This book reads like non-fiction and that is not a compliment. I was looking for a good novel and this gave true-crime vibes. So, I read and had no desire to finish. This is my 3rd book by the author and all three have fallen flat for
me. However, I feel like true crime enthusiasts will enjoy this book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy. I wish I enjoyed it more.

I really enjoyed the internet sleuth aspect of this book and the issues and benefits forums and amateur sleuths can have on criminal cases. This book had so much depth with a LOT going on and I could not put it down.

My only qualm about this book was just how close it was to the Idaho 4 case, which is very much fresh and open. It made me feel a bit icky thinking about Madison, Kaylee, Xana, or Ethan’s family and friends reading or hearing about this book. Although the book takes a big twist and has a much different ending, the setting and initial crime similarities were quite similar. I wish the ARC had the authors note as I am sure that would make me feel differently about the similarities.

“Maybe that’s the real definition of fate: when the universe hands you exactly what you want, the one thing you could never turn down, a perfect trap of your own making.”

“This Book Will Bury Me” was a compelling read — every time I picked it up, I had trouble putting it down even when I needed to do other things besides reading. I was enraptured by the way Winstead wove grief, friendship, and mystery throughout the narrative. The critique of true crime was done well for the most part, except I didn’t love that the case in the book was based off of a real, ongoing case.

Another problem I had with this book was that it felt unrealistic. I had a difficult time suspending my disbelief for some of the plot points. I also predicted one of the main twists, which made the reading experience a little bit less enjoyable for me.

At the end of the day though, I sped through this and had a really fun time reading it. It’s a book I will be recommending to people who are interested in reading a thriller about the obsessive nature of true crime content and amateur sleuthing.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The rating for this book will be included in my December wrap up on Instagram at the end of the month, and I will post a full review closer to the release date.

“This Book Will Bury Me” is a mystery thriller by Ashley Winstead. I didn’t know anything about this book when I requested it - then I started seeing videos from BookTubers I follow that this book was their most anticipated book for 2025. Oh, maybe I should move it up on my TBR, I thought. I found the idea of this book really interesting - armchair sleuths trying to solve crimes. I’ll be honest - this book wasn’t quite what I expected it to be. This book’s main focus is a topic I have very little knowledge about - armchair sleuths (though recently I read armchair sleuths declined to help NYPD catch a murderer - so that was an interesting “real life” tie-in). So, it was interesting reading how people online can puzzle out things by bouncing ideas off each other and getting information and data mining (social media mining?). I found that part fascinating and I see why people get a rush doing it. I found getting to know the five people in the group Jane was part of was fun - they were like a family group, each with their strengths but also working toward a common goal to solve a crime. The part I wasn’t too thrilled about - and, granted, the summary mentions it - was just how much Ms. Winstead “borrowed” from a recent crime - the four college students murdered in Moscow, Idaho. There were just a number of overlaps that made me feel uncomfortable. Yes, the story does eventually go into a different direction, but for a while I felt like I was reading an alternative reality of the case. However, I will note that the ARC version I read did NOT have an Author’s Note - so I was happy to read a new ARC version that included the note & I now better understand why Ms. Winstead included the crime, but I still wish she’d changed a bit more (like even having it occur in a different state). Overall, I found this book to be a gripping read and rather fascinating on a psychological thriller level - how well do we really know someone on the Internet? I’d recommend this book - as I found myself wanting to read it faster than I did, but I still felt uncomfortable at times regarding the Idaho murder inclusion.

I thoroughly enjoyed this unique POV of an armchair detective! Great character development and engaging storyline.

