* I received an e-arc via Netgalley and the publisher. Thank you for the opportunity to review. All thoughts are my own*

3.5 rounded up to 4

This is Jenny Elder Moke’s adult debut, and it was a fast-paced fun read! Its mystery combined with romance and sprinkled with a dash of laughs.

I loved the main character, Kate. She was hilariously funny, clumsy and sometimes awkward and I appreciated that about her. Jake was also a really likeable character and added his own charm to the story.

I buddy read this one, and we both agreed that the inner monologue between Kate and her fictional character Loretta really was distracting and took away from the story. I also felt that the spicy scenes felt a little bit unrealistic considering that the characters were dealing with an actual real live murder.

If you like mysteries and romance, this is a cute one!

She Doesn't Have A Clue is a blend of mystery and romance in this cozy tale about a mystery writer, Kate Valentine, who finds herself in a dangerous situation while attending her ex-fiance's wedding. The decision to go was crazy, but Kate is determined to make the most of it, even if it means plastering on a fake smile and relying on free champagne and cake to get through the festivities Even as she tries to work through her final draft of her latest book, the party soon turns from celebratory to sinister when the bride is poisoned and it is Kate who stumbles upon the body. With the help of her once biggest romantic regret, Jake Hawkins, Kate is determined to solve the murder with hopefully a dash of romance. There are parts of the story that get a bit slow and boring, but the overall story is one of cozy romantic mystery. That alone makes it the perfect choice for cozy mystery lovers who love a mix of intrigue, humor, and a touch of love.

My thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Publishing for the ARC of "She Doesn't Have a Clue" in exchange for an honest review.
What could possibly go wrong at a destination wedding held on a remote island off the coast of Seattle....smack in the middle of a raging storm that'll leave all the guests stranded there. One of two things, usually.....either murder within a rich family dynasty of relatives at each other's throats, or a red hot second chance romance.
This book throws both tropes into the mix, as well as a 'what-kind-of-person-was-I-meant=to-be' journey for its lead character, mystery author Kate Valentine.
Kate's best selling alter ego Loretta Starling (bartender by day, sleuth by night), is a crime solver extraordinaire. But Kate herself,, unlucky in love and far clumsier than Inspector Clouseau on a bad day, leaves a trail of soured romances and accidentally overturned furniture wherever she goes. Yep, she's a guest at that storm tossed island wedding......where the groom is her ex=fiance and another guest (also another ex) is a Hemsworth-worthy hottie who still makes Kate's temperature rise.
S0 you know it's only a matter of time before a corpse pops up and Loretta's coping with enough suspects to fill up a rush hour train, as well as both the groom and the Hemsworth Hunk vying for her attention. Not to mention the murderer trying to frame her by borrowing episodes from her last Loretta puzzler.
A busy book here, what with Kate's conflicted romances, her attempts to channel her inner Loretta, identify the killer, and stumbling in and out enough secret passageways to even turn Nancy Drew dizzy..
A bit overlong and repetitious (Kate's slapstick moments seem overdone and movie-ready), but I still had a good time with this one. For fans of combo mystery-romcoms, here's one stop shopping for you.

Bestselling mystery author, Kate Valentine, is on her way to a destination wedding on a private island. It’s a very exclusive wedding and Kate would rather be anywhere else. It’s the wedding of her ex-fiancé. She couldn’t say no since he happens to also be her editor and he’s waiting for her final draft of her newest novel. When the bride is poisoned and Kate finds a dead body, all eyes turn towards her as the culprit.

Kate is surrounded by people who would like nothing more than to pin this crime on her, but she’s sure one of them did it. She intends to prove it. After all, she writes books about mysteries based on her sleuth Loretta Starling. How difficult can it be to solve a real-life mystery?

It’s a madcap adventure with a wacky cast of characters. There was one calamity after another. The heroine doesn’t always make the best choices, but she manages to hold herself together through it all. There’s even a handsome fellow author who Kate had a brief relationship in the past and both are interested in pursuing again.

