In Off the Air, author Christina Estes gives us a real behind the scenes look at what the life of a TV reporter is like. While Jolene Garcia is covering the murder of a local celebrity, she gives us a detailed account of the stress involved in getting the story. In Jolene's case, it means getting the scoop at all costs. The mystery of who killed Larry Lemmon is the main focus of the story and as Jolene works at hunting for sources and interviews, she begins to put it all together. The story is a bit different from the normal cozy mystery and I like the unique perspective of a reporter as it gives our main character a reason to ask pointed questions. Unfortunately, I felt like Jolene was always a step behind. The story has content warnings including animal cruelty. I liked the story enough that I am interested to see what the author does next for this character.

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press/ Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

This was an interesting read that was more cozy thriller than full on thriller. For me it was more of a like than a love, I couldn’t get into some of the characters as much. The political element was interesting but a bit much.

2/5 ⭐️

This one was ok. I wasn't a huge fan of how political this book was. Thats not to say it was a bad thing, just not my personal taste. I also felt like the real killer and reason came out of left field. The plot moved quickly and the story was easy to follow. People that enjoy journalism and politics would likely be fans of this story.

This was a forgettable book that was much more focused on the profession of the news than the mystery plot. The transitions were odd. There were a lot of times where the storyline was abruptly interrupted by in-depth facts about a real life event or about how the news worked and this was distracting and had me feeling lost sometimes. It would be a great book for anyone interested in working in news but not so great for what appears to be its intended audience - mystery/thriller fans.

I've been reading a ton of thrillers lately and wanted to switch it up with something light and maybe romancy. I probably should have read the synopsis a little closer for this one (or even looked at the cover!) because it didn't quite hit the spot. It certainly wasn't like my typical thriller read and may even be considered a cozy mystery (not my usual speed so I'm not entirely sure!) but it was certainly fun and entertaining.

One thing I really loved about this book was the newsroom aspect. I don't read many books that focus on local news and so I appreciated the novelty with that. My husband works for a local news station so it was fun getting an inner look at his day to day and while I can't be sure it was entirely accurate, it felt pretty well researched.

I didn't totally connect with Jolene and felt a bit flat to me as a protagonist. The dynamics with her coworkers were strange and unrelatable for me. I did like her investigative skills and her ethics and how she sometimes had to toe the line in order to keep herself relevant and keep her bosses happy.

The mystery was cute and even though I figured it out, it was fun going on the ride. I thought the poisoned cookies plot line was a little silly (and maybe the cozy mystery aspect?!) but all in all, it was an entertaining read.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the copy.

This book was just ok for me. The storyline was a unique twist on a normal mystery and it was fun to get some insight into news reporting. However, I felt like there was too much going on and a lot of half developed side stories. This made it had to focus on the main story.

Thank you to Netgalley and St.Martin's Press for the eARC! This is  a well-written, cozy mystery with no real action. While this is a solid book, it's not thrilling or engaging for me as a reader. The FMC, Jolene, works for a local news outlet and is covering the death of a well-known talk show personality. She follows leads and is frequently disappointed. This book delves deeply into the field of journalism - it's clear the author is well-versed in the topic but it comes across as too insightful and educational for a fictional work, imo. You will adore this if you enjoy cozy mysteries. This isn't for you if you're searching for something action-packed or dark.

If you liked the movie Nightcrawler with Jake Gyllenhaal, you'll probably like this book. When we start the story, Jolene seems to have some journalistic integrity, but she quickly burns bridges and herself out by trying to get the scoop before anyone else can. She's the underdog normal-looking reporter and in case she wasn't scrappy enough, she was also a foster kid who was taken in by her maternal grandmother. If this book is setting up a whole world following Jolene as an investigative reporter, the tragic backstory makes sense, but if this is a one-off it was kind of unnecessary.

Jolene didn't need to be abandoned as a child to be good at her job. At no point does that backstory really aid the story. Honestly, other than the dog attack she suffered as a child, there was no need for any childhood backstory. Jolene has a crippling fear of dogs because of the attack, which of course means she repeatedly comes up against dogs in the story. It does end up working, though, in the grand context of the story, and she does somewhat face this fear.

I will praise the author for not including an unnecessary love plot point. I was worried that her cop friend was going to turn into a love plot point, but nope, just some good old-fashioned partnership between cops and the media. Another thing I really enjoyed was the history peppered throughout the book. As Jolene was investigating, she was also researching, and the author did an excellent job of blending the history of Phoenix and related stories into the story.

Overall, this was an enjoyable story and while the culprit might have been a bit predictable, I still had a good time reading.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press - Minotaur Books and Netgalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

This one wasn’t for me. Although the synopsis of Off The Air intrigued me, the book struggled to keep my attention.
Thank You to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

This book wasn't for me - I DNF at about 20%. The writing style just wasn't something I could continue with - 3/4 dialogue and no nuance - and the story didn't grab me.

