I'm very conflicted with how to review this novel.

I think Ashley Winstead did a great job with her writing and I was very engaged. I enjoyed the quick chapters and enjoyed the online chat component that took place between the main characters.

Before starting this book, I was not up to date on the 2022 University of Idaho Murders. I did read the note from the author at the beginning to have caution when reading if sensitive to these cases but not really knowing any information about the cases, I didn't think it would be a problem. While reading, I did become more curious and started looking into the news reports on the murders and was absolutely appalled that the author's story and details were almost identical to the case. Maybe I should have been prepared for this, but this is a fictional book based on a very true story and that doesn't sit well with me. I feel that it is disrespectful to the victim's family, friends and other survivors to base a fictional novel on a very real case, especially when justice has not been served.

Thank you NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for the opportunity to read this e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Rounding down to four stars as I am still experiencing conflicting feelings over this book. On one hand, the story is immersive and draws you in. Oh the other hand, I have mixed feelings over the Idaho murders parallels. I would still recommend this book to others as I had a hard time putting it down and overall enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

A great concept and one I was hoping would be a 5 star, it was just a little too graphic for my loving!

Publishing March 25

TW: This is heavily based on the real life University of Idaho murders.

When Jane's father dies unexpectedly, she immerses herself in an online community of real crime sleuths. Because of her proximity to a case they're "working", Jane ingratiates herself to a group of supersleuths and is asked to join them in their investigation into murders at an Idaho college.

This small group becomes Jane's support system as she grieves the loss of her father.

This started off with excellent pacing and intriguing twists. The middle got a bit slower and less interesting. The ending was not a surprise. Overall, I can understand Jane wanting to distance herself from her loss by becoming overwhelmed instead with the group online, but the idea that her dad's death had any reason for investigation was nonsensical.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Ashley Winstead never misses. I was on the edge of my seat, turning pages, desperate to know how the entire story would fit together. I definitely didn't see the twists coming. I will say the details about Jane's father were a little much at times. Everyone grieves differently, but I just didn't like the emphasis on how Jane's obsession with crimes stemmed from the death of her father. It just didn't all seem relevant enough to me, and I felt like diving so deeply into his past and his own online community -- Star Trek fan fiction -- was just unnecessary.

I'm also seeing early reviews comparing the crimes in the novel to a real-life true crime story. That makes me feel a little icky, but I need to look more into that and hear Ashley Winstead's take on it after publication.

Overall, I am rating it based on the thrill of the enjoyment of reading it and based on Winstead's writing, which is always top tier.

This Book Will Bury You is an ode to true crime and the community it creates. I really enjoyed the characters and the found family aspect. As someone who lost her father very young Jane’s grief felt so real and raw. But then we got to the crime of the story and my feelings began to change. Something felt so off about this book and I couldn’t really put my finger on it till I realized how similar the case was to an actual true crime story. I understand trying to get your point across by adding aspects of true crime to the story but using an entire case feels wrong. I almost wish the author would have just written a true crime book about the case if she was so compelled by it. This book is on the edge of a very dangerous line between fiction and nonfiction. I anticipate this book getting a lot of back lash from the community as well as a lot of people sticking up for it. Maybe that was the author’s intention all along. I’m going to choose not to rate this book because it just doesn’t sit right with me.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me an arc in exchange for my honest review.

After her father’s death, Jane leaves college and comes home. Trying to put the pieces of her father’s death and her new reality together, she stumbles onto a true crime forum where she makes some new friends. Soon her and her newly made friends are solving murders. When 3 college girls are murdered in their home in Idaho, the group is part of the investigation and maybe the next victims.

My first 5 star read of 2025! This book was absolutely amazing! If you love true crime you will enjoy this book. From the very first page to the very last, I devoured every word. I know others may disagree but I enjoyed the real life tie in of the Idaho murders. Ashley wrote this after losing her own father which really touched me as I have experienced the same emotions after losing my own. This made me feel for both Jane in the book and Ashley the author.

3.25
The beginning is really touching, but as you explore the true crime aspects further ,it becomes really interesting .Even when parts became predictable, it was still entertaining and engaging. I also loved the found family aspect of the story. I do feel that the book was a little long, but it was still enjoyable.

I want to start off by saying that Ashley Winstead will always be an auto read author for me. I had the privilege of meeting her on a previous book tour and she is lovely.

I am having a hard time with this because I loved the story. I loved the group of misfit true crime sleuths, I loved the sneakiness of Reddit, I was obsessed with that holy moly twist and the end. If the murders had been a different focus, this would’ve been a slam dunk for me.

However, the direct similarities between this story and an open murder investigation is too great to ignore. There were even small moments of the current crime that were a direct copy in the story. I don’t know how that’s possible, to write a fictional version of a very active murder case, but I felt like it was wrong. What if a victim’s family member or friend picks up this story? I can’t imagine the hurt of seeing something sensationalized for entertainment when it is your life. That is why I struggled with it, despite there being so much to love.

This was an engaging foray into true crime with an underlying story of grief. I liked this but I didn’t love it. It took me a while to read this one mostly because I don’t have much brain power to eyeball read these days - not because of the quality of the book. I was entertained throughout! Maybe not obsessed but entertained. There are twists but none of them too shocking, but I did quite enjoy the sleuthing and the mystery and the found family of it all!

Jane encounters tragedy when her father passes away unexpectedly. During this time, she finds solace with an online group of true crime sleuths who form a tight bond from afar. The crime they find themselves wanting to solve has captivated the nation- the Delphine murders.
Written from the perspective of Jane, it is easy to see how one can get immersed in seeking out the criminal yet miss clues that are glaringly evident. In the case of true crime investigation, at what point is it okay to cross the ethical line? Or is it?
Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the advance copy. All opinions are my own.

