a fun and fluffy rom com murder mystery
Kate Valentine is a bartender, but she’s trying to transition to full-time writer, and she thinks now is the time. But first, she has to make it through a destination wedding. She has agreed to go because it’s her editor Spencer who is getting married, and he’s marrying into the family of the small publisher that prints her mystery series. However, he is also her ex-fiancée, and he’s marrying Kennedy, the head of marketing for the publisher (owned by her father).
The wedding is on a private island owned by the family, off the West Coast near Seattle. And Kate almost misses the last boat to the island. She has to jump onto the boat as it’s pulling away, and she makes it, thanks to the arms of Jake Hawkins. Years ago, they had worked together on a writing project, a travelogue that featured Jake’s adventures around the world. Their chemistry was good, both in the books and in real life. But they never really got past the chemistry and went their separate ways. The chemistry stayed though.
When they get to Hempstead Island, they discover that Jake was on the guest list as Kate’s plus-one, so they are booked into the same room, the last room available in the mansion. There is no cell service on the island, and a huge storm is rolling in. And if that wasn’t enough drama for the weekend, someone poisons the bride at dinner, and later Kate stumbles over a dead body. Two things that closely resemble the plot of Kate’s last mystery novel.
Eyes turn to her as the groom’s ex, like she might be trying to stop the wedding, so Kate has to figure out what’s really going on. Since she can’t figure it out on her own, she decides to channel her fictional detective Loretta Starling to help her. But if she and Jake and Loretta can’t figure out who the killer is, and quickly, then Kate’s future as a mystery novelist is in jeopardy, as is her actual future.
She Doesn’t’ Have a Clue is a fun blend of murder mystery and rom com with a cast of characters that is hard to forget. I liked the idea of the mystery novel detective helping to find a killer, but I did think that the story was a little rough overall. I think the romance distracted from the mystery just a bit, and if it had taken up a little less room on the page, there would have been more room for the mystery, which needed a little extra. That said, I really did enjoy the book and look forward to the next one.
I listened to She Doesn’t Have a Clue on audio, narrated by Sarah Mollo-Christensen. I thought Christensen did an excellent job with this story, giving each character a unique voice and bringing just the right amount of snark to the voices of Kate and Jake. There is a lot going on in this story, and Christensen does a fantastic job with it all. I will definitely be wanting to listen to the next book in the series on audio as well.
Egalleys for She Doesn’t Have a Clue were provided by Minotaur Books and a copy of the audio book was provided by Macmillan Audio, both through NetGalley, with many thanks, but the opinions are mine.
