I've read all of Matt Goldman's books and have been chasing the feeling I got from the Nils Shapiro series—so I nearly squealed when this one crossed into Nils' world! I absolutely love the Minneapolis setting; it feels like home on the page. It was also fun to see Goldman's experience in TV writing woven into his crime storytelling. While the pace was a bit slower, the plot skillfully connected a long-ago tragedy with recent deaths in a believable and compelling way.

Especially if you're a Minnesota - go get this one!

Matt Goldman you have a fan!

I am so excited for what I hope was an introduction to Ro and Ethan! This was in no small part due to the excellent narrator who captured each character in a very distinctive way that really brought them to life. The pacing , the inflection and warmth and humor were all performed amazingly well.

I was thoroughly hooked and entertained from the start to the end. The idea of "revisiting" an old high school love and solving a mystery while doing it was a great premise. I also felt like I really understood a small town life and the feeling of returning there after being away. There was such a great balance of action, detective work and relationship building.


I felt as if most if not all of the characters were fully flushed out. I also felt there was some questions left unanswered but its not clear if that is because this will be a series or the author ran out of pages. All the emotions from both perspectives were explored and we even got a chance to know the minor character.s.

All in all this is a really great read/listen.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to listen and offer my opinion.

Thank you to @macmillan.audio and Netgalley for my #gifted alc. All opinions are my own.

Ethan Harris has come home from New York to sit out some writer's union dispute while spending time with his folks in small town Minnesota. Author Goldman had me chuckling pretty quickly with the relationships between Harris and his elderly parents. Definitely the comic relief to the case at hand.
While visiting his parents, Ethan is attempting to write something the studio will film as his current project, The Murder Show, is on the bubble.Enter high school crush, Ro Greeman, who is now local police. She tries to sell the idea of researching the death of their friend decades earlier as more than a hit & run. It takes off from there and I found the plot and characters highly entertaining.

Not over long at coming in under 8 hours, this is a great starter for someone wanting to try out an audiobook.
Dan Bittner did a great job of voicing Ethan. He was believable and came across as patient with the parents and not overly dominating when interacting with Ro.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC.

The Murder Show starts off strong and pulls you in right away. The story follows Ethan, a TV showrunner looking for inspiration after his hit series gets shut down. He returns to his hometown and gets pulled into a real-life mystery involving an old friend’s death, which brings up secrets from the past.

As the story unfolds, more characters are introduced, which can get a little confusing at times, but it keeps the plot moving. One unique element was Ethan’s relationship with his parents — they’re quirky, even bizarre at times, but also refreshingly supportive, which added an interesting layer to the story.

The behind-the-scenes look at TV writing and production was a cool angle, especially for anyone curious about how shows like Law & Order come together. It also touches briefly on the writers' strike, which felt timely and relevant.

At its core, the book is about friendship, loss, and how choices made as teens can echo into adulthood. There’s some romance, family tension, and a sense of nostalgia throughout, with a satisfying ending that ties everything together.

Overall, it’s a solid mystery with emotional depth and some interesting commentary on storytelling itself.

3.5
This was entertaining and I liked the murder show aspect. I didn't guess how it was all going to play out. I read a lot of thrillers and overall this one didn't have anything super memorable or jaw dropping about it, but it was still good. Thank you MacMillan Audio for the chance to listen in exchange for a review!

I am a fan of the Nils Shapiro series by Matt Goldman so I was looking forward to starting this one on audio and thought both the cover and title were solid. Another sans-synopsis book for me which is always fun to just let the chapters unfurl. I was hoping for another book set in or near Minnesota which is one of my favorite places to visit so no disappointment there.

I don’t feel that I really liked any of the characters in this book. The majority were bold and not very trustworthy for me. Whether the author meant for that to be the case, I commend him for making me feel that way about nearly all of them for the majority of the book. I felt one character played a little too much hero for their vocation but hey it was fiction.

For me, the story was somewhat slower paced for more than half the book but I really felt it went someplace in the back half that provided a lot of listening enjoyment to get to the end which I pretty much had pegged which I guess was a win for me.

