I received a copy from NetGalley agreeing to write a review. What’s not to love in this book, to many characters. I made the mistake when I started reading to try and remember them all, don’t waste your time. This book is so enjoyable but the mystery being at the bottom. There is humor in her writing and her love scenes put 50 Shades of Grey to shame. We start with Kate who is a mystery writer arriving at Hempstead Island, to attend the wedding of her former finance and the granddaughter of the formidable Rebecca Hempstead, who enjoys big game hunting and has her trophies scattered around her magnificent Hempstead manor which we get to explore and where we’re confronted with uncovering who is using the plot line of one of Kate’s books to plan the murder of the bride and it appears everyone has a motive. The author has a way with words, a couple examples “The walls were paneled in dark wood, like chocolate bars stacked sideways” and when an alarm sounded one of the guests responded “Aw what the hell? I was mid poop” There is also a cougar running around the grounds. This book is a keeper, I’ve pre-ordered a copy, since this copy disappears. Enjoy, I did and will again now that I know everybody

✨ Murder Mystery
✨ Reality / Fiction POV
✨ Author
✨ Steamy
✨ Enemies to lovers

This one was so fun! It's giving major "murder mystery" vibes with a little "but is this real, or Loretta?" and I COULDN'T STOP READING IT. I love how the stories intertwined and the cast of characters was hilarious. I love how everything worked out, the way it all tied together, and the little moments in between.

The only request I could even hope to ask for, put a map of the house on the inside cover. I NEED to know the layout lol

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Jenny Elder Moke for letting me read this one early!

She Doesn't Have a Clue by Jenny Elder Moke is mystery and a rom-com. A rom-com mystery? It is locked room as it is set on a private island off the coast of Seattle and it has forced proximity with someone that makes our FMC, Kate, well, he makes her heart go pitter pat. I like Kate, she is just a normal girl attending her former fiancee's wedding. I'm not sure why she is attending, because aside from her former fiancee, and Jake, her crush, no one seems to want her there. Kate writes mysteries, her main character is Loretta, and as a murder happens on this island, Kate tries to get into Loretta's head to solve the murder. Kate is also extremely clumsy - I can see this as a movie with Kate literally falling into the bride - of course everyone thinks she is trying to ruin the wedding. It is a cute and cozy mystery and a sweet rom-com. I was fortunate enough to have the audio arc as well as an e-arc so I read this immersively. The narration by Sarah Mollo-Christensen was very, very good. She did a host of characters including Jake with his Australian accent, very well. The audio book kept me going even if the story occasionally lagged. I enjoyed this story and give it 3.5 stars. Thank you to #netgalley, MacMillan Audio, and St. Martin's Press for my advance copies.

I had a fun time while reading this. I am following Kate Valentine, an author who was invited to her ex-fiance's wedding... I mean nothing is going to go wrong in that scenario right? Well let's say she has her reasons for attending, but what she doesn't expect is the arrival of Jake. A man she has had a crush on forever and whose relationship she thought she wrecked beyond repair. Due to a storm, and on a private island Kate and Jake are stuck together trying to figure out who wants to kill the bride.
I loved Jake and Kate's relationship, the banter and sexual chemistry were so good!
Also, Kate is the author of a mystery series, and throughout her investigation, she is always thinking of how Loretta would solve the case. While Kate herself does seem to bumble and stumble her way through her investigation, I thought the journey to get to the end was a ton of fun.
I didn't guess who the killer was until it was revealed, and loved how it all ended.
This is the first book I've read by this author and Ill definitely be reading more in the future.

A murder mystery romcom is right up my alley. And while I did enjoy it, it wasn’t an overwhelming love like I was hoping.
This is a 3rd person POV and you do get excerpts from our FMCs own book sprinkled throughout, which the latter I would usually also love, but made for a bit of an all over the place read. And the FMC is slightly irritating to me. She was all over the place and it became hard to follow after awhile which had me dragging it out. I didn’t find myself wanting to pick it up and devour.
Overall, this will hit a lot of boxes for a ton of romcom readers especially those that want a little mystery but nothing too deep and minimal spice.