I am always looking for a new mystery novel to read. This book however fell flat for me. The amount of obvious red herrings bothered me. Just because they were so obvious red herrings. However I feel that anyone who is interested in journalism would like this because of how detail oriented the author is about the profession. I believe the author is a journalist as well. All in all I was looking for so much more from this.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

*****Publishing March 26, 2024****

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ When a controversial local radio host, Larry Lemmon, collapses and dies at work after eating a cookie and drinking coffee, the news are vying to get the details and report it first. Jolene Garcia is an award-winning local TV reporter assigned to this breaking news. When JJ, a competing reporter, gets the coveted interviews first, can Jolene think outside the box and come out on top? Jolene knows how important this is to boost her career. Can she be the first to bring a factual full story?

This author has you laughing from the first chapter! I loved the cut-throat portrayal of the news vying for the same breaking news! Also, I loved how Larry’s death became a murder mystery through the eyes of reporters. I loved all the twists and turns as I didn’t see the end coming! This made for a fun and entertaining read! I also enjoyed how it was set in AZ as I used to live there! A great book to vacation with or bring to your next book club!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press (Minotaur Books), I was provided an ARC of Off the Air by Christina Estes via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. #Netgalley .#OffTheAirBook

I DNFd after chapter 2

This authors writing style was not for me and I felt it a disservice to continue. The premise sounded incredibly interesting, but I just could not follow with her writing. Pretty disappointed

Off The Air gives cozy mystery vibes and was much lighter than the usual dark thrillers i’m used to reading. It did get a bit boring and redundant at times, with back stories for pretty much every character. Personally, i’m not a fan of backstories if they’re not essential to the plot. This was a slow-paced read and the ending was very unexpected. Overall I would recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys cozy mysteries. 3⭐️

Thank you to Minotaur Books for a copy of this title via NetGalley.

“Off the Air” by Christina Estes is a mystery set in Phoenix Arizona. Jolene Garcia is a local news reporter, pressured by her station to come up with breaking news and to relay everything into social media. For the station, it’s the ratings that count! When a right-wing radio announcer dies suspiciously, Jolene thinks she has a good chance for a scoop—after all, she was the last person who had actually interviewed Larry Lemmon. Unfortunately, she is upstaged by her nemesis, JJ, who not only gets the story, but looks like she might get taken off the story and get stuck with reporting on the best dry cleaners in the area.
I quite enjoyed this mystery—it was fun paced and nothing too graphic or violent. It was interesting (and shocking) to learn about how the news has become mainly entertainment. I haven’t lived in the US for more than four decades, but this book explained to me why I feel so uncomfortable watching the news on television when I visit. My only complaint is that sometimes the author ventured a bit into “lecture” territory to inform the reader of various social issues that popped up here and there. They weren’t really woven into the story, but were acting almost like footnotes.
Many thanks to Net Galley for an ARC of this novel. I will definitely read the author’s next book. My opinions are my own.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Minotaur Books for providing me with an advance e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. Look for it in your local and online bookstores and libraries on March 26, 2024.

This wasn't what I expected at all. I thought it would be more of a cozy mystery but this is more history and politics. I was bored and didn't care at all about the characters. They seemed superficial and the story was not interesting.

Thank you to netgalley & St. Martins Press for the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review. Jolene is a news reporter who is investigating the mysterious death of another radio host. Jolene feels that this story could be the story that catapults her career into full gear. So, she’s determined to get to the bottom of it. I was excited to read this! It was different from most of the mysteries and thrillers I am used to. However, the mystery kind of fell flat for me. I as the reader was more interested in the mystery & detective work but I don’t feel that the MC was really focused on that. There was a lot of information/tidbits that came up and were never addressed after that. Which left me wondering about different things while reading. Unfortunately, it was too slow for me. Jolene was not my favorite at all. She was judgmental, whiny, and her priorities were all out of whack. She seems very childish for a reporter/journalist, so it was hard to take her seriously.

Overall I gave this a 2.5 rounded to 3 stars.

Christina Estes won the Tony Hillerman Prize for Best First Mystery set in the Southwest for OFF THE AIR. It’s clear to see why.

Phoenix’s assignment reporter Jolene Garcia is usually lobbed off track stories with human interest ties but when she learns that Larry Lemmon, a controversial talk show host has died under suspicious circumstances, she jumps at the chance to cover the story. She recently conducted the last interview Larry did so she feels she has an inside track on this case. Working with two VERY different cameramen, former boyfriends, a nosy neighbor who keeps trying to play Cupid and a boatload of crazy interviewees, Jolene is trying to put the pieces together to ‘scoop’ all of the other media hacks and just maybe find out what happened to Larry. Some of those interviews had me chuckling. It’s amazing what people will divulge when someone is dead!

It is not surprising to me that Ms. Estes won this prestigious award for I was very entertained with OFF THE AIR. The writing style is smooth and easy which leads to an enjoyable read and an engrossing storyline. I believe this is my first novel by this author but she will certainly be a name I add to my ever-growing TBR pile.

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for this ARC opportunity. All opinions are my own and given voluntarily.

I tried so hard to like this book. It didn't feel like a mystery to me but more like a play by play of how to be a journalist. I was so intrigued by the blurb and thought it would be great but unfortunately it fell flat.

I appreciate the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for my honest opinion .