3.5 stars rounded up to 4

You can read all of my reviews at Nerd Girl Loves Books.

This was a fun and cozy mystery set in the small town of Penton. Alice and her boyfriend Joe move there to escape the rat race of London. The night of their first prenatal class they meet several other pregnant ladies and their partners. Everything was going well until one of the ladies goes into labor and a dead body is found on the first floor of the building. Their whole group are under suspicion, so the ladies decide to solve the mystery and clear their names. As you can expect, chaos ensues.

I listened to this book and the narrator did a great job. I enjoyed Alice and her quirky outlook on things. Her dog Helen's antics were a hoot and if there was mischief to get into, Helen was there. The other ladies added depth to the story and Alice's disdain for the local police cracked me up. Some of the twists were unnecessary and didn't add much to the story and a few storylines were left hanging, but maybe they will be addressed in book 2. The mystery was wrapped up nicely, if not a bit rushed.

I was provided a complimentary copy of this audio book from NetGalley and MacMillan Audio. All opinions are my own.

A funny, cozy mystery adventure! The Expectant Detectives follows Alice and her boyfriend Joe on their adventure of moving from London to a more rural town to raise their coming baby. As they settle into town, Alice and the other women in her antenatal class set themselves to being detectives to solve the murder that happened in the shop where their class is held.

A hilarious cozy mystery following these very pregnant women on their adventures about town, I laughed at the unglamourous parts of pregnancy and entry into motherhood.

Check this one out if you enjoy:
Small English town setting
Cozy mystery
Pregnancy humor
First person POV

I listened to the ALC and enjoyed the narration. The accents definitely added to the small town country setting and it was easy to differentiate between the cast of many characters. I definitely recommend the audio to add flavor to the adventure.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan audio for this ALC.

I was kindly gifted an audiobook copy in advance from Netgalley in exchange for an honest reviews I thank you to Netgalley!

I will start this off with saying this will primarily be a spoiler-free review as I read this book through audio form rather than an e-reader and I do think that I would've personally benefited from reading it over listening to it.

The book has a fun concept: Alice and Joe accidentally find themself in a murder-mystery situation when a dead body pops up at the store below their prenatal class and the book really spans Alice and her pals solving this mystery. It reminded me a bit of Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club series in the way it is a unique group solving mysteries except this has pregnant friends over characters in an old folk home. The idea is cute but for me at least, I had a handful of issues with it. I don't think this is intended to be a masterpiece it is again, fun while reading but it is a lot longer than I think most romantic comedy style books need to be even if this has a silly little murder mystery as the main focus. I am just not super into most non-fantasy or heavy world building novels being over three hundred pages and this topped off at nearly four hundred and due to that the audiobook was also REALLY long. I got really bored listening to this at times and another issue I had is for some reason, I just wasn't into the narrator which can really make or break an audiobook experience. I also did not love the humor in this novel, it felt too forced and like it was trying to be funny rather than always landing correctly.

In the future I'm going to try and read this physically as I think I might enjoy it more not having it read at me. I liked the idea more than I enjoyed the execution but again I think that could be due to the audiobook reading (and to be clear the narrator isn't horrible) I am just really picky.

Again, thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Thank you for this arc of The Expectant Detectives, unfortunately it was not my cup of tea. I have read and enjoyed other cozy mysteries but this was just really boring. The main character made some choices that were like really?? The plot was slow and uneventful and I just could not get past the narrator. The narrator was not very good at all.

Humerous cozy mystery set in a sleepy English countryside. Alice and her prenatal group find a dead body and then team up discover the culprit. Even though most of the main characters are pregnant women, they're wildly different. This was a joy to listen to!

At a prenatal class above a shop, a dead body is found, and Alice and other pregnant ladies are determined to figure out who killed the shop keeper. I wasn’t fully engaged in the story. It felt like they were trying too hard to be funny, some of it was and some of it backfired. Alice, the MC, seemed clueless and ditsy about her pregnancy and life in general. The story itself was too long. If it had been shorter and more concise, I may have enjoyed it more. I have loved some of the amateur detective mysteries, but this quirky cozy mystery missed the mark. I was picturing more of Finlay Donovan or Vera Wong, but it wasn’t the same.

