This book was such good fun!!! Yes, it included a murder but... watching Louisiana girl Odessa Dean try to fit in with the hipster crowd in Williamsburg, Brooklyn while trying to solve the murder of a co-worker/sorta friend was pure fun! Odessa is funny, witty, charming, and utterly self-effacing. She goofs and she's not afraid to goof or admit that she goofed. She's just herself, and that's so much fun to see.

I suppose KILLER CONTENT could be classed as a cozy mystery, except Olivia Blacke has put a twist on the idea of 'cozy' and while it's set in a bookshop, the bookshop doesn't double as a coffee shop or a bakery as most cozy mysteries do. It doubles as a hipster cafe and hub for microbreweries. That makes everything a bit more edgy and modern, compared to the usual formula for cozy mysteries. The best subtle part of the comparison is that Odessa's tiny hometown in Louisiana is probably exactly where a normal cozy mystery would be set.

A third thing that's special and different about KILLER CONTENT is that Odessa is not looking for love and she does not find it. No falling for vegan, gluten-free hipster or sexy cops. Just Odessa being Odessa, and figuring out that it's just fine to be Odessa. It's so sweet when she gets excited that people like her for her, when she makes true friends when she felt so cut off.

This is book one in a series and I cannot wait for book two!

Thanks to NetGalley, Berkley, and the author for a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I like this Book. A southern Girl comes to live in New York. A friend of hers dies and she think ist is müderer. Very entertaining and easy to read.

I loved this cozy that transported me to New York for a murder mystery. It was a quick, light read and was great entertainment.
Many thanks to Berkeley Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Such a fun cozy mystery. This was a quick read that was about a southern girl apartment watching for her Aunt in NYC. It was fun to see her take on the big city and loved reading about her job at a bookstore! When an employee is murdered she believes that everything is not as it seems and takes out on her own investigation against police orders. This was a fun read that was quick, light and enjoyable.

Fresh take on the cozy genre. Small town girl moves to big city instead of the typical reverse. Cat sitting for her traveling aunt, Odessa Dean leaves the blink-and-you-miss-it Louisiana town for hipster central, Brooklyn. Savings depleted, she begins working in a brew pub/bookstore where she falls into the rhythm of millennial big city life, Another waitress dies in a suspicious accident that she believes really was foul play. Filled with interesting characters, it also manages to avoid many of the typical plot points common to copies. Good mystery, good fun.

This year I’ve started trying out cozy mysteries a little and I think I found the perfect one for me! Killer Content is a Brooklyn based cozy. There were lots of quirky characters including few animals that really made this story for me.

This story stars Odessa, a fresh from the Bayou transplant to Williamsburg, Brooklyn. If you aren’t familiar with this area, it’s Mecca for hipsters. Odessa’s aunt left to travel and she’s spending the summer watching her apartment and feeding her cat, Rufus. She has a job in a craft beer and book store (my absolute dream place!) and one day Bethany, her fellow waitress ditches work to participate in a viral flash mob proposal video. Bethany is killed during this video and everyone assumes it’s an accident. But Odessa thinks it looks suspicious and decides to solve the suspected murder herself.

The hipster jokes in this book just really cracked me up. It was such a entertaining book and I loved Odessa’s fish out of water story. I enjoyed her tales of her former life in Louisiana. Who moves to NYC with only one pair of shoes? And those shoes are cowboy boots? 👢

Thank you to @berkleypublishing, @Netgalley, and @oliviablackeauthor. Killer Content is out now and the good news is the second book is out in October!

Killer Content is a very well written mystery. Good plot and character dynamics. Mystery fans will love this book.

This was such a fun take on a cozy mystery! I absolutely loved Odessa and can't wait to read more of her adventures.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for my gifted e-ARC copy of "Killer Content" in exchange for an honest review.

A murder has taken place of a viral Youtuber, and only her coworker seems to care. Odessa is still adjusting to Brooklyn city life, so when her coworker doesn't return from break, and she finds someone killed in the park, her Nancy Drew detective skills go into overdrive. Odessa becomes a modern day detective getting to the bottom of this mystery.

This book was fast paced, fun, and relatively light and happy (considering it was a murder story) - and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Odessa strikes out own her own, leaving a small-town in Louisiana for the big-city life of Brooklyn, New York. Odessa has agree to apartment-sit for her wealthy aunt who is taking a European tour. As she adjusts to city life, she realizes it cost a lot more to live in the city and she finds a job at a bookstore/cafe to cover living expenses. Clearly portrayed as a 'fish out of water,' Odessa muddles through her serving job, tries not to let her boss bully her too badly, and tries to make friends with the other wait staff. When one of her fellow servers rushes out of the cafe one morning and later is pronounced deceased after a fall in the park, Odessa is convinced she was murdered.

