Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest rating and review.

5/5

This 👏🏻 book 👏🏻 is 👏🏻 so 👏🏻 much 👏🏻 fun!

I grew up reading Nancy Drew, Nate the Great, Cam Jansen, Sammy Keyes, and so many other child detective stories. That’s what this is except it’s got adult characters and adult target audience. The main character does some amateur sleuthing with her friends and family at her side! The mystery itself wasn’t too mind-blowing or intense, but the joy was really in the nostalgic feel of this book. It was also very funny and had very clever humor slipped in places I wasn’t expecting. There were a couple times I laughed out loud. One testament to the good writing the author achieved is that there was a pretty large cast of characters, yet I never once found myself wondering who who.

Again, this was a really fun one that I recommend to all the Nancy Drew kids out there.

I loved the premise of this book. A former kid sleuth like Trixie Belden or Encyclopedia Brown being sucked back into the sleuthing world after trying to give it up was intriguing. While on the whole I liked the book, I’m not sure it was executed the best. Let me try to explain.

Lottie Illes became famous after she started solving mysteries at a young age. When she grew up, she gave up sleuthing for a more normal life, went to college and got a job. But now she’s 25 with no job, living at home with her mother, having a quarter-life crisis. She’s gay but not in a relationship, has two best friends, one hetero and one bi trans, and they definitely provide the comic relief as well as support throughout the book. I’m not sure if this is a YA book or not, but it definitely gives off those vibes with the young people’s relationships.

Charlotte’s brother’s girlfriend has a mystery to solve involving her work. She’s convinced to “take a look around” but insists she’s not putting on her sleuthing hat again. What follows is an investigation that left me wanting. Throughout the investigation, there’s a lot of dumb decisions made by Charlotte, and not knowing what to do until she discusses it with others, and her best friend Lucy seems more level-headed and sleuth-like.

I’m also a bit confused how Charlotte and her friends can afford to eat out and go out for drinks all the time. She’s unemployed, where is she getting her money from? Her friend Gabe is a social media manager for a mattress company and without much effort is making a splash, yet it’s a small company so it’s doubtful he’s making a lot of bank. It’s something like this that bothered me throughout the narrative. It was unrealistic.

So, what turned out to be a fantastic concept turned out to be a mediocre mystery. After reading the book, I found out that this book was inspired by a series of Tik Tok videos, and I hate to say it, but any book I’ve happened to read that was a Book Tok sensation was a disappointment. Maybe it’s a generational thing.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Kensington Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Such a fun read! It gave me all the vibes of my favorite childhood reads in a sparkling Gen Z package.

Charlotte Illes Is Not a Detective by Katie Siegel is a book that checked every single box for me.

I am a huge fan of cozy mysteries and this book was everything I needed and wanted.

This cozy mystery with LGBT rep is so well written. This is what the cozy mystery genre needs.

Charlotte Isles is in her 20's and a former child detective, which has seemed to shape her life no being unemployed and a bit lost. Her brother asks her to solve a mystery for his girlfriend and though she isn't really interested initially, she does it for her brother.

The friendships in this book are so real. Charlotte is queer and Gabe is bi trans and this was so relatable to me, I absolutely loved this. As a queer person, seeing this rep in a book always makes me so HAPPY and SEEN.

The mystery which involved the corporate world and unions was really well written.

I felt as if I was going on an adventure with Charlotte and her friends.

This book was SO good , I just can't say enough good things about this book!

Charlotte is a former kid detective (fkd) as an adult she's trying to find something else to do. But she's sinking. Her brother invites her to stay at his apartment and help solve a mystery. Someone's been leaving weird notes on their apartment for Olivia.

Charlotte helps figure out the mystery and then a co-worker of Olivia's goes missing. Charlotte decides to look into it with her best friends Lucy & Gabe.

A new LGBTQia cozy mystery series. Yes, please. I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to read more.

A quirky mystery with interesting characters, Charlotte Illes is Not a Detective is the novel version of a TikTok series. 

