Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The premise of the book drew me in but once I started reading it, I just couldn’t get into it at all.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

This was a solid murder mystery book. I had a few issues with pacing, and at times the inner dialogue from the FMC was a bit much, so it took me a little while to fully engage with the story. However once I got used to the authors style I enjoyed the book. Capri was a pretty good detective, the police could use her on the force! Lol Of the three murders involved, I guessed who the perpetrator was of the first, but the other two had me going back and forth.
3.75 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur books for an advanced copy.

Thank you to Michelle Chouinard, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

First, I love the cover. Second, I really enjoyed reading this. I liked Capri and found myself rooting for her to solve the mystery of the copycat.

I liked that we got a glimpse into her job and honestly, I wouldn't mind going on one of those tours!

I also listened to the audiobook while reading, and thought the narrator did an amazing job.

A decent light noir (gris?) set in modern day San Francisco. Capri Sanzio is the granddaughter of Overkill Bill, a serial killer from the 1960’s who offed three women before being caught. Capri, a true crime buff, thinks he’s innocent and has been investigating the case.

Her day job is running a company that offers crime tours of San Francisco which pays well enough, but when Sylvie, her ex-mother-in-law, decides to stop paying Capri’s daughter’s tuition at Stanford, Capri realizes she needs to capitalize on her heritage. But then there are two Overkill Bill copycat murders - one of which is Sylvie and suddenly Capri and her daughter are in the police’s crosshairs. The only way to stop this is, of course, by investigating the murders herself.

I got a bit bogged in the middle of this book where there was a lot of confusing (to me, at least) financial chicanery that I got the gist of but didn't quite follow. Once we got away from that, it was a nifty and satisfying plot, though there were really not enough suspects for the reader to get too blown off course and there's a pretty big plot hole (the photos!).

The San Francisco setting felt a bit light to me as a resident of the city. I’ve always appreciated Marcia Muller’s thorough descriptions of city streets and neighborhoods and I was hoping for more of the same, given the title. While some were absolutely on point - the Presidio Heights house and neighborhood are vividly detailed - others - like Capri’s home and office locations are a bit vague. There are some inserts about famous killers in the city tied to specific locations, presumably linked to Capri’s tours, which add some SF-specific spice.

I did enjoy Capri’s dry and humorous narration and her co-workers feel like they could develop into a solid team, so I’m sure we'll be back for more murderous San Francisco mayhem.

Thanks to St Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

San Francisco - I'll give you a 25yo photo of me in San Francisco. I went to law school in California (Sacramento to be precise) and spent quite a few weekends in San Francisco during that time... I loved it and I loved my reminiscing with this book as well !
This novel is both creative and immensely enjoyable!
I loved how the city's landmarks and history were seamlessly woven into the story, bringing the setting to life. The inclusion of historical serial killers tied to the city added an extra layer of intrigue, enhancing the atmosphere and mystique of San Francisco. The dual investigations-one focused on a present-day killer and the other on uncovering the truth behind an old crime-were skillfully intertwined. While the police are fixated on the current case, Capri believes there's a link to the past, determined to clear her grandfather's name and uncover the real serial killer.
I appreciated how the author made history and tradition feel ever-present, not only through the city's architecture and events but also through its enduring social hierarchies and class dynamics. ... and let's be honest Sam Spade and The Maltese Falcon get mentioned so I just had to love this one.
A captivating and entertaining read, perfect for mystery and thriller enthusiasts-highly recommended!
I listened to the audio for this book and the narration by Stephanie Nemeth-Parker added to my enjoyment, it was so fun!

If you like what I consider a blow burn mystery then you will enjoy The Serial Killer's Guide to San Francisco.

