*She Doesn’t Have a Clue* by Jenny Elder Moke is a mystery that follows an author attending the wedding of a family friend, only to find herself tangled up in solving a murder that shocks the celebration. The investigation unfolds from two perspectives: the author’s, as she stumbles her way through amateur sleuthing, and a more seasoned investigator (a fictional character of the author's creation), whose involvement offers a contrasting lens. With secrets unraveling and tensions rising, the story explores how ordinary people react when thrust into extraordinary circumstances.

While the setup is intriguing, the execution left me underwhelmed. The main character was likable at times, but her bumbling efforts often felt more frustrating than endearing. The alternating perspectives between her and the investigator could have added depth, but in the audiobook version, these shifts were confusing and hard to follow. The plot itself relied heavily on clichés and predictable tropes, which made the story feel less engaging than it could have been. The pacing also dragged in places, particularly in the middle, where the momentum faltered.

What I appreciated were the occasional flashes of humor and some clever dialogue, which brought a bit of charm to an otherwise lackluster read. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to love, as the story never truly found its footing. For a mystery, the twists felt uninspired, and the conclusion was unsatisfying. The book seems geared toward fans of lighthearted mysteries, but it lacks the originality or depth to stand out in the genre.

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend *She Doesn’t Have a Clue*, except to readers looking for an undemanding, casual mystery read—perhaps in print rather than audio, where the narration might be easier to follow. For me, it was a middling experience that I’d rate 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Okay wait I really liked this!! It was a slightly campy blend of cozy mystery and romance. I’d definitely read more from the author and I hope this is the beginning of a series! And the hero kinda gave himbo???

Not to sound elitist but sometimes romances in cozy mysteries can feel surface level or cheesy…but the one here felt like it was written by someone who understands the romance genre. There was a legit sex scene too, and it was hot!

The narrator was great and in my opinion really nailed the Aussie accent?? But also I’m very Minnesotan so who’s to say.


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 🌶️🌶️/5

I received a free audiobook from Macmillan Audio. All opinions are honest and my own.

She Doesn’t Have a Clue is a well written and witty cozy mystery by Jenny Elder Moke. Author Kate Valentine has written a series of mysteries featuring her alter ego Loretta Starling. With her next in the series, however, she is at a bit of a standstill with deadlines looming. There is a bright spot for Kate though as she has received a personalized hand written invitation from Rebecca Hempstead to attend the wedding of her niece Kennedy to Spencer Leaman, Kate’s editor and former boyfriend. The wedding is to be held on the mysterious Hempstead Island north of Seattle.

Upon arrival, Kate learns that she has a plus one, adventurer Jake Hawkins, even though the two are barely speaking after their collaboration on his adventure books. And even though one of Kate’s main characters, Blake, is clearly pattered after Jake, she vehemently denies it. When they are assigned to a room in the unusual mansion’s attic sporting a single bed it is just the beginning of the obstacles they will need to overcome.

When there is an attempt on the bride’s life it is Kate that finds her in the wine cellar, but it is Jake whose life support training changes things. In fact, even when Kate thinks she is on her own, Jake, like fictional Blake, has her covered.

This is such a fun mystery with no short supply of suspects, in a decayed and spooky setting, and with more twists and turns than a mountain road. This was the first book by this author that I have read but it will not be the last! I very much enjoyed this book and do recommend it!

(ALC provided by NetGalley) Such a fun, cute, cozy mystery! It kept me on my toes and I really had no idea who the murderer was until the end. Just the right amount of spice, too👌🏼 The main characters were likable and weren’t annoying which is always a positive. The narration was excellent as always. Highly recommend

I was going to say this is cute, and it is, but there is also sex and violence. I love the drama and the mysteries. I love the romance! Kate was so much fun. The narration is perfect. Yes definitely listen to this one.

For me, this title was really a 3. But I'm not a romance reader, so I bumped this up to a 4 because I think romance readers would enjoy it a lot more than I did. It's pitched as half mystery, half romance, and I thought I'd be okay with that since it was half mystery. For me, it feels more like 3/4 romance and 1/4 mystery.

