Having participated in Broadcast Journalism in high school, I was excited to read Off the Air. It's marketed as a mystery, but aside from the main character wanting to figure out the mysterious death of a political talk show host, the book was lacking mystery.

Off The Air was one of those books that I was really hoping to enjoy, but it failed to fully capture my attention, even with my broadcast journalism background. I can see that the author has a lot of potential, but the debut wasn't spectacular to me.

A debut novel. This is a unique fictional expose and light perspective on the life of an investigative journalist and the hard work it takes for so many people to report a top news story. This debut author uses her 20 years of experience as a reporter to give readers a sneak peek into the hustling and bustling and frantic pace that occurs in reporting a story, including the use of backstabbing, insider information, and informants. Very heavy on the current politics in this country especially since it takes place in Arizona and covers a lot of border politics and opinions. The characters were a bit dry for me and hard to really get involved with the plot.

My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced ready copy of this book! I enjoyed the premise of an entertainment industry set mystery that was immediately relatable and entertaining.

Christina Estes, Tony Hillerman award-winning debut author, makes good use of her journalistic background in this thriller, set in the cut-throat world of television journalism. When a provocative right wing talk show host is murdered, Jolene is in a good position, because she obtained the victim's last interview before his untimely death. The various networks compete to vie for the big break in the story.

As an inside look at the world of journalism, I would rate this book highly. Descriptive details and interesting characters made this part of the story come alive for me. The mystery itself did not grab my attention as much. I enjoyed reading the book, but it wasn't a book I couldn't pull myself away from. I can see why many readers will love this book, and the writing was sound, so I will be interested in reading future works from this author. For me this was a 3.5 read, a solidly good book, but not edge of the seat material.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Off the Air" by Christina Estes presents an insider's view of the bustling world of local television reporting, centered on protagonist Jolene Garcia's quest to uncover the truth behind a controversial radio host's murder. Set in Phoenix, Arizona, the novel delves into the intricacies of the journalism profession, drawing from Estes' own experience to provide authenticity.

While the premise holds promise, the execution leaves something to be desired. The characters, though diverse, often fall into clichés and stereotypes, lacking depth and nuance. Jolene, while initially compelling, becomes increasingly unlikable as the story progresses, making it difficult for readers to invest in her journey fully.

The mystery itself is intriguing, with plenty of twists and turns to keep readers guessing. However, the abundance of misdirection can feel overwhelming at times, and the resolution may leave some feeling underwhelmed.

Despite these shortcomings, Estes' writing shines in moments of commentary on the evolving landscape of journalism, particularly in the age of social media. These insights offer a thought-provoking look at the industry's challenges and opportunities.

Overall, "Off the Air" is a mixed bag. While it offers an engaging glimpse into the world of television reporting and raises important questions about the media landscape, it ultimately falls short regarding character development and narrative cohesion. As such, it earns a modest three-star.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this fun mystery story! I wasn't sure what to expect from the cover and the intro, since they didn't quite seem to add up, but it was interesting from the start! I enjoyed the different characters and the behind the scenes plot line. I like a modern take on who dun it, and this was a solid one! Thanks!

I'm not one for mysteries but this was such a fun escape and a fantastic debut novel. I really enjoyed her writing style and found she did a great job of keeping the reader hooked from start to finish, with charming characters and unexpected twists along the way. If you're looking for a fast and oddly enough a heartwarming read that will leave you smiling I would definitely recommend this!

This wasn’t a bad book, but it wasn’t quite what I expected either. This was a lot more technical and focused a lot on the reporting side of things. Again not bad, but just not my thing.

I did really enjoy it being set in my home state. I recognized many places referenced so that was fun.

Jolene Garcia is a journalist looking for a big break in the constantly changing and shrinking world of broadcast journalism. When a controversial local "shock jock" ends up dead, and it turns out to be murder, Jolene is determined to be the person who breaks the story of who committed the crime.

Veteran journalist Christina Estes obviously brings a lot of first-hand experience to this one. Her depictions of the endless jockeying for position in a media scrum ring true, as does her conveying of how difficult it can be to be a woman in the field. The characters are sometimes a little bit stereotypical, and some more fleshing out of the relationships that help Jolene do her job would have been appreciated.

There's a lot here - there are some really tough themes to be tackled, and Estes doesn't shy away from them. I wish that they had somehow knitted together better around the mystery itself.