In my opinion I think the title is slightly misleading, I really expected a lot more to do with serial killers in the book, but you do get a nice little textual tour of San Francisco. The MC, Capri, is fairly likeable, she runs her own touring company in SF that revolves around serial killers. The book starts off interesting with some family drama and Capri's daughter, Morgan, being cut off financially from her grandmother, Sylvia. Then boom, Sylvia is dead. From here it is extremely slow until about 60% of the way through the book. In my opinion there's too much detail about Capri's investigation into Sylvia and why she might have been killed and not enough detail into her grandfather "Overkill Bill" and whether he was truly a serial killer or not.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Minotaur books for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Capri makes a living giving serial killer tour guides throughout San Francisco, as well as being the granddaughter to a convicted serial killer.
This was a fun mystery that kept me engaged from beginning to end. With a cold case murder and a copycat to capris grandfathers killings, there was a lot going on but it was easy to keep up with. Capri was busy trying to solve 2 different murders, while trying to keep herself out of the spotlight of being a suspect.
I loved the setting of the story and how small crimes would be thrown into it, and give you a hint of history throughout the book.
I do hope that Capri and detective pietro continue their journey into another book!

I was not a huge fan of this. The plot was overly complicated and hard to keep track of all of the characters. I begrudgingly finished it but did not enjoy many aspects. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Overall Rating: 2.5/5 stars

The premise of this book was very promising - a divorced mother, Capri, owns a company that gives Serial Killer tours in San Francisco. Given that her grandfather is a convicted serial killer, her direct ties to true crime makes this an appropriately fitting job.

Capri has always questioned her Grandfather’s conviction, and decides to start a True Crime podcast and book further investigating his innocence.

Within a day of making this decision, her ex-mother-in-law turns up murdered, by a seemingly copycat killer. Capri ends up investigating two crimes from two different time periods, both of which very directly impact her and her family.

As a true crime fan myself, I loved the informative tidbits woven into the narrative.

Now for the things I didn’t like - Capri runs into convenient circumstance after convenient circumstance. A few examples…
- One of her best friends is a lawyer and can provide legal advice
- Her coworker is a tech whiz and can crack passcodes easily
- Her other coworker just so happens to want to start a prohibition tour and talks about hidey holes in houses, which immediately triggers Capri to find a hidey hole in her ex step parents house
- Capri is able to MacGyver her way into said hidey hole quickly
- Nobody, including the police, thought about files being backed up onto the cloud? In a modern day story?

… you get the idea. This made the story feel a little inauthentic to have so many easy to solve problems.

Additionally, I felt like the romance subplot was totally unnecessary. We know next to nothing about the “handsome detective” so this fell flat for me.

Overall, this was an easy to read, somewhat cozy, mystery, but it just felt a little underdeveloped for me.

This off-stage murder mystery has a lot of great things going for it: a strong female MC in her 40s when so many are usually set with younger characters, dual mysteries which may or may not be related, and a city with history. I felt the MC's development was decent but wanted a little more development of secondary characters with major roles (MC's daughter, the detective, the modern-day victims). I sense this might be installment #1 of a series, and I would look forward to learning more backstory and seeing how relationships and opportunities for crime solving work out. Hopefully the authors continues on as I would definitely keep reading.

3.5 stars rounded up because I loved the premise of a serial killer's granddaughter getting caught up in a newer round and in investigating her family's past. I would have preferred things to be a little more on-stage and grittier, but I can see this appealing to a wider range of readers because it wasn't.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

A Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco is a mystery about a local tour guide operator who finds herself caught up in two separate murder cases.

Before Capri Sanzio was born, her grandfather was convicted of a series of murders in San Francisco and nicknamed “Overkill Bill.” Now, nearly 60 years later, another murderer is copycatting those crimes, and one of the victims is Capri’s own wealthy socialite mother-in-law, Sylvia. Capri needs to get to the bottom of her grandfather’s case and find out how it’s connected to Sylvia before she and her daughter become suspects.

I enjoyed this murder mystery, especially its main character, the amateur detective Capri. It was refreshing to read about a forty-something divorced woman juggling a business and an adult daughter in college. The story includes a lot of details about San Francisco, which makes a great backdrop for the crimes, both old and new. You can really feel the author’s love for the city coming through on the page. I also liked the side characters, like her friends Ryan and Heather, and the handsome Homicide Inspector Dan Petito. I’m not sure I fully followed the financial aspect of the current crime, but it was still a solid mystery. I look forward to reading more by Michelle Chouinard and hope this becomes a series.

