Such a fun cozy mystery + mid spice romance. As a fan of both genres, this was right up my alley and I definitely recommend it for a quick fun read/listen. The narrator did an excellent job bringing this story to life!

The book was beautifully written. The author made careful word choices that were very impactful. Overall, the book was well written and I did really enjoy it.

She Doesn't Have a Clue is the perfect mix of cozy mystery and romance. It's got all of the best elements of a traditional murder mystery: a private island with a mansion in disrepair, secret passages, poison, a wedding, a feuding family and, of course, a mystery author. Oh, and lots of taxidermy. Add a second-chance romance, a 'Hotstralian', and a room with only one bed to the mix and you get this fun, sexy reprieve of a novel. I could not turn this one off.
As a lover of both genres, I was so excited to listen. In the past, I've stopped listening to a few cozy mystery series because the romantic subplot took a turn. I'm not a fan of love triangles and I have a hard time staying interested in a series if a main character is killed(or a killer). Having a stand-alone that was split evenly between romance and mystery satisfied that need for romantic resolution that I miss when listening to traditional cozies.
And the romance in She Doesn't Have a Clue is more than a sub-plot. It's just as sexy and swoony as you'd expect from a romance that doesn't include murder.
There is a great cast of eclectic characters, all voiced by the fantastic Sarah Mollo-Christenson. You can always rely on her narration being amazing.

Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC of Jenny Elder Moke's 'She Doesn't Have a Clue'.

A truly fun, romantic, sleuthing, comedy for the everyday woman. It got a little too spicy for my taste at times, but I just skipped those parts until I got back to the mystery. There were so many suspects with motives, it left me guessing and laughing until the end. Thank you NetGalley

I should have enjoyed She Doesn’t Have a Clue. It has so many of the elements I like – an isolated location, a closed circle of suspects, a spooky mansion, a quirky main character/ amateur sleuth. Turned out I was annoyed by it most of the time, but not quite enough to quit, probably because it was on audio. The narrator did a good job. Her pace fit the story well and she managed to keep the (too many) characters distinguished from each other. Quite honestly, she’s the reason I stayed around for the reveal and the happy ending.

Kate has come to her ex-fiancé’s wedding at a mansion on an island in the middle of a storm. Kate is a mystery writer and has a habit of lapsing into thinking about her characters and how they would respond to events in her life, which can be a little confusing at first. The first person she runs into is Jake, aka the love interest, a man she used to work with until “the incident.”

When the bride is maybe poisoned, maybe suffers a case of food poisoning, but survives, Kate starts digging around. Plenty of people at the wedding have reason to want the bride dead, including Kate arguably. When she stumbles across the dead body of the bride’s aunt, Kate knows there’s a murderer on the island.

The whole thing is a little too much. Kate misunderstands people and situations so badly that it almost seems purposeful. And everything she does seems to make her more of a suspect – granted someone’s trying to frame her, but still. On top of that, we have secret passages, the lights keep going out, the storm is raging outside, and the place is filled with taxidermied animals. Kate bumbles through the investigation, Jake (mostly) by her side, with the occasional steamy sex scene to remind you that the romance is as important as the mystery.

This one just wasn’t for me. Looking at the reviews though, most people seem to like it, so maybe don’t listen to me.

Mystery writer, Kate Valentine, agrees to attend her ex-fiance's wedding while struggling to write her next best-seller. The circumstances of this high-end wedding are awkward enough before Kate unexpectedly runs into an old flame and former co-worker, Jake, which lends itself to a love triangle. Things go from awkward to dire when the bride-to-be is poisoned in a way eerily similar to the plot of Kate's book, and Kate later stumbles on a dead body. Jake becomes Kate's best ally as she tries to clear her name as a suspect and searches for the true killer.

I liked this rom-com meets murder mystery! The story contained fun twists in the mystery, creepy settings, witty banter, humorous situations, and some spicy scenes. I found there to be a lot of characters to keep track of, which was hard to separate at times. Toward the beginning, it is confusing when Kate sees the world as Loretta, the protagonist in her work, because it goes back and forth without warning. This may have been confusing because I listened to the audio format of this book.

The audio narration was excellent! The narrator moves between voices for genders and accents with ease and infuses emotion into her words very well.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an advanced audio copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

4.5 ⭐️

This was actually so fun! The audio was very well done and kept me engaged from start to finish! The FMC was a quirky and funny and kept a murder mystery plot pretty lighthearted and i enjoyed that!

It gave me comedy / mystery clue game vibes and i ate every second of it up!

During reading how the FMC kept going back to what her character in her book would do - i actually totally 100% believe that’s how authors are! 😆

I would absolutely recommend this book to my peers and would read more by this author. Def recommend consuming via audio!

Overall, this was a fun time with some pretty good banter, too.

There are quite a few unlikable suspects and a lot going on, but I enjoyed the sleuthing and secret passages found along the way. Fun romantic mystery.

I’m giving the book 4 stars despite DNF’ing the book. I didn’t really care for the characters or the narrator. The book isn’t bad it’s just not for me.

Fun romantic mystery that checks all the boxes. Kate Valentine is a bestselling author invited to the lavish wedding of her ex fiancé /publicist on a remote island of the coast of Seattle. This is a fun read with lots of characters to throw you off the scent of the true killer. Add in Jake, the romantic sexy Australian ex surfer as her investigation partner an hopeful love interest.
I listened to the audiobook and the narration was great. The only little issue is sometimes it was hard to tell when there were inserts of Loretta, her fictional main character speaking. It was easier as the story progressed.

