Ashley Winstead’s This Book Will Bury Me is a masterfully crafted thriller that delves deep into the world of true crime and the complexities of human emotion. The novel introduces us to Janeway Sharp, a young woman grappling with the recent loss of her father. In her quest for solace, she becomes immersed in an online true crime community, where she and a group of amateur sleuths embark on a mission to solve a chilling murder case. Winstead’s portrayal of Jane’s grief is both raw and authentic, making her journey profoundly relatable.

The narrative structure is particularly engaging, blending traditional storytelling with forum discussions and footnotes, which adds depth and realism to the plot. This innovative format invites readers to become active participants in the investigation, heightening the suspense with each chapter. The camaraderie among the group members introduces a heartfelt found-family dynamic, providing warmth amidst the novel’s darker themes.

Winstead’s writing is both evocative and compelling, capturing the reader’s attention from the very first page. The plot is intricately woven, with twists and turns that keep you guessing until the very end. The author’s ability to balance character development with a gripping storyline is commendable, making this novel not just a thriller but a poignant exploration of loss, obsession, and the human desire for connection.

This Book Will Bury Me is a testament to Winstead’s storytelling prowess, offering readers a thrilling ride that is as emotionally resonant as it is suspenseful. It’s a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers and true crime narratives alike.

First off, Ashley Winstead is an auto-buy author for me. I will continue to read anything she writes. I do agree with a lot of the other reviews when they said that the similarities of the case in this book and the Idaho College Murders were astounding. My ARC copy unfortunately didn't have the Author's Note, so I'm not sure what the author has commented about this, but I do agree it's slightly in poor taste for an actual true crime case that is still very recent.

HOWEVER, this book was so much more than just that story. It's about the dark underbelly of true crime forums, the internet sleuths that do help bring justice to cases, how grief can take over your life and how you can let an obsession consume you. The internet forum parts were so fascinating to read, and the 'found family' trope was so sweet I love Mistress so much she was my favorite! Ugh and watching Jane go through her depression and talking about how she's always been labeled as "sensitive" and "empathetic" really hit home for me. The main mystery was a little predictable but the journey to get there was still a very well-written and entertaining read.

Thank you so much to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC copy.

This book was really good but could've been perfect. I really liked the suspense and the overall story but the ending fumbled. Serial killers don't feel empathy, so some of the actions taken by the SK in the chapters at the end were full of unlikely actions. FBI fumbling so band and sleuths being recruited by the FBI without vetting is absurd.

This book was a fun thriller. I loved the true crime vibes and the twists had me on my toes. I really enjoyed this read and definitely recommend this read!

While this book was suspenseful and kept me interested, it feels a little soon to write a book about a recent tragedy in which justice hasn’t been served yet.

this one is a strange one to rate and review. It walks the line between fiction and nonfiction true crime and blues it. I love this author and I know she wasn't trying to be disrespectful with her Idaho murder scenes, but at the same time it sits weird with that case still in progress at the moment.

the storyline was a little confusing with Jane split between her father's death and focusing on him and her true crime sleuth family. almost like they maybe shouldn't have gone together in the same book?! idk I appreciated it as someone in the dead dad club, but I also was wondering about who Jane was...I felt like I never fully got to know her.

I really wanted to love this one because I love Ashley Winstead thrillers, but this one was a challenge. The similarities between this book and a real life crime just left me feeling icky.

What an interesting novel and one that is perfect for all the true crime and crime show watchers and listeners! This book kept me on my toes and kept me turning the page, which is something I haven't done in a while with thrillers so I was pleasantly surprised. I will be buying a copy to have on my bookshelf so I can reread it at a later date.

Thank you @ashleywinsteadbooks and @bookmarked for my gifted copy!

Y’all, Ashley Winstead has done it again and I am so excited to share my #previewreview for her upcoming March 2025 release 🥳 I also love that this was book 50 of 2024 and the one that I met my annual reading goal with!!

Where do I even begin? This Book Will Bury Me took me completely by surprise. I went in blind and started noticing similarities to Idaho 4 case, which captured the nation’s attention. This book kicked into overdrive and literally never stopped. Seriously, I felt like I was in the car with Ruth and Everett (IYKYK).

