This was an action packed romcom mystery that was fun to read. The characters were full of personality and well thought out.

5/5 stars: This is the first entry in Lumley's Oliver Popp's Travel Guides to Murder series which is a 2SLGBTQIA+ Literary Travel Cozy Mystery that follows a California autistic, gay travel writer, on his first assignment in Washington, DC, and his local flirty freelance project photographer as they team up to turn sleuth after they're involved in hit-and-run death of an old acquaintance's while test “driving” a self-driving car. The woman had just given testimony at a congressional hearing about the safety and security of her company's AI software and it didn't go well. With plenty of suspects, the two men will have to work fast to not only meet his deadline but figure out who's behind the murder before they end up next. With plenty of twists and turns, Lumley has masterfully crafted a mystery that deftly balances the suspects, clues and red herrings and will leave you pondering the whodunit until the final reveal. Heartfelt and humorous, Lumley's writing and character work are stellar; the characters are well-rounded and complex while remaining incredibly likable. Oliver, who's a gem, and Ricky, who's just as lovable, are great and I love getting to meet them. I very much look forward to reading more of this duo's sleuthing adventures! Also I loved being a tourist in and around DC with Oliver and Ricky. I very much appreciate how Lumley's written Oliver's Autistic representation, which he states as being largely based on his own experiences. With tact and sensitivity, Lumley touches on some tough topics; so take care and CWs. A great, fun read; Highly recommend!

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing | Kensington Cozies in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

‘How to Have a Killer Time in DC’ felt like a Scooby-Doo mystery, and I mean that in the best of ways. I loved the fun romp through Washington with crazy shenanigans, a cast of surprisingly chilled politicians and law enforcement (considering the plot deals with sinister Big Business Wheeling’s and Dealing’s in the nation’s capital) and an appropriately cacking Villain. I found myself humming ‘Scooby-Dooby Doo, where are you?!!’ when Ollie and Ricky sneak in and out of cafes, convention centres, protest marches and hotel rooms.

A big part of the appeal of this book came from the Crime Busting Duo themselves. I fell in love with Oliver from the first page and Ricky is the perfect partner to gently coax him out of his safe routines into the fun, crazy times. I also really liked how their relationship grew over the course of the book, and where we left them at the end.

This was the perfect vacation read, and I will definitely be continuing with the series. Recommend!

I love a good cozy mystery, and this delivered on the cozy and mystery vibes! The characters are lovable, and I liked the twists to the story.

I was hoping for more of the “travel writer” aspect of the story, and I do think the romance overtook the mystery a little bit for me.

The writing was a little difficult for me to follow and stay engaged at times (there were a lot of run on sentences), and a couple scenes rubbed me the wrong way. I was not a fan of Oliver using Joey even when he was uncomfortable with it.

Thank you to Kensington for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

This fun, modern mystery was verrrry topical and current! It's humorous and a little satirical. I enjoyed the pace and the plot, and especially the portrayal of Autism as a part of Oliver's life, but not the main story.

I loved the representation in this book. The mystery was also nice. Very well done writing. The plot and characters were well thought out.

chaotic, fun pair of protagonists and a pretty great mystery backing it. the killer was semi-predictable but worked very well. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

I LOVED this! The characters were fully fleshed out and interesting, the plot was captivating, the budding romance was so fun to see unfold -- I want to read 400 more books in this series. It's been a while since I had to physically finish a book in one sitting, and this book had me doing just that. I fantastic debut!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Autistic travel writer Oliver Popp’s carefully planned trip to D.C. takes an unexpected turn when he stumbles into a murder investigation. Teaming up with charismatic photographer Ricky Warner, his work trip turns into a whirlwind of mystery, discovery, and an unexpectedly sweet romance.

I was so pleased when I was offered the chance to read this book about a gay, autistic sleuth. I’ve not been diagnosed as neurodiverse, but I definitely recognize some of Oliver’s traits in me - social anxiety, sensory struggles, and being “wrong” for being me. It was really validating seeing that on the page.

