This was a fun, cozy mystery, I was able to guess who the killer was and why they were the killer but I still thoroughly enjoyed the book and kept reading because I needed to know if I was right!

I recommend this book if you are looking for a quick, fun mystery to keep you interested from start to finish.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Lyla Moody is a receptionist at her uncle’s private investigation firm in the small town of Sweet Mountain, Georgia. She enjoys her book club which discusses both fictional and real crimes. LIfe is good until her best friend Melanie goes on vacation and her cousin starts dating Lyla’s ex-boyfriend. Things get even worse when the dead body of one of her club members is found in a suitcase on her doorstop. The suitcase belongs to Melanie who just returned to town and now Lyla must put her knowledge of true crime to use and clear her friend’s name.

This book has a really interesting premise and Lyla reminded me of a cross between Charlaine Harris’s Aurora Teagarden and Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum. The book is a little more graphic than a typical cozy mystery, but has some of the elements including a spunky main character with a pushy mom, a small Southern town, and a friend who is falsely accused of murder. Unfortunately for most of the book, those elements just don’t come together for me. I like Lila and how independent she is, but couldn’t connect with too many of the other characters to make the book enjoyable. If there had been more scenes with the club members interacting, it may have given me a chance to get to know some of the other characters in more depth. It starts out slow, but does pick up as the story gets moving.

The mystery is a little darker and more complex than in some cozies. It is suspenseful and I could never have guessed the identity of the actual killer. I enjoy the real books that are sometimes mentioned in the story. The threatening text messages Lyla receives add some excitement as well. Lyla has the potential to be a good investigator and the series does have potential. The story doesn’t always flow smoothly so I was sometimes confused about what was going on. There are some things left in the air at the end to create interest in subsequent books. I like the premise and I like how well Lyla and her grandmother get along. I’m not sure I will keep following the series, but I think the book may appeal to those who usually read thrillers and are looking for a bit of a traditional mystery mixed in with the suspense element.

I received this ebook from NetGalley through the courtesy of Crooked Lane. An advance copy was provided to me at no cost, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.

3.75⭐️s

Thank you to Netgalley, Kate Young, and Crooked Lane Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

What a fun cozy mystery! Being a big fan of cozy mysteries, I have read my fair share, and this is one of the better ones! It wasn’t too cheesy, I actually really liked the characters, and the creepy factor was there! There were a couple of times while reading it that I actually found myself scoping out dark corners haha.

The mystery aspect of this story was legit mystery! It was well done in my opinion, and it had some shivery creepy cool aspects! The murder was the most scary and gross I have ever read in a cozy! I like that there is still that amateur sleuth aspect to the story, though. And it was pretty light on the romance, which I also appreciated!

If you’re looking for a light creepy read, but that you’ll (likely) be able to sleep at night during and after reading it, give it a shot!! I am looking forward to more in this series and will definitely read them!!!

Books, murder, and ice tipping sipping Southern ladies to the rescue all combine for a terrific afternoon's romp solving a small town mystery in Georgia. Well written and easy to lose track of time mystery.

This is the first in the Jane Doe Book Club mystery series. Lyla Moody lives in her hometown of Sweet Mountain Georgia and is working as a receptionist for her Uncle Calvin. Her Mother is proper southern and her father is a psychiatrist and neither of them are thrilled with her desire to ultimately become a private investigator and as her mother calls her dead book club. Lyla is running late for a meeting with her Uncle and potential new clients and is almost run over by her friend Carol in a new BMW. Carol appears to have a passenger with a camo hat and she is violently crying. That day Uncle Calvin gets a call from Judge Timms wanting him to investigate the disappearance of his wife Carol but Lyla says she just saw her. She brings this up at her book club and thinks they should look for her but also Carol sent out an email to the group to investigate “Jane Does” who have been dumped along the interstate. The story takes a morbid turn when Lyla gets home she finds out her new neighbor is her ex-boyfriend Kevin and her nasty cousin Ellen. There is a suitcase on her porch and she assumes it is that of her neighbor Melanie’s who is returning from a cruise but her luggage was lost. She takes it in her house and the next day when Melanie gets home she comes over and Lyla wants to give her the luggage and she realizes it is not hers but Carols. The case smells terrible and they discover her body inside. The mystery begins after this but this was really a disturbing mystery with someone sending her anonymous creepy texts. The chief of police Quinn is also an ex and it seems all the men in town are chauvinistic which was pretty annoying. The mystery is very solid but darker than many cozies out there. I would read the next installment as the writing is solid and the story is paced well. Just hope the next one is not so scary and creepy. 3.5 stars

This book was really good. I had a hard time putting it down once I really got into the story. There were so many twists in this, by the end I had no idea who the killer was. And it really surprised me when the killer was revealed. It was not who I expected it to be. Great start to a series!