These characters were so deep and well written that they felt like people I know. I loved the true crime internet sleuth storyline because it’s so relevant and Ashley handled it so well. The grief storyline hit me a lot harder than I expected and left me in tears multiple times. Bravo, Ashley.

I’ll share a more in depth review closer to pub date but do yourself a favor and preorder This Book Will Bury Me NOW! I highly recommend you order from @murderbooks books so you can get a signed copy!

While the premise was nice, the writing was... not what I expected. I wanted more from the characters because I felt that what was on the front cover and the front flap was not what we were given.

This Book Will Bury Me is my new favorite Ashley Winstead! It captured the amateur true crime culture and had me hooked!

I loved the mixed media and true crime chatrooms that had me flying through this book! Following Janeway, after losing her father suddenly, she turns to true crime chatrooms to help distract her from her grief. Janeway and her found family of other amateur true crime investigators, solve some of the biggest crime to date!

I loved Ashley Winstead books! I will be recommending this to anyone who loves a thriller with a true crime spin. I can’t wait to read whatever Winstead writes next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advanced copy of this book!

I was compelled to finish this, although several things bothered the shit out of me. True crime folks might dig this more. An interesting premise, entirely unrealistic in its unfolding, but that's reading, am I right? Thanks to Netgalley for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review, book publishes March 25

i really enjoyed this! i'm not huge into true crime but i do like watching/listening to a docuseries/podcast here and there, and this felt like an insight into that world. it was fascinating to learn about! our main character jane is grieving her father who recently passed away, and her grief sends her into a spiral that causes her to completely lose herself in solving real life crimes. she joins an online community of amateur sleuths and forms a close friendship with a group who become the face of the true crime community after they help solve a case.

i was absolutely hooked from the beginning. the obsession that jane had with solving crimes and the bond she forms with this group was addicting to read about. the lengths they go to find a serial killer had me on the edge of my seat. and honestly, i was gagged when the truth came out. i truly did not see it coming (i think if you are a seasoned mystery/thriller reader you probably will but i was SHOCKED). i also loved the adored the family aspect of it, especially because they were understanding about jane's grief and knew that in some way, what they were doing was helping her move on from her father's death.

the ending did feel a bit too clean. it wrapped up perfectly which made it unbelievable and that's probably the only thing i didn't like or would have preferred were different. other than that, i had such a fun time with this book!!!

I have loved every book that Ashley Winstead has written. This was no exception. If you are looking for a top-notch thriller/mystery, then look no further because I think I have found your next book.

I have read multiple books by Ashley Winstead and enjoyed them. This one was good but what I didn't like was how it was so obviously based on the 2022 Idaho students murder. I followed that case hardcore and this was literally the exact story with other things added to it. So it was predictable, and it just felt kinda……not right to me. I can see others that didn't follow the case liking this book and thinking it's entertaining. Personally, I just couldn't get into it like I wanted to, unfortunately!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I did not realize that this book was based off of a real case until I was already reading it. Maybe that is my fault but I also would have loved a warning before reading it.

I liked "In my dreams I hold a knife" but this book felt long and dragged out for me, especially once I realized the case it was inspired by.

A dark, compulsive, and mind-bending exploration of obsession, truth, and the dangerous allure of true crime.
When three college girls are murdered in Delphine, Idaho, Jane and her digital crew are determined to crack the case before anyone else. But what starts as an intellectual challenge soon turns into something far more sinister.
I really loved this book. I loved the format, the internet amateur sleuths and the footnotes. It really grabbed me from the beginning and didn’t let me go.
Chilling, thought provoking and unputdownable!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Ashley Winstead's previous release was one of my favorite books of 2024 so I was very excited for her next publication. THEN I realized it was about armature sleuths and armchair detectives which made me even more excited. This was probably in my top 3 anticipated releases of 2025. I am sad to report I have very mixed feelings about this book. Let's break it down (also will talk about this in an upcoming video on my booktube channel).