Charlotte is a former child detective all grown up and sort of floundering. She ends up taking on a case of her brother's girlfriend being stalked and stumbles upon a whole other mystery. 

Charlotte's friends are amazing, and I love their banter! There wasn't really a big twist, but I appreciated that the author actually laid out all the clues for Charlotte (and the reader) to put together in a way that made sense. If I'd gone into this expecting a sort of cozy mystery, I wouldn't be disappointed. 

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review!

I'm sorry, but I just don't know what t say about this book. Don't get me wrong; it is a cute book and gives me a different perspective on people. However, this book could not keep me engaged at all. I love mysteries, but this one was too forced for my tastes. The ages of the main characters have me wondering if this is the problem I'm having. I normally love learning about the younger generation and what they think of life and relationships. Not this time.

Charlotte came off as unlikeable, clueless, and whiny. One of her friends is trying to be an influencer, and a lot of people in my generation may think that this is just another way of saying, "My job is all about wanting/expecting stuff for free and taking no responsibility for your life."

I guess that I am just the totally wrong audience for this type of book.

*ARC supplied by the publisher Kensington, the author, and NetGalley.

Dear Katie Siegel, please tell me that you have more Charlotte Illes books on the way. Yes, I was absolutely a fan of kid and teen detective books as a kid. And, yes, the gifted-kid adult-worrier hits a bit close to home. But I just want to hang out with these people! I really hope that we get to see more of Charlotte, Lucy, Gabe, Olivia, Charlotte's mom, and even Landon. (I can hear Landon objecting in my head to that statement. But that's what he gets for eating like that..)

Charlotte was the quintessential detective kid. But in high school, doubt set in. And unfortunately it never went away. Landon calls her up to help with figuring out who is stalking his girlfriend Olivia. Bonus: Heading there gets her closer to her best friend Lucy, and Gabe isn't far behind. Can she solve the mystery? And what's up with that coincidental murder.....?

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read this advance review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own, however.

charlotte illes is not a detective by katie siegel: 5 out of stars

i had so much fun with this! as a kid i loved the boxer children and the baby-sitters club mystery series with a smattering of nancy drew, and charlotte illes is not a detective felt like those books: centered around a mystery and a group of friends without the use of authorities. i love agatha christie books but there’s just something about a group of young people working without the cops.

charlotte illes was a kid detective. she solved mysteries, found missing things, was given accolades and the key to a city. at 25, she’s feeling a little adrift: her best friends seem to have their shit together way more than she does, she doesn’t solve mysteries anymore because she wants to be known as something other than the (kid) detective but she also hasn’t really been happy since she was detecting.

a plan to get charlotte to visit her friends turns into a murder mystery with higher stakes. i had a lot of fun watching charlotte figure things out, in terms of the mystery and her life; her observations were things i didn’t catch, and her anxiety finally reaches a point where her friends won’t let her ignore her feelings. and charlotte hates talking about feelings.

it’s a very millennial/gen z book—if you don’t like how i talk, you won’t like this book. there are parentheticals in dialogue, the characters are struggling with not feeling like enough/feeling lost/not knowing how to start over, charlotte’s brother is chastised for calling the police, everyone’s race and ethnicity is described. i loved it. charlotte is jewish and sapphic, her best friend lucy is a white latina, her other best friend gabe is a filipino trans man who dates multiple genders, and their banter made me laugh several times.

i recommend this to anyone in the mood for a fun friend group, a contemporary mystery, and relatable feelings.

thank you netgalley and kensington for the arc in exchange for an honest review. this releases june 27, 2023.

As a lover of Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew, and the Hardy Boys, the premise of this book was super appealing. I did not like it as much as I hoped, though. The characters were great. Charlotte, Lily, and Gabe have a wonderful and accepting friendship and Charlotte's family dynamics are lovely. The premise of the book of as a sort of coming of age story for those in their mid-20s works very well. What doesn't work so well is the mystery part of the book. It is convoluted and a bit nonsensical and meanders to a somewhat odd final confrontation.

