“Olivia looked over at Lucy. ‘So you deal with this a lot?’
Lucy sighed. ‘I haven’t known peace since 2003.’”

🌟: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

to my knowledge this is the first book inspired by a tik tok series (WHAT! BRILLIANT) and y’all I ate this UP!!

a la Bill Hader as Stefon: “this book has everything”: childhood best friends, NYC craziness (including the NJ Transit), queer representation, hilarious one-liners, relatable characters, and so much more.

the premise for this story is so unique and fun. Charlotte Illes, former child detective, gets roped into solving a new mystery for her brother’s girlfriend, and it takes her and her best friends down the most unexpected path with so many twists and turns. I also love that the book features queer and trans characters who are living their best lives (or at least are trying to, love you Charlotte) — the positive queer representation is *chefs kiss*

I originally was sent the book announcement on tik tok by a friend of mine and immediately requested it on NetGalley. while I was reading, I watched a couple of episodes of the tik tok series which were SO GOOD (a friend of mine was even in one of the episodes!! small world!) cannot recommend the web series and the book enough.

Katie, you’re an icon. This book had me in stitches, and I couldn’t put it down as soon as I started it. happy almost-pub day!! get your hands on this book! 💛

Charlotte Illes is Not a Detective by Katie Siegel is cozy LGBT+ mystery that follows the story of former child detective Charlotte Illes. The 25-year-old spends most of her time looking for a job, going on only first dates and denying her natural abilities as a super sleuth. One day her brother calls her on the old blue detective landline. He has a case that he wants her to solve.

So Charlotte travels to New York City to check out the story of her brother’s girlfriend’s work mystery. At first, she believes that it will be an open and shut case that she can solve in a day or so. The case involves possible kidnappings, murder and an unbelievably hostile work environment. It’s a lot more complicated than the simple cases that Charlotte had when she was a kid.

Charlotte is brilliant but for reasons unknown to her seems to be in a rut. She doesn’t seem to be able to move forward with personal or professional relationships. She’s still living at home with her mom. Charlotte is capable and smart so why is she failing to launch?

Her besties, Lucy and Gabe, join her in New York City to help investigate. Gabe is one of my favorite characters. He’s a trans man, an influencer on the rise and charming as can be. Gabe is the wild card while Lucy is the voice of reason. Everybody needs friend dynamic like this one.

If you are a fan of cozy mysteries, Nancy Drew or Harriet the Spy then it is very likely that you will enjoy this book. Some reviewers think that younger adults will like it more than old people. I think that most adults will like this book regardless of their age.

However, if you are closed-minded about sexual orientation or gender identity, then you might be too weird for this book. Nothing offensive happens in the book except murder and workplace hostility, which is what we really should be offended by.

I guess if you are a criminal, homophobic, or homophobic criminal then I suggest reading Dumbest Criminals Ever: 200 + True Crime Dummies.

I received this ebook from NetGalley. This is my honest review. All opinions are my own. Obviously.

Charlotte Iles is Not a Detective is the debut novel from Katie Siegel.

"Charlotte Iles was a famous child detective - sort of a female Encyclopedia Brown. Now she's bouncing from job to job and living at home with her Mom. She's lost her way. Her friends try to get her to jump back into detective work but she's not having it. That's not who she is anymore. Or is it?"

Charlotte has a lot of the same questions we all do as we look for our purpose and place in life. She does learn the importance of friends and family. And comes to an understanding of who she is.
This is an NYC-centric story. There are issues and obstacles specific to living in a big city. I do love when they mention the High Line.
It is a debut so there are so stops-and-starts in the narrative but It's still easy to follow the story.
There was one thing that bothered me but I don't feel like I'm the right person to bring it up. You'll figure it out.

There has been zero buzz for this book but it would be a nice beach read. Hope we get more Charlotte Iles stories. Nice debut from Siegel.

Charlotte Illes Is Not a Detective is a fast paced, modern mystery that I could not put down.

The characters are engaging, and each personality contributes heavily to the flow of the story. Charlotte is able to balance her internal conflicts with her external conflicts in a refreshing perspective.

The plot is intriguing and leaves readers questioning what happens next. I felt that the chapter pacing, though longer than a typical book, is divided perfectly for this book.

Overall, I highly recommend this modern mystery that is both the typical ominous mystery paired with a balanced lighter mood.

