lyla’s best friend, Melanie who responds to stressful situations (like finding bodies) by laughing uncontrollably. I kind of think that would be me.
A great cast of characters and a really good twist in this latest Jane Doe book club mystery.

Bizarre Traits Of Fiction...
A Jane Doe Book Club mystery. It’s Halloween and the book club have chosen the wonderful Crooked House by Agatha Christie as the read up for discussion. All is well until a real life murder occurs which has bizarre traits of their chosen novel. Can the book club put their heads together to get to the bottom of this mystery and what will they uncover along the way? Entertaining and enjoyable cosy mystery with a likeable protagonist in Lyla and a colourful cast of supporting characters.

This book had me guessing whodunit from the moment the murder happened. All the twists and turns offered many different ideas and I was floored when the murder was revealed at the end. My favorite character is still Gran followed by Lyla. It would be awesome to have Grand and Lyla solve a case...that would be a hoot!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an advance copy.

This is the second book in the series, but first one I’ve read, and I’m glad I’ve been introduced to this early on! The story was good and the mystery was very well done; I kind of guessed a bit of it, but was still very surprised by the ending in a good way.

A fun murder mystery focusing on the members of the Jane Doe Book Club that have yet another murder on their hands, a man murdered at a library, no less.

I LOVE this series! I would love to be a member in the Jane Doe Book Club. Lyla Moody drops her grandmother off while her mother is hosting a charity event. Unfortunately, a man is murdered and Lyla is determined to find the killer. It opens up many secrets her mother has been keeping it secret. I can’t wait for the next. It’s like hanging with a group of friends!

#ReadingBetweentheCrimes #NetGalley

I love reading books about books. This murder mystery is based on an Agatha Christie novel (which I have not read, but now I really want to). I adored the Jane Doe book club! Great story and will be looking forward to more in this series.


Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Second in the Jane Doe Book Club Mysteries.
Lyla Moody and her grandmother arrive at a charity event that Lyla's mother is holding. Shortly after, they discover a body in the library - the husband of Harper Robinson, a friend of the Jane Does. As Lyla investigates the murder with her friends, she has a hard time understanding her mother's unwavering support for Harper. Secrets are revealed - the ending was a complete surprise.
Great addition to the series - can't wait to read the next book.

Halloween is a great time to dig in to a new murder mystery. And what better book for the Jane Doe Book Club but the Agatha Christie’s Crooked house. Lyla Moody and her friends are soon involved in a murder that echoes the novel in question.

When Lyla and her grandmother show up at a charity event that Lyla’s mother is hosting at the family’s house they stumble across the dead body of the husband of one of the Jane Doe’s friends.

While trying to solve the murder Lyla stumbles across secrets from her mother’s past that suggests that her own house is crooked.

To find the killer Lyla has to dig deep into her mother’s past as much as the killers. And it has a shocking ending that you didn’t see coming.

This was a great book and story and I can’t wait for the next book in this series.

I really enjoyed this book. The story line was great with all the twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. The characters were well suited for the story. I wish that there was more interaction and romance between Lyla and Brad as he was in the outskirts of the story. The ending was not what I expected with Charles and the family and his interest in Kyla. I am looking forward the the 3rd in the series in the next chapter of the Jane Doe Book Club.

Thanking you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC.
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I really enjoyed READING BETWEEN THE CRIMES. I didn’t realise it was the second book when I picked it up (curse you NetGalley!) and, as someone who hates reading out of order, it’s a real testament to this book how much I still enjoyed it. I’ll be looking up the first book and following the author’s future instalments.

So, obviously, I’d recommend READING BETWEEN THE CRIMES (and I suspect the Jane Doe Book Club Mystery series as a whole) to most cozy mystery fans.

It’s got a great atmosphere and I really liked the Georgia setting. The ending is explosive, far more dramatic than I was expecting. The storyline — towards the end, as Lyla begins to put all the pieces together — was a touch darker than I expected too. I think READING BETWEEN THE CRIMES might be a particularly good choice for readers interested in cozies who tend to find them a bit on the overly cutsie side.

However, the blurb summary is rather misleading on a couple of counts, and I think it could put readers off a book they’d otherwise enjoy.

“What better time than Halloween to dig into a bracing discussion of a diabolical murder mystery?“

READING BETWEEN THE CRIMES doesn’t mention Halloween at all, neither does it have any sort of spooky or autumnal vibes. If you’re a reader who loves a spooky cozy, you’ll not find it here.

References to the Jane Doe Book Club are a overplaying their hand a little too. Yes, the club is briefly mentioned, and there are one or two mentions of Agatha Christie’s Crooked House, but I couldn’t say that I thought either played a particularly important roll in the story. I’d have loved to have seen more of the book group and their discussions, and perhaps seen more of a literary connection emphasised.

Book 2 in the Jane Doe Book Club series, Reading Between the Crimes finds Lyla Moody in the middle of an investigation for a murder which happened at her parents house. Her friend and book club member has becomes the prime suspect, but the more Lyla digs the closer to home to trail leads.

I enjoyed Lyla as our heroine and her bookish friends. Lyla’s grandmother is funny an sometimes steals the show. Best of all I did not see the ending coming.

Thank you NetGalley for the eArc.