DNF at 32%

Well, I must stay this book certainly started out strong. It was very intriguing and had me coming back for more, but it just went downhill from there. The book failed to hold my attention, and I felt like I was forcing myself to attempt to finish. At one point in the book (as far as I read to) Lyla goes on a VERY feminist rant to her parents. Now, I don't necessarily disagree with what she said, but I don't want to read a book that has a chapter-long rant about it.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This Southern Belle meets Hardboiled crime novel is fast-paced and quite funny, though extremely dark in places -- some quite graphic violence for those who prefer their humorous crime to be on the cozier side of things.

Lyla is a disappointment to her mother thanks to her lack of a husband, her 'obsession with death' (she is part of a perfectly tame murder mystery book club), and for wearing white before Labour Day. But it's taking a job as receptionist to her uncle's detective agency that really takes the cake... not to mention, getting involved in a real crime when Lyla's friend is found dead in a suitcase delivered to Lyla's home (told you it was dark).

The characters are entertaining and the pace rackets along. I don't know if I love it enough to look out for Book 2, but this was a solid like from me.

3.5★s

Lyla Moody worked for her uncle as receptionist to his PI business in Sweet Mountain, Georgia, but was hoping to eventually become a partner. She also ran the Jane Doe Book Club where she and her friends got together to discuss the Interstate 85 Jane Does that had been found over the years – all women. When Lyla found a suitcase on her front porch with the dead body of their friend and fellow club member inside, the shock was horrific.

Lyla decided they needed justice for Carol, and as the police didn’t seem to be doing much it was up to her and her club members. But as Lyla continued to receive eerie and frightening messages, the danger escalated. Would she discover who killed Carol, or would her first attempt at being a private investigator fail dismally?

On Borrowed Crime is the 1st in the Jane Doe Book Club Mystery series by Kate Young and it was quite enjoyable. Lyla is intrigued and fascinated by true crime, while continually fighting with her parents over her career choice (she’s an adult!!) Although the characters didn’t have a lot of depth, hopefully that will develop over the series. With lots of red herrings and plenty of twists, On Borrowed Crime is worthy of a cosy mystery read. Recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book by this author and I felt that she writes well although with a tendency to over emphasise that the book is set in the South. I wanted her to show me, not tell me.

There are a number of series springing up recently based on book clubs but in this one the main character works for a P.I. which gives her a better cover for investigating murders than many cosy MCs have! There was a lot of investigative work, a million red herrings and I did not predict the murderer until nearly the end.

I will look out for future books in the series if only to discover how Lyla gets rid of her boss each time in order to perform the investigation herself. Maybe she gets to be a partner. I look forward to finding out.

What I Enjoyed:

I am prefacing this by saying, not much about this book delighted me. There were some redeeming elements that I will discuss below, but they all have caveats.

The Premise. Honestly, the premise is what drew me in and kept me reading until the end. A group of six or so women who are all interested in reading murder mystery novels and delve into unsolved real life murder mysteries. They are sort of considered outcasts in their community (the US south sounds like a miserable place to live, to be honest), but these women have forged a strong bond amongst themselves. Lyla is the de facto leader, since she is a career PI. On its face, and even at some moments in the text, this is a great premise. The Jane Does seem like a great group of women you would want to be a part of.

Lyla’s budding feminism. Lyla is not generally a likeable character in my opinion – she is “fake tough” in that she acts independent and of her age, but at the first sign of struggle she runs to her parents, her uncle, or her ex. However, she shows the most promise when she is “raging against the machine”; that is, the southern obsession with women making babies and staying at home, just as Lyla’s mother would like for Lyla to be. Throughout On Borrowed Crime, Lyla makes a point of explaining why her career choice is valid and does not make her less of a woman, but also explains that stay at home motherhood is an equally valid option for other women. She nicely balances wearing makeup and nice clothes with maintaining her professionalism and strong persona. I think this balance would appeal to a lot of readers, particularly women that read a lot of cozies.

What I Disliked:

The Mystery. I know, this is shocking. It sounds so intriguing – Lyla’s friend Carol goes missing, and Lyla finds her dead in a suitcase in her living room. The police are not investigating vigorously as a murder, and the Jane Does end up looking into the case. Sounds great – except that I solved it. When I tell you I never ever solve these, I am not being modest. Part of why I love mysteries is because I am always surprised. And yet, here Kate Young is throwing in a million red herrings, with everyone crooked as all hell and more than one person desiring her dead, and yet the actual killer was staring at you like a sore thumb. I was not impressed to figure out the murderer within a few chapters, and the big reveal felt weak.

The Soap-Operaesque Southerness. There is a mouthful. Every single character in On Borrowed Crime was ridiculously over the top and southern. Lyla’s parents think her obsession with crime so abnormal and repulsive they sent her to a shrink because “what would the neighbors think”; one of the Jane Does quit citing how it looks bad to be into crime and started vicious rumors about the gang; everyone is obsessed with putting on their makeup and clutching literal and metaphorical pearls (the mother actually clutches her pearls on multiple occasions) at the slightest form of scandal. Even Lyla, the feminist of the town, judged women based on how well their makeup matched their skint one. Men are only gentlemen if they act like the women are fragile flowers, everyone is yelled at for cursing, and people gossip at funerals. Also, the accents are palpable through the page (Excessive use of ‘My Stars!’ stands out). Everyone also has some tragic backstory that are treated like skeletons in the closet (or bodies in the suitcase I suppose). Maybe this is because I am a “Yank,” but I found the whole thing overdone, obnoxious, and distracting from the mystery.

