As a fan of Alafair Burke’s thrillers, it’s hard to admit that this book was a miss for me. In short, the story begins as three childhood female friends reconnect after several years by taking a weekend trip to the Hamptons. Each woman has had an event in her past, which has had an impact on who’ve they become and how they live their lives. A lot of drinking ensues during the weekend and what begins as a prank after an incident parking their car, turns into a nightmare which causes the women to question and trust their friendship and one another. I found it difficult to connect with any of the characters and their toxic relationship.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

A girls' trip to the Hamptons reveal secrets from the past as they get caught up in a missing person case.
Each has been involved in scandals that have effected their lives. How well to they really know each other?
When the missing person turns up dead, loyalties are tested. Twists and turns with a surprising climax.
#TheNote #Knopf #NetGalley

This book had SO much going on and it wasn’t necessary. May didn’t need to be a DAKaren & Lauren didn’t need to be banging an old man. Burke could’ve been made the characters a lot more interesting and real but chose to make them chaotic and messy.

This one a fun one! While I wish the author had revealed a little more about why each FMC was cancelled earlier in the book to help avoid confusion, I very much enjoyed and had a hard time putting it down. I will definitely check out the authors back catalogue!

This story is messy, in the very best way. When three friends get together in the Hamptons, after some chaos in their relationships, they vow to get their friendship back on track. But after a drunken night out, things take a very bad turn. One tiny note left on a car’s windshield has the power to destroy them all.

With twist after twist after twist, this latest Alafair Burke novel is brilliant. I’m a fan for life.

Are two seemingly unconnected murder cases actually connected? Friends May, Lauren, and Kelsey are away on a trip to the Hamptons when a guy they don’t know goes missing. What could possibly connect them to the case?

This was a fast read. The friendship dynamics were really interesting to see. The toxicity yet strong bonds were fascinating to read about.

I didn’t love the ending I’ll be honest, I thought it was a bit anticlimactic. Still, it had some good twists and turns throughout. Solid 2.5 ish stars from me. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

May Hanover finds herself going on a weekend getaway with her BFF's to the Hamptons. They have been friends for years and have all gone through their own brush with public scrutiny which has left them all a little different. May is now a Law Professor and is engaged to Josh. Kelsey is a widower after her husband, Luke, was gunned down one night. They were in the process of getting a divorce so a bunch of true crime sleuths have decided that she did it. Lauren is 9 years older than Kelsey and May and is like a dorm mom to them. She has had her own secret affair with Thomas and has seemed okay with it until his wife started to make slanderous accusations against her. They each have commitment issues for sure. May was kind of all over the place in this book and seems to need more therapy. I will admit that I did not care for her much. Kelsey and Lauren didn't fare much better. They were all in their mid-30's, or in the case of Lauren mis-40's and acted like teenagers. The book was entertaining and I did like how Alafair Burke continued to draw out the story. I wanted a bit more showing their growth at the end. It was readily apparent that they all needed to grow up.

Always look forward to Alafair's books, and this was a good one! Loved the story about the three friends who encounter a person ending up dead, while on vacation. So many twists and turns and surprises.

One vacation with good intentions is all it takes sometimes for life to tip off its axis. I enjoyed the writing style making it easy to follow and relate to the characters. You will jump around if one, some or all of the main characters are potentially dangerous, but defiantly all untrustworthy at one point or another. The ending was good, but the epilogue I expected a little bit more.

A DNF for me. I have lived this author’s writing but this seemed to be a cultural cliche. From the pandemic, to the “cancel culture”, and subway violence. It did not seem creative at all, but just a mishap of cultural events. All the first chapter!!
To me, this was not the usual writing style and I found it painful.

Alafair Burke is a talented writer. I knew that going in to The Note. I was even more entertained by the story than I had hoped. The characters were written so well and the action made me trying to guess what would happen next. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This Alafair Burke thriller is a thrilling read that keeps readers on the edge of their seats with its quick pacing, increasing tension, and exploration of the friendships between three women who harbor secrets that could destroy everything they've built over the years. The concept of three "canceled" women gathering to heal their wounds is refreshing. However, the main characters, May Hanover, Kelsey, and Lauren, are unlikable, and their web of lies are unsettling. Despite these issues, the murder mystery plot is compelling, with the well-built mystery, execution of pacing, and realistic conclusion making readers stay glued to the pages. The story revolves around May Hanover, a rule follower and aspiring daughter of a Chinese single mother, who loses her law career when a subway video of her breakdown goes viral. Their girl trip to the Hamptons turns tragic when a drunk prank goes awry, resulting in a missing person case. Overall, this riveting mystery is highly recommended for fans of women's fiction, legal thrillers, and mysteries.

