Phoenix TV reporter Jolene Garcia heads to the scene where controversial radio talk show host Larry Lemmon has suddenly died. Jolene had conducted his final interview and her bosses hope this gives their TV station the advantage. But Jolene finds herself scooped by her rivals several times when her police source prevents her from using vital information in her broadcasts. This leads Jolene to make some unprofessional & pushy moves to try & advance her story. This was an interesting look into the highly competitive world of live TV reporting.

I received a digital ARC from Netgalley and Minotaur Books. All opinions are my own.

Journalism isn't all fun and games - especially when your station's reputation is on the line. This is especially true for Jolene Garcia. After securing an advantageous last interview with local celebrity Larry Lemmon, Jolene is confident her station will lead the pack on the reporting of his death. However, the competition is moving in quickly - and they will do anything to get exclusive interviews and information. As the coverage continues, Jolene finds herself steps behind the competition and becomes desperate to come out on top. She is willing to go through any lengths to get the perfect story, and eventually uncover who is behind this strange murder. Will Jolene break the case or will the case break her?

This was a fun and fast-paced whodunit story! At times, it did drag a little bit, but at other points I felt like there could have been more. Christina Estes also provides a look into what happens behind the scenes of the news and how stations come into information regarding different cases/topics. That being said, it wasn't anything that blew me away. It was a cozy read that did get you thinking toward the end, but did not leave you on the edge of your seat. If you are looking for a read that will give you a weekend adventure, this one is for you! However, if you're looking for something action-packed and puzzling, you may be slightly disappointed.

DNF @ 30%. I requested this after getting an email from St. Martin's Press about it, but it was just not for me.

The plot centers on the murder of a right-wing radio host, and the journalists fighting to cover the story. There is so much infodumping constantly, in both the text and the dialogue. There's half a page dedicated to summarizing the events of Jonestown - the protagonist is supposedly intelligent, educated, and raised in the US; it's hard to imagine a professional journalist not knowing even the slightest details about it, and needing to "discover" it so she could inform the reader. There were repeated instances of the protagonist digressing to reveal some tidbit about her past that had a bearing on current events, which was extremely heavy handed. Add on some more clunky dialogue, really dumb nicknames, and literally no feeling of suspense despite an active murder investigation, and I just couldn't keep going.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

You can definitely tell that the author used to be a reporter! This is the best and most realistic depiction of working in a newsroom that I have ever had the privilege of reading. From the tension between journalism and the need for clicks, the use of social media for story ideas, turning everyone into a MMJ, to newsroom dynamics, I appreciated it all. The newsroom setting, main character reporter, and the core mystery were so well done.

However, I think the level of detail in those areas served to highlight some story elements that weren't as fully realized and even detracted from the story.

[LIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD]

- The Oliver storyline was unnecessary. The way it wrapped up so cleanly made it even more clear how pointless it was.
- I didn't understand the main character's attitude toward her recently widowed neighbor. She just seemed bizarrely rude to a woman who didn't seem to do anything but be nice to her? It rubbed me the wrong way and made her hard to root for.
- In general the main character's background story needed to be better fleshed out. The quick mentions didn't serve to round out the character, instead they seemed like excuses.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and it seemed like it was a setup for a series. Hopefully these background elements will get to be more fully realized if that is the case.

This was a great, fast read. Books with reporters are always interesting because you get inside information into that world. Estes was a reporter so although this was a debut book, it read very realistic and polished. A great debut.

I had high hopes for this one, but it fell short in the end. The premise behind the mystery that is being solved in intriguing, but it really is more in the background overall plot wise. I enjoyed learning a bit more about broadcast journalism, but I do think that part of the story was overdone and repetitive. We get it - social media is changing the landscape of news reporting. The character development was fine but nothing spectacular. I also felt like there were quite a few loose ends when it wrapped up (like the whole Oliver thing was weird imo).

