Top 5 Reasons to Read Dead Tired:

1. Charming and Hilarious Characters: The protagonist, Alice, and her group of new mom friends are delightfully quirky and relatable. Their camaraderie and humorous banter add a light-hearted touch to the mystery, making the book enjoyable.

2. Engaging Plot: The storyline is compelling, mixing murder mystery and the everyday challenges of new motherhood. The plot twists and turns keep you guessing, and the unique setting of an eco-protest adds an exciting backdrop to the investigation.

3. Relatable Themes: The book explores themes of friendship, motherhood, and the balance between personal life and unexpected adventures. These themes resonate with readers, making the characters' experiences feel authentic and engaging.

4. Witty Writing Style: Kat Ailes' writing is sharp and witty, filled with clever dialogue and humorous observations. The British banter among the characters adds to the book's charm and makes it a fun read.

5. Cozy Mystery Vibes: Dead Tired fits perfectly into the cozy mystery genre with its small-town setting, amateur sleuths, and light-hearted tone. It's an excellent choice for readers who enjoy mysteries more about the journey than the gore.

Why Not 5 Stars?

While Dead Tired is a fantastic read, a few elements kept it from earning a perfect score. The pacing can be uneven, particularly in the middle sections where the story slows down. Some secondary characters could have been more developed, as they sometimes feel like plot devices rather than fully fleshed-out individuals. Lastly, while satisfying, the mystery's resolution is predictable for seasoned mystery readers.

Final Thoughts:

Dead Tired: A Mystery by Kat Ailes is a delightful and engaging read that combines humor, mystery, and the challenges of new motherhood. Its charming characters, witty writing, and relatable themes will keep you entertained from start to finish. It's a delightful addition to the cozy mystery genre despite minor flaws.

Recommendation:
It's perfect for fans of cozy mysteries with a humorous twist and those who appreciate a good whodunit with a light-hearted touch.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

This is a fun series and this group of ladies are a trip and hilarious! I don't think Alice or Helen are ever going to totally get their shit together! I am eagerly awaiting the next installment!

Dead Tired is a quirky and humorous take on the trials and tribulations of sleep-deprived life, blending wit with relatable anecdotes that will leave you chuckling. The protagonist's adventures in navigating the chaos of daily life while battling exhaustion are both hilarious and endearing. The author's sharp sense of humor shines through, capturing the absurdity of those “I can’t believe that just happened” moments we all experience when we’re running on empty. From caffeine-fueled mishaps to comical misunderstandings, the story keeps a lighthearted tone that makes for an enjoyable read.

What sets Dead Tired apart is its playful approach to a universal struggle, reminding us not to take life too seriously—even when we're desperately trying to keep our eyes open. The cast of eccentric characters adds to the charm, each bringing their own brand of chaos to the mix. While the plot may not be overly complex, the delightful banter and laugh-out-loud moments more than make up for it. Overall, Dead Tired is a fun and refreshing read that will resonate with anyone who’s ever felt a little too “out of it,” leaving you with a smile and maybe a craving for a good cup of coffee!

This book is the second in Ailes’s series following on last year’s The Expectant Detectives. It is an equally enjoyable read.

Now the group of new moms are tired…very tired. Any one who was ever a new mom can probably remember how crushing this kind of exhaustion was and how it might cloud one’s brain a bit. Surely that is the case when the group decides that being part of an eco protest will be more restful than being at home. Of course, much ensues from this decision including involvment in a murder.

Will these amateur moms again solve a case? You can be sure that they will.

This is a fun story, maybe a bit of a fantasy for stay at home parents. Enjoy watching what happens as the story unfolds. There will be pets, babies, friendship, detection and some laughs. It will leave readers eager for book three.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press-Minotaur Books for this title. All opinions are my own.

A hilarious book that follows a new group of mom friends as they navigate motherhood and murder. While Alice and her friend's form of a child-free night is somewhat lacking, in my opinion, they have the best intentions at heart. In their fog of exhaustion, this crew will have you laughing along the ride as they solve the most unexpected of mysteries.

I liked this book slightly better than the first one and the writing was slightly improved over the first one. Still not crazy about the heroine although she finally seems to be getting a bit of her act together :)

Thanks to the publisher for offering the ARCs of this series as they launch this author.

Thank you shouts to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Charming, quirky, and light is the best way to describe this book. I never read the first one and I'm not entirely sure if I'm inclined to go back and do so.

Someone turns up dead in the middle of the night during a protest for green energy, or something along those lines. I definitely was bored by any part of the plot that surrounded the protest and climate change. I'm not against climate change, by any means, but I do find myself moving far away from books about it.

The characters are funny, to some extent, but also I feel like there's a lot of surface friendship but that is to be expected with the feel of the whole book.

I thought some of the random baby insertion moments were funny and fit okay with these amateur mom detectives on maternity leave.

Also, I definitely didn't like Joe, Alice's husband. He seemed lazy and unhelpful and annoyed me.

Overall, 3 stars.

3.5 Dead Tired is the second book in Kat Ailes' Expectant Detectives Series.

I read the first book and quite enjoyed it. Dead Tired revisits Alice and her mommy/amateur sleuth friends. The babes are growing up and are mobile now. And the moms are looking for a few hours of catch up sleep. Why not chain themselves to trees in an eco protest?! Yes, they got a few winks...but there's an extra body when they wake up - one that's quite dead.

Ailes is a fun writer. She has a small child and I imagine she draws on her own experiences for these books. Alice is a great lead character and I liked her. The supporting cast are a mixed bunch and it makes things much more interesting.

Dead Tired is a cosy murder mystery. All the pieces are there - a small village, quirky players, a dog named Helen, enthusiastic amateur detectives, and a police dept that Alice thinks needs some help. There are lots of red herrings along the path to the final aha moments. Another fun, light hearted read from Ailes.

