Meet Debbi Dickerson: mousy, codependent housewife who, at age forty-seven, feels her life is over. Her dreams of being an artist have long been discarded in the wake of her failing marriage, and her kids think she’s invisible. She’s stuck on the hamster wheel, going nowhere.

That is, until menopause blindsides her. Derailed by one symptom after another, Debbi struggles to find a way to quell the hot flashes, night sweats, sudden panic attacks, and unbridled rage. The gals in her scrapbooking club give her advice on how to survive menopause, but nothing seems to help ... except killing.

Meet Jerry Dickerson, Debbi’s husband: arrogant, insensitive, all-around jerk, whose greatest dream as a homicide detective is to catch a serial killer and be admired, for once. So when a series of strange deaths break out in Tacoma, Washington, Jerry is elated, but the pressure is on to catch the killer.

Jerry’s boss, Sergeant Myra Manners, is also going through menopause and makes his life hell. And then there’s his teenage daughter dishing out hormones like Girl Scout cookies. Seriously, what’s a misogynist to do? Have an affair with some bubblehead, of course.

As the bodies pile up, more than dishes are going to fly. Yet, there is light at the end of the tunnel of menopause and Debbi can see it. But is it a bright future or the headlights of an incoming train with Jerry's name on it?

Don't miss this hilarious dark comedy caper! Your sides will hurt from laughing.

The Menopause Murders, through poignant comedy, explores deep themes of sexism, ageism, and self-image issues that millions of women (and men!)—particularly those of the baby boomer generation—are facing daily and struggling with, in order to find sense, meaning, and sanity amid the insanity that is our current political and cultural state.

I loved this story from start to finish. Will recommend to others.

I don’t normally read serial killer books so I don’t know how this compares to others but I found it to be refreshing to get a story told from the perspective of wife, Debbie, and a cheating husband, Jerry. Neither are truly likable but having both POVs helps in making the story more interesting. I thought the book was entertaining in that the central theme is menopause, along with other issues that women face. But I also found the story to be a bit contrived.

With a title like that what woman could resist checking this book out? I couldn't, but I was sadly disappointed. I usually don't put my negative reviews on my blog here. I don't know why I don't, I probably should. But this book, well, the description caught me as well as the title. I thought I was in for a wild, dark, funny trip thru menopause and murder. What I got was chapter after chapter of depressing complaints about menopause, about her ass of a husband, who for being a police detective sure is clueless to what is right in front of him.
I wanted this to be funny & entertaining, it was slow & depressing instead. I admit I ended up DNF'ing at about the half-way mark, I just could not listen to one more complaint. Some may like this book, it isn't badly written, it just is not what I was wanting it to be I guess.
Thank you to Books Go Social and to Net Galley for the free ARC, I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

For a lot of us, we’re over here trying to be Stacy’s mom. But in the end, we’re all Debbie.

“Debbie just hit the wall, she never had it all
One Prozac a day, husband's a CPA
Her dreams went out the door when she turned twenty-four Only been with one man, what happened to her plan? She was gonna be an actress, she was gonna be a star

Except Jerry is cop not a CPA, and a jerk to boot. And Debbie doesn’t want Prozac.

Ok, I’m officially dying. This book, you have to have a dark sense of humor to “get” this one.

One review I read said this was the worst serial killer book she’s ever read. And I agree. But I took the whole thing almost as a satire.

Jerry is an annoying asshole who gets his just desserts IMO. And our Debbie…well at least she gets her HEA and a makeover.

If you enjoyed Where’d You Go, Bernadette, you’ll love this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and the authors for the ARC copy of this book!

A definitely a laugh out loud book in places! It was well written with the current situation and feelings on this topic.

A lighthearted approach to the dilemmas of an invisible unappreciated menopausal woman married to a selfish, boorish man.
Debbi has been neglected by her husband, and seen as a background character to her adult children , when she realises that she is sick of being treated badly by her family and society as a whole.
The physical and emotional aspects of menopause hit her severely and are well explained. Her husband’s boorish attitude to women in general, his wife in particular and the menopause as a natural, and often uncomfortable fact of life, are frankly hard to stomach. However many men behave in this way.
Debbie’s killing spree is surprising, and the addition of Ted Bundy as her ‘inner voice’ adds an interesting slant to her situation.
A fresh read with some good twists.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book ahead of publication in exchange for an honest review

I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review of this title.

The Menopause Murders is an interesting concept - a woman (who apparently knows nothing about menopause) starts through that time of life and it sparks a string of first unintentional and then planned murders, all while her cheating cop of a husband searches for the killer and becomes increasingly suspicious of his wife.

The concept enchanted me, but I found the execution (no pun intended) fell flat. Maybe I'm not the target audience as I haven't been through menopause, but I found the concept of gleefully murdering people because of petty inconveniences or insults to be a lot darker then I expected. I couldn't relate to the main character and found her rather immature and unpleasant.