I would give 4 stars for character development and 2 stars for the mystery, making this an overall 3 star read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a complementary ARC of this book. The opinions herein are my own.

Early on, Charlotte says her least favorite part of a case is hunting down all the puzzle pieces before you start putting them together. Unfortunately, this book is all hunting pieces, with the solution blurted out in a big confrontation scene. Because she's not really solving anything, the reader can't do it along with her.

The other parts of the story are good, with the appropriate Gen-Whatever adult touches, like a decent portrayal of what a social media manager does, everybody driving used cars, bad roommates, etc.

I wish Charlotte's and Lucy's voices were more distinct. Even though they tease Lucy about her big vocabulary ("great SAT word!"), there was some back-and-forth dialog where it just wasn't clear who had what lines.

But the big let-down is the detective story.

Full disclosure, as someone who loved child detective novels when I was younger, this book seemed targeted right for me. From a technical standpoint, Charlotte herself as a character could have been more fleshed out, but her uncertainties regarding her character and her future are core to the book. She is built, instead, by her relationships – with her past self, her current situation, her friends, her family. There are two mysteries here, the Whodunnit (a fun read in itself) and the more personal WhoamI, which resonated with me more clearly. The positive and prominent queer representation throughout the book was also a huge plus. This book was a fun read, and I can’t wait to share it with my father (who gave me my love of mysteries). I hope others enjoy it as much as I did.

This was such a fun read! Anyone who loved Veronica Mars or Harriet the Spy will enjoy Charlotte's journey. Her friends, Gabe and Lucy, are also delightful and I look forward to more sleuthing adventures with this trio.

Thank you so much Kensington Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I am a fan of Katie from tiktok so when I heard she was coming out with a book based on one of her skits, I was so excited! This whole things really screams "Nancy Drew for adults" and it was so much fun. I will admit, I knew something was going to be a little sus when it turns out Landon was the one that called Lottie for the case but that wasn't much of a problem for me once I really got into the book. I loved the trio, I found myself literally laughing out loud to some of their one liners and I love how even though they are friends that are silly and bounce jokes around, they still do talk about serious issues when it's called for.

I had a really fun time with this book but the main reason I knocked a half star was because toward the end, I started to get a little bit lost. Some of the theories going around in Lottie's head were a bit too far fetched for me to make sense of them with her and it almost felt like she was trying to make the evidence fit the verdict she wanted instead of letting it lead to the conclusion that was correct. Other than that, I can't wait for the book to officially come out!

Charlotte Illes is Not a Detective
By Katie Siegel
Kensington
June 27, 2023

Review by Cynthia Chow

Charlotte knew the evening was going downhill as soon as her date said that she’d googled her. Charlotte was indeed once a “mini Sherlock Holmes,” only without a Watson or cocaine habit (she’d learned to not joke about the last part). No longer a ten-year-old famous for successfully solving crimes operated out of a detective business in her family’s garage, Charlotte is now an aimless twenty-year-old Gen Z-er still living at home while futilely looking for a job that gives her a sense of purpose. So when her brother calls the Detective Hotline – an actual landline phone that she can’t believe her mother continues to pay for – Charlotte feels obligated to help Landon and his request for a detective. It’s actually his girlfriend Olivia Kimura who needs help though, as the software developer has been receiving threats possibly related to the delivery app company where she works. Scoop delivery workers have been making plans to unionize, and the death and disappearance of employees mean that Charlotte is unable to resist helping out her brother by once again entering the detective business.