Still. All that said, the writing is clever and funny, and there are some laugh out loud scenes. The mystery part is executed pretty well--I just wanted more of that and less of the romance. Some of the plot problems you can see coming from a mile away, but there are plenty of surprises too.

If you're a fan of mysteries AND of romance, you'll probably enjoy it!

Review copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

She Doesn’t Have A Clue: 🏝️🔎🧩⁣
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Thank you @minotaur_books and @macmillan.audio #MacAudio2025 for my gifted copies. ⁣
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This one was a miss for me, but I do know a lot of people have enjoyed this! I did guess correctly the culprit in the first chapter, and it just was a long bit to get there. I do feel like the book had a lot of unnecessary filler on descriptions. It was a lot of talking about what people were wearing instead of what in the world was going on. ⁣
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I thought once we got into the story the banter was in, but Kate girl, you’re a mess. Not like a fun messy but just.. a mess. I liked that we had snark and a cozy with a dollop of romance to even it out. Jake sounded like a dream. I liked Loretta’s passages (she’s Kate’s character in her books) and would have loved to have read that series. It did get a bit confusing in between reality and the passages as to which was which. ⁣
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Audio was great. Sarah Mollo-Christensen really carried the audiobook. I think this would have been a DNF without audio.

She Doesn’t Have a Clue is a fun, quirky mystery with the perfect blend of suspense and romance. Set against the backdrop of a luxurious wedding on a private island, the story pulls you in with its intriguing premise: bestselling author Kate Valentine is forced to attend her ex-fiancé's wedding, only to find herself stumbling into a real-life murder mystery that mirrors her own book’s plot.

Kate is a great protagonist—relatable, witty, and a little bit overwhelmed by the situation she finds herself in. The addition of her ex, Jake, adds some sizzling tension, and their past gives the romance a nice layer of complexity. The supporting characters are colorful and provide plenty of potential suspects, making the mystery aspect fun and unpredictable.

While the plot is a bit predictable in places, the banter between Kate and Jake, combined with the mystery unraveling in real-time, keeps things fresh. There’s just enough humor, suspense, and heart to keep you turning the pages, and the setting makes it feel like a cozy, high-stakes adventure. If you love a good whodunit with a splash of romance and a touch of humor, She Doesn’t Have a Clue is a delightful read.

<b>One Line Review:</b> Who doesn’t enjoy attending your ex’s wedding, especially when everything goes wrong, and you’re suddenly being looked at as a suspect in a murder…

<b>Synopsis:</b> When best-selling mystery author Kate Valentine boards the boat to a private island that is hosting her ex-fiancée’s wedding, the last person she expected to see was Jake. Jake, the guy she worked with and wanted so much more with, but never fully let herself follow that path. All that is pushed to the wayside though, as she quickly begins to realize that someone is trying to recreate the happenings in her whodunnit novels. When the wine seems to have poisoned someone, all eyes are turned to Kate and other authors in attendance that seemed to have been jilted by the bride and grooms’ business decisions.

<b>My Thoughts:</b> Gimme gimme gimme all the spooky mansions, wedding mishaps, family drama, and a little bit of spice/forced proximity with the one who’s timing never seemed quite right… This quick-witted, clever genre mashup had me wondering what could possibly be coming next and I loved every second of it.

<i><b> "Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for providing this riveting page-turner in exchange for my honest thoughts."</b></i>

This book has the potential to be an engaging romantic comedy, particularly with its destination wedding theme. I found the audio version somewhat challenging to follow due to the story-within-a-story structure; however, it ultimately presented a compelling storyline.

This was such a fun murder-mystery/romance book—my favorite combination!

Beyond all reason, best-selling mystery author Kate decides to attend her ex-fiance’s wedding on a remote private island in the PNW. Still, she has no idea she’s in for much more than wedding awkwardness. Nor does she have a clue that the one who got away, Jake, was listed as her plus-one. Weirdness and hilarity ensue, and it’s all fun, games, and hostility until murder makes things too real. With a never-ending list of suspects (and many fingers pointing at Kate), Kate finds herself smack in the middle of one of her books, only now it’s real life.

