Now THIS was a thriller!! This book was interesting and kept me fully engaged the WHOLE. TIME. Curve ball after curve ball, then when the truth finally comes out, everything started to fall into place. I appreciated that the author really put in the work and laid all the bread crumb clues throughout the book instead of hastily writing a sloppy ending. This book was truly phenomenal.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC! I’m really unsure how to feel about this one. I honestly loved the book and the true crime/amateur sleuth aspect of it, but I was really not a fan of the obvious inspiration the murders in this book took from the 2022 Idaho murders. It feels too soon and a little disrespectful. Otherwise this book captivated me from page one. If you like true crime, you’ll probably enjoy this book.

This book tells the story of Jane Sharp, a UCF college student whose dad dies suddenly. She returns back home and becomes interested in true crime, going as far as joining sleuthing sites. This leads to new friendships, found family, and a lot of true crime drama, as well as being head first in a homicide investigation at a college in Idaho, where 3 girls are murdered. (See the similarities?)

I give this a 5/5 Star for story, but 3/5 for morals, with a 4/5 in total.

I love Ashley’s writing and am so disappointed that I can’t give this book the 4-star review I otherwise would. Unfortunately, I feel copying the details of the Idaho college murders so closely is distasteful at best and exploitative at worst. I fully understand being inspired by current events, particularly in the context of Ashley’s letter in the beginning of the book detailing her experience with the case in light of her dad’s death. However, it would’ve been so easy to change more details of the case or leave certain things out (visiting a food truck, seriously?? Wasn’t even relevant to the story). Instead, the victims are easily identifiable as their real-life counterparts - often in ways that feel so disrespectful to their memories & loved ones. Using the surviving roommates story and then having the main character suspect her as some people did in real life was especially gross - it only serves to reignite discourse around the real survivor and cast more suspicion on her. Frankly, it’s lazy writing, and given the themes of the book around the ethical complications of true crime, really lacking self awareness.

It feels deeply unethical to profit off this book and I cannot recommend it to others for that reason. I hope you’ll consider changing elements of the story prior to final publication.

This Book Will Bury Me by Ashley Winstead
Publishing date - 03/25/25
Rating (5/5) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much to Sourcebooks Landmark, Ashley Winstead, and Netgalley for my ecopy of this book! This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2025.

In ‘This Book Will Bury Me”, due to be published in March 2025 by Ashley Winstead, Janeway Sharp is a college student who just lost her father to a heart attack. In the midst of her grief, Jane stumbles upon a message board frequented by amateur sleuths attempting to solve real-life crimes.

I loved it! Couldn’t put it down. Hooked from page 1. I find Ashley Winstead’s books to always be page turners and this one was no different. Highly recommend it when it releases March 25th.

Swipe to see some of my other reviews of Ashley Winstead’s books.

The plot explodes @85% in … you just need to hang in until then!

With thanks to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for this e-ARC.

First 5 star read of the year! I was hooked instantly, may it be my own person interest in true crime, Winstead’s writing, or some combination (most likely). My go to genre is always mystery/thriller/murder and add a great cast of characters and facts from a real true crime case and I’m sold. Because I read some much of the genre, 8 out of 10 I am able to guess the endings of books. Though I will admit I was half right, I still thoroughly enjoyed and was still shocked at all the twists and turns I did NOT expect! I love that knowing the facts of the Idaho murders case in real life was almost a negative in this book, it led you to the wrong conclusion which will be a gut punch to readers. I truly cannot say enough positives about this book and hope this half mystery/thriller and half true crime retelling is a genre that will pick up lots of steam in the coming years.

I really liked her last book but, this one made me uncomfortable. If you are going to reference a very specific crime…. Refer to them by their name. This is just identical to the Idaho murders, with the names changed. Which honestly feels like a slap in the face to the victims.

If you want to write about a true - true crime, do it. This just didn’t hit the spot and feels wrong to profit off of the actions that occurred. It glorifies the murderer and doesn’t pay respect to the victims.

This isn’t it.

3.5 stars
I had mixed feelings about this book, true crime isn’t typical genre preference for me, so the fact that it was so closely tied to the Idaho college murders did not set well with me. It was also fairly predictable. I enjoyed the sleuthing team and the characters that we got to know throughout the novel. I struggled at times when she was dealing with the loss of her dad, I tried to push it off as some complex grief, but it was confusing at times and didn’t seem to add much to the story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark who provided me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review

This Book Will Bury Me is about a group of web crime sleuths who get involved in a murder case they are trying to solve.
The main character is Jane, a 24 year old college student who has had some recent personal tragedy. As a way to cope, she gets sucked into the world of true crime sleuthing on the internet. She quickly feels like the others are a family to her and they become very close.
I thought the first half of the book was a little bit slow. It was mainly all about online conversations and not much action. However, in the second half it picked up so fast that it redeemed the first half. The main character was great and I could see her having a series. I definitely recommend this book to anybody who likes podcasts, true crime, and thrillers.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This Book Will Bury Me was so entertaining. I did not want to put this book down. We follow the story of Jane who has recently lost her father. She tries to find a way to distract herself from her grief and turns to internet sleuthing. She ends up finding her way into a close knit group of online detectives when a three college girls are murdered in Delphine, Idaho. Jane and her new friends are determined to be the ones to solve this case, but things just keep going wrong. This book was unputdownable! I know what she read all of Ashley Winstead's backlog and this book will be finding a home in my little personal library.