DNF at 45%. I love a good book themed murder mystery, but I'm so struggling to get into this one. The main character is boring and kitschy and the other characters aren't making up for it so far. Unheard of for me to stop reading a mystery but I was too bored to continue.

I really wanted to like this book, but it didn't live up to my expectations. Lyla, a PI, isn't a believable or instinctive character and I found a lot of the conversations in the book trite and unrealistic. Sadly I won't be reading another Jane Doe cozy mystery.

I wanted to like this book.

I always like the premise of so-called "cozy mysteries" but I haven't found any series yet that has just wowed me. This book seemed like it could fit the bill, so I was incredibly disappointed when I hit about 50% and realized it just wasn't what I expected.

Firstly, the description of the book doesn't match up to the plot of the book.

"What better time than Halloween to dig into a bracing discussion of a diabolical murder mystery?"

Halloween played zero role in this book. In fact, the events were entirely season agnostic, so while I went in expecting a bit of a spooky sleuthing romp, that is not the ambience I got at all.

"And what better choice for the Jane Doe Book Club than Agatha Christie's Crooked House? Lyla Moody and her friends are soon embroiled in debate over whether the heroine's actions are particularly believable. But not long after the meeting, sleepy Sweet Mountain, Georgia, is rocked by a murder that uncannily echoes the novel in question."

The conversation did *occasionally* reference back to Crooked House, but the book club barely played a role. I am not familiar with the Christie book, and could have benefited from more information about the plot of that book and discussion about how eerie the similarities are. Even having the characters get deep into comparing real life to the book and then questioning themselves to make them seem unreliable would have been more interesting than what I actually got-- snippets from the first formal book club and light conversation from a second "core group" meeting.

"Lyla and the rest of the Jane Does pool their prodigious intellects to clear Harper's name."

They really don't. They have a few gossip sessions with bland dialogue, but Lyla, the professional PI, is perhaps one of the least curious, least effective investigators I could imagine. The fact that Hammond gave away a location and a family name that hinted at her family history and she had 1) no interest in looking into it and 2) zero realization that there was a connection, disappointed me. I am told that Lyla is great at her job, but I am not SHOWN it.

"Peculiarly, all of the clues seem to have been lifted directly from the plot of Crooked House."

Again, I am told that this is the case, but I am not shown this.

"But as Lyla probes the pages of Christie's classic whodunnit for hints on catching the killer, she uncovers secrets from her mother's past--secrets that suggest that Lyla's own house may be crooked as well."

This doesn't happen! I would have loved her to reference the book for inspiration for solving the mystery but this never happens. All of this supposed wealth of knowledge from the group of mystery-loving Jane Does is never proven, never utilized.

I didn't think Lyla was a compelling character. I didn't even find her particularly likeable, which is fine, but I also didn't care about her one whit.

The "mystery" is solved through a series of Lyla falling into evidence, the whole book builds up to the reveal of the murderer and it's all wrapped up in one final WILD scene at her childhood home. Nothing is really resolved, we don't wrap up the weirdness of the Richardson family, or find out why or how Harper and LJ got wrapped up in a cult to the point they accept abuse from Charles. I left with a lot of questions and not enough answers, and not in the fun way.

The only character I came away really caring about was the grandmother. I'd read a mystery from her perspective. It would at least be lighthearted (what I thought I was getting from the description) and more compelling.

I am giving this book 2 stars because it started strong and has a lot of potential, so I don't think it would be fair to give it 1. But for me, this book fell completely flat.

Huge thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of Reading Between the Crimes by Kate Young in exchange for an honest review. Lyla Moody worked for her uncle, a PI, as a receptionist, at Cousins Investigative Services. She belongs to a book club called the Jane Does. After a book club meeting, Lyla drops her grandmother off at her parents house. Lyla's mother is having a fundraising party. Lyla comes across a dead man in the library.
This was a great story. I was drawn into it right from the beginning. It makes me think about getting to know someone well before you marry them.

family-dynamics, friendship, murder, murder-investigation, law-enforcement, private-investigators, small-business, small-town, southern, Georgia, amateur-sleuth, cozy-mystery****

Lyla works for her uncle in his PI office, lives alone because she doesn't care to live with her wealthy dysfunctional parents (and her fun Grandmother), belongs to a book club devoted to solving fictional crimes and works on cold cases for fun. This is a quick and twisty read with great characters both good and not. The publisher's blurb is a good hook so I won't do the summary thing, and spoilers are in such bad taste.
I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

This is the second book in the Jane Doe Book Club mystery series and I think the ending will blow you away! I haven’t read the first one yet (On Borrowed Crime), but certainly will based on this one.

Lyla Moody takes her grandmother to her parents’ house where a charity event is being hosted by Lyla's mother. As Lyla is checking out the remodel of their library, she stumbles upon the body of Leonard Richardson, her friend Harper Richardson’s husband. It seems that only Lyla saw the candlestick with blood on it and it raises the question of where did it go?

Lyla in her role as an investigator and her friends attempt to clear Harper's name and there are some facts surfacing about her mother and uncle that will cause Lyla concern. I liked how there were twists and turns about Lyla’s family and the Richardson clan leading to the climax ending. I found the ending to be a total surprise and loved it! I can’t wait to read more from her with this cast of characters.

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.