Jane Sharp’s life abruptly screeches to a halt at the unexpected death of her father. Feeling lost in her grief, she stumbles through those first few weeks bundled in his old flannel shirt and overwhelmed with questions. She seeks out anything he left behind. Treasuring every detail related to her father’s life, she reads through his old online message board posts. While enduring this grief spiral, she stumbles into an online crime solving community and finds herself comforted in filling her days and nights knee deep in a new hobby – as an amateur internet detective. Helping to put the pieces together so justice can be served seems to renew Jane’s purpose in life. But this dopamine high may lead her to a dangerous obsession with crime solving. If only she could help find justice for one more person. And this leads us to Jane’s retelling of the Delphine Massacre written down as her own reflection in the book that she claims, will bury her.

Slow burn. Good book. A lot to unravel.
I think it was beautifully written. Not sure if it's my taste though.

This book did bury me, I couldn't stop reading it! The way the author handled the online true crime community, showing both its good sides (can help law enforcement by digging into a case when the police have way too many cases on their plate) and its bad sides (perpetuating wrong information, destroying suspects lives when they haven't been found guilty beyond a doubt, getting in the way of police work and making something that should be private into a circus) made the read compelling. I did really love the vibes and atmosphere of this read, particularly the real way Ashley Winstead demonstrate how different people deal with grief. It also has found family, which is a true plus for me though not a surprise since in In My Dreams I hold a Knife the author liked to also explore the theme of found family in a more dark way.

I will definitely pick up her next read and recommend this one to anyone who wants to have a good time.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this ARC! This story follows Jane Sharp, who is battling grief after the loss of her father. Seeking to make sense of the injustice of this loss, she is drawn to joining an online community of amateur true crime sleuths. The story follows her and her groups journey and involvement in a series of crimes. This definitely had a ton of twists I was not expecting!

To start, don’t skip reading the authors note. She addresses the direct correlation of the crimes described in this book to recent true crime. This book is really about the impact, both positive and negative, that amateur sleuths have on ongoing and active crime investigations. What I found interesting about this was learning about the characters and what psychologically drove them to be so obsessed with true crime and essentially dedicating their lives to working on these investigations.

The plot and pacing was solid and kept me engaged, but I felt it drag a bit towards the end and thought it could have been shorter, but overall enjoyed this read!

Thank you, NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark | Sourcebooks Landmark books for this ARC for review. I have read every Ashley Winstead book so end there is another book releasing, I had to read it. It did not disappoint!! Thriller about the true crime craze and websites that follow real serial killer cases and trade information about the victims and the killers. This book focuses on 5 amateur sleuths that meet on such a true crime website and insert themselves into real cases and what happens since there is so much now on social media with pictures, Facebook, etc. this was a fun thriller and Ashley Winstead is an automatic read for me.

This is my first Ashley Winstead novel, and I did not expect it to be this chilling. Jane, the protagonist, finds herself diving headfirst into the world of amateur sleuthing after the passing of her father.

SPOIlER ALERT: The first set of murders is incredibly similar to the recent Idaho murders, which made this a little scary to read at times (and I don't spook super easily)

I found this book captured my attention more that most thrillers of later. I think the market is oversaturated with crime thrillers, and Winstead knew she had work hard to stand out, and she delivered!

We see Jane and her online friends evolve as they research and try to find the "Barbie Butcher," and I'm excited to say I didn't have it all figured out! Many twists and turns. Thank you to Winstead, Sourcebooks, and NetGalley for the ARC!

5 stars
Publication date March 25, 2025

Thank you, NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark, for sending this eARC for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

While grieving her father's passing, Janeway Sharp becomes involved with a group of amateur sleuths online. After solving a case, they gain some fame. Next, they get involved in a huge murder case in which three sorority girls are brutally killed in their shared house late at night. This leads to them being asked to be consultants for the FBI. They get together in the town in Idaho where the murders occured to be closer to the investigation. None of them realized just how close they are to evil.
This story is written as a book within a book, authored by Janeway. She is writing to tell her side of the story, after all the negativity surrounding her groups involvement in the case. I loved the style of this book, it read like a good true crime story. As a fan of true crime, I found it all very fascinating, and the story itself was excellent.

