Vanessa Lillie has done it again with this twisty thriller. Jules Worthington-Smith is the protagonist that you love to hate (or maybe just hate). She has a lot of complex problems, caused by her family and herself, that ultimately entangle her in a murder that she may or may not have committed.

I enjoyed the format of the book, alternating between traditional prose narration and the scripts of the Vlogs that Jules is creating as she tries to track down the killer. You watch as Jules tracks down leads in the case and basically proves to be a pretty horrible (and aggressive) detective. But however bad her own detective work is, the introspective work that she does makes this book an interesting read. Plus, there are a couple twists at the end that I didn't see coming!

This was a quick read for me, in part due to the Vlog scripts and in part because I just wanted to know what happened! Jules was not my favorite, and I really struggled to feel bad for her until the end, but I found the portrayal of her self-destruction realistic. As a Rhode Islander, the name-dropping of different restaurants, bars, street names, etc. was a lot of fun. It felt like I was there, following Jules around on her investigation. I also liked the callbacks to Little Voices, with Phillip Hale, making it clear that the two stories exist in the same universe.

Overall, this was a gripping read that you should read if you like thrillers!

Thanks to Vanessa Lillie and Thomas & Mercer for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

4 stars

TW: murder; alcoholism; infidelity; death of a child