I would go bonkers if I worked in a TV newsroom like Jolene's. So much stress and management idiocy. Jolene keeps trying to follow the rules and not release unconfirmed details in a murder case but other reporters are less ethical. She gets desperate as she is scooped time after time while waiting for confirmations. Her desperation pushes her to act in questionable ways while pursuing her story. I really enjoyed this fast paced story and thank the heavens I don't work as a multimedia reporter!

Off the Air is a cozy mystery story set in Phoenix, Arizona. Our victim is a controversial conservative radio talk show host. Larry Lemmon is known for his extreme views and for taking on any guest who doesn't agree with him in a brutal way! Our amateur sleuther is Jolene Garcia. Jolene is a TV reporter who is looking to break away from "fluff" pieces and take on bigger and better assignments. And to get the scoop on her nemesis, a reporter from another station.

I love a good cozy mystery, and there were things about this one that really worked, and there were a few things that didn't work for me.

I think the mystery was interesting, and while I had an idea that the police and Jolene were on the wrong track on one major aspect of the case, I ultimately didn't figure out who the murderer was or why.

I absolutely loved that the amateur sleuther was a journalist. The perfect career for a sleuther. The inside look into broadcast journalism was so fascinating. Especially the challenges that stations are facing now with social media and with fewer people watching live news.

What didn't work for me, in an effort to get the scoop and prove herself, Jolene became a bit of a slimy person. However, I had some empathy for her. She was under a tremendous amount of pressure from her bosses, and instead of being understanding or helpful, her friends and coworkers seemed to give up on her really quickly. There was also this random love interest (well one-sided, he wanted to date her, she wasn't interested in him) it was really awkward, and I don't think it added much to the story.

And, as I mentioned, the talk show host that died was ultra conservative, basically a shock jock. So, there was a lot of talk of some pretty hot political topics. It is just something to be aware of, as it does occupy a good portion of the story.

If this is going to end up a series and we see more from Jolene, I'd definitely give a second book a try. I'm thinking Jolene will see some good character growth after her experiences. She seemed a bit more grounded by the end.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the advanced digital copy of this book. My opinions are my own.

This was a fun little read. It's labeled as mystery/thriller but it almost gave me more cozy vibes than thriller vibes. I would say it's a lighter murder mystery than most. But I liked it. Trying to figure out who murdered the minor celebrity, following the clues, trying to beat your competition and other reporters for the scope. Also has a minor twist at the end as to the why which I appreciated.

I did find the main character kinda whiney and a whole lot of a mess and there was one character I'm not real sure what the purpose of was, but otherwise it was a solid read.

I really hate it when a book just doesn’t do it for me .. it’s very rare & I can usually find SOMETHING that gets me to the final chapter , but I just CANNOT with this one & and I feel terrible . “Off the Air” is a DNF (1⭐️) for me & I am just not that into it . Sad (& very rare day) for this book reviewer .
HOWEVER , everyone has different tastes so this one might be for you ! If you like books about journalism and media and murder , you will like this one ! If you read it , let me know what you think - maybe you’ll convince me to try it again ! 😉 Publication date :: 3/29/24 .
AS ALWAYS , thank you @netgalley and @minotaur_books for the advanced copy .
#advancedreaderscopy #minotaurbooks #netgalley #offtheair #bookreviewer #bookreview #media #journalism #goodreads #goodreadschallenge

Honestly, I got to chapter 3 and realized this book was just not for me. I went into this book, with an open mind. Not sure if I'm in a weird book funk or it's just not my thing, but I'm going ahead to DNF this one.

From what I could tell, the writing was good. A journalist involved in a murder mystery? Definitely has potential but fell a bit flat for me.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵. 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯'𝘴 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬.

The media life sounds stressful, always having to be the first to break the news or the first to update the news.

