this was a really good book !I love a thriller and mystery and this setting being in a hospital was a cool twist! I do think there were quite a bit of unrealistic scenarios going on with a bunch of luckily not available evidence, but it was good!!

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

I love how Niru really focused on character development and the world building. From the first chapter, I was drawn in. I kept second guessing who the murderer was, but I also was reminded of when I was in nursing school. (I changed majors in the end), but it was sort of a throw back for me! One thing you hardly see in books is culture really represented and as other reviewers have said, it was nice to see that!

i thought that this book was a good quick and easy read! it started quite slow as it took a while to get to the proper mystery and there was a lot of character building but the last half went really quickly, and i didn't want to put it down. ive never read a book in this setting so i thought it was very interesting. i would 100% recommend!

This was an enjoyable and entertaining read.

The reader gets to know Neena, the other medical students and hospital staff as she starts her surgical rotation. Then a murder occurs, and they investigate.

I found this book very very slow to start (the murder occurring approx 60% of the way through the book) but then quick to read from there until the end. I guessed who the murderer was but it didn’t spoil the story. I’m not completely sure the medical details are 100% accurate but they didn’t detract from the entertainment. For a cosy quick read this was fun.

I read this book via the ‘read now’ feature of NetGalley.

Summary: This book is a cosy mystery book about a group of medical students figuring out how they fit in at the local hospital. A murder then occurs, and the group try to find out as much information as they can about what happened.

What I liked:
- every one of the characters had such good depth, and they were so loveable
- the relationships between the characters were realistic
- the setting is really accurate, with lots of details specific to the medical fields
- the plot twist was unexpected
- the pacing and length of the book was great

Review: 5/5 stars (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Are you in the mood for a murder mystery? Check out A Pre-Med(itated) Murder. It was a great book and a fun time.

Thank you NetGalley and Amplify Publishing Group for the eARC.
Neena is a 3rd-year medical student working hard on becoming a qualified doctor, studying all her free hours and not getting enough sleep or decent meals. But it's all worth it to her.
Her world and that of her student group is upended by finding a dead body ... not that of a patient, but caused by murder.
As a lover of puzzles she's soon investigating this murder along with her group.
This was a fun and interesting story (I did thank my lucky stars I never wanted to be a doctor, wow, what a hard road to follow!) and I really liked Neena a lot.

I enjoyed this book, I didn’t want it to end! It started out super fun and intriguing, then about 50% through it takes a wild turn and becomes super fast paced. Everything was super detailed, dropping little hints toward the end throughout, and I loved it. I also liked the setting of following med students, I felt like I was learning alongside them. The friendship between Neena, Neel, Raj and Cecilia was so wholesome. I also loved the South Asian culture that was involved throughout the book.

A Premeditated Murder was such a fun and unique twist on the cozy mystery genre. Following Neena Sundar, a third-year medical student navigating her surgical rotation, the book blends the high-pressure environment of a teaching hospital with a clever murder mystery. The premise was incredibly engaging; death is expected in a hospital, but murder? Think Grey's Anatomy meets Knives Out.

This book excelled in its blend of genres. It was a cozy mystery at heart but also offered an insightful look at medical training, balancing humor and the serious pressures of life in a hospital. I loved how the author incorporated aspects of South Asian culture into the story. The dynamics between Neena, Cecilia, Raj, and Neel were one of my favorite parts of the book. Their friendships felt genuine, with moments of humor, banter, and heartfelt support that made me truly care about them as a group.

The mystery itself was quite well-crafted, with small, subtle clues dropped throughout the story. When the twist was finally revealed, it made perfect sense but still managed to surprise me. The pacing of the book was excellent overall, though the first half focused more on setup and character development, which made the mystery feel a bit slow to start. However, once the investigation kicked into gear, the story flew by, leading to a dramatic and satisfying finale.

A Premeditated Murder is perfect for fans of cozy mysteries and medical dramas.

An awesome read. A beautiful medical mystery filled with suspense and lots of drama. Until the very end, one would not have guessed the motive and the actual killer.
This book gives a good insight to the wheels behind hospital operations, the daily activities and helps one have a better understanding and an appreciation for all who work in the hospital. A beautiful read.
Neena's level of organization, attention to details and determination is superb. Cecilia, Neel, Raj and all other characters bring a lot of spice and excitement to the story. Thoroughly enjoyed the way the friends created a unique bond as they dealt with their daily grind of hospital activities as they gradually adjusted as student doctors in the hospital.
I received an advanced copy from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was hooked from the start.

I was so excited to receive this cause I loved the blurb and was super excited to start this.

This did not disappoint. Such an exciting and interesting premise.

As a medical professional myself. I love reading this kinda books.

And it was quite accurate and very well written.