The First Half- the first half was incredible and easily was going to be my top book of the year (I'm not being dramatic). We get introduced to a group of characters who participate in an online forum "solving," true crime cases. It's mixed media so we get to know them through their online chats and interactions. We also focus on a main character whose father has unexpectedly passed away and journey with her through the grief of his loss. Grief is a very strong topic in this story which I felt was done well. Not only are we solving crimes with our MC but she is in pursuit of understanding her father more. We get introduced to our main case, one in which is parallel to a real life, horrific, murder, the Idaho state case. You will find reviews that talk about their feelings on the ethics of this, I'm going to skip that. I do enjoy books that retell or fictionalize crimes that have occurred such as Bright Young Women. In the first half, I was excited that this book seemed to be taking a similar approach as Bright Young Women. In summary, I LOVED the first half. I enjoyed that this wasn't solely a thriller but also focused strongly on the characters and was moving at a slow enough pace that made the plot and character development of the story believable.

The Second Half- Now, as always, this will be a spoiler free review but I am going to discuss my feelings about the latter half of the book now. I HATED the second half. I felt that the care of the real life case was mishandled and fictionalized beyond what felt appropriate. I hate to compare books but, in my opinion, BYW did a great job of this. In, This Book Will Bury Me it started to feel too sensationalized and mishandled. Now, who gets to decide where this line is? None of us. We can all comment on it, express feelings, write about it, debate the ethics but none of us really get to decide where this line is drawn. I will still read the authors work and look forward to her next release, meanwhile I did not enjoy how things turned in this part of the book. We also get more information about her dad and I was fine with what was revealed, I just really struggled with the way it was written. I also didn't like how the second half became more about shock value and less about the characters and aspects I felt were more believable at the start of the book. In the authors last release, it was a slow burn, character driven story that had a wild ending but still felt in line with how the rest of the story went. I did not feel that way about this book.

I will still hold on to how the beginning made me feel, but the last half really ruined it for me.

Synopsis: Following the death of her father, Jane Sharp drops out of college and finds solace in an online true crime detective community. Jane’s new internet friends become entangled in the investigation of the murders of three college girls in a small Idaho town where nothing is as it seems. Now, one year later, Jane has decided to write a tell-all that will reveal the shocking secrets of the case.

Thoughts: I read this at the end of last year, and it made my top 24 of 2024 list and was easily my favorite thriller I read the entire year. Written in a tell-all memoir style, this book takes the reader on a journey through a slow burn, character driven introspective that is so full of shocking twists it will make your head spin. The writing is absolutely stunning, weaving an intricate mystery plot that had me hooked from the first page and kept me reading way past my bedtime. The complexity of the characters and their relationships, as well as the exploration of grief, adds an extra element of humanity not often found in the thriller genre. This is definitely one of the smartest and most entertaining thrillers I’ve read. Go preorder it ASAP!

Read this if you like:
💻 true crime
💻 murder mysteries
💻 armchair detectives
💻 Reddit
💻 memoir-style format

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of This Book Will Bury Me in exchange for an honest review. I requested this one by Winstead's name alone since Midnight is the Darkest Hour was one of my favorite reads last year.

Given that, I didn't realize this was based on true crime and involved a real-life case that is still pending. I can understand how some reviewers are upset that Winstead based the cases so closely on reality, but isn't that kinda what true crime is about? All in all, it's messed up, in my opinion, that anyone makes money off of others' misfortunes, but alas, since I'm not really into true crime, I don't know the details of the cases or how close this reflects them.

This Book Will Bury Me grabbed my attention initially, but I must admit that I was bored through the middle part. Many conversations were happening in a subReddit, including the sleuthing aspect of figuring out who the murderer is in a series of cases. This felt drawn out.

But... the twist and the ending saved this for me. I'm still thinking about it.

You could tell that writing this had to have provided some therapy for Winstead, who states in the beginning that she wrote this after losing her father. It felt like it could have been somewhat autobiographical, and I think it was intended to feel that way...? Who knows if true crime saved her? For that, I will not judge.

This Book Will Bury Me will be released to the general public on 3/25/25 if you want to check it out.