This was a GREAT story to listen to! AWESOME narration! Great main characters. The plot was easy to find. The story was engaging and easy to follow. Will be purchasing this book. Shout out to Netgalley and publishing for allowing me to listen and review this story.

4 STARS!

In this genre-crossing novel, mystery author Kate Valentine travels to a secluded island to the wedding of her ex fiancé at the mysterious request of the hostess. When she arrives, she is shocked to see her old crush, Jake, has mistakenly been added as her plus one. Things begin to go wrong immediately, from storms to attempted murder to actual danger. Kate asks herself what her main character, Loretta, would do in order to solve the many mysteries of the weekend.

I was generously provided both digital and audio early copies by publishers, and I really enjoyed listening to the story. Narrator Sarah Mollo-Christensen did an excellent job of voicing the characters and making them come to life. It was very entertaining and made it easy to become immersed in the story.

This novel was an interesting blend of a cozy mystery with a bit of rom com mixed in. I enjoyed the elements of the characters being trapped on the island with an incoming storm and the wealthy, over the top family dynamics. The rom com tropes of forced proximity and second chance romance combined with a bit of fake dating were fun additions to the story as well. I was able to guess the villain at the beginning of the book, although there are definitely a host of characters to keep track of, which can be a bit confusing. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy a cozy mystery with a bit of a romance to it.

Thank you to Jenny Elder Moke, Macmillan Audio, and Minotaur books for the digital and audio arcs and opportunity to be an early reader and reviewer.

This audiobook was too confusing for me. I could not tell who was who at the beginning and if I was listening about the actual book or about Kate`s book and Loretta. After that I did want to know what was happening. The mystery was pretty good and I liked that there was a romance too which you don't usually get. I feel like there was a lot of tropes covered but I liked that. Overall it was different and I liked that. I just wish the beginning had not been so confusing. 3.5 stars.

4.25⭐️
I have realized that I really enjoy the forced proximity trope- but more specifically when all the characters are trapped in a location all together particularly an island.

This is one such book with everyone literally trapped on an island and the mystery unfolds. I am thankful to have gotten the audio ALC for free from Netgalley and Macmillan Audio to enjoy which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

I really enjoyed listening to this! I couldn’t turn it off. With all the twists and turns it was fast paced and engaging. So much so that I didn’t even think about “figuring it out” which is something I usually do unintentionally. But I just enjoyed the ride.

The other part that I enjoyed but it maybe a turn off to some is that it’s a rom-com that’s a mystery. I found that neat as it was well done! I also really enjoyed the narrator. She did a great job and had a great pacing to her recitation.


It doesn’t come out until Jan 25 2025 so get it on your TBR to circle back in a few months!
My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

A wildly entertaining murder mystery! Trapped on an island with a killer on the loose, a framing setup, a high-stakes wedding, and drama around every corner—plus everyone is a suspect! The excitement never lets up, especially with a hot Australian sidekick in the mix. Blake’s line, “I like you so much. So so much. All the time,” adds a sweet touch to this thrilling, suspense-filled story. What’s not to love?

First, Sarah Mollo-Christensen did a fantastic job narrating this book. I'm a big fan of her work and she did not disappoint here. She breathed life into this mystery romcom.

Kate Valentine is a best selling mystery author who attends her ex-fiancé's wedding on a gloomy private island in the San Juans of WA state. She's surprised when her ex-crush shows up and she has to pretend he's her plus one. Trouble ensues when someone tries to frame Kate for attempted (and not later) murder in the style of one of her own books. Using the false confidence of her fictional leading lady, Loretta, she tries her best to solve the mystery. Naturally, it's not as simple as when she's the one writing the plot and trouble ensues while she has to navigate hidden feelings, misunderstandings, and other people's family drama.

This book took me back to my Agatha Christie and Mary Higgins Clark days. I enjoyed the way Kate uses her fictional characters to work through her own insecurities and the flashes into her books. I also enjoyed the twisted family drama that followed all the suspects around.

What fell flat for me was the MMC, Jake. He just seemed too exaggerated and generic. I wish I was given more to connect to the main characters but I just couldn't get attached enough to cheer them on. I didn't understand enough about their past history until too far into the book to care.

Overall this was a fun read and if your looking for a non scary romcom/murder mystery this is your book.

This audiobook was just ok for me.

The “killer” wasn’t all that surprising, just seemed like a horrible person. The spicy scenes that were thrown in there felt like they were thrown in because they had to be, and didn’t feel natural at all.

The narrator was great, I enjoy all of her audiobooks!

All in all, this romance/thriller wasn’t for me. It wasn’t a bad story, just didn’t have the surprise element nor the romance expected.

I ended up DNFing this pretty early on. There was too much disconnect as an audiobook trying to tell what was real and what wasn't a long with just feeling like too much was going on and too many characters being introduced at once

This book was quirky but enjoyable. I found it a bit odd at first it after a few chapters I adjusted and became invested in seeing what would happen. I enjoyed the narrator. they kept me engaged in the story.

I was so excited to get this audiobook ARC! Mystery and romance are definitely my jam but this one was a little all over the place and confusing.

The beginning was so hard to understand and I found myself not really understanding who the characters were, especially when it came to Kate and Loretta. It took me about a quarter way through to realize that Loretta WAS NOT a real person but was a character from one of Kate’s books. I wasn’t super fond of Kate (or any of the characters tbh).

The mystery side of things was done well but a little predictable. I knew right when it happened who had done it so that wasn’t very fun.

The narrator did a great job of bringing the story to life and flashing images in my head but the overall book was just too much for me personally to digest.