Jolene Garcia is a local TV reporter in Phoenix, Arizona, who splits her time between covering general interest assignments and working on special projects. Her most recent interview was with Larry Lemmon, “America’s true conservative voice”- and a controversial radio talk show host who was best known for his stance on pushing for a border wall, even before Trump did.

When word gets out about a death at Lemmon’s radio station, KFRK, Jolene and Nate Thompson, her photographer, rush to the scene-hoping to be able to report the facts first.

This could be a career-making story.

When the body is identified as Larry Lemmon, Jolene hopes that because she conducted his final interview, it would give her and her station an advantage. But as she chases the story, she finds herself always one step behind her nemesis, JJ, who reports for a rival station.

Colleagues and those with different political views, were just a few of the people who might want Lemmon dead. But who actually followed through with his murder?

Emmy Award winning reporter Cristina Estes is a Tony Hillerman Prize winner for this debut in the “Best First Mystery set in the Southwest” category-but I had a few problems with it.

It is chock full of facts past and present about my home State- Arizona, highlighting the good, the bad, and the ugly. (Mostly the last two, but I guess that is what reporters see more of)

It is also so loaded with facts about how reporting has changed over the years from just reporting a story and competing for ratings, to competing for clicks on Social Media, and racing to be the first to “tweet” a breaking story.

So much so, that the story often read like an expose on the “cut throat day in the life of a journalist”- rather than as fiction-and the over abundance of facts took me out of the story, and slowed down the pace.

Also, a negative for me-that POLITICS played a big role in the narrative.

One thing I can say- when I found out what Lemmon did to get himself killed-I agreed with the PERP who declared that Lemmon got what was coming to him. 😉

TRIGGER WARNINGS thoughtfully provided by the author in alphabetical order: References to abandonment, ageism, animal cruelty, child neglect, classism, homelessness, racism, sexism, sexual coercion, and substance abuse.

Expected Publication Date: March 26, 2024

Thank You to Minotaur books for mailing me a gifted copy. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Off the Air is a book that's hard for me to rate. Sure, the mystery was interesting to keep me invested with each clue we could find. Yet, I didn't like how our main girl, Jolene, was being treated by her own coworkers. Or, honestly, the new guy who just moved in. Now he's someone who needs to learn what the word "no" means and accept it. As for work, I was kind of hoping she would quit at the end.

For the actual murder mystery, we had a lot of suspects to go through and finding clues wasn't easy. The second Jolene got a whiff of something or someone, they would already be talking to some other reporter. When she finally put the pieces of the puzzle together, and sort of went rogue, I wasn't a fan of the truth that came out.

Don't get me wrong, it was a great reason to you know unalive someone, but I would've called the police. Without spoiling anything, it just put me in a bad mood and I'm not sad about the death at all. In the end, I'm glad I got the chance to dive into this. At first, I got vibes of 'Only Murders in the Building' season 3 and that's probably why I kept turning the pages to see what would happen next.

Going into the novel, I was thinking cozy, whodunnit mystery in the media industry. The beginning had me hooked with a reporter on her last leg trying to catch a break on a potential homicide of a well known local personality. The middle lulled as time went on and we added more and more suspects to the list. However, the end significantly picked up and we got a majority of the action in the last quarter of the novel. The novel was competing between being a reporter trying to stay ahead of the story and trying to manage her personal relationships, honestly I could have had less in Jolene's personal life.

This book, a debut, I’m impressed. The premise reeled me in – I'm a sucker for anything delving into the behind-the-scenes chaos of TV news. No book description from me because, let's be real, I like to roll into a story blindfolded.

Brace yourself for a dive into the moral maze of being the first to break a story, consequences be darned. It's all about the ever-evolving landscape of news delivery. Toss in the mysterious death of a controversial talk show host, sprinkle in our ambitious reporter, Jolene, hungering for that Emmy, no matter what it takes and you've got yourself a feast of moral dilemmas, twists, and turns.

It’s not as fast paced as I make it sound but it’s still engaging, the characters are fun, the story's a rollercoaster, and did I mention it's a debut?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was fine. It wasn’t exactly a book that I enjoyed and I think it’s just because it was more of a reporter style book rather than a police procedural style. Overall the story was entertaining and I think if you like stories about reporters point of view in an investigation, then you’ll likely enjoy this book.

This was a fun romp through Arizona’s local news community! It was definitely light reading, but I enjoyed it and it read pretty fast. I was expecting it to drag a bit, but it didn’t in any part Jolene was a fun character and kept me engaged throughout the story. Her wacky cast of characters added to things, even if it made for slightly confusing times where I had to flip back a few pages to keep people straight. All in all, a pretty solid story, and I really enjoyed my advanced reader copy!

This murder mystery takes place in Phoenix and the main character is a reporter. The pacing and plotting were good.