This is the second book in the Expectant Detectives series, and it was just as good as the first! Another murder occurs in the sleepy countryside town of Penton, and Alice and her gang of fellow new moms are back on the case. There’s even more chaos in this one, as now we have psychotic dogs and energetic babies. I guessed some of the twists, but not who the murderer was, and thought it was hilarious that the police are utterly useless and have to rely on this random group of moms to solve murders for them 😂 I don’t know if there will be more books in this series or not, but I will definitely keep reading if so!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur for the opportunity to read before pub day! ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. DEAD TIRED is out now!

This is my first experience with this series, and I thought it was pretty funny. I especially enjoyed some of the funny scenes, such as when our intrepid moms got themselves chained to trees with some environmentalists. The babies and dogs were hilarious, and the moms were smart, even with their tiredness from taking care of the little ones. I am willing to visit Alice again in her little countryside village when she stumbles upon another body. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.

Dead Tired is the second book in "The Expectant Detectives" series featuring four new moms. Author Kat Ailes does a good job of developing characters, but the sense of place is not up to my normal cozy mystery standard. I enjoy a village with quirky characters and quaint businesses. Dead Tired take place in homes, the wilderness, and a variety of children's spaces. The protagonist, Alice, gets involved in a series of circumstances, along with her three friends and their children, pets, and paramours. Ailes accurately describes the drain of new parenthood, but makes a series of poor choices that makes her life more difficult. There are many twists in turns before the culprit is revealed.

So sorry this is late!

This is the 2nd book in Kat’s cozy mystery series, and I loved it just as much as I loved the first one, The Expectant Detectives.

I love the small English village setting and following Alice around as she investigates a murder with her group of mom friends.

Alice’s dog Helen is a riot, as are the hijinks this group of moms get caught up in.

Dead Tired is the second book in the Expectant Detectives series, although no one is expectant in this book. I enjoyed both of these books, they are modern British cozy mysteries with a diverse set of characters and lots of hijinks. Although multiple murders are committed in each book, there is never any real worry that one of the main characters will be harmed, but definitely some worry that they will spill something, make a mess, and contaminate evidence. I will keep reading this series.

Loving this a charming mystery series. The audio is spot on. I very much enjoy the narrator. A perfect cozy mystery for Fall.

"Dead Tired" brings back Alice and her anti-natal class as they carry on their amateur detecting (detectoring, as they say in the book?) encumbered with their one-year-olds.

This time, the murder victim is someone who is a bit mysterious themselves in that they keep reinventing themselves every six months to a year. But now, someone (or something) has caught up to them. And Poppy's noticeable depression only seems alleviated when this mystery falls in their laps. So, in an effort to help and support their friend, Alice and the rest of the gang agree to see what they can find out about the victim and the reason behind their murder.

This was a good second installment, although I have to admit, I liked the first book better. I look forward to the next book in the series!

Thanks to Kat Ailes, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

This book takes place about a year after the first book ends. Our friends who solved a bunch of murders while also uncovering multiple family secrets, all while very pregnant, all have one-year-olds now. Now they are here solving the murder of a woman that they initially met while having a picnic as she sauntered up naked with her boyfriend Raven. This book is cute and chock full of snark. A lot was happening in the book for nothing to have actually happened. I was both engaged and bored wanting to get on with the point. Instead, we have our friends galavanting around, sneaking sweets, breastfeeding, and somehow having children strapped to their chests who don't mind spending hours upon hours in said harness. I can't say any of my one-year-olds would have tolerated this. Honestly, the book was ok. They kept up with the "Don't Bring Helen" bit, even though Helen hardly went anywhere, instead it was babies.

This book was such a delight. I really enjoyed the first in the series THE EXPECTANT DETECTIVES and loved being back with these characters. It's been ~a year since the first book and moms-to-be are all grappling with newborns while on mat leave. They are all sleep deprived so decide to do the totally logical thing - be part of an overnight eco-protest. Alice and her friends willingly chain themselves to trees and settle in as an excuse to get some much needed sleep. Brilliant. Except when they wake up the next morning to find a fellow chained-to-a-tree protester was strangled while they all slept.

Let the amateur sleuthing begin!

The humor is so sharp, sometimes dark and always on point. I love the camaraderie between the ladies in this book and their hijinks. There are some definitely laugh out loud moments and it goes without saying that they are going to get themselves into trouble. The fun is in watching them find their way out.

I can't wait to see where this series goes and will absolutely be picking up the next one. It's in the vein of Finlay Donovan and Every Time I Go On Vacation Someone Dies.

This is the second Expectant detectives novel, although none of our amateur detectives are expecting in this one. Our detectives are trying to solve a murder they again accidentally get involved in while navigating motherhood. I loved how the characters are all dealing with motherhood and the evolution of their friendships. The mix of personalities adds to the story. I really enjoyed this one and am looking forward to the next one in the series.

I was thrilled to receive an ARC of Dead Tired because I loved the first book Expectant Detectives. This book was so much fun to read. Seeing the characters grow into motherhood and yet continue to stumble upon murders was just the light beach read I needed.

Dead Tired is book two in The Expectant Detectives mystery series by Kat Ailes and it is just as funny and enjoyable as book one. I grabbed this on audio and it was such a fun listen. Book two follows a group of new moms who didn’t think their maternity leave would involve so much murder. Main character Alice is so tired but also eager to be out and about with her mom friends and babies. And of course, they just can’t help but be drawn into a murder. The mystery is solid and I did not guess the ending ahead of time. What I most enjoy, though, is the humor. Alice is doing the best she can and there are hits and misses and both are equally entertaining. Lots of fun!