I am appalled this book was written and published to be frank. Almost every detail is copied from a true crime case that hasn’t even received its verdict yet. Making money off of an actual horror story is disgusting.

Firstly, thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I wish that I had read some of the reviews prior to starting this book. While I couldn't put this book down for the first 50%, I love a book with something to say and I felt like this was really going to. When the 'investigation' in the second half began being unpicked I realised the author had used a very real true crime case and made it fictional. The morals behind this to me are icky. Whilst authors definitely draw inspiration from real life events I would like to think there is a certain respect for families when profiting off a fictional version of a real life case that is actually still being prosecuted.

I had such high hopes for this one. While I did find the majority of it to be interesting and exciting, I predicted a certain group member’s involvement on page 50, and spent the rest of the time watching my prediction come to pass. True crime is ubiquitous, and this book presents an interesting take on the insidious nature of obsession. That being said, I would’ve appreciated higher stakes and a more narrow focus. Three out of five.

I didn’t get very far into this book before I realized that the style it’s written in is just too confusing and jarring to me as a reader. There are references to a book that shall not be named. There are references to a case an it leaves me feeling lost as to these footnotes. Just wasn’t the style of writing I enjoyed and so I’m man to finish and give a full review. However, from what I can tell by other reviews, this is based on a recent case of college students murdered in Idaho. Seems in poor taste to create a fictional version of a true crime that hasn’t even gone to trial yet. The ick factor is high.

Not a fan of this book for several reasons. Let's start with the obvious: this "work of fiction" is centered around the very real 2022 stabbings of four University of Idaho students and subsequent mismanagement of information and interference by internet sleuths. The author couldn't even change the state. How tasteless to monetize a horrifying, violent tragedy for the consumption and entertainment of the masses. But I guess that's true crime? I do not find this clever, witty, edgy, or whatever the author was going for here.

This book reads like a bad Netflix movie. There's barely any narrative and you spend most of the time reading the banter on the true crime message board. The narrative reads like a YA novel and lacks any character depth. And why are footnotes necessary? They cheapen the already cringe worthy story.

I liked Midnight is the Darkest Hour. I DNFed In My Dreams I Hold a Knife. I DNFed this one at 30% when I wanted to do so much sooner and skimmed through the rest to see if anything got better. It didn't. I wonder if the 5 star reviewers and I read the same book, but I suppose there are very different forms of entertainment for very different people. This one made me feel for the real victims and their families, and disgust for the author, publisher, and anyone else who finds this entertainment. I do not recommend.

Read further than I would usually because it was an ARC from NetGalley. I’ve liked other books from this author. This one just missed the mark on characters, writing, plot, and a storyline copied from the headlines.

Ok. This books seems to be surrounded by a bit of controversy.
Yes, it is based on the Idaho murders in 2022.
Does it seem soon? I suppose.
Did Winstead do a stellar job at sharing the story, bringing it down to earth and humanizing it? Yes.
She brilliantly wrote characters people could connect to and then connected them to this tragic event we all watched from our homes.
Somehow she made it more then a new story, and more about the victims and their families.
I was completely enthralled by the book. It was so different from the standard thriller out there right now, which I always find so refreshing.
Winstead has a strong literary voice, and I am so impressed by the way she can develop characters so well. I feel like it’s rare to have deep character development in a thriller.
I enjoyed this read. I have some of her backlist to delve into, and I can’t wait.
Thank you netgalley for the ARC.

This was my first Ashley Winstead read, but I can say with certainty that it won't be my last. This Book Will Bury Me was a fast-paced read that I looked forward to diving into every day.
After the loss of her father, Janeway Sharp is lost in her grief. She channels that grief into an online True Crime community where she meets 4 other like-minded individuals. Together they research crime scenes and murders, working with the police by turning in tips. What starts as a shared obsession quickly spirals into something dangerous and hits closer to home than they realize.
Ashley Winstead delivers a dark, twisty thriller that explores the blurry line between justice and obsession. It’s perfect for anyone who loves unsolved mysteries, internet drama, and a plot that keeps you guessing until the last page.
Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark | Sourcebooks Landmark for allowing me to read this spectacular ARC. Look for it when it comes out on March 25, 2025 because EVERYONE is going to be talking about it!

I despise true crime because of the way that it sensationalizes tragic events and makes them into entertainment. What I hate even more than that is a book that takes a true crime case and changes just enough of it to be able to market it as fiction to make a profit off of other people’s trauma. This book is almost an exact replica of the Moscow Murders from 2022, a case so recent that the person arrested for it hasn’t even gone to trial yet.

I know this is going to be a popular book and people are gonna be hyping it up but just think about the real life families that are still living through a nightmare.

This is an author I have read from before and really enjoyed books from but I can’t support something like this.

Holy Carp!!! That his book had a grip on me from page one and wouldn’t let go until I put it down. I missed meetings and phone calls and possibly even a date but this book WOW. If I could use emojis it would be the fear one and then the mind blown one and then the edge of my seat one. I didn’t have a clue where this would end and I was surprised at every twist and turn.