There’s much to love about this book! The cast of characters/list of suspects really makes it fabulous—disgruntled family members who’ve been cut out of the will, angry writers who feel cheated, personal grudges…laugh out loud moments abound. We really get to know all these people by the end, though there are plenty of surprises. Kate and Jake’s chemistry was fantastic and the spicy moments were hot, and often at odd times (which makes it actually more fun for me).

Kate could be a little annoying, and her decisions sometimes cringey, where I found myself yelling, “Nooooo, seriously, what are you doing???” But I think that’s often what makes a murder mystery great. Gotta yell at the main characters, right? Overall, I loved this book and had so much fun with it.

The audio version was terrific too. Sarah Mollo-Christensen did a fantastic job with the voices and inflection.

Fun, Quirky, Well-Paced Cozy Mystery Romance. The cast of characters was vibrant. Get cozy and enjoy this on a stormy night, just as our heroine does!

Pub Day Review✨

Happy pub day @jennyeldermoke ! 🎉

A destination wedding on a private island off Seattle sounds like bliss, doesn’t it? But it turns out to be nightmare for author, Kate Valentine. Going into the wedding, Kate knew things would be ‘interesting’ as the groom is her ex-fiancé who is also her editor. There is nothing like mixing business with pleasure. Making things even more ‘interesting’ is Jake Hawkins, the one who got away and is her biggest regret. Making things worse is that she and Jake must share a room. Then Kate finds a dead body........

Part mystery, part romance, and part trapped room, She Doesn’t Have a Clue was a cozy book/whodunit.
Kate writes mystery novels and uses her skills to attempt to solve the mystery in this book.

This one was fun! I loved the quirky bunch of characters and the mix of mystery and romcom. If you like the Finlay Donovan series this book would be a hit for you too!

Thank you @stmartinspress and @macmillan.audio for my advanced copies!

She Doesn’t Have A Clue is out today!

Mystery writer, Kate, is invited to her ex-finance/boss's wedding. Along the way she discovers the one that got away, Jake, was a last-minute invite and the bride put them in the same bedroom. This is all on a remote rich people's island, of course. Kate channels her inner Loretta, the character in her novels that solves murders, to discover who is trying to frame her into sabotaging her ex's wedding and making it look like scenes from her books.
This story is fun, mostly wholesome, with a bit of spice (two mildly spicy scenes). I can almost describe this as a cozy mystery with some fake dating; everyone's a suspect, and what the heck is happening here at the moment? Kate has minimal self-confidence and she has to channel her character to break herself out of her shell. So much miscommunication and finger-pointing and squabbles. It is like I'm watching reality TV with a Hallmark movie twist. Overall, it was fun, the "Bad Guy" seemed to come out of left field, but I should have guessed it, and I loved the romance for the short amount of time our couple was romancing the chemistry was written well and the scenes were also great. It was perfectly awkward and fun.
The narration in this book was on point. The narrator did fantastic with the different accents and bringing each character's personality to the forefront.

Calling all Jessica Fletcher fans this one is for you!

A mystery writer struggling with her next book decides to attend her ex-fiance's wedding on a private island in the PNW and finds on the boat to the island that her ex-business partner/collaborator/friend/something is her plus-one. Then they find a dead body, or maybe not? All the while being suspects and causing general shenanigans? Oh, and there might be feelings, like love feelings?

Why yes, this does sound exactly like Murder, She Wrote. You're welcome.

Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Audio length: 10 hours 24 minutes
Narrator: Sarah Mollo-Christensen

Love this narrator! She never misses and always brings the words on the page to life.

Pacing ✅
Intonation ✅
Male voices ✅
Australian Accent ✅

Definitely recommend the audio version.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.75 (Mystery, Romance)



✨The Highlights✨

. Author FMC🖋️
. Murder Mystery 🔎
. Friends to Lovers
. Second Chances
. Destination Wedding 💍
. Forced Proximity
. Slow Burn 🔥
. Fake Dating
. Single POV
. Love Triangle 🔺

Get ready for a wild ride! This locked-room mystery fused with a hilarious romcom delivers the perfect blend of fun, adventure, and sizzling chemistry. Our heroine is a bestselling crime thriller author with a knack for solving puzzles,

Throw in a handsome Aussie with serious “Hotstralian” vibes (think Hemsworth), a gripping murder mystery unfolding on a secluded, historic island estate, and a family rife with manipulation, betrayal, and power struggles—and you’ve got a tale you won’t be able to stop reading. I went down a star because at times I found the story so chaotic it was hard to follow.