Loved this. Tq for the opportunity

Neena is a third-year medical student who has just started her clinical rotations. She meets new friends along the way and is really enthusiastic about finally ditching her books to train hands on. Everything is going well.....that is until her and her friends stumble upon a dead body. After witnessing the crime scene, Neena and her friends are determined to get to the bottom of it before anyone else gets hurt.

Neena is so likable. You can truly feel her genuine love for her field and her patients. As one who works in the medical field, I could easily immerse myself into Neena's world. My favorite part about this book was the characters. The group of friends gave me major Scooby-Doo vibes, which was super lovable. The setting and her interactions with her peers and patients really made this story.

I will say, I personally didn't love the pacing of the story. The mystery didn't unfold until about halfway through the book. There was a lot of world building involved. That being said, once everything was revealed, I enjoyed the ending. It was a fun short read!

Thank you to NetGalley & Amplify Publishing for the eARC and congratulations to Niru Mohandas for a wonderful debut novel!!

This was an enjoyable and very light cozy mystery. I loved the characters here, and the Desi representation. However, if you want a very satisfying, heavy duty mystery, this may not be the book for you. While I enjoyed reading about Neena's day to day life, the buildup to the murder was extremely slow and very late in the story. I would recommend this story for someone who doesn't want a heavy story at all and just a little bit of excitement.

Neena is a medical student on her first surgical rotation. In addition to adjusting to this new fast-paced environment of the hospital, clinical rotations, and studying, her classmates begin to have some unexplained accidents the culminate in the discovery of a dead body! Neena along with her co-interns and residents need to work together to solve this mystery.

I found the concept of this novel to be very intriguing, however I felt the pacing to be a bit slow in the beginning. There were a lot of characters to get to know, but the second half went by in a flash! I'm hoping this is the beginning of a series - I'm excited to see where Neena and her friends go next!

I'm so grateful to Amplify Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this advanced copy!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this cozy medical murder mystery! It’s unique in that I’ve never seen medicine put together with detectives in quite the same way before. It was a very fun enjoyable read, I liked the writing style of the author and the characters were well developed. My 4 star rating instead of 5 star is that I felt that it was a little obvious who the killer was. However, the clues and following the trail was enjoyable the whole way through! I would look forward to reading more books from Niru Mohandas. I have a background in occupational therapy and so I enjoyed the medical lingo, but still it’s not overdone for those who have never been introduced before.

Overall.. Very fun and enjoyable cozy mystery with a unique story telling!

3.5 stars

The plot of the book is slower and only the mystery starts happening around the 60% mark. The writing of the book is rather simple and I did enjoy the diversity of characters in the book. The slight mixture of Indian culture is rather nice as well in the book in terms of the amount of food they have mentioned in this book.

I would say this is more of a cozier mystery vibe, i hoped that the mystery was more prominent but instead it only started at the later half of the book.

It's a good book for a debut author if you want a more slower pace of book and a more fun vibe rather than books like Freida McFadden

This was a great read. Very enjoyable and entertaining. I love the medical aspect of it. Mysteries are my favorite. I loved that the story is set in the 90's. Neena just beginning her residency program when a dead body is found in the hallway at the hospital. Neena decides to investigate the crime to help solve the murder. I loved her and her friends navigating through their medical program and trying to get to the bottom of case.

Dr. Mohandas takes their time setting the scene for this novel. I enjoyed the attention to detail and getting the reader entrenched in the daily life of Neena. For me the only downfall to this was the amount of time it took for the book to take off. At 60% I was plugging along and then became unable to put the book down. All of the carrots of information (well a large majority of) came into play and it made sense for the pace at the beginning of the book. I appreciate the time and attention to detail Dr. Mohandas took to take me on this journey. Thank you for your work

This book was a little hard for me to get into, but I enjoyed it over all. Love the setting and overall plot.

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!

3/5 stars: This is the first entry in Mohandas's Ally McKinley Mystery series which is a BIPOC Historical Cozy Mystery set in 1992 New Jersey and features a third-year medical student on her surgical rotation who finds herself turning sleuth after several of her colleagues suffer dangerous "accidents" and then they stumble over a murdered woman's body. She and her friends will have work fast to unmask the killer stalking the hospital halls before they can strike again. With plenty of twists and turns, Mohandas has crafted a mystery that balances the suspects and weaves in plenty of clues and red herrings that will leave you pondering the whodunit until the final reveal. Heartfelt and humorous, Mohandas's writing and character work are well done; the characters are well-rounded and complex while remaining incredibly likable. Neena's a great character and I love getting to know her and her friends and colleagues at Littlefield Community Hospital. With tact and sensitivity, Mohandas tackles some sensitive issues; so take care and check the CWs. I'm no doctor but it's more than obvious Mohandas is and knows her chops. For fans of medical dramas and those who remember Diagnosis Murder. Overall, a nice start to a new series!