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

The premise of this one was really fun! And I thought it was a good read! The mystery was well done. Overall, I would recommend to those who think it sounds good!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

Charlotte Illes Is Not a Detective: A Modern and Witty Mystery by Katie Siegel is a fun detective book. This book’s tone feels like a young adult book. While it is a fun book, I really think it is geared towards a younger audience. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

Charlotte Illes is Not a Detective is such a fun book. I used to read cozy mysteries all the time and I had stopped for a while. Coming back to read this after reading thrillers, it was so refreshing! The mystery is well plotted and the writing smooth but what really stuck out for me were the friendships and the LGBTQ rep. If you loved Nancy Drew as a kid, I really think you will enjoy this.

Okay, I get the grown-up Harriet the Spy reference. It works.

But this book is soooo much more than that!

"..no one... ever considered how often Charlotte had been asked the same questions, over and over."

Because, beyond her childhood fame as a detective, Charlotte is just your average Jewish lesbian in her twenties just trying to be, well, average. But the story becomes quite a great mystery.

It's sweet, funny, peppered with occasional ephemera, and full of hope. That the most important thing is having faith in your friends. 💙

Ah, Charlotte. You're a delight. Truly.

I wanted to love this book! A modern day cozy mystery with LGBTQ+ rep and a MC who is a strong independent woman - sign me up! But it just didn’t hit the mark for me. It was slow, there was too much describing and telling versus dialog for my liking.

It wasn’t bad by any means, just wasn’t my jam. If you’re into cozy mysteries you should give it a read because this will totally be some people’s fav book! 🧡

This one is for all the Nancy Drew mystery PC gamers out there!

The perfect novel for those who are intrigued by the mystery genre, but still long for complex and diverse characters. Siegel's main detective gang are the modern-day queer Scooby gang of your dreams. While the mystery itself is nothing too extravagant or twisty - set in a NYC office building - the characters and their relationships are really what make this a fun and hilarious read.

I look forward to potentially more books with these next generation of sleuths!

4.5/5 ⭐️
As a child, Charlotte Illes was a famous kid detective. Now, she is 25 and floundering. She is no longer a detective, she still lives at home, and she keeps going on bad dates. This all changes when she agrees to help her brother by looking into someone who is stalking his girlfriend. Even weirder, someone in her company was recently murdered. Are the events connected? Along with her best friends, Lucy and Gabe, Charlotte decides to investigate.

This was such a fun mystery! It was like a nostalgia bomb as someone who loved reading mysteries with kid detectives when I was a child! I never really thought about what happened once they grew up, but this mystery tackles that! One of my favorite parts was the dynamic between Charlotte and her friends. They have such good rapport, and their interactions were so vivid! I’d definitely recommend this to anyone who loves mysteries, but especially those who read many kid mysteries as a child! Can’t wait for more in this series!!

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Charlotte Illes is in a bit of a funk. She has recently lost her job in a call center and is at loose ends. She is distancing herself from her two best friends Gabe and Lucy and wondering why she can't get her life together. Both of her friends seem to be flourishing.

When she was a child, she had a reputation for being able to solve all sorts of mysteries but gave it up when she got older. She was sort of famous at the time for her exploits. She wants to put her mystery-solving past behind her but doesn't know what she is supposed to do next.

When the brother she has ghosted calls and asks for her help because his girlfriend Olivia has been receiving some creepy notes, she reluctantly decides to help him. Her friend Lucy who used to be her mystery-solving sidekick decides to help her out and reconnect with her.

It doesn't take Charlotte long to figure out that the mystery was a scam engineered by her brother and her friend to get her out of her bedroom and back into life. However, the fake mystery becomes a real one when Olivia's co-conspirator who had been playing the part of the villain really does disappear and both Charlotte and Olivia are attacked by muggers.

Enlisting the third of the best friend trio Gabe who wants to be a social influencer, the trio start looking into the company where Olivia works and discover that all is not well. There are rivalries and arguments and secrets being kept.

This was an engaging story. I had some issues with Charlotte and wondered why she wanted to stop doing what had brought her so much pleasure as a child. She was an excellent problem solver and detective. It seemed like that would be an excellent career opportunity as an adult. She needed her friends' encouragement and support to see that she wasn't the failure she thought she was.

