West Heart Kill is an utterly unique mystery. It took me a little bit to get used to the writing but once I did, I felt like I was in the middle of the mystery itself. The story and characters are solid, and I would definitely read another book by this author.

You can’t call this mystery ordinary by any stretch and I feel its uniqueness is both its weakness and its strength. I personally enjoyed how meta this mystery is and loved the tidbits about classic mysteries dispersed throughout. The points I disliked were the the changes in writing styles and the ending didn’t impress me.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

First, thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I’m a casual mystery reader, sometimes I will jot some notes down to try to figure it out, but not always, but I do enjoy a good mystery. And I can assure you that West Heart Kill is a great mystery.

The biggest praise I have for the book is the writing style: West Heart Kill isn't your run-of-the-mill mystery. It is very unique and meta. I’ll admit I was somewhat weirded out by the style when I started the read, It was unexpected at first, but once I got used to it, it was an extremely fun ride. The book is very meta, most of its charm comes from this meta-ness, and it's not condescending. I felt like I was reading my thoughts during a game of Clue (I get really into that boardgame and think I’m an actual detective)

Now, other than the writing, my praise is for the plot. It feels like reading a game of Clue, with characters that could be new additions to the board game. I had a blast with this book, and I can’t wait to see what you guys think! West Heart Kill comes out on October 24 of this year!

Not a bad mystery, but I'm a writer, and this book which interrupted the story with work for me as a reader to do irritated me. I don't really want to get inside the plot of the book. I want to read it and find the clues.

This was clever and different enough to catch my attention, yet I think the cleverness and uniqueness was also a hindrance. The asides that explain different techniques used in mysteries just remove you from the story. The constant interruptions in the story make it harder to keep track of the many characters in the book and the plotline. This is another of those books where no one is likeable and there is no clear "good guy". The ending is more of a non-ending. Kudos to the author for trying something different, but the outcome just wasn't that successful for me. Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Unfortunately, I could not finish this book. I was Intrigued by the premise, but the odd writing style was confusing and distracting,

I found the writing style of this book to be quite interesting. All-in-all it was a decent “mystery”. Not sure that I can say that I liked the way it was written. But, hey, totally my own opinion. The intrigue part of it was good; it takes place over an Independence Day holiday in 1976; the county’s bicentennial, at an upstate New York retreat area known as West Heart. The story is told in several different points of view. The conclusion was laid out in a completely different style than the rest of the book.

I really enjoyed this book and the way it uses tropes to confirm but also subvert expectations. I blasted through it in less than a day. I'd love to read more from the author. Well done.

A smartly written WhoDunIt, HowDunIt, WhyDunIt, murder mystery that will leave you highly entertained, somewhat smarter, and guessing to the final page. Does the perfect book exist for the summer vacation or the relaxing cruise? It might now. Well done Mr. McDorman. Thank you to the characters of West Heart Kill for all of your dastardly deeds and sinful lives. It sounds like an entertaining place to vacation ... if you can only make it out alive.

A private detective joins the families of the West Heart Club for their summer holiday. As you might imagine, the vacation doesn’t goes as anyone would hope. There’s a storm, there’s infidelity, and there are deaths. And McDorman very purposefully leads you through the clues while admiring the murder-mystery greats.

1️⃣ This is a fun one. I think it would be a great summer read (that’s when I enjoyed it) or a good read in the middle of winter when you need a reminder of summer by the lake.

2️⃣ McDorman dissects the detective novel in a very smart way. He gives the readers the tools to solve the tools to solve the mystery while praising and crediting the greats of the genre.

3️⃣ Although there is a lot more going on in this book than there is in a typical murder-mystery tale, the mystery itself is all that you want. Shifting motives, a disastrous storm, and an isolated group that knows the killer must be one of them.

4️⃣ West Heart Kill is mostly a novel, but it’s not limited to that genre. There are several genre changes that really keep you on your toes. (And that might sound like a lot, but I promise it isn’t. It really works well.)

5️⃣ I both hated and loved the ending. And, for me at least, it’s rare to have such a strong reaction to a murder-mystery solution. You really ought to check it out to see how you feel about it.

Overall I enjoyed this story. The book is written like a movie which was interesting and a little challenging to follow.
I loved the setting, I will read any mystery set in a remote location!
It was a unique take on a murder mystery & I would be interested to read more by the author.

I am trying hard to enjoy this book, but I just don't like the format. I'm about 40% in, and still very confused about the storyline. Plus, I don't care for the way the author interrupts the story to address the reader. I won't be finishing this book.

West Heart KIll by Dann McDormanis a superb read and well worth the time spent! Great plot and characters.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the copy of West Heart Kill. Well, this book taught me to always read an excerpt if one is available. I never got into the quirky writing style. I am not interested in being part of the book or story and every time the author addressed “you” I cringed. Maybe I’m too much of a traditional reader, but the asides about famous mystery writers distracted me from the story, in fact, the story was lost because of the odd literary gimmicks. While this was not the book for me, I can see where other readers will love the cleverness of the writing style and who want to feel like part of the book.

I really wanted to like this more than I did. I appreciate a different way to approach telling a murder mystery. I didn’t so much mind the switching narrative tenses.

But sections read like footnotes and I find footnotes kind of tedious. It takes you out of the story. And the story itself in turn is not as developed as it could of been. I felt like it relied too heavily on the method of storytelling, which was sort of tedious, instead of using that to aid the story. It became less a puzzle to solve and more a history of literary murder mysteries.

I appreciate the efforts, and it could certainly appeal to others, but I’m a puzzle person.

The "story" is about a detective spending a bicentennial weekend at a private hunting club. It is remote, the detective has his own reasons for being there. What is he detecting? Who hired him? Are these wealthy members really what they seem to be? Then there is a death, and a storm which strands everyone at the club. Let the detecting begin.
There was a solid mystery in this book but things got in its way. I did not care for the author's asides about mysteries, the novel, etc. Some of the information about classic mystery writers was interesting. For me though, it wasn't interesting enough. It was distracting. I found myself skimming sections so I could get back to the story.

West Heart Kill is Dann McDorman's first book. It is a very clever book based on a locked room mystery. The characters are based on classical mystery writers.

The book does away with the distinction between the reader and the book, asking the reader to be part of the book. I found this off putting, preferring to read a straight narrative.

3.5 Stars.

This was a well executed mystery, with great attention to detail and a compelling plot.

But, man, did the author get in his own way! Filled with existential quandries, philosophical musings, and essays on other mystery writings and writers, the continual start and stop of the story... breaking the fourth wall.... finishing in play form... ONE of these would have been unique, making this book special. But all of them??? It just became a LOT, leading to a lot of back and forth reading, and ultimately - for me - a lack of a cathartic ending.

My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

There’s a good, solid murder mystery inside this book, but it requires a bit of work to get through it. At first I found the interludes discussing writing and mysteries delightful. But after awhile, they became tiresome, and I tended to skim through them to get back to the story. The ending felt like a bit of a dirty trick. All that said, I did enjoy the main story, as well as the setting. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sometimes books don't need gimmicks or a high concept to work. In fact, in many cases, it works against the book. This is one of those cases. I felt like it was trying to be clever but came across as pedantic.