The Serial Killer’s Guide to San Francisco is the perfect sharp and witty mystery for fall! While the content is “tame” compared to a psychological thriller, I would still highly recommend this book to fans who like a female MC you love to root for. Capri, granddaughter of a convicted serial killer who has had to use her background (not quite begrudgingly) to make money giving serial killer tours of SF. We meet Capri 10-years post divorce and still actively raising and support her young adult daughter. She’s dealing with complicated family dynamics, financial woes, and more that make her relatable — then toss in murders starting closely around her that copy her grandfather (who’s still behind bars) style and signature. There are lots of things I clocked along the way as “clues” for the mysterious plot, but it still kept me guessing!
I highly recommend checking this one out on audio if you’re a book listener. The narrator’s tone and inflection is perfect for Capri and really brings her to life. It’s been awhile since I’ve wanted to finish a drive and just sit in my car to keep listening!!
Thank you to the publisher for providing an early copy to read and review!

The granddaughter of a convicted serial killer finds herself in the center of a present-day murder investigation in the The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco.

Capri Sanzio has always believed in her grandfather’s innocence. Growing up, her grandfather was a banned topic in the household, but the suppression of those discussions only fueled Capri’s curiosity more. Now in her 40s, Capri has spun that interest in her grandfather’s alleged guilt into a tour business: she offers serial killer tours of San Francisco.

When her ex-mother-in-law cuts off funding for Capri’s daughter’s grad school tuition, Capri needs additional income to help out. She starts digging more into what happened when her grandfather was convicted so long ago, hoping to both prove his innocence and make some money from creating a podcast and writing a book in the process.

Then a copycat killer strikes in San Francisco, and Capri finds herself trying to figure out the culprit in those original murders and the ones impacting her family today.

This book ended up falling somewhere in the middle for me. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it.

It’s not a long book—in print or on audio—but it ended up feeling long to me. I liked the setting and setup but wasn’t enamored with the pacing and delivery of information. I liked when you get glimpses of information shared on tours as interstitials and would have loved to have seen more of that. I also wish that some of the details from the original murders had been included in a podcast format instead of getting into the weeds as Capri discovers that information.

I liked the hint of a budding romance but wish the little details and interactions had been played up a bit more.

Side note: I will admit that I am too much of a scaredy-cat to go on the serial killer tours based on true crimes in the book, but if that tour agency were to put together the Alfred Hitchcock tour that's discussed, I would gladly go on that.

Stephanie Németh-Parker’s narration kept me engaged in the story, and I liked her voices for all of the characters. It was easy to keep track of which character was speaking.

I had an advance copy of the audiobook from Macmillan Audio. All review opinions are my own.

This book was an interesting mystery, with light-hearted moments threaded throughout serious family drama. While the premise of the book was kind of cozy-fun ( a girl runs a serial-killer tour company), the issues throughout felt real and important. This kept the book from being flighty and cheesy. There were layers to the mystery and there ended up being a couple of puzzles needing solved. I enjoyed the characters and the way the mysteries unfolded. It was an easy read and I would read another by this author. San Diego was a neat setting. Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

What a mystery to listen to! I really enjoyed the past and present mysteries, and how they wove and tied together through the story. It was also fun to listen to serial killer facts and sprinkles of Alcatraz mixed in with Capris tours. I thought the whole thing was unique and original and I loved it!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my ALC in exchange for my honest feedback!

The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco was not what i was expecting. By the cover I thought it would be more of a comedy type book(like Stephanie Plum or Finlay Donovan). But I did really enjoy the book. I enjoyed the digging into the past investigation of Overkill Bill more than the in present investigation. I thought I had it down, who the killer was for the past but I was wrong, but I was right for the present one.

Overall, It was a great book. And if you do the audio, the wonderful Stephanie Nemeth- Parker is the narrator.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillian Audio for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book started out strong, but really lost steam as it went along. I think for me, I got sick of Capri and that really colored the rest of my reading since it was first person. It was fun, but I ended up being pretty bored and over it as I went through.

What an absolutely incredible mystery! It has been a long time since I’ve read a true, step-by-step, methodical mystery. This is one of the most original mysteries I’ve ever read!

Capri Sanzio owns her own company giving tours of famous spots known for serial killers in San Francisco. She is also the granddaughter of a famous serial killer. After her mother-in-law is murdered much in the same manner of her grandfather’s victims, Capri has some problems - she’s a suspect. What happens next is a mystery filled with so many suspects and many twists and turns.

This book has great characters, and a tough, smart, and clever female protagonist. Capri is fantastic! The story is original and fresh. There are so many details in this one. I was hooked from the first page. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author.

Also, what an ending!

I absolutely loved this book! Stephanie Nemeth-Parker is one of my favorite audiobook narrators, and she does an amazing job with this one! I highly recommend this audiobook.

Thank you to NetGalley, St.Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to read/listen to this book! This one releases on September 24th, so preorder it. I highly recommend this one!

