Jennifer Lauer is the host of The Strange Chronicles, a podcast of stories in a similar vein as START SOMEWHERE. A novella introducing us to a cast of characters searching for a missing person with a connection to the infamous Area 51. Gray Cooper is working through her grief as best she can while she teams up with Joe Nebraska to find some unusual clues. This looks like the introduction to a series. It has generated my curiousity enough that I'll be sure to follow Jennifer Lauer to see what's next.

4/5 stars
Recommended if you like: magic, mystery, whodunnit, urban fantasy

This review has been posted to Goodreads as of 11/4.

This story had its charms. I liked seeing the investigative side of things and how Gray reacts to learning the supernatural/magical is real. There's definitely a budding story there regarding how much magic is actually real and how much is just made up, but I liked the tidbits we got in this first book.

The author was definitely trying to make Gray a noir-esque detective, complete with the alcohol problem, but it just doesn't work. As it is now, it kind of seems like Gray has an unhealthy relationship with vodka and I can't tell if she's always like that or if it's grief. She also seems to be following the well-trodden path of pushing away everyone else, since she's ignoring her grandmother's and best friend's phone calls. I don't like male detective stories for a reason, I don't want female-led ones that read the same way.

I will admit that I do think it's odd that Gray's father was a supernatural PI and she just...never believed his cases were real. Like, did he just not mention the magical aspects to them and she thought his clients were just imaginative? Did he only ever keep his magical books and objects at the office? I'm dying to know what that dynamic was, because Gray's mother definitely knew and admitted the two of them kept it from Gray.

The actual plot for this book was a little all over the place. It's pitched as Gray wanting to get to the bottom of the fire that killed her mother (and it is), but along the way she also stumbles into searching for someone's missing (alien abducted?) grandfather and trying to figure out why some mysterious person bought her father's office out from under her nose at auction (and btw, that is so not how auctioning off property to pay debt goes. Like at all.). In all of this, Gray's initial investigation into her mom's death is put by the wayside. As a matter of fact, she doesn't even end up looking into it! The insurance guy does!

I did like the alien investigation and it was interesting to try and figure out why this random guy bought her dad's office out of the blue, but it was too much for what this book was and none of it had a super satisfying end. Frankly, Gray is too busy worrying about other stuff that she never gets to to really investigate her client's grandfather's disappearance. There's clearly some weird shit going on with that family, but Gray doesn't have the time or the energy to go into it, and so threads are just kind of left dangling.

Likewise, the 'office buyer' offers a mysterious and sinister plotline, but it's competing with a potential alien abduction that Gray is only kind of investigating. While I'm sure the office thing is setting up for a longer plot that bridges books, there was more depth to it than the missing persons case and I wanted to know more about it than what we got.

In terms of Gray's mom's death...that whole setup is just weird. The death itself is fine, but the whole thing with the insurance agent that Gray keeps yelling at and then asking for help and then flirting with. Just odd. And then they're 'partners in crime'? There was not enough character development for any of this to be occurring. Also, I've been to Salem, MA. It's not so small a town that there's not more than one insurance company in town, why does everyone seem to use this one guy?

Overall this was a fun, short book. It's a good read if you're looking for something quick that doesn't take itself too seriously and doesn't have too complex a plot.

The book was a Quick read and it was pretty enjoable. But also i felt the whole time like i was missing something. Also i just found the solution to her first case was just so fast done. I was a bit sad that there was not more investigating. This book could have been longer and everything could have been a bit more flashed out. I did like the main character though.

I love a good detective novel, and this one did not disappoint. The book also reminded me of The X Files, which is a huge plus. I can't wait for the rest of the series. I also adore Gray and Joe's friendship. It's also a nice change of pace from the main character being a police detective to being a private investigator.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc.

I really wanted to love this book because I am a huge fan of cozy mysteries. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much that I found cozy in this book and the mystery was less a mystery and more a series of events that happened to the main character and then were solved without any of her input.

I didn’t really connect with the characters, they were all a little one dimensional and repetitive. The big mystery of the main characters father’s disappearance and her mother’s death all being tied up with some kind of paranormal conspiracy could have been really interesting but ultimately left me more confused than intrigued.

Knowing now that they have an audio drama podcast, this book really reads like the author wrote a podcast script and then tried to fill in the book parts. Some portions I could see how it would sound good if you were listening to what was happening but did not translate well to reading what was happening.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc.
The Strange Chronicles: Start Somewhere takes on a journey with Detective Gray Cooper. On this journey, we meet the paranormal, mystery, and a potential romance. Gray decides to follow in her father's footsteps as P.I Detective after the sudden death of her mother. Her first case is to investigate a missing grandfather who could have been abducted by aliens. All while dealing with her new romantic feelings for Insurance investigator Joe Nebraska. This story has the potential to be a fascinating story. Where this story falls flat for me as a reader is the plot. And the length of the story may be the cause. We don't get to see Cooper's skills as a detective she finds a few clues and boom mystery is solved. The length of the story is so short everything is compacted and rushed. Also, more background into Cooper's life and other characters would have made me care about them more. Felt something was missing from the character story as if I was reading a long prologue.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the arc!

This novella starts out an interesting story that has potential.

Gray Cooper is struggling to establish herself as a PI, while also working through the recent death of her mother. But when her deceased mother starts to haunt her, and her first case leads her down a rabbit trail into the supernatural, she’s going to have to decide exactly what kind of detective she wants to be.

As a reader who hasn’t heard the podcast, I didn’t feel as strong of a connection with the characters as I’m sure I would have otherwise; but the story premise is fun, and I’m sure future installations will continue building out the characters. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy quick mysteries with a supernatural twist.

I really enjoyed reading this opening chapter in the Strange Chronicles series, it had that feel that I was looking for and was hooked from the first page. The characters had that feel that I wanted from a mystery and enjoyed the cozy paranormal element to it. It left me excited to read more in this series and from Jennifer Lauer.

The story was really interesting, the way we start to unravel plot and characters simultaneously is very refreshing. Joe is a charming MMC and Grey has witty responses and deals as well as you could hope with grief and discovering the supernatural exists; Zeke as an antagonist is intriguing and I want to see what’s next from the author.
With that said, the book finished too soon for my liking. I wanted more, needed more. The magic system was never fully explained, we learn she is and/or has a legacy in her blood but never explore what it is and its purpose. The chemistry with Joe is great but doesn’t go anywhere, and I got sick of Grey whining about everything and postponing every hard choice. Even contemplating grief, it felt too childish.

This was a fun little story but it felt really flat to me. I couldn't connect with the characters and the mysteries didn't pull me in as much as I would have liked them to.

Review: Short novel, more novella in approach to hatch a series.

Dumby has to juggle personal issues with professional and it is fairly compressed due to the novellas length. This is a setup for a paranormal series that I will not be following. The writing is pretty good but the characters are one dimensional even with dummies flouncing and flustered personna.

Besides being hotter than a popcorn fart, she has hunky half-naked men lurking around that get her flushed with desire and the caveat "I am not looking for a relationship" over and over. Pass.

I received this ARC for an honest review.