"Embrace the chaos."

That's the theme of the adorable zany She Doesn't Have A Clue by highly entertaining author Jenny Elder Moke. There's so much chaos in the middle of a wedding on a private island with an attempted poisoning of the bride, a dead guest, a clueless mystery writer attending her ex fiance's wedding and one hunky Australian willing to help solve the case.

Kate regrets her decision to accept her ex fiance's invitation to his wedding the minute she's on the secluded island. But since he's also the editor for her successful Loretta Starling mystery series she felt obligated to show her face. Then she literally bumps into the one man that has never left her steamy dreams, her writing colleague with the sexy Australian accent, Jake.

It gets more chaotic when there's only one room left for them to share. That's the RomCom set up. Kate soon realizes there's more going on than her confused heart when the bride is almost poisoned, she discovers a dead body, and becomes a suspect. Accessing Loretta, her mystery solving alter ego, and with Jake her willing side kick, Kate's off to clear her name and solve the case.

I am in awe of voice actress Sarah Mollo-Christensen defining so many diverse characters; and then there's her perfect Australian accent as swoony Jake. Just chef's kiss performances.

Mixed within the sexy banter, wise cracking relatives, and a murderer in their midst, are real moments like this awakening revelation for Kate:

"Just because I fell in love with her didn't mean I fell out of love with you. The only difference was she loved me back."

It's obvious with all the romance, comedy, and cozy mystery vibes this writer has all the clues to a winning audiobook.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from #Macmillan Audio via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

I did a combo on this one. I read the ebook and listened to the audio version of this book narrated by Sarah Mollo-Christensen. The narration was very good. She did many voices and did them very well. Also the volume was fairly uniform throughout the book, which I really like.

This book was the result of marrying a murder mystery with a romcom. I really liked the result. The main character, Kate, is a murder mystery author and she calls on her heroine often for help (what would Lorreta do?). Guests for a wedding are stranded in a spooky mansion with secret passages during a raging storm. Perfect! Well, except for the fact that someone is trying to murder someone among the guests and the fact that the groom is Kate's ex-fiance. Kate gets a little romance (and more) of her own. I thought the combination of everything made for a very entertaining read.

I would definitely look for more books of this type from this author.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the copies. All thoughts are my own.

I love a cozy mystery that keeps me guessing until the end and this one delivered. The cast of suspects was strong as many characters had strong motives. There was a good mixture of romance and suspense although I will say being trapped in a darkened room or having a spider crawl down my dress would not have me getting frisky the way it did in this book.

She Doesn’t Have a Clue is a debut novel that is a second chance mystery romance with a side of rich, chaotic, family drama. The FMC, Kate, is a best selling murder mystery author who finds herself in a real life mystery, very similar to her latest book. She gets to put the investigative skills she gave her MC in her books to the test when a murder occurs while at her ex-fiance/current editor’s lavish destination wedding. Set at a historic manor on a private island where, unbeknownst to her, her biggest love regret also happens to be attending the wedding.

The plot started out promising but it was heavy on the characters, which is pretty typical for mystery. However, between the characters of the story and then referencing the character in her book it turns out I was the one that 'didn’t have a clue'. I was confused at times and couldn’t keep all the characters straight. I only had an audio copy, which is typically my go-to, but I think if I had had a physical copy of the book to follow along with I would have been able to distinguish between characters in “real world” vs the character in her book. From my understanding there are excerpts of her book included in the story. I think I would have enjoyed and understood it better if I could have read in tandem. I am seeing great reviews for this book and I plan on giving it another chance after getting a physical book and will update this review.

My confusion is in no way a reflection of the narrator. Sarah Mollo-Christensen did a great job, especially with so many characters. She had good pacing and impeccable tone from start to finish. This was my first book narrated by her but I see that she has narrated several other books, a few that are on my backlist. I look forward to hearing more of her work in the future.

Thank you @macmillan.audio and @netgalley for the #gifted ALC in exchange for an honest review.