Then you have her husband, even more unpleasant. A homicide cop with a chip on his shoulder, an affair with a coworker and a secret to hide. He was as flat as could be, but since the goal was not to like him the authors succeeded.

Along the way you have bizarre and discordant appearances from Donald Trump and Ted Bundy, which still confuse me as I found they didn't contribute to the plot.

The authors certainly had some moments of hilarity, but I found it all underwhelming in the face of the actual story.

2.5 stars.

Comedic story about Debs who realises she has hit menopause, with all the 35 symptoms, that cause her to accidentally kill a few people…..

Any woman going through this phase in life can immediately identify with Debs and her hot flushes, mood swings, itchy skin, rage; to name but a few. Brain-fog and memory loss so you forget why you entered a room or why you hit the guy with the 9lb salmon…

If you want a laugh about The Change and about women supporting each other through life’s ups and downs, then this is the book for you. Very enjoyable with some laugh-out-loud moments that make you realise that you’re not the only one going through this stage of life and how to deal with it without killing somebody in the process!

This was an absolutely hilarious take on women with their hot flashes. It's a laugh out loud book which would make bystanders smile at you!
Terrific read!

Hilarious and relatable, this book brings a new type of protagonist into the mystery genre mix. I really enjoyed the writing style - the author keeps the story moving without compromising the depth of characters and dialogue needed to keep you immersed.

Okay this book wasn’t at all what I had expected, but I have to say I loved it. It’s probably one of the worst serial killer books I have ever read, and trust me I’ve read a lot, but there were so many holes in this side of the book it was unreal.

However as I said above I did absolutely love this book. It tackled a very difficult and sensitive subject whilst at the same time it had so much humour in it that I laughed until my sides hurt.

Onto the plot. Debbi has just him menopause and it seems to have turned her into a completely different person. With the hot flashes, the temper, the night sweats and many more symptoms she is unable to control Debbi finds the one thing that helps her is murdering people.

Okay the first one was an accident but now Debbi has started she can’t stop and the more people she kills the more Debbi enjoys the taste of it.

Then there is Jerry a policeman just turned detective who is about to be landed with a serial killer case. As Jerry begins to investigate he realises that his wife could be the serial killer. At first Jerry is in denial it can’t be Debbi but soon he is able to link her to every single murder case even if the evidence is just circumstantial. How is it possible that Jerrys big case break maybe the thing that undoes his whole career. Has he really been living with a serial killer and not known it as well as hiding evidence that could compromise the whole investigation.

I disliked Jerrys character so much. He has zero interest or compassion for women’s health, he acted all high and mighty but he had a few secrets of his own that he couldn’t afford to come out, but of course he did.

I loved the way this story came out. Jerry got his comeuppance whilst Debbi got her happily ever after. I cannot relate to Debbi and what she went through as I haven’t hit the menopause stage yet but I hope to hell that I don’t suffer the way she did and for anyone who is you have my deepest sympathy.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the authors for an advance copy of this book in exchange for this review.

This book was just not my style. I did not feel it was funny at all. I guess my sense of humor is quite different from the authors'. I also felt the menopause experience was way over dramatized. I have experienced it and it was nothing like Debbie experienced. No one I have talked to, friends and relatives, had such dramatic experiences. And that Debbie did not know what was happening to her and was not familiar with medications and HRT is hard to believe.

One aspect of the book I did appreciate was all the information it contained about the pros and cons of the various ways people treat the experience.

There is dark humor in the story but I would not describe the book as hilarious.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

Book: The Menopause Murders
Author: Mary Maloney & Ed Markel
Publisher: BooksGoSocial
Pub Date: March 1, 2023

This book wasn’t really what I expected. I loved the menopause side of it because I am experiencing that right now. 🥴 It showed a true representation of what it feels like. Thanks to menopause my anger and lack of patience has definitely increased….and honestly thoughts of murdering people for the simplest inconvenience has crossed my mind. 😏 But I think I was also hoping the murder side of the book would be the same kind of humor. But there was way too much death for me. Maybe one death would have been fine but there was a lot. It made the book seem to dark compared to light side of the menopause. The support group for menopausal wives was hilarious. Also where do I sign my husband up? The book was way too long. It was over 400 pages and definitely should have ended around 300 if not sooner. One thing I found ironic was the town Puyallup. I have been watching The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders and that town was mentioned. I thought that was so weird! I went from never hearing of it to twice in one day.

Thank you BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for this sneak peak! Publication date is March 1, 2023.

"The Hysterical Uterus"

"It's a slippery slope from hormones to homicide!"

Meet Debbi Dickerson: a mousy, co-dependent housewife who, at age forty-seven, feels her life is over. Her dreams of being an artist have long been discarded in the wake of her failing marriage, and her kids think she's invisible. She's stuck on the hamster wheel, going nowhere. 