This was a cute book- a cozy mystery/rom-com mashup. The MC was a bit frustrating at times, but that can happen in rom-coms. Overall, I had a good time with it and am glad I read it.

An entertaining combination of Murder Mystery and Rom-Com filled with lots of quirky characters and false leads.

Mystery writer Kate is invited to the private and remote island wedding of her ex, unknowingly assigned a plus one and stumbles into a murder mystery with similarities from her novels.
The remote setting is an aging estate with hidden passages and rooms and even though Kate’s alter ego detective character is a successful detective, Kate is not!

I wanted to love this novel, but it ended up being a like. The multitude of characters was a challenge to keep up with and Kat’s jumping to conclusions became a bit irritating. I wanted her to solve the case and get on with her life. I probably would have liked it better if it had been shorter.

Thank you to NetGalley for the complimentary eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

A screwball comedy of a cozy mystery with an added element of romance, this was an interesting read, though I often found myself frustrated over the heroine's continued stumbles into compromising or dangerous situations.

4⭐
1🌶️
Tropes/Themes: murder at a wedding, fake dating, forced proximity, whodunnit, cozy mystery
Single POV 3rd person

This book was such a cute whodunnit! I thought the way that Kate “becomes” Loretta to solve the mystery was really cool and adds a lot to the story. Because the FMC is a mystery writer, parts of this story are excerpts from the FMC’s book too. I didn’t really try hard to guess who the murder was until closer to the end, but my guess was wrong lol. I loved the snark and chemistry between Kate and Jake.
It’s a quick cozy read perfect for a quiet afternoon.

This book was SO fun and so cute. It definitely kept me on my toes, the romance interwoven with the mystery was a perfect balance. Jake is 😍 and I loved Kate’s character. Definitely a fun spicy cozy read!!

I really liked the plot of the book “She Doesn’t Have a Clue” as well as the MMC Jake. They really saved the book for me. Jake is an ex surfer who has been working in the tourism industry and is back trying to fix things with his love interest Kate. Kate is at her ex-fiancée’s wedding at the invitation of the brides aunt and right away strange things start happening. She first runs into her ex-friend slash potential love interest and then starts seeing suspicious behaviour from the guests. All this leads to a poisoning of the bride and a death at the wedding. It is up to Kate and Jake to solve the mystery and ensure everyone leaves the private island safely.

Jake wasn’t perfect by any means but he always looked out for Kate and forgave her outbursts and drunken behaviour. There was a lot of miscommunication between the two and although some was necessary it seemed excessive and frustrating at times. I found Kate dealt with her fears through alcohol consumption and avoidance or lashing out and I didn’t really love that. The plot of the mystery on a private island was great and I loved the eccentricity of the brides family. The solution to the mystery was really great as well. Despite my feelings for the Kate, I found myself rooting for her relationship with Jake. I read through the book very quickly and as much as the FMC annoyed me the other characters and the storyline made it a 4 star read in my opinion.

This was a fun story. Is fun the right word? Exciting, adorable, hot, funny, and murder mystery-esque. I adored Kate and Jake. They had a lot of chemistry. I could relate to Kate in so many way. She was smart, but ripping at the seams with the various anxieties she held onto. I love that Jake was patient and clear. I thought the plot was clever. I could have used more banter between the two but I loved what was there. I think it all worked really well and made for a really great evening read. I'd definitely recommend to anyone looking for a romance mystery with some slow burn spicy scenes.

This was a fun and wild ride! I love the mix of mystery and romance, throw in a second chance, friends to lovers plot, and I’m sold! I love that all of the characters have professions in the literary world. Main character Kate is a writer who uses her own amateur sleuth main character as a sort of alternate personality throughout, as she tries to figure out who the murderer on the remote island she is stuck on is. To add to the drama, this is all taking place at her ex’s wedding. There is a quite an eccentric cast of characters, and they all added so much entertainment.

If you read or listened to The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year, or were a fan of the movie Clue, I think you’ll enjoy this one too! It has similar vibes.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for the arc!