The story does a good job of showing how difficult modern local reporting is and how challenging the task of adding the social media layer to the already difficult task of reporting must be.

There were lots of potential murderers, which made the puzzle of figuring out who did it a good challenge.

I enjoyed this story.

Off the Air follows a woman trying to make a living in the cutthroat world of TV news. Jolene gets called in to report on a death at a radio station, and it turns out to be a nationally known conservative radio host who has devoted followers and bitter enemies. Technically there is a mystery at the heart of the story - who killed Larry Lemmon, but the point seems to be that figuring out who it is will boost your network’s ratings, and improve your odds of winning an Emmy. Jolene tries to stick to her morals at the beginning of the story, after learning the hard way earlier in her career what can happen if you don't. The reader will quickly see how hard it is to maintain that standard when the competition doesn't hesitate to publish unverified information and the network bosses are screaming for the content that will bring in social media “friends”. This all felt very true to life, but it also made reporters and news stations look self-serving. I sure wouldn't want to be on their radar for any reason. The social media aspect of it feels very believable, but it's also exhausting. It's bad enough when you know a TV station is trying to capture your attention that way, but it feels infantilizing to know just how many stupid things get covered and called news because of the comments and videos people watch on social media. Even when she’s holding to her principles Jolene is hard to like. It feels like there are very few people she views as friends. Everybody else just exists as a potential way to advance her career or annoy her. I think Estes did a good job of pacing the story so that it matches the urgency of a reporter chasing a story. I like the idea of multiple suspects, but it feels underdeveloped because as soon as the chance for an exclusive is gone so is the interest in the suspect. Too many leads get dropped. And ultimately, no one seems to care about who killed Larry, killing the competition is more important. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you love a good mystery book this one is for you! Though I went into this thinking that it was a romance book, mostly because I have been reading so many! It was a pleasant surprise to see a full mystery novel with no romance at all!!! It was a good give and take, and a new take on the same old mystery novel. Not just seeing it through the eyes of the cop or detective but see it through a reporters eyes! The author does an amazing job at making you think one thing is going to happen and throwing you into another! I read a lot of mystery novels and I still didn't know what was going to happen next! I did love this novel though it took me a little longer than I thought it would to finish it! I would recommend this to anyone that loves a good mystery novel!

The news world is cutthroat and when a local celebrity is found dead, all reporters will go to any length to get the scoop. While I agree, this story is for a specific audience, it was a thrilling adventure to find the killer.

I really enjoyed this book and a completely different take on the world of reporting. It was a page turner and kept me guessing until the very end. If you are looking for something different and fast paced this is the book for you!! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!!

This book was not a bad book, but it just not my personal taste in books.

I did not end up finishing this book, but I got about halfway through and I feel that I can write a review that is accurate. This book is marketed as a mystery, and while this does feature a reporter trying to help figure out what happened to a recently deceased and possibly poisoned political talk show host, I don't feel that the mystery was the focus at all. This book is really just a love letter to journalism. I was impressed by the vast knowledge of reporting that this book showed, but I really wanted to read more about the mystery, and less a guide on journalism.

Looking at the author's background, who was in the journalism scene herself, I can definitely see the inspiration for this book. I can tell the author has a lot of respect for her profession.

The main reason why I decided not to read the rest of this story is that it is just too political. Despite the main character repeatedly saying that journalism is supposed to be neutral, every journalist in this book was clearly biased. I like to read to escape, and I try to avoid any book that features discussions on modern political social issues as a whole. I know some people like this, but I do not.

Thank you to the publisher for providing this via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Jolene Garcia is a TV reporter who spends most of her time investigating groundbreaking stories such as which dry cleaner is the best at removing stains and which nail salon gives the best manicure. When controversial radio host Larry Lemon is found dead, Jolene, who conducted his final interview, siezes the opportunity and races to solve his murder.

This was an interesting look inside the world of journalism. It was interesting to see the protocol behind breaking news and what can happen when those rules are broken. The mystery was well-crafted and unpredictable.

I felt like some of the side characters in Jolene's personal life were a bit unnecessary and didn't add much to the plot. In general, none of the characters were very likeable. I was also expecting the book to be a bit funnier, but at times it felt dry and seemed to drag on.

Overall, this was a unique story that provided an interesting prospective on journalism. However, much like the news, it was informative but not the most entertaining.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This first novel by Christina Estes takes us behind the scenes of television journalism as Jolena Garcia tries to make a name for herself in the cut throat world in which she works. She has been assigned too many low interest stories and longs to get a better assignment when a local radio reporter is suddenly murdered. She pulls out all the stops to get the assignment. I found the character believable and the story one that held my interest. I recommend this as a fast read and one you will enjoy. I hope to read more of her books in the future. I really learned a lot about investigative reporting.
I wish to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press - Minotaur Books for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What a fun, easy read. The dialog is so natural you can feel yourself saying the exact same thing Jolene says in exactly the same circumstances.