When controversial talk show host Larry Lemmon dies under mysterious circumstances, local reporter Jolene pursues the story - and gets in over her head in the case itself.

At some point, like most people who enjoy writing, I considered journalism as a career path, though I quickly realized I was nowhere near as persistent and unafraid of failure as the job requires. This book, written by a long-time reporter, only reinforced this.

The mystery interested me off the bat - the poisoning of far-right radio talk show host, with a plethora of suspects from both his professional and personal lives. The way we meet suspects as Jolene pursues interviews with a number of unpleasant people reminded me of watching an episode of Criminal Minds. It was also fun to get a behind the scenes peek into how reporters pursue stories, and how news stations are grappling with the changing industry.

However, the book really didn't work for me on one major level - I didn't like Jolene. I'm aware that in such a cutthroat industry one must be pushy when pursuing leads, but Jolene's complete ignorance about why people might feel miffed about being accused of murder on air or ambushed after a funeral was not very endearing. She's flatly characterized despite an interesting backstory - a love of Wheel of Fortune cannot make up for a lack of personality otherwise!

The actual mystery solving also takes a very long time to get off the ground, with the first really substantial clues popping up in the last quarter of the book, after which we barrel toward a denouement. And while I enjoyed the occasional segue into Phoenix history, the passages sometimes felt shoehorned in, interrupting the flow of the story too much.

Jolene Garcia is a TV reporter in Phoenix, covering general assignments and some special projects. She is looking to do more solid reporting and establish herself as a serious journalist. But she often gets silly assignments, and the trend at stations toward reporters doing it all, and having to take time to constantly share information on social media, is galling.

Work gets interesting when word gets out that there’s been a death at a local radio station. It just so happens to be the one that hosts the ultra-conservative talk show of Larry Lemmon. Larry advocated for a border wall before Donald Trump and gets a lot of mileage out of talking about immigration.

Jolene recently interviewed Lemmon, so if he is the one who died, she could be sitting on the last-ever interview. And sure enough, Lemmon is the victim — if it’s foul play.

All of a sudden, TV reporters are coming out of the woodwork and the competition is fierce for constant scoops that can be shared on the nighttime news and social media. Jolene is constantly scrambling. Solving this case, or at least being the first to report it, may stretch her standards to the limit — and even lead her into danger.

Off the Air is a fun mystery that gets in lots of gibes at ultra-conservatives who spout about patriotism, God and family values. It also takes its share of digs at today’s media companies, where journalistic values are going down the toilet and all that matters are clicks. As a longtime journalist myself, I definitely got a kick out of all of it. Estes capitalizes on the circus atmosphere and creates a heroine who still has standards but is starting to cave a bit just to keep up.

The mystery part of the book is perfectly fine but it plays second fiddle to the setting, which, for me, was entertaining. It’s possible that those who haven’t braved newsrooms and the changing media landscape may not find it quite as hilarious, but I recommend it for an easy read.

I did not find this book particularly captivating and struggled to overcome its over-earnestness. While billed as a mystery, there is very little plot left to mystery while most of the story follows more of a day-in-the-life of journalists arc along with the grumbling/grievances of a journalist.

A solid debut and enjoyable whodunnit!

Jolene is a news reporter in Phoenix who is fighting to stay relevant in a world where the competition (aka her mortal enemy, JJ) is fierce and the rise of social media means she needs to work even harder to succeed. When Jolene is one of the reporters to first break the news of a high-profile murder, she has to do everything she can to stay on top.

I think I particularly enjoyed this novel because I have family in Phoenix so all the details, like the descriptions of the highway murals, saguaro cacti, and Snowbirds that migrate to AZ for the winter, really gave such a great sense of place. There was a lot of political references, which sometimes annoyed me because they were too real lol, but ‘tis Arizona!

I also enjoyed it because I used to want to work in journalism so I loved all the industry knowledge we get about the world of news! I empathized with reporters like Jolene who have to hustle so hard to stay relevant!

Jolene herself isn’t super likable, but the novel has a good cast of characters, including a big-hearted camera person, an obsessive boss, mostly supportive friends/co-workers, and a larger-than-life victim.

I read this one surprisingly fast. It’s super binge-able and a fun read. I think readers who enjoy books like The Thursday Murder Club series would also like this one.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the cozy mystery vibes and that it was about journalism, though I did not care for the political tones. Regardless of political ideology, I like my cozies to be neutral and not involve too much of the 'real world'. Although I liked the descriptions about Phoenix and Arizona, sometimes it felt like it was distracting from the story and was put there as filler.