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC and SMP for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Receiving an advanced gifted book copy does not impact or influence my review in any way. #MacAudio2024

The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco was an unexpectedly fun read with a mix of a new and old crime case that the MC investigates! It wasn't until the new case opened that I found myself interested in the story and thrown into really interesting characters. I'm not sure if the author intended to be a little funny, but I did find the MC and her close friends humorous and found myself enjoying them the most.

While there was plenty of investigation and a lot of moving pieces that really brought the picture together, the pacing could've been better and some parts felt dragged out. The book also touched on several points like: old vs new money, family dysfunction, single mom challenges, family trauma, social hierarchies, and more, but still never fully fleshed any of them out. This made the story feel odd at times and disjointed. I also managed to predict the ending, which didn't ruin the story for me but fell a little flat for me. Still, I have to give the book huge credit for being the first mystery novel I finish!

I really enjoyed the bit of romance sprinkled in the book and really liked the main character! The audiobook narrator did a great job voicing Capri, and made her seem like a real person. I think overall, this book was a fun read! I just needed a bit more suspense.

Audiobook Thoughts:
Single narrator, Stephanie Nemeth-Parker does a great job of narrating both the male and female parts. So well, it was easy to tell who she was voicing at the time. With chapter changes spoken, following the plot was not difficult. On some chapter changes, though, it might catch the listener by surprise as real life sites and killers of the Bay Area are noted as though the reader was on the tour lead by the main character, Capri. I thoroughly enjoyed that added bit.

The plot revolves around Capri and her co-workers, daughter, ex-husband, ex-inlaws, and the dark cloud that sits on Capri's family's shoulders thanks to Grandpa Sanzio who died in prison, convicted as the noted Overkill Bill serial killer. That bit of family history resurfaces when another woman is found to have died in the same manner - decades later.

As Capri and her daughter become targets of investigation, the relationships between workers and family develop that allow for the reader to engage with the characters that will surely pop up again in future installments. Easily read as a stand alone as all the background a reader needs is supplied at this time. The focus on the crime and how Capri thinks as she attempts to both solve the current murder and absolve her grandfather from his past conviction with plenty of clues for the reader to pick up. Though I wasn't completely invested in the side characters, I was certainly tuned into solving the crime.

I was lucky enough to receive both an uncorrected electronic copy and an audio copy. I listened during the day and read at night. That was a combo I will do again. Though, it needs to be noted that chapters on the audio version were not exact to the e-book.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC and St. Martin's Press for the uncorrected ecopy via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

As someone who reads a lot, I enjoy any book that has a really unique or interesting take on a storyline that's been done a lot. So I was pretty excited to check out The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco. While some of the story had some tried and true tropes, other aspects were definitely original. I would have enjoyed a little more character development, as I thought fleshing out the characters more would definitely help to bring the story to life and given the reader more insight as to why certain characters did what they did. However, I thought this was a great mystery overall, even if it was a little predictable.

A fun cozy mystery set in LA that follows the granddaughter of a famous serial killer who does serial killer tours in San Francisco. She is set to figure out if her grandfather was innocent because other murders with the same MO are happening while he’s locked up and it’s either the original, or a copycat, and some of the murders could be pinned on her.

I think you’d enjoy it if you like the Finlay Donovan series. The main character had a funny inner monologue and the story kept my attention the entire time.

Narrated by Stephanie Németh-Parker who did great!

Thanks so much to MacMillan Audio, Minotaur Books & NetGalley for my ALC/ARC.

#MacAudio2024

3 ⭐️. I really wanted to love this one, I’ve had it on my arc radar for months now and unfortunately it just didn’t live up to my expectations. It starts off strong with some backstory on Capri’s serial killer grandfather and her serial killer tourist business until murders happen in a copy cat fashion and she becomes a suspect. Sounds great right? Too bad it takes a weird turn starting with who was murdered, I didn’t care for that woman at all and all the backstory with her businesses just bored me so much. I felt like this was an unfunny version of one of the Finlay Donovan books. It had so much potential only for me to stop caring halfway through and was not even thrilled or surprised by the ending, it was so cliche. So if I’m being honest with myself, I probably should have rated this lower. The good news is I sped through the audio and I honestly had to look up the narrator to see if it was the same person who did the Finlay series (it isn’t), but she did a great job at keeping me on track to finish.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio for the advance listeners copy in exchange for my honest review. This book is out September 24, 2024.

This was so interesting!l and clever. More of a mystery than a thriller maybe. Or maybe both, I’m not sure.

Anyway, Capri is the granddaughter of a serial killer so needless to say her family is a little messed up. As an adult she somehow ends up marrying into a wealthy family. After she and her husband divorce she is still connected to her ex’s family.

But when women start being murdered the same way her accused grandfather killed his victims she has an opportunity to not only find the killer but clear her grandfather’s name.

When I went into this book, I was expecting more of a dark comedy along the lines of "Love Letters to a Serial Killer", but it's actually more of a cozy mystery. While I wasn't totally blown away by it, I enjoyed it and thought the plot was very creative. I also listened to an advance listener copy while reading the ARC which further enhanced the experience for me.