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

This book is a really cute, cozy murder mystery. It's lighthearted, with just enough action to keep me engaged the entire way through. At its heart, this book is about friendship and community. I think fans of Grey's Anatomy and Jane the Virgin will really enjoy this book.

A quick and easy read that I fell into really quickly, I loved the characters, I loved the setting, although some parts were unbelievable it didn't stop me from enjoying the read

The title, cover, and description made this an instant "Want to Read" for me. 'A Pre-Med(itated) Murder' is more than a murder mystery, it is an entertaining '90s-era story about a 24-year-old Indian American medical student in New Jersey. There is ample setting and main-character development as Neena navigates the surgical rotation and the unique people around her. This background helps fuel the suspenseful mystery later in the story. For those who want to jump right into a whodunit, I might recommend a different book. However, the descriptions Niru Mohandas painted heightened my enjoyment of all aspects of the story!

I recommend this to anyone looking for a fresh take on a cozy mystery! I'll gladly read the next installment in the Neena Sundar Cozy Mystery Series!

Special thanks to Amplify Publishing Group and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I got an ARC of this book in exchange for my review.

The Pre-Med(itated) Murder was an interesting read for me in terms of learning more about medical world. The main character, Neena Sundar, starts her practice as a third-year medical student at a hospital in the 90s. As she’s trying to find her spot in the social groups forming during their studies, some suspicious things start happening, which ultimately result in the group of third-year students discovering a pre-meditated murder during their shift.

Things l liked about this book:
- the murder itself was interesting, and while I did guess who committed the crime, I didn’t guess the motive
- While the writing style took me some time to get used to, it was actually pretty good. I’m under the impression that the author got more confident in her writing towards the end of the book.
- The plot got engaging after the murder (see a but more on that in the dislikes section, though)

What I didn’t like (SPOILERS BELOW):
- I think setting the scene and getting to know the characters shouldn’t have taken so long. While the clues are spread throughout the book, I had to browse other reviews to find out when the murder will happen because I was running out of patience. Spoiler: at 59% (!)
- The detective was kind of in the book but did almost nothing. Even after the murder was solved, there was no mention of him.
- The crime solving scene was intense in a good way, but had some very unrealistic events in it which generally didn’t make sense to me.
- somehow at the end of the book, the technician (Mr Robinson) got a Southern accent? I didn’t notice it before then, possibly because he didn’t get to say as many sentences.

Generally I like detective novels and this one was an ok read. My rating is 3.5 stars mainly because of how long it took to get to the actual murder plus some extraordinary events at the end of the book. I look forward to more adventures of Neena Sundar, she has at least 4 more years of studying and internships to do if I’m counting correctly :)

This was a good thriller but the writing needed a lot more work. Several unrealistic scenarios threw me off a bit too
Loved the concept though
3 stars

If you want a cozy, mystery murder, this is for you! If you love learning about your characters and following them through their journey, this is perfect. The whole time reading this I kept thinking, this is it this is the murder....nope! The murder was so unexpected. Once you get to the murder it moves so fast! This was so entertaining and fun to read. It took me a while due to a book slump. But once I got to the mystery murder I was all in. I love all the characters, even the ones you're supposed to hate.

This was my first time reading a book by this author, and I’m not sure if she’s new or just new to me—but either way, I’m glad I discovered her work!

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. While the pacing started off a bit slow, I quickly realized it was because the details were essential—and that’s exactly what I love about mysteries! I found myself analyzing every clue, trying to piece things together right alongside the lead character. That’s the beauty of this genre—it lets me live out my inner detective!

I especially loved the quirky, well-developed characters, which added an extra layer of charm to the story. And the big reveal? Let’s just say I had my suspicions, but the twist still caught me off guard in the best way. That’s what I live for—either proving myself right or being delightfully surprised!

I truly hope this author continues with this series because I’ll definitely be coming back for more. Looking forward to seeing what’s next!

A Pre-Med(itated) Murder by Niru Mohandas is such a fun, twisty read! It’s a mix of mystery and medical drama, which really makes it stand out. The plot is fast-paced and full of surprises, and I definitely didn’t see some of the twists coming. The main character, a med student caught up in a murder investigation, is super relatable and brings something fresh to the thriller scene. I really liked how the medical world was woven into the story—it added a cool, unique touch. I love that the author is actually a doctor! The pacing is mostly great, though there were a few slower parts in the middle that kind of slowed things down. But overall, the mystery kept me hooked, and the ending was super satisfying. If you love medical thrillers with a bit of suspense, this one’s definitely worth checking out! 4 stars.