Off The Air was a cute, fluffy-thriller. While I typically gravitate toward darker/more intense thrillers, I do like a little reading vacay to fuff-ville every once in a while. Off The Air was exactly what I wanted.

First off, I have experience in a newsroom, and going out on lives with photogs. Estes captured everything SO well. The descriptions of all the minor characters were so spot-on with what you'd see in a newsroom, and she gave them so much personality without this being too lengthy. It was a really quick read (I did it in less than 2 days).

Jolene finds herself on the verge of her big break -- a fast-developing story has fallen onto her lap. Luck is not on her side, and she's struggling to get ahead of the competition. She might have broken the story, but she might have gotten in too deep, herself.

DUN DUN DUN.

Off The Air would make a great poolside read this summer!

I received an ARC of Off the Air by Christina Estes from Netgalley.

When a prominent talk show host has died, reporters for news stations begin to gather information and try to be the first to report accurate information about what really happened.
I did not enjoy this book as much as I thought I would have, as my major in college was radio, TV, and film .. with the hopes of being behind the scenes at a TV show or news program... this book definitely delivered on becoming acquainted with just how cut throat the world of journalism and reporting can be.. but I wanted a little more thrill surrounding the death of Larry Lemmon. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is in the field of journalism and reporting, though !

This book was enjoyable but needed a bit more oomph. Decent storyline, that needed more character development.
Overall I'd rate it 3 to 3.4 stars.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC

Off The Air was a good solid book. The character development was good and so was the story line but it took me a little bit to get into the story. It was an easy, fast read with an ending I was surprised all. Over all, a decent read for anyone!

Off the Air is the debut cozy mystery of Christina Estes. This was a four star read for me, as it jumped into the action right away and kept the pace throughout.

Jolene is an on-the-street reporter for a local news channel in Phoenix, looking to go from random boring news stories to being able to choose more interesting topics. When the word comes in that there's an unresponsive person at the radio station, Jolene and cameraman Nate are sent to report on what's going on. After finding out that it was radio personality Larry Lemmon, Jolene's a step ahead of the pack, having recently recorded his final exclusive interview. But that's as far as she gets before everyone and everything stops going her way. Her biggest competitor gets the scoop from Larry's producer, the network news gets the scoop on how Larry died...when are things going to go right for her?

For the most part, the characters were likeable and relatable. Jolene is under a lot of pressure, so tensions are high between her and her colleagues. Her boss, David, wants every news story to have a "sexy" angle, and they just don't, so he was annoying the entire time, but I think that's how you're supposed to feel about him. Nate is a nice guy who just wants to do the job and get the story.

Since Larry Lemmon was a loudmouth with a lot of enemies, it's hard to narrow down who may have wanted him dead. Was it another radio show host wanting his spot? An ex-wife hoping to get some insurance money? One of the guests he's argued with over the years? A listener who doesn't agree with his opinions? With no many suspects, it's hard to narrow it down, but Jolene is determined to figure it out and get a new exclusive. Can she do it before she becomes the next victim?

All in all, a great debut mystery. A news reporter is someone you don't see often in a cozy mystery, so that was interesting. There wasn't a ton of suspense, but that's not necessary in a cozy. The relationships that Jolene has are well developed. If you like a mystery with no gore and a main character amateur sleuth, then you should definitely give this one a try!

Thank you to @NetGalley and @Minotaur_Books for a digital copy for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.

This is a unique fictional expose and light perspective on the life of an investigative journalist and the hard work it takes for so many people to report a top news story. This debut author uses her 20 years of experience as a reporter to give readers a sneak peek into the hustling and bustling and frantic pace that occurs in reporting a story, including the use of backstabbing, insider information, and informants.

Unlike a typical mystery with good police work, this was all about chasing down interviews or getting interesting video or sound bites at all costs, including life or limb or reputation. Unfortunately, there was very little suspense and an extremely annoying main character.

The narrative frequently takes an unnecessary sidetrack to highlight the sites and scenery of Arizona and the mystery is lost in all the talk of important dates in past news history, which does nothing to further the storyline. I also felt that there was too much political fervor, and both liberal and conservative adversaries were made into cartoonish figures. Overall, I was unsure if this book was supposed to be humorous, serious, or just tongue-in-cheek.

My sincere thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.