Definitely in the cozy murder mystery category, the focus of this story is more on Odessa and her adjustment to city life versus the actual murder mystery. Most of the book described the differences between Brooklyn and Odessa's small Louisiana hometown and why she was in Brooklyn. Hopefully this initial installment of the series set the stage for future books, and the future books will focus more on the story at hand than Odessa's back story. I'll grab book 2 (due out in Oct. 2021) to see if this is a series worth keeping up with.

I really enjoyed this cozy mystery.

It was fun story featuring Odessa, a Louisiana transplant in Brooklyn. After a coworker suddenly and mysteriously dies, she decides she will look into things. She interviews the people in her coworker’s life and slowly pieces things together.

Throughout this time Odessa forms friendships with her coworkers and becomes more settled in her new home.

Definitely recommend this one to fans of low-key, fun mysteries.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book, but found myself really enjoying it. Would definitely recommend.

Killer Content started out good, I liked Odessa, and I love a mystery. While it was cute, it got old quick.
As I mentioned, I liked Odessa, but after a while, even I thought she was going too far. Things that were supposed to be funny just seemed pathetic to me. I also didn’t think her character was built up enough in the beginning. It wasn’t until after she started trying to solve the mystery that we learned she likes true crime podcasts, which would have helped make her actions more understandable. She is also a bit of a pushover, and I didn’t like how most people treated her.
Aside from not liking many of the characters, the mystery was a little boring. I just didn’t care about it, and I didn’t get why Odessa cared so much. The mystery wasn’t great. Overall it seemed a little lame. I mean, I didn’t expect the mystery too crazy dangerous, but it could have been a little better.
The premise of this could have been great. And I will read more if there are other books in the series. I just wanted more from this book.

This was a fun and satisfying read. I really liked the setting of the bookstore / cafe in Brooklyn and kinda wish it was a real place I could visit! A great cast of characters, including a few pets, and a compelling mystery rounded out this enjoyable first book in a new series. I'll be checking out book 2!

Scooby Doo meets Girls in this delightful Brooklyn set murder mystery.

Scratch that the only thing it has in common with girls in the location...It's nothing like Girls.

Odessa Dean is new to Brooklyn working at Untapped Books & Cafe. She's got her life under control, she's got a job, a place to crash for a few months while her Aunt travels the world, and even has a few friends. Her life is peachy keen until her coworker Bethany dies after falling off a railing during a flash mob, and everyone's camera has the viral footage. Odessa knows its not an accident, everyone around her... not so much. She'll stop at nothing to uncover the murder, even if it means landing herself in hot water.

This was one of my first cozy mysteries. Now you might be thinking, what makes a cozy mystery different than a regular old mystery? There's less over the top elements to it. Sure the characters in this book may flirt, but nothing happened of it. There may be a threat of danger but no danger actually happened. It's cozy, it's quaint, it was the man in the ghost costume all along!

For being a true believer in more is better, I liked this book. It was sweet and hit all the right notes of a mystery without the shock factor. Odessa is a noble lead who just sees the best in the world, and just wants someone to believe her. Thanks Berkely, Olivia Blacke and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this lovely book.

Odessa is a young woman from a small town in Louisiana, who’s lucky enough to land a three month gig in Brooklyn, cat sitting for her rich aunt. Obviously, it’s quite an adjustment for her. And in the first couple of chapters, that’s about all we hear about. It felt as though she’d never stop talking. Eventually the writing settled in with more dialogue and character development, and the story began to flow. Odessa gets a waitressing job in a local brew pub. A few days later a fellow employee falls off a bridge in a suspected suicide. Odessa becomes obsessed with her death because she suspects something more sinister is in play.

The book is basically a cute murder mystery. If you’re expecting any heavy duty thrills, or a complicated whodunnit, you won’t find it here. It’s an easy read with an enjoyable main character. But, chances are, you’ll probably forget you ever read this book a day later. That being said, it was a nice change of pace.

Thanks NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

This book is not a typical cozy. It follows Odessa Dean, a temporary Brooklyn transplant from small-town Louisiana. Odessa's is a waitress at a book store and cafe when her fellow waitress Bethany leaves mid shift to meet some on in Domino Park and mysteriously falls from a medium high bridge. Odessa is convinced it was murder and sets out to investigate.

Odessa is a great character, not your usual mystery heroine. She's young and in the city for the first time, so the reader gets to follow not only the mystery, but her journey to find her place in New York. There are places in the middle of the book where the mystery seems to be forgotten for a bit and the pace slows, but towards the end the action ramps up to a fever pitch with an unpredictable ending. It kept me guessing.

What also kept me guessing was that there was no real love interest developed for Odessa. This is probably intentional, but I kept waiting for it to develop and it never did. Even the handsome detective ends up with someone else.

The book gets into the tech without getting too techy. I liked the relevance of that.

