I LOVE a Midwest set book. Growing up in Minnesota is always fun to have a book set in your home state. The selection of all the strange statues is absolutely spot on. The Midwest references - perfection! “Knee High by the Fourth of July” is a perfect rainy day, easy read. This was the first book I’ve read in the series, this book was good, but I’m not sure I’ll rush to read the others in the series.

I'm loving these Murder by the Month books by Jess Lourey. I listened to the 2024 audio version of this one. They are fun and twisty and definitely of the cozy murder variety. The hapless (and nosy) heroine, Mira James, is always finding herself the discoverer of a dead body, when all she really wants is love. With each body, she sets off to figure out whodunit, because who better than the local librarian?

Great fun read by the pool/beach/lake.

Having read May Day I didn’t have hugely high hopes, but this one definitely disappointing.
None of the characters feel well developed, even Mira- after three books, I expected better character development than focus on sex and being obnoxious and critical of everyone. I also found the obsession with the statue weird and uncomfortable; I gagged each time Mira made a romantic or sexual comment about it. Although a significant plot point was cultural appropriation and cultural respect, I couldn’t tell the author’s opinion on the subject. Her decision to make a character so “pro-White” felt tone-deaf.
The small bits of credit that I can give is that the book is a quick read and does not need to be read in series order. But honestly, you can pick up other cozy mysteries that do the same thing.

Knee High by the Fourth of July by Jess Lourey was such a funny cozy mystery.
The characters are great, and the story is riveting.
I enjoyed this book. And I’m excited to finish the rest of this series.

Thank You NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This was the first book I read in this series & I cant wait to read more. It was a cute, easy read but it still kept you wanting more. At times it does seem a little “out there” but despite that it keeps you sucked in. I cant wait to read more!
Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I feel committed to this series now, even though I'm not loving them. There are some good things about the series. I like the small town feel. I like some of the characters. But to really enjoy this you need to accept that every character in the small town is over quirky, and I do mean over quirky. You also have to accept that the protagonist is a library manager without any qualifications and can leave the library at a whim, and constantly. I like that she works at a library, but a little bit more realism would be nice there.

Out of the three I've read so far, this is my least favourite. Mainly because most of the book is about the protagonist being irrational. I'm all for fun in a book, and that seems to be the appeal to many readers for this series. Maybe I'm expecting too much? I don't know. But this book felt rushed, compared to the first two and I wonder if the author felt rushed when it was first written.

I thought the mystery was okay. The reasoning behind it was a bit hard to believe, but it still seemed well put together by the end. That makes me think the mysteries in future books will be strong.

Link for video review will be added soon.

I have enjoyed the other books in this series and this one was no different, as always full of mystery, suspense and humour.

Knee High by the Fourth of July is a new installment in the murder by month mysteries. We follow a woman who moves to a small town and becomes a librarian and a writer for the paper. In this one, there is backlash due to a popular summer festival and a big statue goes missing. Mira is on the hunt for this statue and a missing person.

These cozy mysteries are a lot of fun. They are just over 200 pages and a quick read. They are full of humor and some funny situations. Mira is a funny narrator and she has a lot of inner dialogue that was funny. While the mystery isn't anything groundbreaking, it still kept me interested to find out what happened to the statue.

I love this small town with its quirky characters. I would recommend this one to anyone looking for a quick and funny murder mystery!

Thanks so much to netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Mira escaped her life from the Twin Cities and is trailer sitting in Battle Creek, MN. With a big Fourth of July festival approaching, the town's beloved Native American giant statue goes missing. Left behind is a piece of scalp and blood. Mira's love for the statue makes her go on the hunt to find the culprit for statue nabbing. The book is a quick read with witty dialogue. There's romance, murder and mystery. The book also brings up her mother's murder as a sub plot which she makes some headway on. A fun read and would read future books on Mira. I wasn't a fan of the cliff hanger at the end though.

Everything Jess Lourey touches is brilliant, and this series is no different! The re-released cover art is brilliant; and as I am just down the road from the real Battle Lake, Minnesota; I love shoutouts to the area I call home — even if they are a bit sinister in nature!

Knee High by the Fourth of July by Jess Lourey
4.75/5⭐

This book will be available on June 25, 2024.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jess Lourey, and Thomas & Mercer for this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

If you're looking for a cozy mystery with an amateur sleuth, minimal police presence, and a main character who avoids the cops like the plague, then this is a cozy mystery for you. To me, Mira gives off mixed vibes between Lorelei Gilmore and Veronica Mars. She's always non-stop looking for coffee and food, her mind goes a mile a minute, and she always finds a way to get herself into trouble.

