In "Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder," Bellamy Rose has written an amusing murder mystery/rom com about a socialite hotel heiress seeking to solve her grandmother's murder in order to regain access to her inheritance. Pomona and her love interest Gabe are likable enough characters, though their romance falls a bit flat and seems a bit underdeveloped. The solution to the mystery is fairly obvious early on, and I would have liked to see more depth to where Pomona and Gabe find themselves at the end of the story. Still, not a bad way to pass a few, unserious, hours.

3 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book. These opinions are my own.

unfortunately i wasn’t super interested in this book. the cover is beautiful and i was initially drawn in, but i was looking for something else. i’m am, however, forward to other releases from bellamy!

Addictive read featuring a hotel heiress trying to solve a murder that hits close to home, literally. Pomona Afton is basically Paris Hilton in this book- a socialite that is treated as a spoiled bimbo. Little do people know, she’s kind hearted, talented and ambitious.

This follows her journey to solve a murder with a previous employee’s son, Gabe. Pomona’s in it to gain back her inheritance, Gabe is in it for his mother. Can they keep their opinions separate in order to solve a crime?

You’ll have to read it to find out what happens, so excited to have read this- truly amazing! All kinds of vibes!

Spice: closed door romance

Thank you NetGalley, Publisher and Author for sending over an arc in exchange for honest review!

This is a cute, cozy mystery. I love Blair in Gossip Girl, so when I read the pitch that described it as Blair solving a murder, I was sold! Think Hallmark mysteries meets Gossip Girl, and if that's appealing, this is the book for you.

SO FUN!! Pomona Afton is one of the heirs to the Afton Hotel fortune, and has been enjoying spending lots of cash on grand Gala outfits, drinking, and generally just having too much fun with all her girlfriends. But when her grandmother is suddenly murdered, she is forced to experience real life, and learn how to care for herself financially and emotionally, AND how to solve a murder!! This is such a fun romp, filled with tongue in cheek humor, a little romance and a satisfying ending. Highly recommend to those who love a great "chick book"!

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder.

Unfortunately I DNF’d this book about 30% of the way in. I can very much see the potential for this to be a hit but the intro to the plot took a bit too long for my taste and I just couldn’t get into the book as much as I wanted. I also struggled to feel in touch with the characters and feel like while this book has an audience I am not it.

Pomona Afton Can So Solve A Murder by Bellamy Rose was a very cute story. While technically a mystery, it was much lighter than the typical books I read.

When Pomona discovers her Grandmother has been murdered, she makes it her mission to find out who did it. Why? Because Pomona is a hotel heiress (think Paris Hilton in her twenties), and her trust fund has been locked until the case is solved.

I really enjoyed this book. It's a super cute story, and I loved all the baking references. I would have liked a little more romance, but other than that, I can’t complain.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC!

💰 Amauter Sleuths
👠 Murder Mystery with a Dash of Romance
💰 Opposite Attracts
👠 Partners in Crime Solving
💰 Former Party Girl
👠 FMC became a Baker
💰 MMC is Former Nanny's Son
👠 Rich people vibes
💰 Rich to Poor

Pomona is a party girl until her grandmother is murdered. The list of suspects is pretty long when Pomona's grandmother is a mean-spirited woman. Pomona realized the murderer had to be a close member of the family. With the help of Pomona's former nanny's son, Gabe, to solve the mystery when the inheritance was frozen. It was amazing that Pomona found something she was good at, which is baking. Her family didn't see any potential in Pomona until she had to figure out her life without the family money she was used to. Pomona and Gabe make a great team for crime solving and as a couple as well. I was surprised at who the murderer was. It was an awesome book with mystery, crime solving amauters, and a dash of romance.

This book is a very cute and easy read for those looking for a fun cozy mystery with romcom subplot.

Starting out, Pomona is a very unlikeable character, a spoiled heiress that is very naive to the real world and spends her time partying and spending money. However there is a lot of humor in this with her internal dialogue.

Pomona discovers her grandmother is murdered and that’s really where our story begins as Pomona must solve the murder in order to continue her way of life with her trust fund. Enter our love interest, Gabe.

Gabe becomes Pomona’s side kick, love interest and roommate and he and Pomona very much give grumpy/sunshine dynamics.

The mystery was fun to follow with hints sprinkled throughout. I definitely guessed the murderer very early on but it was still fun to follow Pomona’s investigation, especially as she developed as a character throughout and grew into a more complete and fleshed out character.

It was a cute mystery romance that was closed door and fast paced. I would continue to read this series and I think it was a great debut novel. Really good character growth and development. But also very predictable. 3.5 Stars rounded up to 4.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria books for providing an ARC to this book!

