Would you attend your ex-fiance’s wedding? What about if it was held on a lavish, remote island off the coast of Seattle? Your ears might perk up a bit at the second offer.

This is the exact position that Kate Valentine finds herself in. Not only is it her ex-fiance, but it’s also her editor. And when she finds herself thrown into the plot of one of her mystery novels, with a poisoned bride, dead body, and evidence hidden in her room, Kate realizes she has bigger issues than just the wedding itself. If you’re looking for something to satisfy both your murder mystery AND romance craving, this book has it all.

Which, generally would be up my alley, but I really struggled to enjoy this book. I had to check several times to see if it was part of a series, and I don’t think it is, but the way the plot and characters were introduced made it feel like it should be. It really seemed like we were dropped into the middle of a storyline without any backstory, characters were introduced without any explanation as to who they were, it just felt very strange and not cohesive.

With this, some of the tension between characters didn’t have the same umph that would have made this book enjoyable. When Kate and her love interest get together, I audibly said “woah, woah, wait WHAT?!” I knew they were love interests based on the synopsis, but I don’t know, it felt strange.

This book had a lot of promise, but unfortunately it just fell a bit short for me when it came to delivery. And if I am a complete idiot and this really is part of a series (wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done that), then I take back everything I said about it being disjointed.

This is a fun mystery, but seems to think it's cuter than it is. The main character is a mystery writer, but is oh-so quirky clumsy and refuses to have conversations that would simplify everything for her. The scenario is fun, a wedding in an old mansion, but the relationship dynamics are strange for no real plot reason. I enjoyed this book, but wouldn't call it a great mystery or a great romance.

She Doesn’t Have a Clue is about a mystery writer who gets invited to an island wedding and finds herself in a real mystery to solve an actual murder. I loved this book. It was well paced and had the right amount of romance and mystery to it.

Completely cute mashup of a mystery with a rom-com! Loved the characters and the development. Would definitely love to see this developed into a series

This book is an absolute delight—a perfect blend of Murder, She Wrote and Clue! Kate Valentine, a bestselling author of the Sterling Mysteries series, has a knack for turning her own life experiences into inspiration for her beloved detective, Loretta Starling. When she’s invited to her ex’s wedding on a secluded island off the coast of Seattle, she unexpectedly reunites with Jake, a longtime friend and former crush, during the ferry ride over. Old misunderstandings about their past friendship—and what might have been—resurface, adding an extra layer of tension to the weekend.

But when a shocking murder occurs, Kate puts her amateur sleuthing skills to the test, using the knowledge she’s gained from writing mysteries to help solve the case. As she and Jake work together to uncover the truth, the island’s quirky wedding guests keep them guessing at every turn. Along the way, past miscommunications are unraveled, secrets come to light, and romance begins to spark once more. A fun, lighthearted mystery that kept me hooked from start to finish!

Thank you to NetGalley for this free advance copy—I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Little Bit Romance, Little Bit Murder Mystery and a whole lot of chaos. I am a huge fan of the Lucy Score series Riley Thorn so mixing a murder mystery with romance is a fun time for me. I really liked the idea of the remote island but the reasoning for being there seemed a little weird. I was confused by Kate would go to a wedding of her Ex but I like that we are on the island with the crazy bit, creepy house. The storm that comes in and out and all the bad things that keep happening.
We get into the wedding, super awkward and cringy things happen which all leads up to finding the dead body ( who isn't really dead body) but then you really find a real body. It is super unbelievable but kinda fun. I defiantly found myself thinking...it was them, nope...ok...it was them. truly loved that part of the story. I loved that Kate kept asking "what would Loretta do" I LOVED her mystery solving itchy sweater! I thought that part of the story was done super well.
The romance plot line felt a little lack luster to me. Jake and Kate seem to rotate around each other, and it feels a little forced. They were saying they hate each other, then it seems they both had a misunderstanding, then they are together but then they seem like they are mad at each other. The romance part of the story seemed too much for a murder mystery book but too little for a true romance book. I feel like they just didn't quite get flushed out together and ended up with a mish mash of items that are their love story. It was part 2nd chance, part friends to lovers, part enemies to lovers, part miscommunication, part unrequited love...just a few too many parts
Overall this was a super cute and fun read. I would recommend for those that like low angst murder mysteries with romance plot lines.