I have to admit, it did take me some time to really get into this book. There were so many characters for me to keep straight. I was halfway through when it all clicked and fell into place for me. The author did keep me guessing who the killer was until the end. I suspected everyone, but not this person.

It’s a combination romance and mystery. I do prefer more mystery than romance in my mystery books, but this one won me over. It just took a little longer than I thought it would. When there’s an old mansion involved, I’m usually there for it. There’s an exciting finale, too. I’m glad I stuck with this one.






FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed a free Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I struggled with this book. I could not connect with the characters and I found the plot lack luster.

It seemed to jump around without notice and it was hard to understand if they were talking about a past situation or a current situation.

I almost DNF'd it several times... this will be a book for someone, but unfortunately I was not that person.

Kate is a popular writer of the Loretta Starling mysteries. She works for a company called Simon Says and was engaged to her editor, Spencer, until about 6 months ago when he called it off and is now marrying another co-worker Kennedy Hempstead.

Kennedy comes from a prominent family and her aunt, Rebecca Hempstead, is the head of the family and controls all the money.

Kate is invited to the wedding between Spencer and Kennedy at a private island owned by the Hempstead's. She doesn't want to go but needs a change of scenery to start a draft of her new novel. On her way she bumps into her old co-worker, Jake, an adventurous travel person who she used to write for. She clearly has an attraction to Jake but has never acted on it.

When an attempt is made on Kennedy's life and a real dead body shows up, Kate decides she needs to solve the case, partially because the murderer is trying to use her book plots to pin the murder on her and Jake. With the help from Jake, and by channeling her inner Loretta Starling, Kate begins her quest to find the real culprit and uncover all the secrets of the Hempstead family.

With a long list of suspects who all had motives, this is a typical whodunit with a dash of romance on an island with no escape.

Kate was goofy, flighty, and generally seemed like she didn't have a clue. She always had her “mystery writer” brain on and saw every conversation and interaction as a motive for something. She often asked herself “what would Loretta do?” when encountering a situation she couldn't comprehend herself. She went to Loretta's viewpoint/headspace often and It took me a bit to realize that she was now thinking as Loretta or reciting something that happened in a Loretta Sterling book. I found it a little confusing that she had a hard time separating herself from her fictional character. I also felt like this caused the story to come to an abrupt halt when she went into Loretta mode. It made the story jerky and messed up the flow.

Definitely more cozy mystery than thriller. It was cute and kept me engaged but the set-up was pretty predictable. With everyone having a motive, it allowed you to get to know each character and their motives, but also made the book repetitive and procedural at times. I found myself not as invented in the mystery aspect as I was of the interactions between Jake and Kate. This was a mystery with a dash of romance and I wish it was a romance with a dash of mystery.


Huge thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sharing this book’s digital advanced review copy with me in exchange for an honest review.

I read this book through a digital ARC from NetGalley
Author: Jenny Elder Moke
Genre: Murder Mystery, Mystery Romance
Troupe: Forced Proximity, slow burn, Locked room (island)

She Doesn't Have a Clue had some of the key elements of a cozy mystery that I enjoy, but was possibly trying to do too much. The protagonist, Kate Valentine, is a popular mystery writer and often includes elements of her own life in her books. She finds herself in forced proximity with Jake Hawkins, the focus of her unrequited affection. They are stranded on an island with her ex-fiancee at his upcoming wedding. The mansion that will host the wedding was difficult to imagine in my mind which proved to be a distraction. The final 25% of the book proved to be worth the read and I will probably give her writing another try. There is some fun, spicy romance included.

I really liked the idea of this book. A romance with thriller vibes? Sounds amazing. However I listened to this and had the eArc and I just couldn't get into either. I felt like the pace was too slow and I just couldn't get myself to be present while reading. Unfortunately I did DNF.

This book was not for me. I did not like the characters and the way the story changed from the main plot to the author's previous books and back again was annoying.