Overall, I really liked this book, even if it didn't shout out as an all-time fav. I would definitely read the next one in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley for the complimentary electronic copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 4 stars

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie

This debut novel is a solid first in a new series. It includes an excellent mystery with a fascinating description and history of Brooklyn, specifically the Williamsburg neighborhood in which Odessa lives and works. Odessa is defined well, and others are described as needed for their roles. I enjoyed the outrageous humor, especially in a couple scenes. We are introduced to Untapped Books and Café, an independent bookstore that offers a variety of food creations and a rotating offering of craft beers. I enjoyed hearing how community gardens, beehives, and other neighboring concerns are worked together for local products, giving Williamsburg a small-town feel.

Twenty-three-year-old Odessa is from small town Piney Island, Louisiana, and is apartment and cat-sitting in Brooklyn for three months for her beloved Aunt Melanie. The Crawdad Shack back home never prepared her for a café that carries craft beer instead of Bud and a high traffic volume traffic. One thing she is loves listening to true crime podcasts.

Bethany is a social media guru, doing daily café posts on three platforms. She has her own YouTube channel with almost 100,000 followers and an Etsy store. Just before lunch rush one day, Bethany ran out on a “life-or-death” errand, promising to be back before lunch.

When she doesn’t make it back, Todd, the “old” (40 something) manager asked Odessa to make a twitter post. When finished, she sees a post with a “flash mob proposal” heading and checks it out. As a young man was proposing to his lady, something fell behind them. A body? It was hard to tell from the quick view, but it looked like someone wearing the awful neon green polo shirts of the café. Odessa ran to the park and learned the worst. It was Bethany, as confirmed by a unique tattoo, having fallen from the overhead walkway, and she was dead. When Odessa returned to work, Todd told her he sent a text to Bethany to fire her, and Odessa would do their social media posts going forward. He refused to believe that Bethany was dead.

Izzy, the cashier and a friend of Bethany’s, didn’t believe Odessa either until they went to the nearby police station after work. The cause of death didn’t appear to be anything other than an unfortunate accident. Odessa was convinced otherwise – the height of the walkway didn’t seem sufficient, and the oversize alert bracelet she always wore was missing.

The next day, Izzy called in sick. At the end of the day, she was waiting at the door of Aunt Melanie’s apartment with suitcase, backpack, and laundry bag in hand. She wanted to stay with Odessa a few days while her place was being fumigated. Melanie had said no visitors, which probably included temporary roommates, but Odessa finally allowed Izzy stay for a couple days, especially when learning Izzy lives with other homeless people in a closed school building that was being fumigated by the city.

Despite advice from Izzy and the police, Odessa, the true crime podcast maven, began to ask questions. She talked with Bethany’s boyfriend and visited her roommates. The boyfriend was devastated, but the roommates, not so much. She hunted through a summer-hot shed full of reeking garbage bags at the park, trying to locate Bethany’s bracelet or cell phone. For someone who barely knew the woman, she was putting extraordinary effort into it.

Most of the characters are young, in their 20’s, and have a “shorthand” vocabulary. Only a few folks are older, such as the concierge at Melanie’s building. Odessa and Izzy are well-rounded, with interests and talents that they happily share with others. Odessa emphasized that there was no “typical” New Yorker, that most in Williamsburg are friendly and helpful, and she loves it more every day.

The mystery is unpredictable and intriguing. It could be enjoyed by any age, but those in their teens and twenties would best appreciate and understand the characters. One thing I welcomed was a protagonist without a current romantic interest, in part as she will be returning to Louisiana. Nothing against romance, but I did enjoy seeing one woman growing a friendship with another woman, even feeling genuinely happy for Izzy when she started dating the handsome, personable detective. The ending held surprises; while the bad guy wasn’t entirely a surprise, the motive certainly was. I particularly enjoyed Odessa’s presence of mind of how to get help! I highly recommend this first in a new series, especially to the new generation of cozy readers.

I found this to be an ok read. A bit plodding but interesting to power through. Will probably try it again soon. Thanks for the ARC!

Louisiana-native Odessa Dean jumps at the chance to get away from her small town life when her aunt asks her to apartment sit for her. Odessa gets to stay rent free at her aunt’s Brooklyn apartment as long as she watches her cat and follows the rules. Odessa soon learns she needs a job just to make it (even rent free) and begins working at Untapped Books & Cafe. One day her co-worker dues job a freak accident, but to true crime junkie Odessa, things seem very off.

I wanted to like this one! Country girl moves to the city, investigates a co-worker’s death?! It sounded so great! For me though this one lacked spark. I really didn’t connect with any of the characters. I felt Odessa looking into the death was pointless (even though it wasn’t because hello it’s the plot of the book) I was bored for the majority of this one and found myself MAJORLY skimming just to get through it. In the end it was an obvious solve and I was glad it was over. 🌟🌟💫