Dealing with murders and dead bodies violates one of the rules set up by their mother, but this time Charlotte will have the help of her own versions of Nancy Drew’s Bess and George investigating besties. Charlotte first met the Filipino-American, Trans, bisexual, mattress company social media director when they were freshmen in high school, and she has known schoolteacher Lucy Ortega since kindergarten. While they are more than eager to once again join into the fray of amateur detective work, Charlotte can’t help but feel like she is regressing and dragging them back into a life that they should have outgrown. Charlotte’s investigating skills have admittedly grown a little rusty – hence the crawling back through a window to retrieve a purse – but it’s her lack of confidence in her instincts that will force her to rely on the support of the very friends whom she believed left her behind. For while they grew up and now live normal, adult lives, Charlotte still hasn’t found an identity that isn’t tied to being a Former Kid Detective.

Anyone who loved reading mysteries as a kid must have at some point wondered what happens when their favorite teen detective grows up. The film Kid Detective delightfully depicted a rather darker and drunker version than this one, even though Charlotte definitely struggles with a similar identity crisis and fear of not living up to expectations. Very few people have the same goals as an adult as they did as a child, and once Charlotte became a teenager she never again found the same sense of purpose. It’s a topic many will in some way relate to, although they will wish that they had their own hilarious, witty, and supportive group of detective-enabling friends. Lucy and Gabe are worthy of their own starring series, with the school teacher looking for a reason to break up with her boyfriend while Gabe’s Instagramming skills far outpace the needs of his unfulfilling job. Readers of all ages will be able to relate to their attempts to find their own identities, while mystery fans will adore seeing how a child detective grew up. Just as appealing is the inclusivity and diverse cast of characters populating the novel, especially considering how they are woven in seamlessly and naturally. This is a very entertaining and well-crafted mystery that lives up to the author’s own social media popularity.

First, I really love that there is lgbtq+ representation in a book when it’s normalized and not the central plot point!

Charlotte Illes reminded me a lot of one of my favorite (current) fictional crime solvers: Vera Kelly. I love the mystery, the intrigue, all of it. I wish Charlotte and her friends were a little more nuanced in their characters (the storyline felt plot driven and I personally love character driven storytelling). But all in all, I look forward to seeing what Illes gets up to next!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

This book is perfect for those of us who grew up with Scooby Doo, Harriet the Spy, or even Blue's Clues and miss the thrill of guessing the culprit before the end of the episode. Charlotte herself misses that thrill, though she is loathe to admit it. When her brother calls her in to solve "one last mystery," her childhood yearning gets the better of her. What results is a book that has twists and turns, wrapped in childhood besties, wrapped in adulthood doubt, wrapped in a fun and fabulous read. Even if you're not an ex child detective.

What happens when the kid dectective grows up? Charlotte Illes experienced a modest amount of fame for the mysteries she solved as a child, and is now experiencing a quarter-life crisis of identity when her friends and brother convince her to take on one more case. This mystery turns out to have higher stakes than the ones she solved as a child (she's going to have to violate her mother's firm rule of "no bodies" now), plus, breaking and entering hits different when you can be charged as an adult. Quirky and almost cozy, this story has queer representation as well as a great representation of the trials of finding yourself in your early adulthood.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me a galley ahead of publication.

The investigative trio is the best part of the book. Their banter us hilarious. Their hijinks wre zany. No notes.

I found the actual mystery somewhat lackluster in comparion. It vacillated beteeen low-stakes corporate chicanery and murder. Very different grades of mischief. Interesring things happened.

I give it a solid 4 stars

This book is great. I keep seeing books advertised as "millennial cozy" and I this might be the perfect example. There are conversations about police involvement, there are real friendships, there are multiple non-white, straight, cis characters who have modern and realistic character arcs and backstories. The mystery and sleuthing was realistic, but still interesting and compelling. There is a bit of the "I don't want to solve a mystery" from the main character but this was done so well I can't find a thing to complain about - it made sense for the character and was handled so well. I loved the intermixing of Charlotte's old cases with the modern plotline - it was just the right touch of backstory and nostalgia.

I can't say enough good things about this book - if you are looking for a good cozy this one is going to be my first recommendation and I can't wait to own a copy to have all my friends read.

I sincerely hope that this is just the beginning and there are so many more adventures of Charlotte Illes.