Beyond the mystery, I loved how the book explored D.C. - not from a political angle, but through a local’s perspective - that’s definitely my kind of travel experience.

And I have to mention my favorite detail: Mimi asking a dog owner what their dog’s pronouns were 🐶 big lolz!

I technically guessed the killer, but it was pure luck - I had no clue about the why or the how! And while I’m not usually into romance, I adored Oliver’s first-love storyline. He’s just so lovable.

This seems to be the start of a series, and I can’t wait for more. A huge shoutout to the publisher for bringing this book to readers - it’s such a gem.

Thanks to @Netgalley and
@kensingtonbooks for access to this advanced readers copy

- Autism Rep
- Loneliness
- Romance
- Murder
I loved this book! This one was on my list of most anticipated Netgalley reads. What made it even more fun is that I’m from the region but haven’t experienced it like a tourist would. The main character, Oliver, is autistic and seeing how it is for him… I don’t know how to explain in words. It was so realistic (especially since the author pulled from his own experiences) but he’s able to function, he’s not infantilized.
I flew through this book! Again, the autism representation was amazing to read for me. He’s very schedule oriented, doesn’t notice certain cues from people, and shuts down when overstimulated. With that, the only thing that confused me was how willing he was to go off schedule with Ricky, the love interest and photographer. I thought he would’ve been more upfront with how uncomfortable it made him. Some things I can understand he was okay with because it still led to the same result. Now the DC rep! I love it! It did make me laugh with Ricky complaining about Maryland drivers because… it’s like Mario Kart. Then the touching of issues for Ricky being biracial! I’m glad it was added in. This book was such a good balance of mystery and romance. The mystery itself, I felt played because I was like Oh it’s definitely this person… no it’s this person… so it is them… wait no it’s not. And can we talk about how supportive Oliver’s mom and coworker, Drea, are! All the characters were lovely and worked with Oliver without taking away his independence.

This is definitely a slow burn. I loved all the detail regarding Washington D.C. but there was almost too much detail over all. It slowed the pacing of the story down. A very interesting premise and I thought there were some engaging twists and turns. There is rich atmoshere through description The author handled Oliver;s character well and sensitively gave us a look at what his life with autism is like. He and Ricky have some awesome awkward connection from the beginning. A fun read!

I loved this bok.
Fast paced, great characters.
Nice autism representation.
Unpredictable twists.

Highly recomend this book.

Thank you netgalley, and Kensington Publising for a copy.

One of those flawed debuts that also bodes well for the author’s future books, so though I have significant criticism to offer, I want to stress that I enjoyed myself and will be looking out for more of Oliver Popp and Ricky Warner. Oliver’s career as a travel writer should give him plenty of opportunities to happen across suspicious deaths. No doubt he’ll need a photographer colleague who’s also a very, very, very close friend.

Anyway:

Problem #1 is tone wobbles. “How to Have a Killer Time in DC” can’t quite decide whether it’s aiming for hijinks ensue!!! or something more poignant and serious — or maybe it would be better to say that Sam Lumley hasn’t quite worked out how to integrate those tones. So we have Oliver, who’s autistic and not overfond of most physical contact or of unexpected schedule changes, allowing himself to be led into detective shenanigans (and tentative romance) by blithely impulsive Ricky. And then we also have a dead serious episode in which a panicked (for good reason) Oliver accidentally puts Ricky, who’s of mixed race, at risk from the police. Ricky is justifiably upset about it.

This leads me to

Problem #2, believability wobbles. Ricky drives a Corvair, fast. He also isn’t perturbed when he and Oliver are caught doing something extremely illegal at a posh hotel. Applying the usual disclaimers for dissimilar life experiences, as well as awareness that different individuals are different, I can’t say for definite that this is unrealistically inconsistent, but both speeding in a vintage sports car and the hotel episode (trust me on this one) seem likely to invite threatening police attention to a young Black man. So I kind of wanted to know more about why Ricky would apply different metrics in those cases than he did to the episode I mentioned earlier.

