It was pretty dull. I enjoyed the premise of the book. The idea of a granddaughter of a serial killer having a ex-mother-in-law, who is murdered in the same fashion as her grandfather’s MO is intriguing and I expected it to be filled with tension. However, it just felt like I was reading about someone going about their daily business and that business happened to be solving a murder. Throughout most of the book, there is no threat to Capri to add more action and there are no other murders, which doesn’t invoke a pressing need for the reader to find the killer. The podcast element also wasn’t incorporated into the story as I thought it would be based on the summary. I thought it would be documented in a similar style to how A Guide Girl’s Guide To Murder or Only Murderers In The Building does, but it is only mentioned in passing when she records for a podcast.

I will not be posting my review on any other platform.

Who could resist a title like that? Not me! Tour guide Capri works to solve a murder that mimics a decades-old series of killings committed by her grandfather. Who is the copycat? What if dearly departed Grandpa was innocent? What is Capri's daughter hiding?

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for the advance reader copy of this engaging mix of an old mystery and a new crime.

Capri Sanzio is the granddaughter of "Overkill Bill," who was a serial killer of prostitutes in San Francisco. While her father refuses to discuss him, he maintained his innocence until he died and Capri had always believed him. She currently makes her living by giving tours of the San Francisco area with a focus on serial killers. When a copycat kills an older wealthy woman shortly after Capri's ex-mother-in-law announces that she will no longer be paying for her granddaughter's tuition, Capri decides to use this added interest in her grandfather to finally get around to researching his life and figure out if he was innocent. When Capri's ex-mother-in-law becomes another victim of the copycat, she and her daughter are the most obvious culprits so she needs to amp up her research and also figure out the secrets surrounding her ex-mother-in-law.

I generally liked Capri and her mama bear tendencies. There were several times where I felt like she was the standard white girl in horror flicks - just basically inviting someone to find out what she was doing and kill her. I flipped through suspecting so many different people but didn't start to truly suspect the actual murderer until near the discovery. Her tours sounded like a lot of fun and I especially liked the way San Francisco was basically another character. I was very invested in figuring out how the "Overkill Bill" murders were tied to the current ones and if Capri was going to find out the truth. It kept my interest but wasn't something I couldn't put down.

Crimes of the past and present overlap and confound with the politics and manipulations of the high society who have their own agendas. Complex and a lot of strategy through a lot of varied information. If you like more thinking than action in your mysteries, this will be a sure hit.

Capri grew up with her grandfather being a known serial killer. Despite believing in his innocence, she was never able to figure out what happened. Years later, 2 women are murdered in the same way and all fingers are pointing to her. Since one of the victims was her cold mother in law, the impacts are hurting her daughter. This book is a great fun read with Capri being a quirky heroine who won't stop until she finds the truth. She is solving the present and also her past and with twists and turns, no stone is left un turned. There is never a dull moment in this book.

In this intriguing novel, Capri finds herself haunted by the possibility of a copycat killer when two women, including her ex-mother-in-law Sylvia, are murdered. The plot thickens as she delves into the mystery, convinced of her grandfather's innocence.

Drawn by the captivating description and the enchanting San Francisco setting, I was excited to dive into this book. The historical facts about the city were a delightful addition, enriching the backdrop of the story. However, the murder mystery plot itself was a bit too predictable for my taste—I was hoping for a twist that never quite came.

Most of the book follows Capri's journey to solve Sylvia’s murder while juggling her tour company duties. It was enjoyable to immerse myself in the true-crime aspect, although the pacing felt a bit slow and repetitive at times.

Despite these minor setbacks, the book offers an engaging read for fans of crime procedural and investigation themes, spiced with a dash of family secrets. Fans of lighter mysteries will enjoy this one. Overall, it was a good read, albeit with an average outcome.