Jane better known as her online persona The Searcher finds herself lost after the passing of a family member she turns to an online community of sleuths where she finds her purpose and a family. When a major case with no clear leads gets the sleuth's attention the mess that ensues after will have everyone questioning who is right and wrong and if the true crime community is helpful or harmful.

For Fans of:
⚠️True Crime
⚠️Online Sleuths
⚠️Adopted Family

Ashley Winstead is an auto-add to my TBR list, and that hasn't changed! Thank you so much to NetGalley, and Sourcebooks Landmark for this e-ARC. All opinions are my own.

Apparently I was living under a rock in 2020 or whenever the crime committed that inspired this novel happened becuase I have no recollection. Because of that minor blip in living in the real world (i was pregnant, okay?!) I found that I truly could not put this book down. I binged this thing after it being in my TBR pile for months, and I’m so mad it took me this long to read!

If you don’t think writing a true-crime-esque novel about a crime that happened that is apparently still unsolved or open is in poor taste, this one is binge-worthy and will keep you up at night. I don’t even like true crime and i liked this one soooo….try it?

Very intriguing!! Suspenseful and has so many twists in the plot. Thank you to Netgalley, Sourcebooks Landmark and the author for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

I didn’t care for this one. It just didn’t work for me. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this copy for read and review

I have read several of this author’s books and this one was interesting for me. It started off slow and remained that way until about 60% into the book. Then it picked up and I was interested and invested in what was happening. I will continue to read books by this author.

A fast-paced thriller that I had a hard time putting down. I really enjoyed the different perspective this book took, focusing on internet sleuths who are working to solve a case. The characters each brought their own unique value to the story and had me thinking differently about those who spend their time online trying to solve active or cold cases. I was a somewhat taken away from the story because the author used details similar to a recent case.

2 stars--it was OK. I'm uncomfortable that the author drew so heavily on real crimes to write this novel that supports (?) true-crime amateur sleuths. (Or maybe she was really taking down interfering true-crime enthusiasts, and it's all too meta for me?) Why not make the crime less based on a true story? Set the story in Alabama or something? And why oh why have the FBI invite untrained amateurs to join the investigation?!

The characters were pretty despicable to me. The writing, however, was fine, and the plot kept me reading. I liked a previous book by this author, but this one was not my cup of tea.

I received this review copy from the publisher on NetGalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review; I appreciate it!

Thank you publisher for the eGalley!

I am a huge fan of Ashley Winstead. I have read all her previous novels, so I was so excited to get my hands on her upcoming release.

Unfortunately, this one was a miss for me. The horrific Idaho murders, down to details, heavily inspired this book. It felt uncomfortable reading it and is distasteful of Ashley to choose to write this. There was also commentary and generalizations made of people that are from Idaho that had me side-eyeing this book. When are we going to stop stereotyping people? The plot twist didn't make matters better. I see what Winstead tried to do and if people aren't looking close enough, it will go over their head. On that same note, I know people who aren't aware of the real life murders that Winstead copy and pasted from will highly rate this book. I read the author's note, although that does not dismiss her use of that event and make it okay.

I did like the parts of our fmc processing grief, and her journey to healing.. that felt authentic. the rest of the book did not. The more I sit with this book, the more I dislike it.

2.5 stars

Jane Sharp is a college student obsessed with true crime when 3 college girls are killed and Jane goes online to help solve the murder.s. The book starts a year later and Jane is finally ready to break her silence on what really happened. I have mixed feelings about this book. The story was good and I liked the social media excerpts, true crime forum conversations and online chats . That was very well done. However, I felt that too much of the story of her father was included and unessential to the main plot. I think this part needed more careful editing. I think it was way longer than it needed to be. I know it was based on true murders that happened in Idaho and because that case is unresolved many people have issue with this story. The romance aspect to it feels forced and there was not enough to it to add to the story. As a whole it feels unrealistic. This missed the mark for me.