That took an amount of explanation disproportionate to how much it threw me out of the story, and besides, Oliver maybe wobbled more than Ricky did. Before he leaves for DC, he writes out an impressively detailed schedule and itinerary, and we see him feeling anxious-plus over the trip itself and also the fact that this is his first feature assignment. Then he meets Ricky and gets derailed pronto, putting up the most minimal resistance and soon cutting loose altogether.

To be clear, I’m not arguing that Oliver’s autism made that unrealistic — but his anxiety and commitment to close scheduling did. I’m anxious, to a lesser degree than Oliver, and I like to control my schedule, again to a lesser degree than Oliver initially seems to. If I was on a work trip and a Ricky-like person tried to do to me what Ricky does to Oliver, I would — well, let’s say I would make my displeasure known. Ricky’s a good guy, but YMMV whether he’s appealing enough to make you buy Oliver’s willingness to tear up his careful plans.

I have autistic friends but am not myself autistic, so I appreciated the perspective Sam Lumley, who is autistic, brought to Oliver’s first-person narration. (And you don’t have to be autistic to dislike the feeling of skin over-moisturized to the point of clamminess! Eeesh.) Also, as a longtime copyeditor, I basked in the sheer cleanness of Lumley’s prose — I found myself wanting to do only minimal tinkering. (Lay/lie tutorials offered free of charge to all comers.)

3.5-4 stars, happily rounded up.

The mystery is fun, the romance is charming, and Oliver’s autistic perspective adds a fresh and thoughtful voice to the amateur sleuth genre. Some side characters could’ve used more depth, and the plot occasionally stretches believability, but the dynamic between Oliver and Ricky is pure chaos in the best way. A solid debut that balances humor, heart, and murder.

Thank you netgalley for a copy of this book.
First of all, the autistic rep was good, I found a lot of similarities to myself. However, the other characters felt quite two dimensional and I would have enjoyed more character development for them.
The twist was good and overall an interesting read.

I NEED MORE OF THESE TWO!

Oliver and Ricky are such a chaotic pair, and I absolutely loved it! I really hope there will be more books to come featuring these two characters, because it hurt to say goodbye to them at the end of this book.

Oliver is an autistic 24 year-old who writes for a travel magazine and still lives at home with his mom. He gets a big break when the magazine he writes for sends him to Washington DC for his first big feature article, where he will be working with freelance photographer, Ricky.

Oliver is determined not to mess this opportunity up, and wants to stick closely to the itinerary he has been given. Ricky wants to branch out a bit and have some fun, which doesn’t go well with Oliver’s autism and need for structure.

In the process of seeing the sights in DC to gather content for his article, Oliver happens upon the opportunity to write another article about a startup electric car company and the issues they have been having with their auto driving software. In the process, an acquaintance of Oliver’s ends up dead and Oliver and Ricky are hunting for clues to find out what really happened.

Can they find a killer before the killer finds them?

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher/author for this copy of the book.

DNF

I was looking forward to reading this as I’m always looking for more books with good autistic representation. Unfortunately I DNF it because the characters felt two dimensional.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc

I enjoyed the Autistic representation, it felt very real (which makes sense as the author is Autistic). The mystery was engaging, and Oliver solving it came about very naturally. The romance was low-tension and there's room for the relationship to develop further. Overall, the was an easy and enjoyable read.

Thank you to Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.

DNFed at 10 percent. This just isn't for me.

This book was a ton of fun. It's hard to believe it's a first novel—the writing is smooth, the dialogue is realistic, the plot (while definitely far-fetched at times) hangs together very well... just great work all around.

As I write this, I feel like I have to bump what I initially intended as a four-star review up to five (though I continue to wish for the ability to give half stars). This probably isn't a book I'll read again and again, but I definitely will look forward to whatever comes next from this author!

My thanks to the publisher/NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.