Mira is just your average girl who moved towns trying to start her life over. She works for the town Library and is also as one of the town's newspaper reporters. Mira is heading into town one day when she realizes something is missing. Something big is missing. While she is trying to help solve what happened to the missing 23-ft Indian statue of the town of Battle Lake, and unfortunately discovers something bloody in the mix. Now she's left. wondering if find a man casserole can help her find her 23-ft missing statue. This is a perfect read for the 4th of July and In the heat of the summer.

What I like about the story is that Mira is a relatable regular person who's working two jobs, has an old car and is living on very little. She does have a tendency to find herself in situations she doesn't want to be. And while she is relatable, there's also a good sprinkle of humor and adult language spread throughout the story. Jess Lourey's writing is so descriptive. You can almost see the town of Battle Lake in your mind, but you can definitely feel the heat of the summer from the descriptions. Another great thing about this story is that you have a good octogenarian character who has wits and sarcasm. I mean, who doesn't love a good octogenarian character in a story? And let me not even get started about the ending....

Spoiler alert here: just when we thought we were going to get a happy ending, instead we get a cliffhanger that leaves us anxiously waiting for the next book: August Moon.

#netgalley #kneehighbythefourthofjuly #jesslourey #KneeHighbytheFourthofJulyMurderbyMonthMysteryBand3 #cozy mystery

I'm not a huge romcom reader, but I went out on a limb and requested the galley of this and another of Lourey's Murder-by-Month Mysteries from Netgalley.

I'm glad I did.

I had just finished a mystery where it was clear that the writer took themselves far too seriously. The story was beyond belief, but not because the mystery was well-defined and difficult to guess. Rather, it was a mystery how anyone couldn't guess whodunit within the first few chapters.

That was not an issue with "Knee High by the Fourth of July," which definitely does not take itself too seriously. It's an enjoyable read, both because Lourey is great at setting a scene, and because she has a way with words that is lighthearted and honest. There were several times where I laughed out loud.

The action takes place in a small town in Minnesota, where the protagonist Mira writes for the local weekly paper and runs the library. She apparently has a real knack for getting into and finding trouble. So when the town's towering statue of a local Indigenous hero goes missing, Mira is on the case.

Is the mystery far-fetched? Does it seem at times like Mira is trying to avoid solving the mystery so Lourey has a few extra pages? Can the reader fairly easily determine the bad guy? Yes to all of the above. But you know what? Sometimes, those things don't matter when it's a low-stakes read and you need a laugh. And this book definitely delivers on that.

Know that this is a reissue of a fun caper cozy first published in 2007 - but it's been updated a bit and it's still relevant. Mira's a good character, it's got all the small town vibes, and it's a romp. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

A light and cute, small-town mystery series with a quirky FMC that always ends up in the middle of mayhem and dead bodies! Mira James is a relatable character and one that will make you laugh. This is book three in the series with the first book being May Day. This series has been revised from their original publications in the mid-2000s. I have enjoyed reading these books thus far. They're fast and easy reads. The humor could be dry at times, but I realized that some of the lingo is probably outdated. It has been almost 20 years since it was written. I definitely recommend if you're looking for something light and fun. I look forward to continuing with the series!

Thank you to the author, Thomas & Mercer, and NetGalley for granting me digital access in exchange for my honest review!

I love a good cozy mystery so I couldn’t resist reading Knee High by the Fourth of July. The residents of Battle Lake were fun to read about with all their quirks. Mira’s crush on the Chief made me laugh. I really enjoyed reading this book and look forward to reading more in the series. Thank you Net Galley and Midnight Ink for the advanced copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

This was an easy read, I would rate it a 3 just because I lost interest at different parts. I enjoyed Mira, but felt like I was a little lost with her love for Chief Wenonga. Not where I thought it would end, so the twists kept me guessing. Cute little small town mystery- and such a small town vibe- true to its nature. I’m interested to know where it’ll go for the next installment.

This was a good read like the other 2 were! Some of the things the main character Mira says makes me pause though. Is it midwestern sayings? I hope Mira and Johnny get together at some point in the series. Excited to read the next one!

I got approved for this one before reading the first story in this series and I regretting getting more after I did. I decided to give Mira another chance, but she’s just as unlikeable in this story as she was in the first, maybe even more so.
I can’t get behind her or her story. It’s an end for me.

Mira is on the case when the statue of Chief Wenonga disappears just before the annual celebration of Wenonga Days. Of course, she stumbles on a dead body along the way. Knee High by the Fourth of July is chock full of mystery, charm, and quirky characters. Fun, quick read that makes me want to read more.

*ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

This is a general review of the three novels I read in this series (May Day, June Bug, Knee High).
It's a good series and an entertaining one. The mysteries are solid and I appreciated the plot developement and the characters.
Good storytelling.
It's not amongst my fav as I wasn't a huge fan of the FMC.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine