Another story about a private investigator. MEH! I felt like I have read similar books before, of course there was major different parts but still nothing special to hold my interest.

Wasn't a huge fan of this one. I was hoping for a bit more action, considering the note from the first chapter.

I was a little unsure about this book when I first picked it up, because mysteries aren't my usual forte, but this one surprised me. I liked the main character and wanted to know more about her, which only makes me want to read more in the series. The fact that I figured out who the killer was early on didn't deter from the book either, which can happen for me sometimes. I would definitely recommend this one!

With Madison Kelly, Elizabeth Breck introduces a strong female protagonist to the PI genre.

Breck’s background as a private investigator shines through in her understanding of how the job really works. Her details about what Madison can and cannot (legally!) do and how she thinks about her career provide an authentic voice often missing from fictional private detective novels.

Set in my hometown of San Diego, I enjoyed traveling through a city I lived in for more than twenty years and still visit regularly. Whether you know the city or not, the descriptions will take you on a tour around town as if you were hanging out with a local for the weekend.

Putting her PI in personal danger right at the beginning of the novel definitely increased my interest in Madison. I wanted to see how this smart, sassy young woman would deal with all the challenges that Breck would throw at her. And the challenges are plentiful!

Breck does a good job of keeping the obstacles big and raising the stakes throughout.

With a steady pace and enough excitement to build to a satisfying climax, Anonymous definitely held my attention to the end.

This was a taut roller coaster of a novel that kept me up late at night.
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Even if I appreciated how the author dealt with the social issues I found the story very slow and it didn't keep my attention.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Anonymous is the first instalment in a new mystery series and tells the story of Madison "Maddie" Kelly, female private investigator--and alter-ego of author and P.I. Elizabeth Breck, set against the coffee houses and surfer culture of La Jolla, San Diego, CA. One day Madison goes for her usual jog but when she returns to her oceanfront apartment she discovers a deeply unsettling note pinned to her front door: "Stop investigating me or I will hunt you down and kill you. BITCH. No police,” it reads. There is also a strand of long blonde hair attached to the note, which she imagines was placed there by the note writer for a reason and not that it was merely an accident. Initially, she is confused by the threat because she is between jobs and is not currently investigating any cases. However, she then recalls that she tweeted about the cold cases of two young women that were featured on the true-crime podcast Crawlspace and had recently been sniffing around them informally. Samantha Erickson vanished after leaving a bar in the Gaslamp District four years ago and Elissa Alvarez on her way home from a bar in the same neighbourhood two years later.

Maddie vows to carry on her informal investigation, even going so far as interviewing a host of possible suspects and uncovering some hidden agendas. Meanwhile, we see for ourselves the shady guys who could be her stalker, including a neighbour and an ex. This is a captivating start to what seems to be a promising series and there is plenty of action throughout to keep you glued to the pages. It feels authentic and realistic in terms of the plot, and I loved the fact that Maddie is based on Breck who is a PI herself; this makes me wonder how much of the cases are from experience. Although the cast of characters is limited this allowed extra attention to detail regarding our central figure and smart, sassy protagonist, Madison; I am already looking forward to watching her evolve and mature through the upcoming books. There is quite a bit of exposition is this novel but that's forgivable due to it being a series opener, and I am pleased the author took the time to introduce us to Maddie and the setting soundly. All in all, this is a unique and rapid-fire debut with a startling conclusion, and a highly recommended page-turner.

I did not finish this. It's just not for me. I'm sure some readers may enjoy the book, but I did not like the writing style. The main character did not come off as likable to me, and I just could not get into the story. This happens sometimes, so you will need to decide for yourself. You may feel much differently than I.

Private Investigator Madison Kelly is barely making it doing insurance investigations. When there is a threatening note left on her door, she has no idea who could be targeting her. Contacting her friend, Detective Tom Clark, for assistance was her only choice although things were a little strained between them. Of course, when told not to do something…even though she wasn’t, isn’t enough to keep her from investigating. She begins to see a correlation between a podcast that she listens to highlighting two missing women. When her response to the podcast brings another threat, she knows she is on the right track. When her life is truly in danger, she can only count on saving herself. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)

3.50 Stars. This was a pretty good mystery book. There were things that definitely annoyed me, but the mystery itself was a lot of fun to read. Since I read a large amount of LGBTQ+ books, I do want to mention that this is not one of them. I saw this mystery book on Netgalley and it instantly grabbed my attention. One of my all-time favorite authors is the ultimate mystery novelist Sue Grafton (RIP). Her books about a California PI will always hold a special place in my heart. So when I saw that this book was by a mystery author with an appreciation for Grafton, also writing about a PI in California, and who is a PI in real life, I knew I had to read this. This is a debut book for Breck and although there were some bumps, there were parts that I really enjoyed.

I enjoyed the premise of this book and it caught my attention right away. Madison, a PI, gets a threatening note on her door to stop investigating or she will die. The problem is she isn’t investigating anything at the moment so what is going on? The only thing Madison can think of doing is to start investigating since the police might not take the notes seriously. Will she be able to figure out what is going on before it’s too late?

There are some mixed early reviews for this story and I’m not surprised. The main character is a type of character I can see rubbing people the wrong way. For one, she is pretty Mary Sue-ish. She is the most beautiful woman ever and I think it was only a quarter of the way into the book and already three different men want her. And of course she is one of the best investigators ever. I personally don’t mind Mary Sue characters; they just don’t really bother me. Yes, it was annoying all these men drooling over her, but I didn’t mind her being so great in the other areas.

The second issue I expect some people to have was about the personality of the main character. I’m not into calling other women out their names, but this is a character and she really is bitchy and grumpy half the time. Again, this didn’t really bother me because I like my PI’s with some issues. I don’t like normal well-adjusted investigators. I want them to have flaws and problems especially if they are going to be “great” in so many other areas.

What I did have an issue with was Madison’s attitude to certain things. She keeps insisting she is this strong woman and doesn’t need a man, yet she is constantly surrounded by them and every time something happens she goes running to them. It was really annoying. I just want to add there are no explicit sex scenes, but some sex off the page. Madison also stated how she just can’t understand other women and is only friends with men (insert giant eye roll here). Of course the one person who puts their neck on the line to help Madison the most ends up being a female friend.

What made this book fun for me was the mystery. I thought it was really strong and well done. While I did guess who that “bad guy/gal” was pretty early on, I still was sucked into the story and really wanted to see how it would play out. There were turns in the mystery I didn’t expect and there were a number of exciting scenes that kept me turning the pages. I think Breck being a PI in real life really helped the mystery in a positive way.

In conclusion, I would recommend this to mystery fans if you can get over the bumps. There are issues with this main character. She is shallow about looks and in denial about being boy crazy. She will say and act in ways that will probably annoy you, but the mystery really was fun. I’m guessing this is the start of a series and chances are reasonably high that I would read a book 2. With this being a debut I’m hopeful the bumps that were here would not be present in the next installment.

An interesting start to a new series. Madison is a private investigator who finds herself under the eye of a villain for an investigation she's not conducting. That's right. But, because of that, she finds herself looking into the case of two women who went missing. This is set in San Diego and those is live in the area (or have spent time there) will appreciate the local color which adds to the story. Madison herself is a conundrum. She's had a double mastectomy, sees herself as a strong feminist who doesn't need a man, and yet she is dismissive of other women for a variety of reasons and surrounds herself with men. And enough already about how beautiful she is. I didn't find her likable and I should have seen her as the sort of spunky protagonist Break wanted her to be. That said, the mystery itself is well done. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Give it a try- I'd like to see another outing.

I am afraid I found this book to be too slow and over descriptive for me .I am however an impatient reader, and other more patient readers may enjoy it more I hope so.

A fast-paced, interesting novel about a kick-ass PI. The author is also a PI, which gives it a feel of authenticity. I also loved the La Jolla setting with the surfers and local restaurants - I was really able to pretend I was there and get into the story.

Anonymous by Elizabeth Breck is a superb read! It is an engrossing page turner of a read well worth the time spent

A very slow pace that failed to pick up momentum. The narrative does touch on sensitive subject matters, however, they are not ones that are new to this genre. The characters were severely underdeveloped and the writing itself was hard to get through. Perhaps a better fit for those looking for a slow, easy read. 1 star

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

It took me longer than usual to read this book because it started out a bit too slow for me. However, I'm finally finished and it ended well!
Madison Kelly a Private Investigator comes home after her run to find a note speared to her door. " Stop investigating me or I will hunt you down and kill you. BITCH. No police." She's Baffled as to why someone would leave such a note because she WAS NOT INVESTINGATING anyone!! If someone was hoping to scare her, it backfired. Now her interest was piqued.
What does she do? The complete opposite. She immediately tries to figure out what prompted this. Finally, she concluded that this occurred because of some tweets she posted after listening to a podcast about two missing girls. Madison immediately launches an investigation of her own to figure out who Anonymous is. The story gradually picked up from there.
I loved the character Madison because she's very strong, determined and independent. She is not intimidated by anyone even though she has some trust issues. I think the next Madison Kelly will be something to look forward to. I would recommend this book. However, I*m giving this book three stars just because it started out too slow for me.


Thank you NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and Elizabeth Breck for Anonymous

Content warnings: misogyny, physical abuse, domestic violence

Madison Kelly, private investigator, comes home from a jog to find a note, and her hair, stabbed to her front door: “Stop investigating me, or I will hunt you down and kill you.” Unfortunately, Madison is in a career lull, and isn’t investigating anyone. The only way to figure out who’s threatening her is to risk her life, and start investigating the letter.

There are several ways that Anonymous falls into clichés, but one of its largest, and most pervasive problems, is its heroine. Madison is every overused bestseller PI trope, rolled into one blonde, tall, beautiful package. She’s smarter than everyone else around her. (She doesn’t, however, understand California law about what constitutes stalking). She hates guns, but she manages to have one at the ready every time she needs one. She’s better at following someone than the police. She manages to have three men vie for her attention and affection somehow. And, because each detective protagonist has to have a quirk, she has a double mastectomy with reconstruction (which she brings up at many points), and EXTREMELY unlikely luck, which is also stated without irony several times in the text. She is so fortunate, in fact, that she manages to find a cell phone lost by a murder victim 4 years ago by dropping a bracelet, which she slides out along with the phone. She also has a habit of name-dropping famous mystery authors, like Sue Grafton, and comparing herself to them.

Warning: Beyond this point, there are SPOILERS for Anonymous. I normally omit as many plot details as possible, but I would not be able to explain some of the problems with this novel without discussing the weak points of its plot.

Worse than being an extreme example of a Mary Sue, the narration provided by Madison has a heavy undercurrent of internalized misogyny. At one point in the novel, Madison meets a woman who wants to hire her in order to help with a divorce from her physically abusive husband—but the husband finds out about the meeting beforehand, and knows Madison’s name. Madison immediately condemns her as a “stupid woman,” and goes on a tangent about hating dumb women, before telling the wife that she’s on her own, and that she made a stupid mistake in an unprofessional and disrespectful way. Later in the story, Madison calls her again, and the wife has done just as she’s asked: left the husband, and gone to stay with a relative. Madison takes a moment to reflect on this, instead of as a positive development, as a waste of her time caused by a rich, spoiled woman who only wanted more money in her divorce. In addition to she characterizes of cancer patients with a worse prognosis/more aggressive treatment of her as weak people, and frames walking out of the cancer center after surgery as a victory over not becoming one of them. Madison’s thinly-veiled superiority complex reveals her as an extremely offensive and unlikable protagonist with few redeeming factors, even for a reader who likes antiheroes or protagonists with major flaws.

Unfortunately, the novel’s other characters aren’t any better. Many are stereotypes, especially of blonde surfer men, police officers, or Hispanic women. Furthermore, a lesbian character is included, but is characterized as unintelligent, obsessive, and annoying by Madison, and has very little to do in the plot. I can’t help but feel that it would have been less derogatory to omit this character than to include her in the novel, as it feels like tokenism.

The settings of the novel are less than exciting, as they’re areas that are reproduced time and time again in mystery novels and TV: beaches, coffee shops, bars, restaurants, apartments. The pacing isn’t slow, but if you’re familiar with the mystery genre, there’s a good chance that you’ll realize key elements of the plot before its heroine does. The conclusion of the book makes logical sense, but also is less than satisfying, as it takes several deus ex machina to get there. Madison hasn’t changed much by the end, either, apart from admitting a tiny bit of fear to her surfer love interest, who returns the affectionate confession – who then, inexplicably, runs away from the scene of Madison’s near-murder because he sees a great wave.

I can’t recommend Anonymous in its current state, although I normally love to let people know about books with a strong female lead. Its quality would have been greatly improved by rethinking its main character, using a sensitivity reader, and relying less on luck or statistically impossible circumstances to push the plot forward.

3 for neutral, will update at later date if able to finish book. I tried to read on a few occasions, but just couldn’t get captured enough to finish. Can’t rate poorly something I was unable to read all the way through.

I am always a huge fan of mysteries with female protagonists, but this one just didn’t capture me. Still searching for a new Sue Grafton.

Thank you Netgalley for this Arc.

The description of this book proved to be more interesting than the actual book. The characters weren't particularly engaging and the climax was kind of a let down. I would not recommend this book.