I know that this won't be everyone's style of writing, but I had a lot of fun reading this book. The plot was never dull, and all the crazy antics made me laugh. The romance was a bit predictable, but I can forgive that since everyone was so weird and entertaining. I give this book 4/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the opportunity to review She Doesn't Have a Clue by Jenny Elder Moke

She Doesn’t Have a Clue by Jenny Elder Moke is a light contemporary romance set at a posh destination wedding with a murder mystery in the mix. Kate Valentine is a writer who is attending her ex-fiancé’s Spencer’s wedding weekend on Hempstead Island near Seattle. Spencer broke it off with Kate about 6 months ago for another woman.
Also on the guest list is Kate’s former crush an Australian model/surfer named Jake Hawkins. Several Hempstead family members as well as people who work for Simon Says, the publishing company Kate and Spencer work for are also invited.

Kate becomes a prime suspect as a few murder attempts and an actual murder take place because the crimes committed match scenes straight from Kate’s murder mystery novels. Jake joins Kate in trying to solve the mystery and find out who on the island is trying to poison people. There is romantic tension between these two as well.
She Doesn’t Have a Clue is a fun read. This is one of those books you need to go into knowing not to take it too seriously. Much of it was very silly, there is humor mixed in throughout and I had no idea who was trying to off these people. Once the author revealed who the villain was it made sense.

She Doesn’t Have a Clue by Jenny Elder Moke is a fun mix of mystery and romance that kept me hooked. The story follows Kate, a bestselling mystery author, who ends up in the middle of a real-life murder case during her ex-fiancé’s wedding on a secluded island. The book has plenty of witty banter, twists, and a great second-chance romance with Jake, her old flame. While some parts are a little predictable, the charming characters and suspenseful plot make it a really enjoyable read. It’s the perfect mix of murder mystery and rom-com vibes.

⭐️ 5/5 | 🌶️ 4.5/5
Third Person, Frame Story, FMC
Mystery Romantic Comedy
MF Open Door Romance

The main narrative of the book is about a woman named Kate who is attending her ex-fiance’s wedding and gets caught up in a real life mystery, while simultaneously drawing parallels to the fictional mystery novel she is writing (Loretta), using the framework of her own book to solve the real life crime. There is a bit of a layered narrative where Kate’s fictional detective story acts as a lens through which she investigates the events going on around her.
This bit did get confusing when I first started reading as I went into it not knowing this information. Fortunately I caught on quickly. :)

I really enjoyed this book! The mystery was fun and tense, but I didn’t find it obvious or cheesy. I also loved Kate’s quirkiness, internal dialogue, humor, and thought process. She was so fun to read. Her dynamic with Spencer and Jake was very entertaining too.
Additionally, the heat level in this book was SPICY and a lot of fun 😍.

My favorite kind of hybrid genre books are rom-com mysteries, so I was VERY excited to read this book and I really look forward to reading more from this author!

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Minotaur Books for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Kate Valentine made a name for herself with her detective series starring a no- nonsense bartender named Loretta. But then her boyfriend and book editor, Spencer, cheated on her with an heiresson the marketing team, Kennedy. Now the two are getting married and Kate has been invited. Normally, she wouldn't think of attending but she received a handwritten letter from Kennedy's aunt Rebecca, specifically inviting Kate to the island mansion.
As she's getting onboard the yacht taking her to the island, she discovers that someone else she knows has been invited. Jake, the hot Australian (or as her friend Marla says, "Hotstralian"). However, when they get to the island, the wedding planner doesn't seem to have Jake's name. The two will have to share a room. And that's not the worst part of the weekend. It seems that someone may be trying to kill the bride. And Kate seems like the perfect suspect.
I was honestly annoyed by Kate for the first half of the book. If this hadn't been an ARC, the very manic-pixie-dream-detective of it all would have had me DNFing the book. I did end up making it through and generally enjoyed the book but you really do have to be in the mood for a lot of over the top situations.

Three stars
This book come out January 21, 2025
ARC kindly provided by St. Martin's Press and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the arc of this book. All opinions are my own.

I really loved this one! I am not the best at writing reviews sometimes, but sometimes books take you by surprise and this one did just that. I got invested a few chapters in and couldn't put it done. It was so good! I highly recommend this one.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for an eARC. Kate is a mystery author who at times becomes her character Loretta to handle difficult situations. She ends up going to her ex fiancé’s wedding where someone is making the mysteries in her books come to life. With things pointing towards her she decides to solve the mystery herself. Jake the cute guy from her past along for the ride. A cute mystery with romance elements. Kate is a great character who is trying to find herself and be brave like her book character. She can be frustrating at times but also relatable. A story I would read again and excited to read the next one.

