This Book Will Bury Me was exactly what I needed to get out of a reading slump. This highly entertaining thriller was a unique take on “true” crime that had me engaged from start to finish.
Loosely based on the 2022 Idaho massacre, Winstead takes us through the point of view of 24 year old Janeway Sharp, a recent UCF dropout who finds herself immersed in a world of armchair detectives. After being surprisingly helpful with solving a local murder near Orlando, Jane finds herself invited to join a tight knit group of four other internet sleuths. When tragedy breaks out in Idaho and they feel they have reached their limits from afar, the group travels from all over the country to meet up and solve the nation’s biggest crime mystery of the year.
If you’re a fan of true crime (and don’t mind the author taking the liberties of putting a fictional spin on it!), then you should definitely check out This Book Will Bury Me by Ashley Winstead. (Pub 3/25/2025)
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this arc.
Sadly this did not work for me. It took me forever to finish. It was definitely too long for what it was. I thought this had a strong and promising start, then I got to the part where author took real life Murder and made it fictional, and everything went downhill from there. Huge chunk of the book dragged, and I honestly think this should have been 150 pages shorter. My review is on Goodreads @JR

This Book Will Bury Me followed a woman in the immediate aftermath of her father's death - a rudderless ship looking for a wagon to hitch to. Jane Sharp is a college student who is deep in the throes of grief, looking for a distraction. She finds solace and purpose in true crime, and finds a group of like-minded folks on online forums who invite her to join their small group of amateur sleuths. Three college girls are killed in Delphine, Idaho, and many online sleuths find it their mission to solve the mystery. Nobody knows what happens, and everyone is racing against not only the clock, but each other, to solve the mystery. Then, three more girls are killed and the questions outnumber the answers.

The story was interesting and I thought both the writing and pace were done well - I just wish it wouldn't have been loosely based on an actual crime. This book will forever be compared to the actual Idaho College Murders and I think many people will be turned off from reading it based on that fact alone. Coming up with a fresh, fictional storyline would likely have saved some face for the author.

Overall, the ending was fairly easy to decode once I was about 3/4 of the way through the book, but it did leave me guessing for long enough to keep me interested in what was happening. For fans of true crime, thrillers, and crime stories who can overlook the premise of the story being based in real life, I would say to try this book on for size!

I don’t know how to rate this. On the one hand, it’s incredibly well-written, complex and with twists and turns and the father storyline is both heartbreaking and comforting.

On the other hand, the similarities between this and the case of the 2022 murders of Kaylee, Madison, Xana, and Ethan are FAR too intense to be coincidental, and it feels… icky. This is a case that is horrific and has not reached its conclusion, and the irony of this book leaning heavily on the wrongness of gawking at the tragedies of others while also leaning heavily on a real-life tragedy was a bit of a shock to me. I’ve always been a fan of Ashley’s, so I am not sure how I feel.

MAJOR TWs for this one, for obvious reasons. I’m conflicted about the morality of it, I guess.

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
This is for all the true crime fans out there! Winstead sure knows how to write an amazing gripping and suspenseful thriller that keeps the reader at the edge of their seat. This one totally reminded me of the University of Idaho college murders that took place a few years ago. I loved the suspense, the characters, and the nod to true crime sleuthing. Winstead slowly built up the suspense and intensity throughout, which had me flipping through the pages because I needed to know what would happen next! This was a fun, entertaining, and wild ride which I absolutely loved every minute of. I did not guess the twist early on, but towards the end I was able to guess the ‘whodunit’ aspect, but the ride was still a fun one. I also really liked the MC, Jane, who was fun and quirky. Although this book is on the longer side, I appreciated the short chapters and was able to breeze through this book.
Three college girls are found dead, and the internet sleuths are set and determined to find out who the killer is-that is until things slowly unravel and fingers start to point to those they least expected.
BRAVO Ashley, you knocked it out of the park (yet AGAIN!) with this fab-tab-ulously gripping, twisted, and suspenseful nod to true crime junkies and sleuths alike🙌🏻


𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗘𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆:
✦True crime
✦An entertaining, suspenseful, gripping, and twisty thriller/mystery
✦A fun and quirky MC
✦Short chapters

𝐌𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫4.75/5

this book was interesting and kept me engaged throughout it. however, i guessed the twist, and i also didn’t like the end of “this book will bury me.” the main characters actually had depth to them, though, and i enjoyed getting to know each of them. thank you to netgalley and the author for this ARC!

Ashley Winstead does it again! The book is a creepy, mind-twisting thriller that looks at true crime, the public's reaction to it, and how we consume content.

Jane is looking for purpose after her father passes away unexpectedly. She ends up on a true crime forum, and gets sucked into the world of citizen detectivery. When she decides to take the plunge and solve a grisly murder with the help of her internet friends, she could never imagine the places it would lead her.

The way Winstead tells this story is masterful. The entire book is tense because of how she starts it, and the whole time you're dying to know WHAT HAPPENED. I don't want to say much and spoil anything, but it was such a fun and crazy read. The characters were great, and Winstead did an excellent job of describing how insular internet communities can be. It's a story within a story, and what could come off as confusing is done masterfully.