This was such a fresh read for me! I liked the cast of characters. I liked the plot and the investigation into an old murder case. Then there was the added mystery of the new murders and who killed them. I liked the added information on all things San Francisco and thought it was cool that the FMC ran a guided tour company that focused on crimes. I would be down to that tour of a city!

Capri has always been convinced that her grandfather was not the killer that he was convicted to be. He is known as Overkill Bill and was charged and convicted of murdering 3 women back in the day. Her mom won't talk about it. Her dad won't talk about it. But Capri has always had this scarlett letter if you will of being related to him. She has been a savvy businesswoman and made crime part of her career. Her and her BF run a guided tour company in San Francisco that focuses on old crimes and where they took place. Things pivot a little for Capri when her daughter finds out that she is being cut off by her wealthy grandmother. Capri realizes she needs to take the leap and work on a podcast for her grandfather. As she is gathering her notes together things start to jump out that don't make sense. And now two women have been murdered, one of them being her ex-mother in law. The women were killed in the same fashion as Overkill Bill. Is this a copycat? Or is the killer back? Capri decides to do her own investigation to finally be able to learn the truth of her past as well as being able to contribute to what is happening current day. They have to be tied together but not the way that Capri thinks.

This was a pretty quick read for me. I was engaged and found myself really wanting to know how the old killer was tied to the new one. I also liked the flirty dynamic between Capri and the head detective. That had me hopeful for them! I would definitely recommend this one.

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

Capri Sanzio makes her living by giving serial killer tours of the city of San Francisco, something she has been interested in ever since she was a kid and found out she is the granddaughter of a famous serial killer. Capri has always believed in her grandfather William ‘Overkill Bill’ Sanzio’s innocence, but she has never had the time to investigate the case fully. Now, an Overkill Bill copycat has struck in San Francisco. Meanwhile, Capri’s former mother-in-law, Sylvia, has cut off Capri’s daughter’s tuition payments. Maybe now is finally the time for Capri to uncover the truth about Overkill Bill all while making a podcast and writing a book to earn some extra money. However, when Sylvia is murdered, Capri finds herself and her daughter right in the middle of the police investigation. Capri will stop at nothing to uncover the copycat Overkill Bill as well as the original.

I found myself really enjoying the character of Capri as well as her investigative tactics in the story. She literally will stop at nothing to clear her family’s name. I really enjoyed the setting of San Francisco and the details of some of the tours. The beginning of the book starts off strong, but around the middle of the book, things started to slow down for me. It seemed to focus mostly on Capri’s inner dialogue, and I would have liked more dialogue with the other characters. Perhaps her daughter Morgan could have helped her solve the case. Overall, it was an easy, fast read. I would recommend it perhaps as a thriller palate cleanser, but it is not a book that will stick in your mind for weeks. I give it 3/5 stars.

3.5 Stars rounded up. First off, this book cover is so cute! I love when it's a cutesy cover with an ominous title. This book started so strong, and I was getting ready to declare this as one of my favorite July reads. It took a bit of a nosedive after the 45% mark, but the writing was always on point.

3.5 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this eARC.
I'll be honest, at first, I wasn't a huge fan of this book. But I ended up having a pretty good time with it. The story follows Capri, whose grandfather was a suspected and accused serial killer. However, Capri has always defended his innocence. And as a result of the decades-old involvement in the case, Capri grew up to have an obsession with true crime in San Francisco, even having her own true crime tours company. But after a copycat for the serial killings her grandfather was accused of takes place, the Overkill Bill case is brought back to people's attention. But when Sylvia, Capri's ex-mother-in-law becomes the second victim, Capri has to investigate for more reasons than to clear her grandfather's name. Capri and her daughter become prime suspects.

I really ended up enjoying this book, but I did see some of the "twists" coming. It just took a while to get to the real action of the mystery. However, overall it was good. And the little romantic sprinkle was great.

This book started out so great and then about 25% of the way in, it got sloooooooow and kinda boring. Over-explaining mundane background information like how cloud computing works - was this novel meant to be read by someone who's never heard of the internet?

