Scenes of the Crime by Jilly Gagnon is your typical “who did it” plot about a group of friends going on a retreat to figure out which one of them holds the secret to their friend's disappearance. This is not my typical genre of reading but overall it was decent.

There were parts of this book I loved and parts I didn't enjoy. The main character was interesting, but the other important characters were less interesting. The mystery of this book organically caught my attention, but by the end I was wishing it was shorter. This book used a mixed media approach, which was a screenplay along with the normal narrative writing and I really enjoyed it. The cover is interesting but isn't as eye catching as it could have been. This book was an okay read and if you like mystery you should look into this one.

Spring Break should have been amazing. A winery with your 5 best friends- what could go wrong? E.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.

Vanessa Morales, one of the five, disappeared on the fated trip and is presumed dead. Everything changes when Emily Fischer, another spring breaker, swears she sees Vanessa's twin at a coffee shop in California.

Stranded in a job where she's no longer progressing, thinking she saw Vanessa sparked a fire. Tired of writing more and more episodes for a network comedy, and watching others with lesser talent continue to progress, Emily decides to get the girls together to see if she can solve the crime and write her own screenplay.

All 4 girls make the trip:
Brittany- cousin of Vanessa, social media darling
Paige-a former college athlete,
Lydia- the quiet one. No one really knew what she was thinking
Emily-sleuth and screenwriter

Who knows what happened to Vanessa? Does someone know more than they're letting on? Melding past, present, and scenes from Emily's up-and-coming screenplay, you'll be waiting until the end to see just whodunit- and how.

Emily is struck by inspiration after seeing the doppelganger of her missing friend in the cafe where she was revising a television script. She decides that Vanessa’s (her friend) story needs to be told. But to do that, Emily must solve a fifteen-year mystery: What happened to Vanessa the night she went missing? The answers lie with three other people there that night: Brittany, Paige, and Lydia. Emily leans on Brittany to have a girls’ weekend at the vineyard where they last saw Vanessa. But not everyone wants to be there, and everyone has secrets about that night. Will Emily be able to tell Vanessa’s story? Will she solve what happened that night fifteen years ago?

When I read the blurb for Scenes of the Crime, I knew I wanted to read this book. I, along with millions of other people, love reading about cold cases. This book would be just that: the reopening of a cold case. And it was. But it was also a story about secrets, friendships, and how those secrets can destroy lives.

What was interesting about Scenes of the Crime was how the author wrote it. The author told the present-day story from Emily’s POV, with Brittany, Paige, Vanessa, and Lydia having their chapters. But, it was also written as a screenplay to tell the story fifteen years ago, complete with editing notes. I liked it because it gave insight into the girl’s frame of mind the night Vanessa disappeared and the girl’s weekend.

The main storyline was well-written and kept my attention up to the point when the author started to reveal the girls’ secrets. Everything after that, though, I thought was overkill. I had figured out what happened to Vanessa reasonably early in the book. So, to add that extra bit of drama about her grandparents disowning her and the will didn’t do it for me.

The mystery angle of the book was well written, but the author stretched it thin. How? Well, at one point, five different mysterious scenarios were going on. The author did a great job of keeping them separate, but I still got them jumbled up. The primary angle (what happened to Vanessa) was twisty, turny, and often unbelievable. I wasn’t surprised at the considerable twist that occurred almost at the end of the book (see previous paragraph), but I was surprised at who was involved. Then, I was astonished at what happened to that person. It was almost too much.

The end of Scenes of the Crime was almost anticlimactic, and I wasn’t a fan of it. With everything that went on that weekend, this is how it ended up. I was happy for Emily, but dang.

I would recommend Scenes of the Crime to anyone over 21. There is language, violence, and sexual situations.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Bantam, NetGalley, and Jilly Gagnon for allowing me to read and review this ARC of Scenes of the Crime. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

Holy Smokes. If you enjoy twisty suspenseful destination thrillers, this should be your next read. I thoroughly enjoyed the unique way they author blended in real scenes with screenplay scenes from the upcoming movie about the tragic weekend in the past. Such a cool plot device! Full disclosure: these girl ‘friends’ are fluent in passive aggressive speak and barely seem to like each other. While a bit cringy for me since I appreciate authentic relationships, this set-up was perfect for a psychological thriller where you cannot trust anyone. It is hard to write a review without spoilers, but if you like propulsive psychological locked room/destination thrillers, you will enjoy this new release!

Emily has been writing a script based on her friend, Vanessa’s, disappearance 15 years ago. Emily sees a woman at a cafe who looks exactly like her old friend so she decides to get her old group of friends together and return to Brittany (Vanessa’s cousin) and Vanessa’s family winery, where they were when Vanessa disappeared, hoping to put the pieces together. Emily learns there are many secrets about that night that have been left untold.

The story flips between Emily’s point of view and her script. I felt the story was a little slow moving and slightly predictable, but I enjoyed the storyline overall and how the past details being told as the movie script.

I received an ARC of this book. I found the format of this book somewhat confusing and hard to follow. The story was very good. I couldn't wait to find out the ending!

This was incredibly good! I could see it being picked up by some book clubs for sure. Highly recommend from me!