This is also a modern story which throws in the current trend of sexual options. Charlotte is bisexual and her friend Gabe is trans. This is largely irrelevant to the plot of the story except that it begins with Charlotte at a speed dating event where she is meeting other women and rejecting them for being too fascinated with her childhood reputation.

People who loved childhood detectives and wondered what their lives would be like when they hit adulthood will enjoy this story.

This was such a fun read. I absolutely adored the friendship between Charlotte, Lucy and Gabe. While they were almost always joking around, they also had some more serious conversations which I really liked.
The mystery was sometimes a bit predictable, but still really fun to try and figure out (I just want to point out that I did figure out Eric and Martín were together so props to Gabe and I).

Overall, this was a 4 star read because I really enjoyed the characters and the plot even though it was a bit predictable at times.

A new entry into the cozy scene. Charlotte is in a crisis-no job, no love life-and she's lying on the couch when she finds purpose once again . She was an ace detective as a kid but now she's 25-can she do it as an adult. I'm torn on this one because I found her annoying but liked her friends and family and the representation. Thanks to Netgalley for theARC. Curious to see where this goes next,

coming-of-age, fiction, cozy-mystery, LGBT, situational-humor, verbal-humor, contemporary, amateur-sleuth****

Come for the fun!
The mystery didn't quite do it for me, but I laughed my sox off! Great stress reducer! Probably not a good beach read unless you don't mind people looking at you funny because you're laughing out loud (especially if you choose the audio with earbuds!).
I requested and received an EARC from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

Charlotte was know for being a childhood mystery solver like Encyclopedia Brown. She 25 and seems a bit adrift as the book opens. She is living with her mom but doesn’t seem to have a job or income. (Maybe there were some big payout rewards from her youth as she doesn’t hesitate to go out and eat and drink with her friends.) Her brother calls and asks her to solve a mystery of some threatening notes left for his girlfriend so she goes NYC to visit him. As a bonus her childhood best friend Lucy lives in NYC as well. The note mystery is easy to solve but a person who works with the girlfriend is murdered. It could be a mugging but evidence suggests otherwise. Lucy who is a school teacher and off for the summer joins as her sidekick to investigate the workplace. They are joined by another friend Gabe who is growing a brand to be an influencer.

I love cozy mysteries and I really hope this the beginning of a new series. I enjoyed the flashbacks to her childhood and little mysteries she solved, like who is the kindergarten crayon thief. Charlotte is on a first date with a woman as the book begins and it is mentioned that Gabe is trans but neither is in a relationship. The LGBTQIA+ representation is limited but may be built up more in future storylines. The mystery itself is decent with follow the clues, threats, toss in some accusations and see how people respond. But it being tied into whether a business gets unionized isn’t very exciting.

I found the Charlotte and her sidekicks fun and likable. Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Books for the ARC and I am leaving a voluntary review. (3.5 Stars)

This was a cute book about a child detective all grown up. Charlotte was a sweet quirky character and I enjoyed her adventure. The characters were all fun and likeable. Overall, this was a fun quick read. I would definitely read a second Charlotte Illes book! Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for a digital arc of this title.

Having been a locally famous Harriet the Spy in her younger days, Charlotte Illes is now a struggling young adult trying to fnd a purpose in life. Whan her brother calls seeking help with a stalker situation, Charlotte dives right in and figures out the conundrum, with help from her best friends Gabe and Lucy. But then her brother's girlfriends start disappearing, or worse, and Charolotte has a real life mystery on her hands.

Well within the Cozy Mystery genre, this is definitely a novel that encompasses a wide range of characters, lifestyles, and viewpoints. The mid-twenties Charlotte and her cohorts represent the millenial viewpoint (as much as this GenX-er can discern!) and will appeal well to readers from that generation.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book.
5 big stars
Are you a fan of Harriet the Spy? Nancy Drew? Veronica Mars? You will LOVE this! And I'm so excited it's going to be a series. I was laughing before I even started the book - the author had me at the chapter titles. The whole book was so funny and clever. I loved all the main characters and can't wait to read about their future shenanigans. I'm a big mystery reader and I didn't even try to figure this out, I was having too much fun. Definitely in my top 5 for the year so far. Can't recommend this enough!

This is a great quozy of a child detective who seems to have lost her way. However, with her brother and her friends, she starts to get back on the track when a man is murdered and another turns up missing. Highly recommended.