THIS BOOK WILL BURY ME is the fourth thriller novel I’ve read by @ashleywinsteadbooks and as usual, her writing immediately sucked me in and kept me glued to the pages. It was a gripping story that elicited even more conversation long after I finished reading.

After Jane unexpectedly loses her father, she becomes obsessed with true crime and the online community that is determined to help (or hinder??) unsolved cases. Along with her newly made true crime friends, she finds herself tracking down clues in a horrific murder of three college students in Idaho. Jane inadvertently takes on a more prolific role in the case as the events become more and more shocking. A year later, Jane is ready to break her silence and tell her side of the story of one of the most famous crimes in modern history.

The fact that I started and finished this book while on a very packed vacation means something. It didn’t help my jet lag but I stayed up late reading a few chapters every night. Winstead’s writing is gripping and I was completely lost engrossed in the story. She has a personal note before the book begins and you can tell a lot of her emotions were written into this story when it came to the relationship between Jane and her dad. I really connected with this part of the storyline and Jane’s growth and overarching journey to understand her father was deeply moving.

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that this book self-admittedly took inspiration from the University of Idaho murders in 2022. I do not know much about what happened but read up on it after reading some reviews and found some of the details to be uncomfortably similar. This story had so much to say about people’s troublesome obsession with true crime and its exploitive nature that I felt very conflicted once I learned of all this. So while I really enjoyed reading this book it ultimately begged the question - should I have?

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a copy of this ARC! This twisting mystery was a fun and suspenseful read!

Occasionally a cover will draw me in, and a premise will seal the deal. When I came across this book in NetGalley, I knew immediately I wanted to read it. I am unfamiliar with Ashley Winstead’s other works and was thrilled when the publisher approved my request.

This book follows Jane, a college student in the wake of her father’s unexpected death. Desperate for an escape, she drops out of college and stumbles into the world of true crime forums, where she joins in helping investigate a local murder. Jane’s escapism soon evolves into obsession as a newer and more high-profile murder occurs.

As far as mixed-media “true crime” books go, this was definitely one of the better ones. The books I’ve read in the past were more podcast-focused, so I appreciated the different take using Internet forums as a medium instead. The blend of forums and main character perspective felt smooth and immersive and made this nearly 500 page book a quite quick read!

This book was really fun to read. The beginning of the story immediately pulled me in and I found Jane was intriguing as a main character. I enjoyed the other characters as well, though they were definitely a bit more cliche’ armchair detectives. Another thing that pulled me in was that this novel had a murder that strongly paralleled a very much real-life murder that happened not too long ago so having that real life parallel was also interesting to read.

This book also does a great job of using the unreliable narrator trope, and left me guessing for most of the story. Surprisingly, I actually liked that this story was somewhat predictable towards the end. Usually I see predictability as a drawback but I prefer it in mystery/crime-solving books because I can get a “huzzah, I was right!” moment (which I personally find very satisfying).

My only complaint was there was a part of the book that I didn’t quite understand its purpose but was cleverly reintroduced later in the novel and it wrapped up the story a little too nicely. I think this is one of those books where I would have preferred an ambiguous ending but I may be alone in that feeling.

Overall I really enjoyed this book! The fantastic pacing kept me hooked from start to finish and I definitely want to pick up more of Ashely Winstead’s works now. If you are a mystery or True Crime-esque fan, I highly recommend this one!

This book releases on March 25th, 2025

Rating: 4.25/5
Review will be published on my website on March 17th, 2025 at the following url:
https://mishmashedmagic.com/bookblog/this-book-will-bury-me-by-ashley-winstead

I have loved all of Ashley Winstead's books in the past and this one is no exception. This book was a crazy twisty rollercoaster of a ride. I was so intrigued about this book since it dealt with the popularity of internet sleuthing to solve popular murders. This book sucks you into the story and you feel like you are a part of the internet sleuthing family that consists of Searcher, Citizen, Mistress, Goku, Lightly. I enjoyed the addition of Jane's journey through her grief of losing her father. It really added to the story and her obsession with solving cases. I did feel like the middle of the book was a little slower and longer than I would have preferred but I never lost interest once. I am still not sure how I feel about the author using the real Moscow murders for inspiration for this book since that case has not gone to trial yet. But overall, if you enjoy true crime and a great thriller with many twists, then I recommend giving this book a read.

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebook Landmarks for the digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

Amateur sleuths are taking over police investigations. Good idea? Or are they a more of a distraction and hindrance?
I suppose it depends on who you ask.

In her senior year of college, Jane’s father passed unexpectedly. She returns home to grieve along-side her mother. As a break from her mourning she’s drawn into the world of armchair detectives. It’s not long before she has her own handle and becomes part of a team.

When a mass killing occurs on the campus of a small Idaho University Jane and her group are front and center offering their services. The local police aren’t exactly thrilled with the offer, but the FBI see a use for this group to assist in ways that they cannot. Now these amateurs are about to enter very dangerous territory!

Can they find the serial killer before they become the next target?