Really fun story, I definitely enjoyed it! Rating will be posted on Goodreads! I would definitely read more from this author!

I read She Doesn't Have A Clue in tandem with the audiobook, narrated by Sarah Mollo-Christiensen.
She Doesn't Have a Clue is such a fun mystery-romcom. While reading it made for an entertaining time, the audiobook really brought the story to life. It felt like listening to a movie. Specifically, a comedy with plenty of laugh out loud moments and second-hand embarrassment. Murder with backstabbing family, an inheritance, ex-fiance, wedding, and potential love re-connection are themes I'll never tire of. For a split second at the start of the investigation, I had, correctly, guessed the perp and then tossed it away when more evidence was presented and yet never circled back around to that particular person. So I felt like the redherrings/mystery bits were done well. Characters were loveable and hateable, but in a good way.
The narration was great, Sarah made each character easily distinguishable and hit each comedic arc perfectly.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for the eARC!

She Doesn't Have A Clue is a wonderfully funny, romantic mystery romp with very quirky characters, some of which you will love and some which you will love to hate. But mostly the absolutely loveable heroine and her, gulp... handsome sidekick. The premise, cute, the dialogue humorous and the ending swoony! But let's not take away from the story which has murder, mayhem and an island full of suspects!

Kate Valentine is a writer known for her Loretta Starling mysteries. Loretta is gruff and bossy and smart. Everything Kate is not and wishes she could be! Anyway, Kate has been invited to a wedding...why, she has not idea, which is on an exclusive island for the marriage of her ex-fiancé Spenser and his new fiancé, Kennedy. They all work at the same publishing firm. He was and still is her editor. Can you say awkward? But Kate feels as if she has to go as to prove she is over "him".

But not only has Kate been invited, so has her handsome former crush an Aussie named Jake Hawkins. She thought they were on the same page back then but for some reason he decided to pretty much ghost her. Can you say even more awkward?

So, as they begin the weekend, Kate realizes Kennedy's family is a bit, shall we say, odd. They don't care for each other and the matriarch is downright mean. But whatever... Unfortunately for Kate, after the reception on the first night, she finds Kennedy at the bottom of a staircase. Not dead, but somehow poisoned. That's not the worst of it! The family thinks she is the one who did the poisoning because for some reason it has been taken right out of one of her books! As if Kate is the only one who knows how to read!

As Kate and Jake begin to look for clues, they come upon a dead body! Now they must make a choice...what should they do...tell everyone and have Kate arrested...or ignore it. Guess which one they picked?

In the meantime, the weather on the island has turned torrential, there is no electricity or water, and everybody is accusing everybody of everything. And now Spencer, the soon to be groom has decided he wants Kate back.

She and Jake get together (Ahem) and try and break the case, with Loretta's voice constantly in Kate's mind. What is going on? Can these two amateur sleuths figure out who the murderer is, or will they be the next victims? Someone seems to not want this wedding to happen. Why?

She Doesn't Have A Clue is a wonderful cozy mystery romance with wit which will keep a smile on your face, intrigue as to where the story is going and who the surprise murderer could indeed be!

Thank you #NetGalley #MinotaurBooks #JennyElderMoke #SheDoesn'tHaveAClue for the advanced copy.

I enjoyed this book immensely. I didn't know how I felt about a romance/mystery but it turned out to be my new favorite type of book! I will definitely be recommending to others!!

I DNF'd this one a few chapters in. I just wasn't connecting well with the MC, and I didn't read enough to pinpoint exactly why.

“She Doesn’t Have a Clue” by Jenny Elder Moke is a bit of mystery and a bit of romance. Kate is a mystery writer of the Loretta series who has been invited to a private island for the wedding of her ex-fiance and the woman with whom he cheated. There is also Jake the hot retired Australian surfer who serves as the love interest. Confused yeah me too. All of the characters in this story didn’t seem completely developed. The first half of the novel had me wondering if this was part of a series and I missed a couple of books. This was a slow-moving book with a lot of unneeded dialogue and too many pratfalls. I was hoping for more but I gave this book 2 stars.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a fun romance/mystery. I love anything set in the PNW and I really enjoy a book a quirky mystery. It reminded me a lot of Ally Carter's The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year. I'll definitely look for more books from Jenny Elder Moke.