I am a self-admitted book worm, and I have been the majority of my life. Here lately, I gravitate towards suspenseful books. I admit that while I don’t really read much mystery, I was really excited to get a chance to read this book.

Pros: This book was EXTREMELY different, in a refreshing way. I liked the way it is not written the same throughout the book.

Cons: Not to spoil anything, but I still have many questions about the book!

I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I did get a bit confused at some of the parts of the book. Like I mentioned before, I have many questions, but I know that was by design. Ultimately, I definitely recommend this book if you are looking for something different that holds your attention.

**I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

I’m not sure what exactly I was expecting from the book description, but what I read wasn’t it. I really wanted to love this as a fan of mysteries, but I was so thrown by the whole style and really struggled to stay engaged. I considered DNFing multiple times but wanted to stick it out to the end to see what/if there was a big twist.

I ended up skimming over any time the author discussed other writers, and really disliked the sections that used second person perspective as well as the “play” plot.

The actual story parts that were told in the traditional manner were what I enjoyed the most, but I did have a hard time keeping the characters straight for at least the first half of the book. I felt that there were some good reveals in these sections, but also a lot of things that didn’t feel easy for a reader to figure out so then needed to be blatantly explained.

While I think the concept of this book was interesting, unfortunately, the execution really didn’t work for me.

Thank you to Knopf for the opportunity to read and review it!

I do not have anything good to say about this book. It was uninteresting and difficult to follow. It was set up like you were reading multiple styles at once. I do not recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of West Heart Kill.

I requested this book because the plot sounded so good. I should have paid more attention to the reference relating to “daring structure and mischievously subversive narration.”

I’m a huge fan of locked room mysteries, but the constant POV shifts from first to third, and dabbling in meta fiction made this book a chore to get through. It could have been so good had the author stuck to traditional storytelling rather than experimenting with gimmicky structure.

Great setting, great cast of characters, but wretched delivery. I’m sure many readers will find this innovative and fresh. For me, it’s a definite miss.

This was such a fun book! Set sometime in the late 1970s by my best guess, a private investigator, Adam McAnnis, joins an old college friend for a weekend trip to a hunting club in New York. Business or pleasure? Well, that’s up to the reader to decide. It’s quite an eventful weekend – plenty of outdoor activities, drama, and of course, murder. The best part is the way the story is structured. Every so often, the author steps out of the story and addresses the reader directly, whether to add witty remarks regarding what was just read or to point out questions that the reader might have or should consider. Not only that but there are passages scattered throughout devoted to the craft of mystery writing, famous mystery authors, etc. I liked some of these parts better than the narrative! They provide plenty of suggestions for further reading that I made sure to take note of.

Not everyone will love the set-up of this book, but I certainly did. It’s quirky but not too cute and if it hadn’t been written this way, I would have missed more than one crucial clue. I also appreciated the time period the story was set in – before cell phones and computers and anything that would have kept the club from being completely isolated in bad weather. And I loved the descriptions of the retro clothing and décor, they really set the atmosphere. You can clearly picture these characters captured in sepia-toned photographs of the time. I would love to see this as a movie but I’m not sure how on earth they’d be able to transfer it to the screen.

I can’t wait for this author’s next work – will it also stray from the norm of the same genre? Will it be something completely different but no less clever and delightful? I’ll just have to wait and see, but in the meantime, I’ll recommend this to anyone and everyone in need of a unique read they won’t soon forget.

I am now aware that meta fiction is not for me!! I am a huge fan of the locked-room mystery, which is why I chose this book to read, but the writing style and numerous characters made it very hard to follow. The constant switching from 1st to 3rd person was confusing and the detailed excerpts of defining a murder mystery was a little too much for me. I gave three stars for the attempt and talent given to even being able to write a story like this. It could not have been easy, so well done. It just wasn't for me. I think that readers are going to love it or hate it.

Thanks to the author, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, and NetGalley for allowing me digital access in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of West Heart Kill.

I'm all for locked room mysteries since I have yet to read one that astounds and shocks me (in a good way).

Sadly, West Heart Kill didn't hit the mark for me. Literally.

The new trend of meta fiction has got to go. it's frustrating to read, irritating, and annoying, and the structure of West Heart Kill is no exception.

Oh, boy, where to start?

The constant shifts from first person POV to third person POV? Why? What's the point?

The addition of informative excerpts about what makes a mystery, the tips and rules followed by the most popular mystery writers.

I found these sections patronizing, treating the readers as if we're too dumb to understand the often used mystery tropes and methods used in pretty much every mystery novel ever written.

The author may have thought adding these sections made his novel different from your typical mystery novel, a meta novel within a metal novel., like he's trying to be smarter than the mystery itself.

It didn't work for me. These sections took me out of the narrative, which was already confusing.

Not to mention, the characters are unlikable and I didn't care about their motives, secrets, or family drama.

I still have no idea who killed the detective.

Mystery writing
lesson within a murder
mystery. Unique.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I write haiku reviews but am happy to provide more feedback.