Author, Kate Valentine, is headed to a secluded island for her ex-fiancées wedding. What could go wrong?

To start, Kate’s biggest romantic regret, Jake, the bride is poisoned and then Kate finds a dead body! The weekend was supposed to awkwardly fun and Kate hoped to finish her latest novel but she’s knee deep in solving a real life murder mystery! 🕵🏻‍♀️

With everything going on with the wedding and detecting, will Kate finish her novel? Check out She Doesn’t Have A Clue to find out.

There are quite the cast of characters and I felt like they all melded together and I could really remember who was who and what was going on when. The book took me a bit to get into it but by the end I was caught up enough to get myself through.

I love a good mystery and go ahead and throw in a bit of romance and spice! I enjoyed the humor and banter.

This is my first book by this author and her adult novel debut.

Thank you to the author, Jenny Elder Moke, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read these books. I received an epub and am leaving my review voluntarily.

Publication date 1/21/25

This was such a cute murder mystery/rom com! I've never read anything like it before and will definitely be looking for more from Jenny Elder Moke.
The writing style was so refreshing and funny and had me struggling to put this one down!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for my honest review.

If you want a funny murder mystery with romance mixed in, this is for you. A mystery writer finds herself on a private island solving a murder in the middle of her ex’s wedding. While her book’s main character is a sleuthing genius, Kate is not. And what ensues is a mix of misunderstandings, awkward and funny interrogations and an unexpected solution to the mystery. Together with Blake… I mean Jake, the one who got away before anything could really start, they start a real life murder investigation. There were plenty of laugh out loud moments including my absolute favorite lines from the book during a spicy scene: “And you taste so good. Like a ripe, luscious fruit.” “That might be actual fruit. I dropped a cantaloupe on my self…”

Highly recommend this story!

[Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to review this ARC with honesty.]

Romance, mystery and comedy wrapped up into a nice little package on an secluded island with a vast storm approaching I believe would appeal to many readers of the romance genre. Add the dash of murder mystery and you have another category of reader. Dash of comedy with the vibes of light dark humor then I'd suggest this book. This is a debut novel I believe and while there were moments you could tell, that did not stop me from enjoying this book over other authors that have been publishing for awhile. I had fun with this one. Albeit, I couldn't decide if I liked Kate (FMC) or not at times due to her silly choices but then again, it's meant to be. There were some slapstick antidotes (I watched Three Stooges and Jerry Lewis as a kid) so this did not bother me - well maybe it happened a little TOO much at times. Thankfully it didn't go too crazy to pull me from the story.

Again, lots of comedy, lots of crazy family drama, lots of spice and a dash of mystery.

Had fun. Would read again from the author.

My Rating: 3.75 (rounded up)

Do you enjoy rom-coms and cozy mysteries? Then this is sure to be a fun one for you!

Kate is a mystery writer who winds up on a private island for a wedding, facing not only her EX-FIANCÉ (the groom!), but also an Australian hottie named Jake who's got "it's complicated" written all over him! The chemistry between Kate and Jake is palpable, but she hardly has time to focus on that when there's been a murder as well as something VERY strange romping around the island. Looks like it's time to put her sleuthing brain to work, and hope for love along the way!

These characters were SO FUN. I enjoyed the likable ones, and I even enjoyed the nasty ones. It was the perfect lighter side murder mystery who miss the days of Murder She Wrote or enjoy Sunday afternoons in front of Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. I should probably reference cozy mysteries here, but I'm a romance reader, and a mystery watcher. 🤣 I laughed. I swooned. I had a good time!

The pacing wasn't always perfect, and I found my mind wandering a bit here and there, so I didn't give it a perfect five stars, but I'd absolutely recommend this book to my friends for the reasons I mentioned above. 😃

I'd like to thank St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books for the eARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

This was a delightful romantic mystery that had me laughing at times. The FMC, Kate, is lovable if a bit of an inept detective despite writing mystery books for a living. The antics are a bit far-fetched but humorous none the less. I hope this author decides to write more adult books since this is her adult debut. There are sex scenes which are explicit in case that is or is not your thing.