I just giggled my way through The Expectant Detectives. Oh was this book just so fun. It is the story of a pregnant woman, Alice, who moves to the Cotswalds with her boyfriend and ill behaved dog and instead of resting the last few weeks before giving birth, she becomes involved with other moms she met in her prenatal class in the investigation of a murder. These women were hilarious and so quirky, the mystery was well concocted and kept me guessing until the end and the dog stole the show. I loved how the murder investigation and suspects all fit together but how along the way, it was lighthearted and funny. I did the audio and the narrator really pulled off the humor in a perfect deadpan way. Thank you so much to @macmillan.audio for really entertaining me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook version of this book. I am not affiliated with NetGalley or Macmillian Audio or any entities. I am in no way compensated for my review. Everything I write is my own personal thoughts, feelings, and opinions on the book.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a laugh out loud kind of book. This is not a serious book at all and I feel that is the point. A 38 week pregnant woman and her boyfriend move to a smaller town. While in a pregnancy class a murder takes place in the building. Alice and some friends decide to solve the murder on their own. Theres lots of fun details in the book. Its a rather long book but worth it.

This book was cute, and definitely entertaining and I enjoyed most of it, but it was not one of those "I am obsessed" kind of stories. Parts were slow, parts seemed unnecessary to the overall book and other parts felt like they were trying too hard. The main character was kind of annoying and frankly made really stupid choices.Maybe the fact that I did not love her was part of the issue for me. I actually think I would have enjoyed this book more if it were shorter and did not try so hard - it felt very forced and uncomfortable at times.

Thank you netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

I loved this book, i never thought i would like a cozy mystery about pregnant amateur sleuths but, I think I just found a new favorite cozy mystery series and I can't wait for more in this series and more by this author.

What a cute idea for a cozy mystery series. A gaggle of pregnant ladies are in a birthing class when someone is murdered in the building and a few team up to amateur sleuth and try to solve the mystery.

Alice is the main female character and I really liked her. I am childless but I could really connect with her and her mixed feelings on the impending birth. She had a good vibe and I always like reading from a British point of view.

The book is fun and has some dry and witty humor in it. And I forgot to mention Helen, Alice’s mischievous dog. Actually she was more like an ordinary dog around non-dog people that got just a little out of control at times. But she brought smiles to my face as I read and listened.

While none upstage Helen, the cast of characters are quirky and entertaining.

The story seemed to slow its pace in the middle, but alas I switched to the audio and I was right back in it. Kitty Kelly was the perfect narrator for this. Her lovely accent and the upbeat tone of her narration was a perfect fit.

If you are looking for a funny read, this is a great choice. The vibe reminded me of reading the Finlay Donovan series or early Stephanie Plum.

Cute cozy mystery and a group of expecting mothers trying to solve a murder is a new approach to the cozy mysteries I usually read. Being an expectant woman I could definitely relate to the main character and some of the struggles she was going through. I liked the small town mystery and crazy dog vibe of the book. However, I found this audiobook hard to get into though and it seemed to drag on longer than needed. Based off the description of the book I was expecting more humor like the Finlay Donovan series and the humor in this book just didn't hit for me. Cute read, but not my favorite mystery or audio reader.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for granting me a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

A chick lit-cozy mystery mash-up that will make you laugh out loud!!

A debut novel that is filled with odd characters, pregnant women, a commune, dogs, and murder.

I love the writing style of the author and the setting, a countryside somewhere near London.

I have to say that my favorite character in the book was Helen!

A story that will bring the most unlikely people together and tear some apart. I am so happy to know this will be a series. Book 2 will be released in June of this year, Dead Tired.

I received an advanced audio version of the book from NetGalley in return for an honest review. The narrator was fabulous. Must love an accent... and Helen!

If The Expectant Detectives wasn’t on your radar before now, if you were thinking you had to be a mommy to enjoy this, or you were thinking rom-coms aren’t your thing, I’m here to tell you to stop, to put Kat Ailes’ debut novel in your cart, go home, cozy in, and prepare to laugh until you cry. The way Alice describes her dog Helen, her partner Joe, her new life in Penton, and her “detectoring” with her new prenatal group friends is hilarious, fresh, and probably the most fun I’ve had reading in a while. I honestly hope this is the start of a series, because I'm here for all of it. I can picture these women taking their kids to college and still solving crimes. I loved it.

This was fun! I needed a new cozy mystery series to get sucked into that wasn’t too easy and had a vibrance and energy without being entirely annoying (I’m picky, I know this, especially with cozy mysteries). Of course the characters insert themselves into a murder and detective work while having no business doing so but I was still championing them. Each had worries and concerns to try and assuage, and were trying to reassert their personhood while pregnant. It worked.