Thank you to Netgalley and Alafair Burke for this advanced copy for an honest review.

I enjoyed this novel. It was a pretty fast read. The characters were all interesting and the storyline was great. To think all of the things that transpired came from a prank of a note. I have to say that I did not guess at all who was responsible for the crime. (s) Secrets always eventually come out.

I love Alafair Burke, and this just may be her best book yet! This mystery surrounds a group of three friends known as the Cancelled Crew - Kelsey, May, and Lauren. All three have been friends since childhood, and each one of them has been at the center of a scandal that got them "cancelled" in popular culture. (Only one of them involved a murder!) So one day all three of them decide to take a trip to the Hamptons. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, a lot - specifically, another murder, which requires May to come out of retirement (she's a former prosecutor) to figure out how to help a friend accused of murder for the second time. This is the part where I mention that I was a teensy bit annoyed at how the story took a completely unrealistic turn, by having a fellow witness to the crime representing the accused - side note, I am a former prosecutor (as is the author!) and these things sometimes irk me. But Burke did such a great job with the setup of the final twist that I was able to forgive this brief foray into fantasy.

This book was a page-turner in every sense of the word, as I couldn't wait to find out whodunit, and I wasn't disappointed. I love the way Burke writes and the three women at the center of this book were well-drawn and fascinating. I'd love to see a sequel, or even a series.

Five shiny stars from me, and I'll be on the edge of my seat waiting for whatever Alafair Burke writes next!

The Note is about three old friends who spend a few days away in the Hamptons. While away, they become part of a police investigation. While I didn't love this book, I found it interesting to follow. I could see this as a good beach or vacation read. The book is well written, I just didn't feel connected to the characters. I would rate this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a review.

I guessed the killer pretty early on in this mystery about three music camp friends who get together for a weekend in the Hamptons. A simple joke turns into much more resulting in a potential crime. The characters all had a flaw that when showcased made them unlikeable. So I wasn't really rooting for their innocence. A good distraction.

Copy provided by the publisher and Netgalley

A weekend away in the Hamptons turns deadly for three women in this twisty thriller.
May, Lauren and Kelsey have had a rough couple years calling themselves the cancel crew since each of them have been through the wringer. Kelsey’s husband was killed and his unsolved murder makes internet sleuths believe she did it. Lauren was called out for having an affair with a married older man who people accused of giving her a lead position on the symphony because of his power. Then there is May, who after being called a racial slur on a subway platform, freaked out while someone recorded her with their phone and is now called #DAKaren because of her law background.
But the idea of the three women laying low for a girls week is destroyed when a man who stole a parking spot from them is not only a victim of their prank, leaving a note on his car, but then turns up dead.
Now the three are pulled into a murder investigation and realize that this random guy wasn’t so random after all, and these three friends don’t know each other as well as they think they do.

Three friends head out to the Hamptons for a getaway. Each had been plagued with scandal and hopes to escape their past selves. May has always been the good girl, rule follower. When a prank gone wrong ties the three women to a missing person investigation, they must decide what is more important to them. Everyone has secrets, how far are you willing to go to protect yours? Kelsey and Lauren love May but who's hiding what from the others?

This book was just okay for me. The three women all have their own problems and are connected to each other from their pasts. It felt predictable in the plot and I felt it dragged. I enjoyed the characters but the plot just didn't do it for me. Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book.

This book started off very slow and was definitely looking at a max of a 3 star rating. However, you need to stick with it, it gets a whole lot better as you get into it. I didn't like the character of May very much, but she does redeem herself more in the end. The dynamic between the 3 friends was good.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for gifting me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love Alafair Burke, but this novel was too entrenched in the pandemic times for me to truly enjoy it. It’s been three years since coming out of that terrible period, and I don’t need the books I read to remind me of that time.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the characters, either. For being presented as a Type A, go getter, May was written as riddled with delf-doubt. Her boyfriend, Josh, treated her like she was a toddler who shouldn’t be left alone for a single minute. Drove me nuts!

Although this wasn’t my cup of tea, I am appreciative to Netgalley and Knopf Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.