DM Me for Murder by Sarah E. Burr provides a fresh take to the cozy mystery genre. I love cozy mysteries with unique concepts so I was interested in the social media/influencer amateur sleuth. This is the third book in Sarah E. Burr’s Trending Topic Mysteries series. This book reminded me of the Barbiecore aesthetic as it painted vivid scenes of opulent hotels and trendy eateries that perfectly mirror the protagonist’s glamorous influencer lifestyle.

Coco, the amateur sleuth, may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but her tenacity and determination to uncover the truth shines through. Her friends and co-sleuths deliver a youthful energy and keep readers on their tones as they navigate the investigation.

While some may find certain sections of narration to be filler, Burr’s descriptive prose and attention to detail transports readers to Coco’s world.

I would recommend this for anyone looking for a lighthearted cozy mystery. DM Me for Murder is a great addition to the cozy mystery genre and I loved the blend of social media and mystery. I found the ending satisfying and Burr kept me interested until the end. There’s a chance I would check out the next book in the series. I would definitely be interested in reading other mysteries by Burr.

This book took me quite a while to get into and even then I wasn't really feeling it until around the 80/90% mark. It did have me trying to work out who the killer was throughout and in the end it was surprising however for me it did drag quite a bit from start to finish sadly. But I did like that the victim was found first chapter so it did throw you in right at the start of the book.

When Coco takes on a new client, that is a huge influencer, she didn’t expect things would start out so bad. One Coco arrives for their first meeting and finds the influencer dead, she knows she must solve this murder, in order to save her own standing as an influencer.

Who knew that the death of a Los Angeles influencer what hit so close to home for Coco? can Coco figure out who killed LaTage and why, could this be the end for Coco Cline, Influencer? Either way, there’s no happy ending for everyone.

I really adore this series. Coco is a 20 something moving into her 30s and her maturity, shows as she builds her own business acumen and starts to take on more than just the Internet. Helping other clients brand and build their own businesses has been intriguing and interesting to read about. Most of all I love how her personal life continues to move forward in each and every entry. I can’t wait for the next one!

When Coco Cline arrives for a meeting with mega-influencer LaTage, she finds the popular internet star dead. This is the third book in the series, so it's not the first brush Coco has had with murder and LaTage's fans are quick to start spreading rumors about what might have happened. The one is a fun, quick read with lots of pop culture and social media references. The mystery itself is well developed and kept me interested. There was just enough back story to keep me from feeling lost, even though I hadn't read the previous two books. I also appreciate that when the author referred to events from the previous books, she didn't give away the endings to those mysteries.

This book took a bit of time to get into but I did find myself staying up way past a decent hour to finish it! I think I might be slightly older than the target audience, so that's probably a factor in my review that is not at all the fault of the author or the story - I just think a gen z-er would enjoy it so much more!

DM Me for Murder is the third is a series but can be read as a standalone (I didn't read the first two, and actually didn't realize there was others until the end!). As I was reading, I thought the seemingly excess information was to set up a series, but really it was tying back to earlier stories of Coco the crime investigating Influencer.

I love a good influencer thriller, but now that I've read this book, I'd probably lump it in with Crime Thrillers over Influencer Thrillers. Overall, its an easy read with an interesting story & I would recommend to anyone that speaks in "gen z" and enjoys true crime inspired fiction.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

This is the 3rd book in this series and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I would recommend reading this series in order, I read the 2nd one without reading the 1st one so I felt like I really didn't know the characters when I read it. I am glad I went back and read the 1st one before I read this one. This series is based on social media and influencers which I think is a unique concept for cozy mysteries. I think the generation raised on social media and influencers would truly enjoy this book since they may understand that scene more than I can. I still enjoyed the mystery and story.

The Trending Topic Mystery series is absolutely one of my favorite cozy mystery series, and DM Me for Murder lives up to all of the other books. In this newest installment, Coco is excited that mega-influencer LaTage is coming to town to utilize her Center of Attention for rebranding efforts. However, when arriving for their first meeting, Coco discovers LaTage murdered. This is the third death that Coco and her community has been apart of in less than six months. In order to find justice for LaTage and to try to keep her reputation in tact, Coco dives into this newest homicide investigation. Of course, she has the help of her trusted friends Jasper and Charlotte, as well as Amanda.

Again, I love this series. The characters are well-developed and I thoroughly enjoy all of their personality quirks. Jasper continues to be my absolute favorite. The setting is the necessary charming for a cozy mystery, and the murder was definitely interesting and kept me guessing. I cannot wait to find out what Coco and her friends get up to next.

Another winner from Sarah E Burr. I really enjoy Coco's world, this mystery involves a client flying out from California, an influencer that wants to shake things up and rebrand herself. Unfortunately when Coco and Amanda show up, at an up and coming, high end housing development, for their first meeting they find her dead. Who would want to murder the famous LaTage? When her true identity is discovered, and she had local ties, was it a family member, an old boyfriend or a member of her entourage? Coco has a hard time staying out of this as she is being branded by some as a jinx, I enjoyed how she worked smarter in this latest mystery, drew on her friends and family and worked through a lot of clues to solve a mystery I couldn't figure out until the end!! Thanks to #NetGalley and #LevelBestBooks for the chance to catch up with Coco.

3.75 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley & Level Best Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I’m a sucker for mysteries, so this book’s title and premise intrigued me from the beginning. I didn’t realize that it was part of the Trending Topic series (Oops!), so some references to past books went over my head. (That’s totally on me and has no bearing on my review.) Still, I was super interested in the concept of this book.

The plot of influencer & amateur sleuth Cordelia “Coco" Cline looking into the murder of fellow influencer LaTàge- who she was supposed to work with- was a fresh concept I haven’t seen before. As someone who has worked in social media for years, following a main character with such a background made following the case more interesting. I’ve never read a book where a murder mystery was followed from that sort of lens, so it was refreshing. The mystery itself was great too, what with all the solid red herrings and possibilities of who the killer was. As for the reveal of the killer, it totally surprised me who it was! It took a turn that I truly didn’t expect.

I also loved the small town setting of Central Shores. Something hits different than a murder mystery set in a big city. It didn’t feel like a typical small town either; it felt unique enough that it wasn’t a bland setting.

Where this book fell a bit flat were the characters and some of the dialogue. I didn’t mind Coco as a character, but some of her dialogue- which was heavily laced with “trendy” lingo (i.e. the constant use of “tea”)- seemed a little out of place when used in serious conversations. A couple of the side characters grated on me a little too, which made reading some scenes with them hard to get through. But the humour and murder mystery made the book a more enjoyable experience.

Overall, this was a solid amateur sleuth murder mystery. I’m definitely going to read the first two books in this series in the future!

Unfortunately ai didn’t love this book. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters. The story just seemed drawn out. This would be a great book for young adults.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced review copy in exchange for my honest opinion on this title.

Coco Cline is a small beach town influencer and owner of Center of Attention who has the chance to work with a mega influence LaTàge. Coco’s not so stoked anymore when she shows up to a rebranding meeting to find LaTàge dead in a Central Shores luxury, beach front property. This story follows Coco and the police department (and many others) on the mystery to uncover the twists and turns of LaTàge’s untimely death.

I love a cozy mystery, but this one was much too slow for my liking especially in the middle. We’re introduced to a multitude of characters throughout the book, most of which I kept wondering “why would Coco bring yet ANOTHER person into the case?”… The story line of a consultant working with the PD is similar to another series, The Booking Agents, as well as the books the TV series Bones is based off of. The story of an influencer solving a murder case was cringey, the online following texted like middle schoolers texting for the first time, and I think I genuinely sat through an ad read within the first few chapters.

I think this would be a great novel to pick up for any young adults or newbies to the cozy mystery genre. There was a fun and surprising twist mid-way through the book to help keep my attention. The arrest at the end was shocking, but slightly predictable and the last few pages were cute though a tad cringey.

A fun murder mystery -- kinda no thoughts, just vibes, but perfect for what I needed as a palate cleanser between fantasies. The influencer angle to the sleuthing worked well for this mystery. Although this book is the third in the series, it read well as a standalone, and got me interested in the established relationships enough to want to read the first two books to understand their origin stories.

Thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I picked this book up so many times, only to read for a few pages and then put it down as I just didn’t want to continue.
If it was on KU, I would have DNF’d earlier but I felt it was unfair to do that considering I got it on NetGalley.

There was too many pop culture references. (However this could be a personal preference thing)

My only real issue with the book was the channel titles. Coco (our main FMC) has a blog called ‘Trending Topic’, Jasper has a magazine called ‘Divulge Direct” & LaTàge (the victim) had a channel called ‘dats how we dooz it?’
From my memory, LaTàge is the only black character introduced (other than perhaps, her followers who, of course, speak in AAVE when reacting to her death)
It feels too much of a bad stereotype to be ok!

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

Fun easy read. I liked the characters and their relationships. It was a fun take on the cosy murder genre.

Unfortunately I couldn't finish this book and that made me so sad. I hate not finishing books and I feel as though this book how so much promise. However there were too many parts where it tried to be relatable and reference every day things to the point where it just got cringy. I had to stop reading at 35%. If there were less moments where they tried to seem relatable and cool then it would've been good.

Read as an ebook.

This is a sequel book in a series, but it was easy to understand even if you haven’t read the others. The characters and their relationships are well-explained, as is the setting. The town and the various side characters are vibrant, and the mystery itself was low stakes and satisfying. There were several twists to the story that I didn’t see coming.

While I enjoyed this story overall, I found the main character a little difficult to relate to, and the attempt at “Gen Z” speech patterns felt a bit forced and even out of character at times, which occasionally interrupted the flow of the story for me. Generally though, this was an entertaining, quick read that I would recommend to people who are interested in influencer culture and cozy mysteries that don’t get too graphic.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Level Best Books for this ARC. This is my honest review.

3/5 An easy-read, social media-fueled mystery.

Social media influencer Coco is excited about her meeting with mega influencer LaTage. Coco has a horrible surprise when she arrives for the meeting and finds Latage's dead body. Although she is not a suspect, Anonymous accounts on social media accuse her of having a hand in LaTage's death. Coco has no choice but to find the real culprit and clear her own name. This was a fun fast paced and light hearted mystery with numerous plot twists and multiple suspects. The main characters are likeable and well written, especially her two best friends and fellow sleuths Jasper and Charlotte. I enjoyed this book and was surprised at who the murderer turned out to be.

DM Me For Murder is an electrifying and utterly addictive read that seamlessly blends the captivating world of social media influencers with the suspense of a thrilling mystery.

Protagonist Coco Cline is a relatable and endearing character, making it easy for readers to become emotionally invested in her journey. As she navigates the murky waters of social media fame and a murder investigation, her resilience and determination shine through. The dynamic friendship between Coco and her 'Sleuth Squad' adds depth to the story, offering moments of humor.

This book is a compelling exploration of the dark side of social media fame, where hashtags and trending topics can quickly turn a person's life upside down. It's a story that delves into the complexities of jealousy, ambition, and the lengths people will go to protect their secrets.

Intriguing, fast-paced, and thought-provoking, this book is a must-read for fans of both mystery and social media culture.

Gen Z + Cozy Mystery - sign me up.

This is part of a serires, but I read this without reading the others and had no issues understanding what was going on. That said, I will go back to the start of the series as I like to really get to know the characters, and not just try to solve the mystery at hand.

One influencer trying to solve another influencers murder. This felt like it could be a tik tok series (not a bad thing). Pacing of the book is quite good and definitely a lot of good twists and turns.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I didn't know what to expect when reading this book but hoped it would be a fun cozy murder mystery style novel. I am pleased to say I wasn't disappointed. I think this has a specific target audience as uses a lot of slang and pop culture references but I could easily overlook some of this and still enjoyed the story.

I didn't realise that this was part of a series but I don't think it has impacted my understanding of the book and the characters so don't worry if you read out of sequence!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.