If Ashley Winstead has no fans, I'm dead. This book was insanely good. I was so angry when I had to put it down to attend to other things (aka work). I appreciated the author's note at the beginning.. I think if that wasn't included, there would be a lot of controversy surrounding this book once released. I did feel a bit bad enjoying this as much as I did, because the plot feels so "ripped from the headlines". But I enjoyed despite that!

This is a very suspenseful book that was well written. Even when parts became predictable, it was still entertaining and engaging. I also loved the found family aspect of the story. I do feel that the book was a little long, but it was still fun and enjoyable.

Thank you so much to Ashley Winstead and Sourcebooks Landmark for my copy of this book. It was about Jane, a woman who unexpectedly loses her father, which leads her into an obsession with true crime. She finds community with a group of online sleuths who teach her how to hunt killers and become her friends. Then the news of three college girls shakes the online forum and everyone is racing to solve the crime.

Jane and her friends start to realize that the clues don't add up and the police aren’t doing their job. The media is making everything worse and every answer leads to more questions. They start to feel like they may be walking into a trap, and the killer may see them coming, and even be setting a trap.

Thoughts: This was a love letter to the true crime community and the found family it creates. I loved the idea of building a community around a passion, like I have done with books. I thought the group was perfectly captured and the way the forum brought them together was beautifully written. The way we are taught not to trust strangers as children, and then the dichotomy of how that is how many of us meet our closest friends is striking and interesting to see in print.

I was bummed that I figured out most of the ending from about 60% of the way in, but there were a few loose ends that I couldn’t see coming. I liked the way that Jane’s story ended, and how she balanced her grief with throwing herself into true crime. This read much more like a true crime book than a thriller, and I thought there were too many chapters that ended leading to something that was never really resolved. This book is slower than Winstead’s others, but still has her amazing writing that immerses you in the characters and their lives. 4- stars

This Book Will Bury Me by Ashley Winstead is a fictional true crime tell-all style narrative of an amateur sleuth pulled into a high-profile murder investigation, all while making peace with the death of her father from a sudden heart attack.

Although this is a work of fiction, the author draws on real-life cases and it really gives the story a believable feel. I found myself often wondering throughout the book which elements were “real” from the actual cases and which were fictional. The author said she included elements from the cases of the University of Idaho, Gabby Petition, Golden State Killer, and Abraham Shakespeare cases.

Overall, this one definitely kept me in suspense and I enjoyed it. I’ve gravitated from reading mostly thrillers to now reading mostly romance. So when I do read a thriller now, I feel extra gullible and never see the twists coming. This book was no exception and took turns I wasn’t expecting all the way through the end.

3.75
I went into this blind so I didn't know what the book was about, what its premise was, nothing. And up until the I want to say maybe 30% to 40% mark I was kinda bored and considered dnfing it since I was so confused and felt like it dragged on. I decided to continue and I am glad I did because the ending really paid off. it got so engaging, suspenseful, thrilling and I was waiting to see what happened next.

Read this if you love:
-True crime
-Book in a book trope
-Online sleuthing
-Twists

The main characters are well-developed and well-thought-out since I often find it hard to remember multiple characters or distinguish characters, but here I had no problem.

Thank you Sourcebooks and the author for the arc.

I want to be buried with this book.

I am well and truly obsessed. The masterful writing and plot mapping made this story so beyond brilliant I am salivating.

Exploring the relationship between true crime investigators and official law enforcement crime investigation is fascinating, but this book takes it to the next level. Told in hindsight by the main character, we see a unique perspective on the story. We know tragedy occurred, and she hints at what is to come periodically through the narration, but the way the details come together and are revealed is so incredible, I was jaw dropped and mind blown.

Yes, I did solve the case before the characters did, and yes I am very proud of that. This book made me feel ALIVE as I was following the investigation and trying to put myself into the story, much like I would with a crime show on tv.

Ashley Winstead never misses and this just another example of her genius at work.

This is a contemporary, twisty, thoroughly modern thriller with plenty of meta references to true crime podcasts, subreddits and forums. Perfect for fans of Olivia Muenter and Alice Feeney. The inclusion of chat threads and messages was engaging and the main character’s first -person POV was just unreliable enough. I didn’t really get the illusions and footnotes to Natalie’s book that plagued the author, but the footnotes overall were different and offbeat. The unfolding of Citizen’s involvement with the cases was just the right amount of believable and surprising.

I’m giving this book about a 2.5 star rating, but it was hard for me to come to a conclusion.

While this is simply my opinion, this story was way too close to a recent case which has yet to be solved. I felt that fictionalizing the Idaho murders which have not yet gone to trial, not only is in poor taste, but it also discredits what is currently happening with the true case.

I continued reading this story because I wanted to see it through and see if my theory was correct (shocker: it was) but was overall disappointed in the author’s choice to model the story around something so real and fresh.

I love this author and hope her next book is something I’ll enjoy more. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I had a pleasant reading experience with this book. Although I found some parts to be a bit unrealistic, it didn’t deter me from turning the pages.

I didn’t fully understand the transition from the main character being a “dropout college student whose father had just died” to becoming an “online crime sleuth.” Perhaps we were meant to accept that as it was?

While I also appreciated the characters being referred to by their “online” nicknames, I found the back-and-forth between using that and their real names towards the end of the book confusing. By that point, I was uncertain who was who.

I enjoyed the plot that spanned a significant amount of time between multiple sets of murders, but some of the aforementioned aspects prevented it from becoming a five-star read for me.