More romance than mystery. it was a fun book to read and I really enjoyed it. I am always on the look out for adult romance books without too much spice that my high school students would enjoy and this fits the bill. :)

Part rom-com, part murder mystery -- so many readers love this combination, which makes this a great one to recommend. It is also humorous and fast-paced. A spoiled young heiress must find out who is behind her grandmother's death so that she can finally claim her inheritance. It is not easy, but it is a LOT of fun to see how it all unfolds!

this was a fun read! the character growth with pom was very nice to see as a rich (almost ignorant at the beginning) socialite. obviously the murder investigation is a huge part of the storyline, it’s in the title, and i really did enjoy it. i figured it would end like that but idgaf. importantly, i wish there was more romance shown between gabe and pom. i felt something with it like okayyyyyyyyy guysss!!!! give me more i am begging. i think the subplot with pom figuring out what she wants to do with her life (coffee shop/bakery) was a very nice touch. overall, a very good read, solid 4 stars.

thank you very much to NetGalley and publishers for inviting me to read this arc!

This was a fun murder mystery that kept me guessing up until the end! It feels like a mash up of Only Murders in the Building and Gossip Girl. I was really worried I wouldn't like the FMC, Pomona, as she was pretty insufferable in the beginning but, luckily, she had a lot of character development. The added romance element was so sweet, I loved Gabe and Pom together. I was surprised how funny this book was, especially for a book involving murder, but it had me laughing out loud a lot! Thanks Netgalley for the e-ARC!

Cozy mystery- with somewhat unlikable main character. Was a fun read, but unfortunately I was not too invested into the main character. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for this opportunity!

Believe it or not, a hotel heiress and unlikely sleuth can crack the case. POMONA AFTON CAN SO SOLVE A MURDER is a cozy mystery/rom-com mash-up featuring a Paris Hilton-esque protagonist.

After the suspicious death of her no-so-beloved grandmother, Pomona’s personal finances come to an unexpected halt. Pomona can kiss her lavish lifestyle and inheritance goodbye unless she can somehow solve the mystery of the murdered matriarch.

This was the first mystery/romance genre mash-up I have read and I enjoyed the depth and camaraderie these storylines brought together. Pomona’s character was initially unrelatable but her growth throughout the story was satisfying.

READ THIS IF YOU:
-have ever been underestimated
-want to get in on the ground level of a new series
-have an affinity for baking

PUB DATE: March 18, 2025
RATING: 4/5

Many thanks to Netgalley and Atria for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC of this book, this is my objective review. Quick read, cute self-growth/mystery with a nice resolution. Pomona ("Pom") is a rich society flibbertigibbet, whose vast assets are frozen after grandmother's murder. Out of necessity she moves in with Gabe, the son of her former nanny, whose mother won't get her retirement funds until the murder is solved, which will also unfreeze Pomona's assets. So Pomona sets out to find who killed her grandmother. Early on the story leans into Pomona's spoiled princess persona, she is fairly shallow-seeming and as not easy to like. But as her informal investigation continues and she works to find her way in her new world, self-growth happens and she becomes more likable, thankfully. There are nice bits of humor despite the serious subject. The slow burn closed-door romance is more of a sub-plot to the murder mystery and takes a back seat to Pom's self-growth. This is a new-to-me author but I enjoyed her writing style and I would read her again! Publishes 3-18-25.

A fun, cozy murfer mystery/romance that was a perfect way to spend a lazy Sunday reading. Pomona Afton, while living a life wholly foreign to most of us, is somehow written to be a totally relatable and sympathetic character and you can’t help but root for her. This was a great easy read after a few heavy books and I’m looking forward to see what this author writes next.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this a lot! This was as light-hearted as a murder mystery can get, and I really liked Pomona as a main character. I am a true fan of books with rich main characters, and I really loved her growth throughout the whole book. The romance subplot was also really well done. It took up just the right amount of time/space in the book while also still ending up feeling complete.

Overall, a really quick murder mystery that was a really fun read!

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria for the advanced copy!

This was a cute and easy read that had a little bit of mystery and a little bit of romance, but didn’t quite capitalize on either, hence the three stars.

Pomona Afton (who I could only picture as Paris Hilton) is a spoiled, hotel heiress who has fallen from grace after her grandmother’s suspicious death that led to her losing her home, her trust fund, and her friends. Thanks to her childhood nanny, she meets Gabe, the cranky coffee shop worker who has his own issues with Pomona, but who eventually becomes her unlikely ally in the efforts to solve Pom’s grandmother’s murder.

Overall, for a debut novel, I think Bellamy Rose did a good job. She wrote a character that had a progressive personality arc, and left breadcrumbs throughout the book to help solve the murder. However, I wasn’t pulled in completely by the mystery or the romance of this book. Both were somewhat lukewarm to me. But I would love to read more of her works as she develops more as a writer.

**thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC of Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder. All thoughts and opinions shared herein are my own and not necessarily a reflection of those of the aforementioned parties.

This was a fun mystery. Pomona was giving Paris Hilton and I really loved it because I love her. It was well written and ended nicely. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.