I loved the idea of five amateur sleuths on the hunt for a killer, it had that element that I was looking for and enjoyed about the genre. The characters felt like they were supposed to in this universe and thought the overall feel worked together with the genre. The characters had that element that I wanted and really felt for the characters in this story. Ashley Winstead has a great overall feel in this book, and I really had a good time reading this.

𝑰𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑𝒔, 𝑰 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚. 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝑰 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔: 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒕, 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒔.

I can think of no author who is as versatile as Ashley Winstead. None of her books follow a formula, and she can cross genres with ease, but one thing remains consistent, and that's her haunting, lyrical prose.

Jane Sharp is in college when she gets the panicked call from her mother--her father has had a heart attack. Jane doesn't make it home in time. She has no idea how to accept her father's death because it doesn't seem real. She also realizes how little she knows of the man who gave her life, loved her, and raised her. After disappointing herself with the grand eulogy she planned to write for her father, she finds an unexpected distraction in someone else's grief. She becomes obsessed with true crime and virtually meets a group of amateur detectives. With her father's ashes keeping her company, Jane finds friendship, a renewed purpose, and unexpected fame.

Then the crime of the century happens in Delphine, Idaho, with the shocking deaths of three college girls. The internet is buzzing with theories, and Jane and her group of misfit friends decide to travel to Delphine to get closer to the case. The author perfectly describes the mass hysteria, doxing, overeager talking heads thinly disguised as 'news' anchors, and the odd, giddy feeling of being part of something, even though it's heinous and violent. But the group finds some details that don't add up; worse, there is more wild speculation than there is actual evidence. Have they been lured here by someone far more intelligent than them all?

While this book may be marketed as a thriller, it's so much more than that. It's a stark portrayal of a grief like no other, and that's an adult child losing a parent. It's a story of how we immerse ourselves in things we can control while our world has stopped, yet the rest of the world keeps right on living. It's about wanting so desperately for our lives--and the lives of those we love--to mean something. I had tears running down my face many times while reading, but the author reminded me of this: 𝐈'𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.

So many thanks to Sourcebooks for this early copy. At the time this review was written, this book was expected to publish March 25, 2025.

I liked this book, but I did not like it as much as I loved Ashley Winstead's other books. I felt as though I could not get completely absorbed in the story because I kept comparing it to the actual Idaho murders.