At a coffee shop in CA, Emily Fischer sees a woman who looks like her college friend Vanessa, who disappeared 15 years ago during spring break. This doppelgänger sighting prompts Emily to reach out to the 4 other women who were on that spring break trip and invite them back to the place of Vanessa’s disappearance for the weekend. Emily hopes this will help her fill in some blanks as to what actually happened that night.

This is an interesting story full of secrets and lies. I was not crazy about the “scenes” scattered throughout this story., but it did not take away from my reading experience.

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam and Jilly Gagnon for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

The atmosphere was so thick throughout, it felt like another character. Anytime toxic friendships are included, I’m happy and this was really well done. Smooth writing with a great sense of plot.

This was another good locked-room type mystery! This book for sure kept my interest. Some parts were a little predictable but it was fast paced read for me. I loved the parts written as a screen play and all the twists and turns!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this Arc in exchange for an honest review!

Can secrets be kept forever? A group of five girlfriends take a spring break trip to a remote winery on Oregon coast. One of the girls, Vanessa disappears. The case is closed by police, funeral. But the girls really never had closure. 15 years later Emily is working in a cafe and spots Vanessa doppelgänger and it sparks something in her to get the friends together to remember her. It also works in her advantage as she is a screenwriter and working on a script about Vanessa’s disappearance. It seems the friendship that was there 15 years ago has drifted apart as the girls have grown up and changed. The story is told in a way that you feel like you are watching a reality show. The secrets and twists really keep you engaged. Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

While I was excited about a thriller set during a girls' weekend in the mountains, this one fell flat for me. As I read, I kept waiting for something to happen & I felt like it never did. I thought much of the plot was fairly obvious and when the final twist came, while it was a bit surprising, it was easy to see how we arrived at this conclusion. I was also unable to connect with any of the characters, which also may have influenced how I felt. But if you're a thriller read, it's worth picking up!

A very quick and easy thriller that's perfect for the fall season!

The writing style is super unique with multiple pov's in the present tense as well as the past tense, which is actually a screenplay. Our main character is a writer for a national sitcom so while you're getting the backstory, you're actually reading a screenplay she's written for a movie. I hadn't read a book like that before so I really liked it that piece and wanted to make sure I mentioned it.

First off, I want to say that the book cover is absolutely beautiful. A good story of five friends that take a trip to a Winery. One goes missing. Fifteen years later and the remaining four girls reunite to recreate the night their friend went missing. Will they discover what happened that night?

The book was slow moving, but an enjoyable read.

What a great suspenseful read! I highly recommend this book! Set aside time because once you start you won’t want to stop!

For fifteen years Emily Fischer has lived with the thought that she may have been responsible fo her friend Vanessa’s death. Working on the script notes for a sitcom in a coffee shop, she is sure that she has seen Vanessa. In an effort to discover what really happened all those years ago she calls on the other girls who were present at the Oregon winery for a school break. A memorial reunion is planned at the same winery, which now belongs to Brittany, Vanessa’s cousin. The wine flows freely and not everyone has fond memories of Vanessa. She had a way of making you feel special, but she was also manipulative. Each of the girls are hiding secrets from the past. Paige had an argument with Vanessa shortly before she disappeared. Accidentally pushing her off a dock, Vanessa never resurfaced and Paige believes that she caused her death. Brittany met her in the caves below the winery, where family issues led to an accident, leaving Brittany to believe that she was guilty. When items belonging to Vanessa begin to surface the girls confront each other and accusations fly.

Emily has been working on a screenplay built around their school years and the events leading to Vanessa’s disappearance, but she needs to know how it will end. Jilly Gagnon alternates scenes from her script with the actual events leading up to the reunion and a final confrontation in the winery’s caves. It is a scene where one of the girls will not survive. This is a suspenseful who done it that keeps you guessing right up to the very end. I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine for providing this book for my review.

This review will be posted on September 6, 2023 to: https://instagram.com/amandas.bookshelf

This was a solid locked room-style mystery. Four college friends reuite at a remote coastal winery in Oregon. The winery was the site of a mutual friend's disappearance more than a decade ago. One of the friends, a screenwriter in L.A., wants to solve the murder and turn the story into a movie. Traditional narrative prose alternates with a script narrative. At first, I thought the script narrative was a bit gimmicky. But, while I didn't like the device, it kind of grew on me. It furthered the notion of unreliable characters and how quickly the truth or reality could be altered for fiction's sake. While the author super briefly touched on the toxic relationships in the friend group, I wished it had been further included in the actual narrative. #ScenesOfTheCrime Rating: somewhere between 😐 / meh, it was ok AND 🙂 / liked it
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This book is scheduled for publication on September 5, 2023. Thank you Bantam and @penguinrandomhouse for providing me this digital ARC via @NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This didn’t hold my interest. I feel like I just read a book with the same plot and this was nothing new, unfortunately. I appreciate the originality of adding in the script as the backstory, but I didn’t enjoy reading in that format.

How many times have I read this book? So many times. Is there a checklist for authors who wish to write a “thriller”? I feel like there is no originality in the genre right now. I just could not care about this same exact plot and flat characters again.