There is a lot of controversy surrounding this book due to the similarities of the Idaho College murders. Please read the author’s note at the beginning of the book. She did a great job of explaining why and how she used these real and horrific murders as part of her fictional storyline.

If fiction based, true-crime events, or grief of losing a parent are triggers for you then this may not be a great fit. I knew the subject matter going in and thanks to the authors note I was prepared and ended up enjoying this latest by Ashley Winstead.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark

Seeking solace and purpose in the wake of her father’s untimely death, Janeway immerses herself in an online community of amateur sleuths. What begins as a distraction soon becomes an obsession, as the story delves into how grief can drive us to the brink of reason—and sometimes beyond.

Initially drawn to the unsolved murder of a local woman named Indira, Searcher (Janeway’s online alias) joins forces with a group of amateur investigators—Citizen, Goku, Mistress, Lightly. What begins as a virtual scavenger hunt soon spirals into something darker when their focus shifts to the Delphine murders—a series of gruesome killings targeting college girls in Idaho.

The interwoven chatroom format immerses readers in the frenetic energy of the group’s digital sleuthing. The characters’ interactions are dynamic, hinting at the personal battles each member faces and leaving you yearning to dive deeper into their psyches. Janeway’s relentless drive to uncover the truth mirrors her inner struggle to process her grief, creating a raw, emotional journey of self-discovery amidst tragedy.

While the book delves into themes of grief and justice, it also holds a mirror to the true crime community, examining the ethical complexities of how real-life tragedies are consumed and dissected. The parallels to the still-unresolved Idaho college murders, while adding a layer of authenticity, also raise questions about the sensitivity of fictionalizing ongoing cases. Readers may find themselves at a crossroads, grappling with the balance between honoring victims and sensationalizing their stories.

Ultimately, This Book Will Bury Me is more than just a crime novel; it’s a journey through grief, identity, and the lengths we go to make sense of loss. Fans of crime fiction and true crime alike will find much to ponder in its pages.

Thank you Netgalley for this advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

I loved everything about this book. It was so well done. this book was awesome from start to finish. I could not put it down even though it was actually pretty long.

This Book Will Bury Me is written from the point of view of a college age woman who loses her father and gets engulfed into the Reddit true crime world solving murders to deal with her grief. She ends up working alongside a group of others as they try to crack their biggest case yet the Delphine murders. This book was engaging with lots of twists and in a nuanced enough way to show how everyone is living in the gray. There is some controversy about how closely this story reads to the 2022 University of Idaho murders which hasn’t even seen justice for the victims yet so while it was entertaining, keep that in mind when deciding if you’d pick this one up.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

First I would like to thank Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC of this novel.

I was so excited to get approved for this ARC and it didn’t let me down. I have loved all of Ashley’s books and couldn’t wait to get my hands on her newest one. Right from the beginning this book pulled me in and had me hooked. I loved the way this book was written (the book within the book) and I really enjoyed the dynamic of the group in this novel. I also think the internet/true-crime forum part of the novel was so well done.

The thing that bothered me was Jane’s obsession with her father’s legacy. I didn’t really get that. It made sense that she dove into true crime to deal with her grief but this part felt a little too over the top for me. I also think the book was just a little long. I think it could have been 50-75 pages less.

But overall, I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be recommending it.

4.5/5 rounded up to 5 for this review.

This was a book that had many twists and turns and was very intense! A dysfunctional crime family that is all over the place! A slow burn that will keep you interested to the end!

This book will make you try and solve the puzzles before the book helps you along! A very interesting thriller that will keep you intrigued from start to finish!

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is amazing book I was absolutely hooked from the beginning such an engaging read. Ashley is one of my most favorite authors. I’ve read everything she has written and this book like her others did not disappoint one bit.

After Jane Sharp's father passes, she needs a way to disassociate. She happens to see the news about a woman found disembodied in a trash bag at the bottom of a lake nearby. This leads her down a rabbit hole and into the world of armchair sleuths. She is quickly welcomed into a group of people who become her new "family". After solving that case, another takes the world by storm. Three college students are slain in their own house, leaving one survivor. There is very little usable evidence in this case and Jane and her buddies instantly become infatuated with solving it. As her team of mentors become insta-famous, they also learn it's not all it's choked up to be.
I enjoyed this one as usual. Ashley Winstead always has a way of telling a story that keeps you hooked until the very end. I liked that she included glimpses of real life true crime cases throughout the book. I do wish the main case stayed a little more true to real life though when it comes to the killer/killers. I understand why she changed it up though since it is so well known and that would leave very little mystery up for the reader. I really felt for Jane in her grief over her father, her coping skills and enjoyed following her story. I did suspect one of the killers pretty early on. I don't know if this was meant in foreshadowing because it kind of seemed like it was supposed to be the big twist.
Overall, I think this was a great read and I would recommend it to my followers. It was 4.5 stars for me.

Gripping, exciting, and un-put-downable! I'm not sure if that's a real word but I'm going to use it. This was an easy ready for me as it kept me hooked from page one!

I’m just not sure if Ashley Windstead is for me. I really liked her first book, but the last few books were complete misses for me unfortunately. I know this book is going to be loved by many people!