This book is a debut novel that has bits and pieces of several genres in it and amazingly they all fit together to make this an interesting and fun read. It takes place on a secluded island so it's kind of a locked room mystery, the heroine is thrown together with a past love which makes it a second chance romance plus the main character is trying to solve a crime even though her only knowledge comes from the mystery books that she writes. Along with all of that, there is plenty of humor plus lots of quirky people on the island. The crime was difficult for this reader to solve but the ride to the end was fun and full of red herrings.

Kate Valentine is a bestselling mystery writer. When she is invited to her ex-fiancé's wedding on a secluded island, she's very surprised but decides to go to prove that she is over him. Once she gets there, she's surprised to see Jake - a man from her past. The action starts almost as soon as Kate arrives on the island when someone tries to kill the bride to be. Since the methods used mirror Kate's mystery novels, she is a prime suspect. So Kate and Jake work together to prove that she is not the murderer. One interesting thing about Kate is that as soon as she gets into any situation, her mind goes to the heroine in her murder mystery books and she rewrites the scene in her mind to fit her books. Kate isn't a fantastic investigator because every clue points her to a different person and in her mind she finds them guilty.

I found this book very interesting and well written. In my opinion there were too many sub-plots that all pointed to different people as the murderer. I had trouble keeping up with all of the guests plus the staff at the mansion and had some trouble keeping people connected to their background. Overall it was a fun story to read - both as a romance and a mystery. Kate was a great main character and had a very active imagination that put her in some difficult situations and some funny situations in her life as she tried to solve the crime. It was an interesting blend of romance and suspense with a large dose of humor.

Eh…. Was not a huge fan of this one.

With all the mixed genres it fell short and was a difficult read for me. Also her being unable to separate herself from Loretta was just … and the story within the story which is a mystery - romance - idk was just too much. I skimmed the whole book.

Thank you netgalley for this ARC!

This was a mystery/romantic comedy combo. I felt like the mystery portion of the book was definitely on point for a locked-room mystery. There was the secluded island, a storm, and a dead body and tons of family drama.

The romance portion of this book just didn't work for me. It went from a 2 to 10 instantly and was almost cringe-like in all the romance scenes. So, unfortunately that didn't work well for me at all and definitely has affected my reasoning for the rating of 3 stars that I'm giving it.

Overall, I did enjoy a lot of the book though and just let it be a fun read for me.

My reviews can also be found on GoodReads: www.goodreads.com/brandisbooks.

Expected Release Date - January 21st 2025.

Thank you to both NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I LOVED this book!! Jenny Elder Moke does such a great job weaving an intriguing story that readers will fall in love with like I did!! I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves romance books!!

I’ve DNF’d two books since joining Goodreads on 1/1/2021 and sadly this is number three. (DNF at 35%.) The blurb described the book as half mystery and half romance, but in my opinion, this is a straight cozy and I loathe cozies. Please just market your book for what it is and let it fall into the hands of the appropriate readers. 😑 For me, the story within a story element was cheesy and at times, confusing. (Perhaps this is an arc issue, because the FMC is an author who writes mysteries and the story would go from real life to a scene in her book mirroring that real life scene literally from one paragraph to the next, which was confusing.) I thought the book was trying too hard to be fun and campy with a quirky cast of characters. My biggest annoyance though was the FMC herself having been written as ditzy and bumbling. Ugh. I honestly debate a DNF until I’m so far into a book that I may as well finish 😂, but this was a no brainer for me. Again, this may not be a bad book, but it wasn’t a romantic mystery and claiming it as anything other than a cozy put it in the hands of this reader who was guaranteed to hate it as a result. 🤷🏻‍♀️

My thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for a complimentary advance copy of this eBook, out 1/21/2025.