This book follows a middle-aged woman named Capri Sanzio, a tour guide specializing in tours about famous serial killers in San Francisco. Capri has a connection to serial killers, seeing as how her late grandfather was the infamous serial killer dubbed "Overkill Bill" due to the way he murdered his victims. Despite her father's unwillingness to discuss his father's alleged sordid past, Capri embraces the family name - not because she is proud of her grandfather's alleged crimes, but because she has often wondered whether he was the one who actually committed the crimes. The evidence was all suspect, and over the years, Capri has learned a thing or two about serial killers and how they are investigated.

Her knowledge may come in handy when her wealthy ex-mother-in-law suddenly announces that she will no longer pay for her granddaughter's (Capri's daughter) college tuition, putting Capri in a bit of a bind. She doesn't make enough money to also pay for tuition, so maybe it's time to start diving into her grandfather's case and document it through a podcast and accompanying Patreon page. But things take a sinister turn when a copycat killer emulating "Overkill Bill" emerges in the city, putting a spotlight on Capri and her family. How convenient that this started up right as she was about to start looking into her grandfather's case publicly. Now Capri and her daughter are suspects, and she needs to clear their names alongside her grandfather's before the killer strikes again.

One of the things that makes the book work so well is the characters. I loved Capri. She was strong, determined and no-nonsense. She wasn't at all surprised when the police honed in on her, but growing up with her grandfather's shadow looming over her, she knows a thing or two about serial killers, how crime investigations work, and her rights, which allows her to stay just ahead of the police. I also loved that she ran a tour company that took true crime fanatics around San Francisco and showed where some infamous murderers struck around the city. The rest of the cast is also enjoyable, but Capri really made the story.

While I'm typically not one for cozy mysteries (I like the grit, the shocks, and the thrills of a darker thriller), I ended up enjoying this one. Sure, it was lighter than I typically go for, but I enjoyed watching things come together. While I would have liked a little more on the crimes of "Overkill Bill," (that storyline really took a backseat to the current murders and Capri's journey to bring them down), I did enjoy how it all played out.

As far as the audiobook goes, I feel that Stephanie Németh-Parker did an excellent job of narrating the book. The novel is told from Capri's first-person perspective, and I thought she captured her voice and portrayed her perfectly.

While it isn't the dark and gritty crime thriller I typically go for, I still enjoyed this cozy mystery. Chouinard's writing is sharp and engaging, and her ability to weave together an exciting mystery with a compelling family drama makes this book all the more enjoyable. If you're interested in true crime or if serial killers intrigue you but you like your mysteries on the lighter side, this book is definitely for you.

This was a fun but predictable story. The characters were charming and well thought out. The twist of adding a serial killer tour guide and some facts about San Francisco was a great addition to the story. Capri was a strong character whose tough choice at the end was unexpected.

The chill of a San Francisco summer can be deadly. No one knows this better than Capri Sanzio, who makes her living giving serial killer tours of the city. Capri has been interested in the topic since she was a kid, when she discovered she’s the granddaughter of serial killer William ‘Overkill Bill’ Sanzio. She’s always believed in his innocence, though she's never taken the leap to fully dive into the case.
But now an Overkill Bill copycat has struck in San Francisco. What will Capri do as family secrets unfold and chaos ensues?

This was a cozy fun 5 star read for me. I would love to join Capri on one of her tours. She was a lovable MC from beginning to end. I enjoyed her amateur sleuthing skills and as she dove into her grandfathers case and the copycat. There were a few twists and red herrings well laid out for the reader to be thrown until the very end. I did not see the killer coming! If you are looking for a fun read that is quirky but gives enough mystery this is the book for you.

Thank you MacMillian Audio and Minotaur books for this advanced audio. This book is out on shelves September 24,

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I love the narrator, and overall pace of the book. How the storyline and the copycat killer u was also really well done. I had my suspicions about who the copycat murder was, and I was wrong! Big surprise!
As someone who grew up an hour south of SF and who also went to college there, this book appealed to me. The landmarks that were mentioned (The Legion of Honor) were places I had been, which was great too. I enjoyed the family dynamics and family secrets resurfacing.
Loved Capri’s character and her strength and ability to bring the truth to the forefront.
This is a light mystery that will keep you interested and rooting for Capri until the end!

Easy to get into and quick to capture the audience. I was not expecting who the current killer was. There is an emotional ending which invokes a lot of feelings. Very enjoyable book. Great narrator who does a great job on the reading!! Great for spooky season

A family secret…
A copy cat serial killer….
An overbearing mother-in-law goes missing…
What more could you want?
I loved this. It was faced paced and bright even for being about murders and dark family secrets. Capri is likable and winning. I highly recommend The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco by Michelle Chouinard.

I was pleasantly surprised by this story! I laughed a lot more than I expected and loved the mystery aspect. I have to say, the twist really shocked me! I was sure I knew who was behind it all, but I was very very wrong! I enjoyed the narration a lot which made this a very enjoyable book for me.