Thank you to NetGalley, Minotaur Books, St. Martins Press and the author for this arc!

I had such a great time with this book … it’s a cozy whodunnit that is just as fun as its title!! And San Francisco is the perfect setting choice for a popcorn serial killer mystery … the vibes are spot on! So much history in this city by the bay and the author does a great job representing the sights!

All of the characters were well done and interesting, but I especially thought the FMC Capri was a hoot! She’s a bit quirky & snarky and her inner monologue made me laugh.

Overall, this is super entertaining with a solid plot and a few nice twists to keep ya guessing! I can totally see this morphing into a series ... fingers crossed!!

This was all over the place. And boring. The murder plot and the clearing her accused serial killer grandfather of prior crimes plot were too much in one book. The author should have chosen one or the other. Also I never got a sense for Capri and her “investigation skills” she just ran around accusing people all over the place.

Then when we get to some reveals we still had the grandfather plot to clean up. It just killed the momentum of the book.

Full Review:

"The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco" follows 49 year old divorced mom, Capricorn (Capri) Sanzio. Capri we quickly find out runs a tour that focuses on famous serial killers in San Francisco. We also find out that Capri is the granddaughter of a famous serial killer, William "Overkill Bill" Sanzio. When Capri's former mother-in-law, Sylvia, refuses to pay for her daughter's graduate school, Capri decides to start a podcast that will focus on who she believes is the real killer of the prostitutes' her grandfather was accused of murdering. However, things go awry when Sylvia is found murdered and the MO matches her grandfather's style of kill.

Look, Capri is just not that compelling to follow through what was a snooze of a book. She runs from scene to scene (overly describing things) and accusing people of all kinds of things. It was just aggravating after a while. Her best friend and business partner seems to think only Capri can solve who really murdered the women her grandfather was accused of, but honestly, I wondered where she even got that. Speaking of the business partner character, no character is well developed. The majority of this book is Capri figuring out what was going on with Sylvia and it was just so freaking boring I did not care. That was the major plot of the book. Rushing from accused rich person to rich person with the police constantly threatening arrest was not good. I don't even know if there was a way to fix this. The secondary plot with the grandfather was just terrible and made zero sense when things are revealed. But once again, it's great to hear about Capri's brother who never appears in this book outside of her referring to him here and there, and the ghostly shapes of her parents who once again we spend no time with. Maybe a slight fix could have been her doing the podcast in book #1 and a follow up could have been Sylvia. I don't know.

The flow was bad.

The setting of San Francisco was not utilized very well at all. I think another reviewer said it best, there's like three places that Capri keeps going and that's it. Also, the chapters are broken up about other serial killers in San Francisco and the short blurbs are kind of worthless in my opinion. Capri's whole thing is that victims should not be forgotten, but those blurbs didn't lay out victim's names.

The ending was just a mess. You only really meet I think 4 people who could have done it, so your odds of guessing who did it are pretty good.

This was such a fun and entertaining debut mystery from Michelle Chouinard. Capri was a great character - very real and relatable. It was a true mystery - I had no idea who had killed Katherine and Sylvia. And I liked the storyline about Capri's serial killer grandfather, Overkill Bill and her desire to clear his name. I definitely look forward to reading more from Michelle Chouinard in the future. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

I'm one of the people who selected this book based on the cover and I wanted it to have a little more creepy factor. If you like cozy mysteries, it will be perfect for you!

I liked the way the author shows the investigative process that Capri goes through to try to clear her grandfather's name, and the insight into bits of the "upper class" of San Francisco. There were some great twists, and an overall satisfying ending!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's press for an advance reader's copy.