From a pet peeve standpoint, I didn’t like the voice of the character that appears in this book from his other books and the name pronunciation was totally different from what I recall. Different narrators probably causing it but I preferred the former books than this one on that point. This narrator was good but I liked the primary one from the other books a little bit more.

Overall impressed with this one and could totally see it becoming a streaming show with a lot of potential.

I enjoyed this book. The plot development was intriguing. I felt that the investigation aspect dragged on a bit too long and left me bored in the middle.

This was a quick entertaining read that read like the staging for a show (which makes sense seeing as it’s called The Murder Show). I enjoyed the characters and the underlying mystery. The end felt a little rushed and I guessed the big reveal fairly early, but overall this was a solid thriller.

2.5

Ethan finds himself uninspired and needs an idea for the next season of his hit show, The Murder Show. In the midst of a writer's strike, he returns to him hometown for a change in scenery. His childhood friend and neighbor, Ro, is now a local police officer. She wants Ethan to write about their friend who died tragically in a hit and run just after graduation. She has an ulterior motive though- she thinks it was intentional and she's found similar cases. As she pulls Ethan in, they are suddenly being followed and shot at. They must be on to something.

This was okay. The whole show aspect was kind of obnoxious and I hate the title- of the show and the book. (Specifically naming the book after the show that is only part of the story in an abstract way.)

You could see the answer to the mystery a million miles away.

Also, the relationship between Ro and Ethan was just weird. They are flirty, had feelings in high school, and the next day he is bed with her co-worker? Then the day after that is contemplating taking it further with Ro? No.

Dan Bittner's narration of the audiobook was the best part.

I received an advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Tor Books and Macmillan Audio for gifting me an audio ARC of the latest mystery by Matt Goldman, narrated by Dan Bittner. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!

Ethan is a show runner for The Murder Show, but when a writer's strike shuts down work, he returns to his family home in Minnesota to try and come up with an idea for his next season. His high school friend and backyard neighbor, Ro, is now a police officer. The two decide to try and investigate what happened to another high school friend, Ricky, who died in a hit-and-run accident. But they may be in for more than they bargained for.

This book felt realistic, mainly due to the fact that Matt Goldman is a screenwriter himself. Ethan and Ro thought the investigation would be a good subject for the next season of Ethan's show, plus it would bring them closure on what really happened to their friend. I liked the characters and their relationships, and enjoyed following along on the investigation. The narrator was great with all the voices, and added to the enjoyment of the story.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an ARC of this novel.

This is my first novel by Matt Goldman. It was an enjoyable read. The main character goes back to his childhood home to celebrate the high holidays and helps solve a cold case that he was involved in while in high school. I enjoyed the main character dynamics, along with the interactions with the other characters within the book. I would almost consider this a “cozy mystery” but it is a smarter than that. It contained a bit of light humor and the plot was engaging throughout the novel so that it moved along very well. Also it is not very long so someone can get through it fairly quickly.
It has multiple POVs that switch very quickly. I found this a bit confusing as I received an ARC of the audiobook and there was only one narrator whose voice did not change AT ALL between characters, so the various POVs may be better defined in the print version. When there are multiple POVs, I prefer several different narrators but based on the quick changes, this may have likely been difficult.

Overall, It was a good novel with a satisfying ending. There were a few twists but they were slightly predictable (hence my opinion that this would be a “cozy mystery”).

Thanks so much for the audiobook ARC of this book!
Great book!
Very twisty and the narrator was excellent!
Will be recommending to all!

When Ethan, a crime writer for a TV series called The Murder Show, goes on hiatus during a writers' strike, he decides to go back home. After all, that’s where he does his best writing. The story slowly unravels, as Ethan reconnects with an old friend, Ro. We learn of Ethan’s past and the mysterious disappearance of his friend Ricky, who vanished after leaving Ethan and Ro to find help. Later, it’s revealed that Ricky’s disappearance wasn’t as mysterious, it was actually a hit and run. But so many questions have popped up as Ro, a police officer, believes that there’s more to Ricky’s death. This was a fun mystery with a bit of a cat-and-mouse chase that turned deadly. It kept me guessing, and the sense of not knowing who to trust added to the suspense. Dan Bittner did a great job narrating Ethan, but I did find it tricky to follow the timeline jumps between past and present. I had to pay close attention when the switches happened, but overall, it was a solid listen. I look forward to reading more by this author.