That is; until menopause blindsides her. Derailed by one symptom after another, Debbi struggles to find a way to quell the hot flashes, night sweats, sudden panic attacks, and unbridled rage. The gals in her scrapbooking club give her advice on how to survive menopause, but nothing seems to help except killing. 

Meet Jerry Dickerson: Debbi's husband - arrogant, insensitive, all-around jerk, whose greatest dream as a homicide detective is to catch a serial killer and be admired, for once. So when a series of strange deaths break out in Tacoma, Washington, Jerry is elated, but the pressure is on to catch the killer. 

Jerry's boss, Sargent Myra Manners, is also going through menopause, making his life hell. And then there's his teenage daughter dishing out hormones like girl scout cookies. seriously, what's a misogynist to do? Have an affair with some bubblehead of course. 

As the bodies pile up, more than dishes are going to fly. Yet, there is light at the end of the tunnel of menopause and Debbie can see it. But is it a bright future or the headlights of an oncoming train with Jerry's name on it?

The Menopause Murders, Though a poignant comedy, explores deep themes of sexism, ageism, and self-image issues that millions of women (and men!) -particularly those of the baby boomer generation - are facing daily and struggling with, in order to find sense, meaning, and sanity amid the insanity that is our current political and cultural state. 

"Unbelievable. A woman gets emotional, so a man takes her to the doctor to remove her uterus. All because she has a few erratic moods. You don't see women castrating men when they get overly testy, do you? Testy... as in testicles. We're those two words related? 

I liked the author's easy and relaxed writing style from the very beginning and found the book very cathartic, as - at the grand old age of thirty-seven, I am going through perimenopause, and often feel like committing a few homicides myself. I have, however, managed to keep a lid on my self-righteous killing spree - for now... (Be warned)

The chapters are short and each one is named, which I liked. The story is told from the pov's of Debbi and Jerry which kept the story moving and fresh. Although I liked Debbi's pov, I think if we didn't also have Jerry's, there could be a risk of Debbi coming a bit whingy, as it is, you can see exactly why Debbi feels the way that she does! It was interesting seeing Debbi's conversations with her friends and then Jerry's conversations with his in comparison - if this is anything to go by (and I think it is) men and women really are from different planets! Although, having said that - when you dig a bit deeper, it's not really a men vs women issue. It's about people vs prejudice! 

I enjoyed the dark humour in this book and the references to Donald Trump, it gave me feels of the Santa Clarita Diet for some reason - and on that note, if the book were ever adapted for a Netflix series, please, please, please cast Drew Barrymore in the role of Debbie. Please... 

My thanks to the author and BooksGoSocial for my advance copy to read and review via Netgalley. Out now!!

This book certainly is an unusual book, a murder mystery plus an interesting conversation on the state of menopause and life as lived.
Funny but serious, story or murder mystery. An interesting read. Thanks you NetGalley and the publishers for the DRC

I really enjoyed this book. It was well written. The characters were realistic and easy to relate to. I am looking forward to reading more by this author.

If this book was meant to be funny, it definitely wasn't..
The characters not knowing what menopause was really off-putting and already a strike against this book.. Jerri's sexist, racist behavior was another strike and the repetitiveness of Debbi's murders was the last straw. It was like the SAME THING enraged her and drove her to murder.
The first one was like alright Debbi; the second was like umm... and then I gave up after the third.
I only finished about 30% of this book before I finally just DNF'd it.

I wouldn't recommend this book to my audience... The blurb sounded like it was super promising and funny and it just was a really stupid, racist, sexist HORRIBLE read.

If I could give this book zero stars I definitely would.

This story makes fun of women and men, it's a good thing one of both wrote it. I did find some of the things a bit 'over the top' as how a woman never heard of 'hot flashes", give me a break! Then the male side acting like it is the woman's fault for things that don't go right in the family, even though he is cheating on his wife. It was in my opinion, okay, but not all that funny

The Menopause Murders, through poignant comedy, explores deep themes of sexism, ageism, and self-image issues that millions of women (and men!)—particularly those of the baby boomer generation—are facing daily and struggling with, in order to find sense, meaning, and sanity amid the insanity that is our current political and cultural state.
Debi is completely useless in this thread of mania caused by menopause. Jerry is her cheating husband who is a detective on the police force.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion of this book which I read and reviewed voluntarily.

Anyone going through menopause, has symptoms and feels misunderstood, will see this book for what it is, a good laugh!
I felt for Debbi, her husband is not sympathetic in the slightest and thinks she’s there to be at his beck and call!
The descriptive tone of the story hit the nail on the head, menopause is often a daily struggle.
So, read this book, forget about reality and have a giggle!

Thanks to BooksGoSocial, NetGalley and the authors for the opportunity to read this book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.