Title: The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco
Author: Michelle Chouinard
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Pub Date: September 24, 2024

Stars: 3
Review: The title alone grabbed my attention, and I was eager to dive into what I hoped would be a dark and thrilling ride through San Francisco’s sinister corners. While the premise was absolutely intriguing, and the mystery element was well-crafted, I found the build-up to the action a bit meandering at times. For readers who love unraveling a mystery at a slower pace and savor the clues, this could be a perfect fit. However, if you’re expecting a heart-pounding thriller, you might want to adjust your expectations. This was a solid and enjoyable read, but it didn’t quite deliver the thrills I anticipated. Instead, it’s more about the journey than the adrenaline rush.
Pros: Cozy Mystery. It's such a fun premise, and I loved the big reveal.
Cons: A bit slow at times.
Recommend (Yes/No/Maybe): Yes, If you love a fun mystery
Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for allowing me to review the title.


Goodreads- LiterallyLoriB review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6876927509

Thank you so much for the opportunity to be an ARC reader for this. Unfortunately, it just wasn't enough for me. I had so much trouble staying interested and it was pretty repetitive. Eh.

I don’t often read murder mysteries but I did really enjoy this one. I loved the setting and characters in this book. San Francisco is a very cool city and I appreciated the additions about the city/serial killer tours throughout the book. Capri was an interesting character and I loved how determined she was throughout the whole book. Overall a fun read once it picked up part way through the book.

The Serial Killer’s Guide to San Francisco, come on tell me you can see this title and not be at least a little bit interested seeing what this book is about. I know I couldn’t resist. Michelle Chouinard is a new author to me, but she definitely made a good first impression.

Capri makes her living as a tour guide in San Francisco. What makes her tours so interesting? What’s her hook? Death. More to the point, serial killers. She gives murder tours in San Fran, exploring victims/killers. And she has a unique take considering that is the granddaughter of Overkill Bill, one of San Fran’s most notorious serial killers, though Capri has always believed he was innocent and has often thought of doing a real investigation into the case, maybe even write a book about it. But now an Overkill Bill copycat killer has surfaced and suddenly Capri has another reason to look into the killings…because she and her daughter are being looked at as the potential killers!

I have to say I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when I started this one. As I said at the start, the title is what really grabbed my attention. But getting my attention an holding it are too different things, thankfully the story delivers. I really liked Capri, and found the family dynamics quite interesting. Yes the being a daughter of a serial killer hook could just be viewed as a gimmick to some, but hey it work on me, lol. And while the actual mystery not have been earth shattering, I still found it quite entertaining and satisfying. I’d like to thank St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of The Serial Killer’s Guide to San Francisco.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-serial-killer-guide-to-san-francisco-michelle-chouinard/1145637048?ean=9781250909992&bvnotificationId=679183c3-7c42-11ef-9edc-0affc2fcd463&bvmessageType=REVIEW_APPROVED&bvrecipientDomain=gmail.com#review/319930542

Thank you to NetGalley and St, Martin's Press for the Advanced Reader Copy, in exchange for my honest review.

I was intrigued by this book. I do enjoy a good true crime trope, and San Francisco is one of my favorite places, so it looked right up my alley.

The books centers around Capri, a divorced woman, living in San Francisco, running a business giving tours of true crime locations in the city. She also happens to be the granddaughter of a notorious (alleged) serial killer who is part of the fabric of the same city. When there is a murder of an up & coming new money socialite, in what appears to be a copycat killer of her grandfather. But then the next murder happens to be Capri's ex-Mother-in-law. Capri throws herself into the investigation. But what if you are also a suspect and only want to protect your family.

I enjoyed this book. I liked that the main character was relatable. And I enjoyed that there was another storyline of Capri's trying to clear her grandfather's name. As much as I liked this storyline, I felt that it got a little lost and wrapping this up felt a bit like an afterthought at the end of the book. It was a little predictable at times, but I am not mad at the story.

Writing was great. The storylines were good, but maybe too many to flow well.
That being said, I would definitely check out other books by this author,

I recommend this book and am excited to see further stories by Michelle Chouinard.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.