A TV news reporter in Phoenix, Jolene Garcia is chasing after the breaking news story of the moment only to be stymied every step of the way by her rival reporter from another station, JJ, or the national network news teams who arrive to scoop her, or the station news director who overrides how she wants to report the story. Ever persistent, Jolene finds a way around these roadblocks only to get herself into more hot water when Murphy’s Law takes over.

A very relatable protagonist, populated with every day characters all wrapped around a murder keeps you guessing and turning the pages till the surprising end. I look forward to more adventures with new reporter Jolene Garcia.

Thank you NetGalley for the Uncorrected Digital Galley of Off the Air and the introduction to a new author.

3.5 Rating

A big thank you to NetGalley, Christina Estes, and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book sounded like something right up my alley - a murder mystery that is investigated and solved by local TV reporter Jolene (named after the Dolly Parton song) as she fights off competition and is determined to keep her story within her hands. However, I would say the actual book is more of an inside look as to how news stations and channels operate and the responsibilities and pressures their employees are placed under.

The book starts off interesting and becomes a slow burn as we move through the story. There is a murder in the book and Jolene does investigate it but it almost becomes a secondary plot because the minutiae and details of Jolene's job, her co-workers, and the way newsrooms are structured and operated take the forefront of the book. It almost felt like too much detail but I actually enjoyed learning about it - the takeaway is that I wasn't expecting to read a book about that based on its description. The author herself has professional experience as a reporter so you can be sure the information is not too far from the real experience!

Jolene is a driven, lovable, and flawed character. It's easy to follow the story from her POV and I do like when authors show the flaws in their characters - it makes them feel more realistic and human. Throughout the book, you understand Jolene and feel for her predicament while also wanting to shake her and tell her she's being illogical at times out of desperation.

Overall this was a lovely, cozy book but I wish it had been marketed more as a look inside a newsroom as they investigate a local murder instead of a murder mystery novel that happens to be solved by a local reporter. I think that would give more of an accurate depiction of the novel readers will be starting.

P.S. There are ample references to Phoneix and its neighboring areas. This is a wonderful love letter from the author to her career and the city of Phoenix

Jolene is a reporter working in Phoenix who is desperate to get ahead. and land a juicy story. When a local radio shock jock (think Rush Limbaugh) is murdered by what might be cyanide laced cookies, Jolene is determined to get the scoop and be the lead reporter with this story. Jolene had recently interviewed the controversial show host and she feels entitled to be the one to get to report this story. As a former print reporter myself, I enjoy reading books about reporting and it is clear the author did her research on the ins and outs of broadcast journalism. However, the story of how broadcasting works combined with the extensive comments on the history of Phoenix and the political discussions left little room for the murder mystery.

Jolene was not a likable character. She was jealous of more experienced and better known reporters and was rude to everyone; her neighbors, her police department source and even her camera man. I'm sure there are people who behave this way in the broadcasting world, but they are not pleasant to read about as fictional characters. Jolene finds herself running into roadblocks as she battles to be the first to interview anyone connected to the case while yelling at her police department contact because he won't jeopardize the murder investigation to give her information. There are a few possible suspects to consider, but we never get to really know the victim Larry Lemmon, so it is hard to connect the dots and try to guess who the killer might be. I did finding the ending part where Jolene confronts the murderer to be well written but in general did not care for this story or the characters. Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for a review.

debut-novel, news-media, broadcast-journalism, unpleasant-co-worker, unputdownable, local-news, tv-personality, verbal-humor, situational-humor, arizona, mystery, thriller, contemporary, murder-investigation

Get inside the head of new journalist Jolene in this time of instant news as she sniffs out the truth of the death of a radio personality. Lots of laughs and insights into the cutthroat world of news propagation. Fascinating read.
I requested and received an EARC from St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Thanks

I found this book to be as much a treatise on the not so glamorous side of broadcast news, as I did a mystery. Much time was spent developing the news/media angle, while the mystery itself seemed more like a vehicle to expose it. That said, I enjoyed the book and the author’s writing style. For diehard mystery – only readers, there may have been a bit of disappointment, but not for me, as I was just as glad to learn about the world of reporters. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance read copy, I enjoyed the book and look forward to more from this author.

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for the #AdvanceReviewCopy

Summary: Local TV reporter, Jolene Garcia, spends her time covering general assignments and the real stories that interest her.

After the suspicious death of a known talk show host at a radio station, Jolene is determined to get the facts first. Turns out, Jolene interviewed this man just before his death. This makes her hungry to solve the murder, but can she do it without sacrificing her career?

My Thoughts: This fell short for me in a few ways. I didn’t connect with any character, it was a bit too detailed for my liking, and the story felt rather flat. I’m clearly not the right audience for this book as I struggled to finish it. Perhaps if you’re into journalism you’ll enjoy it more.