West Heart Kill, unfortunately this book was not my cup of tea, I love a good murder mystery but I get distracted by things that aren’t part of the story but a descriptor and even though this book was written well I just couldn’t fully get in to it.

I thought the story itself was really good, it was all of the other parts that kept pulling my interest away and made it really hard to finish.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

West Heart Kill is a unique and meta mystery novel. The author plays around with different writing structures, including breaking the 4th wall, and often veers from the fictional narrative to discuss mystery tropes/historical figures--I actually found these sections more interesting than the actual mystery.

While I found this novel to be very creative and I appreciated the experimental nature of the writing, unfortunately I just wasn't invested in the actual mystery story. I found there to be way too many characters who seemed too similar that I couldn't remember who was who. I ultimately didn't care who committed the crime because I didn't connect to anyone. The last third of the book, I found myself skimming to the the end.

I will publish to Goodreads closer to publication date.

Okay, I agree with any reviewer who says it takes a beat to get into the very "meta" writing style of this book. However, I can't encourage you enough to stick with it, it very quickly finds its rhythm and once you adapt to the quirky writing style you will be so glad you went for the ride!

I happily obliged when asked to participate, marking pages and jotting down margin notes so to speak. I fatigued of this 5/6 of the way through at which point, we hopped a fence and picked up the pace. Nice weeknight read. Easy to recommend to a broad audience. Thank you to NetGalley for ARC.

The point of this book is told to the reader from the very beginning. This book was written so uniquely and ingeniously. I did find the writing to be distracting at first. It took me a minute to get into the groove of the story but once I did I enjoyed it.

I wasn't sure I would like this one as it is outside of my typical genre but it was not bad. The writing style was great but the story was not my cup of tea.

Not my type of book. Throughout the book, the author includes sections on how other authors introduces clues, how they plot their murders, basically how they write, which I found annoying caused I didn't care about that and really made the book slow paced and distracted from the story. I actually began to skip over them so I could get back to the story at hand. The actual murder mystery was not bad with trying to figure out about the three deaths. Were they suicide or murder, were they interconnected, what were the motives? A twisted tale of lies, betrayals, secrets and survival, all happening at the hunting club. If not for the "sections on other authors", which I found boring and unnecessary, I would have given this book 4 stars. Was given a free copy by Netgallery and this is my honest voluntary review.

This review is hard for me. The story started out with an interesting twist and got me excited to read it. After all, what mystery fan doesn't like the challenge of solving the case? However, I soon found that I had to force myself to continue reading. As long as the author was talking about the actual plot of the story, I enjoyed it. However, all of the side bits about definitions and other authors quickly lost my interest. I found the characters believable but would liked to have seen them developed more. I really didn't like the ending.

I enjoyed reading this classic whodunnit tale. There are numerous point of views and we see an interesting cast of characters. West Heart Kill is an area favorited by certain families for many years. When financial ruin becomes a topic, the mysteries begin.
I was a bit confused at the ending and not sure if it was me or what. I’m not 100% I understand.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I have to say that this is one of the most unique mystery novels I have ever read. Shades of Knives Out Columbo, Murder She Wrote, etcetera, it will be very hard to sum up without spoiling it. I will do my best to remain mysterious.

The quick spoiler free highlight is that when PI Adam McAnnis arrives to a weekend retreat at an isolated hunting lodge he meets several interesting characters.

During this story the reader is treated to a play by play of both detective work and the weekend itself.
The author also includes several additional mysteries into the main story creating a novel unlike no other.

If you enjoy a decently paced mystery that will likely keep you guessing, check this out.


I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I feel the author was trying a new point of view for the storyline. Unfortunately, it didnt work for me and quickly lost interest. Instead of a page turner it was more of being forced to finish. Certain witty moments could not carry through the whole reading.

The book contains a mystery story, but also many asides and diversions into the mystery genre itself and some of the masters of the craft. In the late 1970s, private investigator Adam McAnnis has wrangled an invitation to a summer July 4th celebration being held in an exclusive hunting/vacation community. His old friend James and his parents have a cabin there, as do many other families. Adam isn't forthcoming about the fact he's been hired to go to this event, so he is mainly interested in gathering information about the main people there. He soon discovers that there has been some tension among the members of the West Heart club. There are financial problems, so in addition to the logging that's going on, some members want to just sell the club and land and get out altogether. Others, bowing to the tradition that has kept the founding families in the club for generations, want to do everything possible to keep the status quo. Since the various families have been using the club for many years, there have been many conflicts and secret alliances that have formed. It is not apparent to Adam what the relationships are between everyone. When there are some deaths and the area is cut off by a storm, Adam determines to get to the bottom of the secrets at the club.

While I enjoyed the various "lessons" on mystery authors, tropes, history of the genre, etc. at times it did feel like a lecture instead of flowing. Of course, it did stop the action of the story and take you outside the action, so then when it came back it could be a bit jarring. There was a list of characters near the beginning of the book, but there were a lot of people (past and present) to keep up with, so it was at times confusing to remember who was who and how they were connected to the rest of the characters. It is certainly a different type of storytelling, and mystery fans of authors such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers will appreciate the nods to the golden age of mysteries.