I listened the audio and, perhaps the narrator’s great delivery lended itself to the tone, I was getting strong Becky Bloomwood (Shopaholic/Sophie Kinsella) vibes. More modern and less ditsy but there was an adorable earnestness that swayed the same way and I enjoyed the heck out of it. Alice was not competent in anything but neither did she claim to be… but she hopes to get to fully functioning adult status amid natural worries and a fast approaching due date. Plus, you know, murder and trying to make new friends as an adult, hecking stressful.

It all comes together as a compelling and funny read. Not perfect but an adorable disaster of a dog makes up all the difference. I’m excited to see how this series will grow going forward.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to listen to an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The Expectant Detectives by Kat Ailes released on January 9th, 2024.


This book was entertaining, but I struggled to get through the audiobook. I think that I have trouble with British narrators? Either way, the story itself is fine. It is an entertaining enough story and I probably would have been more enthusiastic about it if I had read a physical copy.

Thank you Minotaur Books, NetGalley, and MacMillan Audio for my ALC of The Expectant Detectives.

The audio was a great quality and I had no issues downloading or listening to the book. I also enjoyed the narrator and felt she did a great job bringing Alice to life.

The Expectant Detectives was an unexpected delight! Alice and Joe are having a baby and decide to leave London for the Cotswolds. Hoping for a quiet last few weeks of pregnancy, they are shocked when a woman in their prenatal class as her baby there in class and the shop owner the class is held mysteriously dies, both on the same night. Soon Alice, her mischevious dog (Helen), and her heavily pregnant new friends are trying to solve the secrets of their sleepy town while battling Braxton Hicks and insomnia and food cravings.
I love that the author put so much relatable humor into the details of late pregnancy. As someone who had all my babies at my due date or beyond it, I was very impressed by Alice's motivation to solve this case! I could hardly walk!
This was a really fun cozy mystery and I'm looking forward to more!

Stepping into 'The Expectant Detectives' felt like a breath of fresh country air! What a delightful read! One of the standout elements for me was how effortlessly the story flowed. The narrative carried me along, weaving effortlessly between humor, heart, and a captivating mystery. I found myself genuinely invested in Alice and her troupe of expectant friends who stumbled into the world of amateur sleuthing. Each character was wonderfully distinct, making them easy to love and root for throughout the book.

What I appreciated most was the author's skill in maintaining a lighthearted tone while delving into a compelling mystery. It managed to keep me engaged without feeling overwhelmed by the seriousness of the investigation. The balance between uncovering clues, quirky interactions, and unexpected twists was just perfect. This book truly offers a delightful escape, making it a must-read for anyone craving a cozy mystery with a unique premise and a cast of lovable characters. I couldn't put it down and found myself smiling all the way through!

Thank you @minotaur_books for the gifted copy! Thank you so much to @netgalley @stmartinspress and @macmillian.audio for the ARC and ALC!

🔍 𝙈𝙮 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 🔍
If you are looking for a cozy mystery with hilarious hijinks, this is your book! I gravitated to this book when I saw the cover and title… I mean, some pregnant ladies doing some amateur detective work? Yes please!

Anyone who has been pregnant could relate to the ladies in this book. The main character is Alice, who moves to the English countryside with her boyfriend Joe prior to the birth of their first child. They join a prenatal class where they meet other expecting couples, and that’s where everything goes haywire. An unexpected birth and murder in the place leaves Alice and her new friends reeling. They can’t seem to let go of who could have committed the murder.

Alice and her friends decide to do some digging. They stumble upon a local commune and meet some interesting characters there. These expecting ladies are looking for something to take their mind off impending birth and new motherhood, which can be nerve racking.

This book is also about the new friendships between the ladies. They bond over their shared experience and their interest in amateur sleuthing brought them closer together. I found the read very enjoyable and can’t wait until the follow up book, Dead Tired, this summer!

🎧 𝙉𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 🎧
Kitty Kelly did a great job voicing the role of Alice and the side characters. At first, I was listening to the audiobook at a higher speed, but found I could slow it down because the narrator talked fast enough naturally. Kitty did a great job bringing surprise and life to Alice and the side characters voices, as they would banter back and forth.

🎧 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚:
💚 Cozy Mysteries
🩷 Amateur Sleuthing
💙 Dog Moms
💛 Small Towns
💜 Female Friendships

I really enjoyed this cute and humorous cozy mystery. The pregnant mom detectives were very unique and there were some hilarious moments and escapades. I feel like it was a bit long and there were a LOT of characters. Overall it's a fun read and very mysterious. I genuinely had no idea who the culprit was because there were so many options. Alice was hilarious and had some great one liners.

Thanks to Netgalley, Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio for my ARC and ALC of this story which publishes 1/9/24