A person has died at the local radio station and all media people are converging upon the scene, begging for bits of info. Who died? Accidental, intentional, natural? Each reporter is asking everyone there, followed in most cases by a camera person and they are all angling for the best view, without other media in sight or sound, so they can film their side of the stories. Some are more out to shut down others from getting the news and seem to go to great lengths.

Once the person is identified, the media starts coming from national sources and the locals are fighting for their right to cover what they consider their stories. Management is going all out to own the first to report status. Reporters seem to be always underperforming compared to others, which would drive me crazy.

I read about 40% of the book, then skipped ahead to near the end. Their was too much filler that added nothing to the story and it felt like the same thing over and over. Get a tip, hunt it down, find a confidential source, get info and can't use it, but someone else already has reported it so you lose again.

Definitely not the life for me and it was tiring reading it, let alone live it. Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy. Honest opinions expressed here are freely given.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

Follow Jolene as she works through a high profile case to try to get the exclusive story. Sometimes trying to get the exclusive scoop can take you down the wrong road. Overall, this story was good. Sometimes it was a bit redundant and very heavy on news lingo/news stories. It was good but not memorable.

When they said “controversial talk show host” they could have gone so many directions. This book had so much potential, but the constant talk of politics really ruined it for me. I wanted a fun mystery murder book.. and got rants and rants about political controversies. I can watch the news or scroll through the X app for that.

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book, but I would still tell someone to read it [with disclosures.]

Thanks so much Minotaur and NetGalley for the ARC.

I really liked the premise of this mystery. When a far-right radio host (think Tucker Carlson) is murdered, there is a long list of people who wanted him dead, and now Jolene must hunt down the story of what happened, possibly solving the murder while she reports on his death. But while the plotline was interesting and the mystery was intriguing, I didn't love Jolene as a main character and the writing style didn't click with me. Jolene was a cutthroat reporter, which was great. But the story would mention that her drive to get to the story was driving people away from her, and then they'd magically reappear to help her with the next step in the mystery as if nothing had happened. So, while the mystery kept me intrigued, how the story was told was a little hard for me to follow, and Jolene's attitude toward her colleagues was annoying. Overall, it is an interesting mystery, but I probably won't pick up another book by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A local TV reporter in Phoenix, Jolene Garcia, is sent to cover the death of a local radio personality; one she just did an interview with. Suspicious circumstances erupt right away. And Jolene is now under pressure to get scoop after scoop when her station is behind in the ratings. Every time she gets a lead she loses it. And every time that happens more pressure. Jolene's under so much pressure her attitude is driving away her closet colleagues and friends. Can she help solve the case for the exclusive, or will she lose again to another reporter?

3.75 stars rounded up. I think I would have liked this book more if I went in with the right expectations; I was expecting a murder mystery, but I feel like this novel is centered around the behind the scenes of tv journalism with a subplot of a murder mystery. I definitely learned a lot, which I always appreciate. I wasn’t a fan of the main character, which I don’t have to find a main character to be redeemable to enjoy a book, but it did catch my a little off guard in this style of book. I was also caught off guard by being team criminal on this one. I definitely understand where the culprit was coming from and didn’t overly sympathize for the victim. Because that was a twist I am not used to, I moved this book from 3.5 stars to 3.75 stars.

Phoenix tv reporter Jolene is investigating/covering the death of controversial conservative radio talk show Larry Lemmon in this debut mystery novel. Jolene is determined to break the story before her glamorous competition. She finds herself in several precarious situations as she investigates and tries to please the bosses at the tv station who want more social media engagement. I liked all of the real info about Phoenix in the story but didn't love the rhetoric of the radio host and his supporters. This was the author's debut novel and releases on March 26.

Sadly this was just not for me. I felt the story fragmented and all over the place. I dnf’d it at 25%

A fictional and entertaining behind the scenes of a reporter investigating a radio host mysterious death. I enjoyed all the journalism talk, had a very up to date view on how news are being spread today. There were lots of suspects to watch out for and lots of momentum to keep the story moving.