The Murder Show by @m_a_goldman is a character driven mystery with splashes of romance, police procedural, and nostalgia. The story focuses on a TV writer who visits his childhood home during the writer’s strike and ends up investigating the murder of a high school classmate. It has some great twists and the audiobook is well narrated. I listened to the whole audiobook in 2 days and really enjoyed this one.

Ethan —a TV writer currently on an industry-imposed break thanks to a writer’s strike—heads back to his hometown, expecting nothing more than quality family time celebrating the high holidays, and forced small talk with old friends. But when the unsolved death of an old friend resurfaces, he can’t resist poking around.

What starts as casual curiosity quickly turns into an amateur investigation, and before he knows it, he’s caught up in a mystery that feels straight out of one of his own scripts. Except this time, he’s not just writing the story—he’s living it.

This murder comedy is reminiscent to “Only Murders In the Building” - with twists and turns that keep you guessing until the very end.

Thank you to NetGalley for this Arc read.

#netgalley #arc

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a fast-paced read with a couple of solid twists that kept me engaged. The blend of crime, mystery, and a touch of romance made for an entertaining story, though I think I would have enjoyed the romance arc more if it had ended differently. Ethan and Ro’s investigation into their friend Ricky’s hit-and-run death had some gripping moments, and I liked how the plot balanced their personal stakes with the broader mystery. While some parts felt a bit predictable, the tension and suspense kept me invested until the end.

Thank you, NetGalley & Macmillan Audio, for the ALC in exchange for my honest review!

I had been eager to read this book for a while so I was very pleased to receive an advance copy of the audiobook through NetGalley. It did not disappoint. Matt writes a good and clever mystery and it’s pretty funny in places as well. As a Minnesotan for part of my life (full disclosure went to HS w Matt) I loved the specific Minneapolis and surrounding area references. Also, knowing that Matt has been a TV writer it was also interesting and fun to glean some of those insights he sprinkles throughout. Don’t want to give away too much here…it’s a fun read, perfect distraction for our turbulent times…

I'm a fan of Goldman's Nils Shapiro series, specifically the audiobooks narrated by Macleod Andrews. I've been disappointed that the later books in the series as well as Murder Show are different narrators because they just don't touch the skill of Andrews. I liked Dan Bittner just fine except he did a terrible voice for Nils--though very cool that he features in this book!

The Murder Show follows Ethan, a TV writer of his show titled The Murder Show. He visits home and reconnects with an old sort of girlfriend who digs up old memories and drama that lead to a wild hunt for a murderer. It's small town drama, some romance, and a neat cast of characters. I really dig Goldman's style: conversational, steady pacing, great drama to dialogue to introspection ratios. And best of all, I didn't guess any of the twists!

There are some on the page and implied intimacy. Great action thriller. I do recommend reading Nils Shapiro first to get the most out of this book, but it's not a part of the series and can be read alone.

4.5 stars
This is my eighth Matt Goldman novel and is, so far, my favorite! It grabbed my interest from the beginning and never let me go. I was invested in the characters. (So invested that I’m hoping there’s a sequel? Please?) The Murder Show is one of those novels with a larger cast of characters, but they’re developed well enough that it was easy to keep them straight. And it was fun seeing Nils Shapiro, from Goldman’s earlier series, pop into a few scenes. I found the pacing just right, fast enough to be a page-turner, but not so fast that I couldn’t keep things straight. I had a hard time putting this down and finished it in a day. I loved the mystery, the multidimensional relationships, and Goldman’s signature humor. And the audiobook narrator did a great job. My thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was an entertaining read that could have been great. I liked the premise, but the execution was a little lacking. Maybe too many characters that didn't allow for enough character development? This kept my attention but also wasn't a stand out that I feel I'll remember much of. I thought the narrator did a good job,