3 stars

Parts of this book really worked but other parts didn't as much for me. It is always hard for me to believe someone would keep certain things like a dead body a secret and also...be able to bang like IMMEDIATELY after seeing one? The mystery to me was interesting but there were so many things happening at once it was hard to follow at times. And the reveal was...eh, didn't make all that much sense to me. I think the romance was pretty good and at times I would have preferred to focus more on that. I felt things for the MCs and I felt it was really well written but this makes me feel that a mystery romance isn't my preferred genre.

Regarding the audiobook, I loved the narrator. I felt she was really good throughout and I was impressed with her male Australian accent! I don't know if I would have finished the book without it being the audiobook though.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this eARC and ALC!

3.5 rounded up. Cute rom-com cozy mystery mashup (yes, you read that right!!). I had to suspend disbelief that a body was found and not reported so a mystery writer could play detective...and yet this worked for me. I loved the banter between characters, comedic mishaps, and trying to figure out whodunnit.

Kate is an author who was invited to her ex-fiance's (AND boss) wedding to the girl with whom he cheated. She's thrown into an attic room with her ex-crush as her unexpected plus-one at a private island estate near Seattle. We quickly find out she's still crushing hard on the ex-crush AND a body is stumbled upon during wedding festivities. Without giving any spoilers, this is the gist and it's a fun ride, even if a little over the top unbelievable at times. It gave me 'Knives Out' vibes with some spice and I could see this book being made into a GREAT movie!

Thanks to Jenny Elder Moke, Minotaur, and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a little silly and more romantic than I anticipated but mixing fake dating with a cozy mystery? Count me in! The setting was good but there were parts of a book within a book that didn't always work for me. Still, love a good cozy mystery and the characters were great. Give this a try!

She Doesn't Have a Clue comes out next week on January 21, 2025 and you can purchase HERE.

"For the record, the only reason I didn't kiss you last night was because you were clearly drunk, clearly upset, and clearly still hung up on your ex. Who you were just embracing in the dark, I'd like to point out again."

"Well, joke's on you, because you already kissed me," Kate said, crossing her arms. "At the rehearsal dinner."

"I didn't kiss you," Jake said. He'd dropped his voice low, the vibration of it changing her heartbeat. "You kissed me. And you were doing it for him. When I kiss you, it will be for you and me. Nobody else. And you'll be stone-cold sober."

I tried to get into this one, but the writing was a bit too silly for me which made it hard to get into. But if you’re into silly cozy mysteries you’d probably love this! The writing was good, it was just too silly for me.

This was a fun cozy mystery, with a romance subplot.

This was big murder mystery vibes, where the whole book took place in one weekend on a private island; a wedding weekend that had murderous undertones.

I found the story a little hard to follow, as there were a lot of different characters who kept popping in and out. It wasn’t until the second half of the book that I was really in it.

I also found it a bit predictable, and I picked up on who the killer was in the first few chapters.

The romance felt a bit forced in this story - I love romance books, and that’s one of the reasons I picked this one up, but it didn’t feel necessary here.

At her ex-fiancé’s lavish island wedding, mystery author Kate Valentine finds herself embroiled in a real-life murder mirroring her latest novel, forcing her to team up with Jake, her biggest romantic regret, to solve the crime before another guest dies.

This novel is 50% mystery, 50% romance, and 100% romp. It’s hilarious and improbable and tons of fun. I loved the characters and felt more invested in them than I normally would for a murder mystery. The excellent audio narration helped make this a highly entertaining book.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Mystery writer Kate Valentine finds herself swept up in a real-life locked room murder mystery, a lá Agatha Christie, when she shows up to her ex-fiance’s wedding on a remote private island. With the help of the one that got away, her Australian co-partner in crime Jake Hawkins, she’s determined to embody her own crime-solving heroine Loretta Starling and figure out just who tried to poison the bride-to-be (and get everyone to stop pointing fingers at her).

With the high stakes, locked room mystery-vibe of this book, it had all the best parts of Knives Out, Glass Onion, Murder on the Orient Express, and so many other fun and funny murder mysteries. Kate was a hilarious and relatable protagonist, and Jake was so game to solve mysteries just to spend time with her. It took a bit for the story to get going, but once it did, it was a fun time. And the story kept me on the edge of my seat to figure out just who the culprit was!