Ryan felt stupid smart. Like you have this super hacker genius working at a tourist company. As if.

We spent way too much time on Sylvia's backstory which didn't matter at all to the plot or solving the mystery so not sure why that was included.

And Capri's inner dialogue was exhausting. Like every single thought she had was put on paper as part of the narration to ensure I was thoroughly bored.

A FUN READ! Any true crime fan will enjoy this one. You’ll be sucked in from the very beginning as it starts off with serial killer talk. The idea of a serial killer your guide is AMAZING and I want to be on one of Capri’s tours.

That being said, I really wanted more serial killer talk and less murder mystery. But it was fast paced and kept my interest through its entirety. I didn’t find myself bored. I wanted more and love the dynamics of the characters. The twist threw me for one and was a little messy, but I still enjoyed the ride there.

Thanks so much SMP and NetGalley for the eARC.

This was outstanding! I really hope it's a series, because I felt so sad when it was over! Loved the city as a character, and the other characters were awesome too! I enjoyed the mystery, decent surprises, so well written! Really loved it!

This is a cute and quirky mystery with a likable main character and enjoyable writing style! I thought it started off strong with an interesting premise, and a detective you really cheer for. I enjoyed the interstitial chapters with snippets from Capri's tours, and the descriptions of different parts of San Francisco. It slowed down as the mystery took over, which was too bad, as the mystery felt a little flat. I would love to read another book starring Capri and continuing the series to see where it goes!

Thank You Netgalley and St. Martin's Press

Publish date: September 24th, 2024

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

I loved this book!

Set in San Francisco, it follows Capri Sanzio, who conducts serial killer tours of the city and has been fascinated by this subject since childhood. She discovers that she is the granddaughter of the notorious serial killer William "OverKill Bill" Sanzio.

Now a copycat has struck in San Francisco and Canpris's former mother-in-law, syliva, just cut her daughter's tuition payments and now needs cash and now Capri is opening up the old case from years ago to figure out the truth. She starts to write a book and podcast on it from what she knows to make extra money.

I want to keep reading to find out more, it was such a fun and interesting read!

My Honest Review
The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco
A Mystery
by Michelle Chouinard

I really enjoyed this funny thriller, it was an easy & fun read. The author did a great job building the characters. The plot wasn’t too complicated and was easy to follow. Highly recommend for beginners in thriller/mysteries.



📚Expected Release September 24, 2024📚
Thank you St Martin’s Press, Minotaur, NetGalley, & the brilliant author Michelle Chouinard. I’m super appreciative & gave my honest opinion❤️

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

This book had a good premise, a great setting, & good characters. I was disappointed that it fell short for me. When you start this book, you believe it will be about a woman who runs true crime tours making a podcast & writing a book to prove the innocence of her grandfather, a prolific serial killer. After this plot point is set up, it is quickly over shadowed by a separate plot point until the last 5% of the book. While I know many details about the meals she at & the technology her & her friends used, I still feel like the protagonist is a stranger to me. As soon as this book started picking up for me, I was immediately disappointed by the predictable plot twist. All of the key aspects I wanted in a novel were here, they just weren’t executed in a way that I found to be worth the time

This is the first book in a new series that should be around for a long time. The concept is certainly unique--the granddaughter of a convicted serial killer runs serial killer tours for tourists in San Francisco while trying to prove her grandfather's innocence and find the copycat killer currently on the loose. You won't want to put this book down until you get to the last page.

The banter in this book was hilarious. Like I really couldn’t stop giggling to myself, my husband kept asking me why I was giggling, and when I tried to explain he didn’t get it. He’s not a book person.. I thoroughly enjoyed this and I definitely want it for my bookshelf

This book! It had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I thought it was an incredible story about family, loss, and mystery. So may twists and turns! Definitely give this a listen if you're into murder mysteries.