General language issues. I am not spending much time on this, because again, this is an ARC and these things can be edited. However, there were enough uncomfortable turns of phrase that seemed intentional to bring up. It is like Lyla’s first person POV is a semi-stream of consciousness, and the prose portions are as colloquial as the speech patterns. This may appeal to some readers, and probably especially cozy readers, but I found it pretty hard to get through and it created awkward pacing.

As a reader who enjoys a fair amount of "cozy" mysteries, I wanted to like On Borrowed Crime but unfortunately it failed to meet the mark. When a cozy mystery is a good one, it has a strong sense of place, an interesting heroine or hero with a plausible reason to become a "murder solver", and an engaging cast of supporting players. This novel fails on all of those counts.
The town of Sweet Mountain, Georgia seems less like a piece of the idyllic small town South and more like a collection of cliches. The author keeps telling us how charming it is without actually conveying that sense--and the constant use of the phrase "y'all" in dialogue to an annoying extent is not enough to make these characters truly seem Southern.
From the early pages of the novel, we are introduced to the Jane Doe Book Club, a group of friends who all appear to hate each other, although that does not seem to be the author's intent. The group does not seem to be particularly interested in murder either--an inauspicious start to a series about them.
Lyla, our heroine, is working for her Uncle in his detective agency as a receptionist which is not a bad way to get her involved in murder. However the book makes many allusions to her unhealthy and obsessive interest in murder, again without making us actually feel this is so. Her relationship with her indulgent parents is unbelievable as well. Her mother is a similar type to the mother in Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swenson series but without any of the interesting quirks and humanity.
The book also struggles with finding the right level of murder--the murders here seems more as if it belongs in a thriller.
Ultimately I had to put this book down and not finish it--it just wasn't well written enough to spend my time on it.

On Borrowed Crime is truly a "traditional" cozy mystery with a single female amateur detective in a small town who loves mysteries and has one find her! Lyla Moody hopes to become a PI in her uncle's business and her first mystery comes when her book club mystery is found dead in a suitcase that was left on her doorstep. With the help of her true crime book club, they set out to find the killer.
I enjoyed all the secondary characters and Lyla's relationship with them. I am looking forward to the sequels in this new series!

On Borrowed Crime by Kate Young is the first instalment in the " A Jane Doe Book Club Mystery" series. I really enjoyed this story it was a little more gritty than a normal cozy but I loved it! I plan on buying when it comes out in paperback.

I found myself engrossed in the story and wanting to read in one sitting. It was suspenseful, and had me on the edge of my seat. It was still a cozy but had elements of a thriller/suspense novel that you don’t normally find in cozies, but with that said it had just the right mixture of everything.

I totally loved the Jane Doe Book Club and I wish I could have a club like that here at home. I liked how Lyla and Mel had each other’s backs throughout the story.

The mystery of the cold cases “Jane Does” was interesting, well plotted, and full of twists and turns as well as a few surprises. I must admit I did suspect the killer mid way through but there were so many red herrings that it wasn’t glaringly obvious.

I am so looking forward to seeing more in this series as well as in Kate’s other series the “Marygene Brown Mysteries”

I highly recommend this series to all my mystery loving friends.

I requested and received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my OWN.

The story for Lyla J. Moody is actually a roller coaster ride and not your regular funny and punny type of ordeal that we usually get to read in a cozy novel. One thing that sets this book apart from others that I’ve read is that it wasn’t afraid to teeter on the bloody or horrific details of the death. When we come upon the mystery of a Jane Doe that happens to be intertwined with the death of a member of Lyla’s book club. Things turn from light-hearted to intense as terrifying things start to happen within the novel.

I would say this is a refreshing take on cozy novels as it treads the line between both a thriller novel that James Patterson would be proud of, and it’s evenly balanced with the aesthetically comforting romance of how another cozy mystery author, Ellery Adams, writes as well. The novel does keep you on your toes, and there is plenty of red herrings to throw you out of the loop and feel lost. However, the clues that are left behind and the hint of the book, And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie… You know the killer is hidden right in plain sight.

This book is without a doubt one of the best cozy novels I’ve read this year, it kept me turning page after page until the very end. I was actually beginning to lost hope that there would be a cozy novel that didn’t wrap me up and have me burn the midnight oil again. Kate Young truly delivered in this new series, and I sincerely recommend those who are cozy mystery lovers to please check out this book when it comes out in October.

On Borrowed Crime:A Jane Doe Book Club by Kate Young is a suspenseful novel that kept me guessing to the last page! Young writes a mystery filled with sassy southern charm. Written about a book club interested in real life murders she brings the characters and plot to life!!! She makes you feel like you are part of the book club from page one!! You will be looking for more with each turn of the page!!! I am looking forward to the next book in this series!

I would highly recommend this fast paced novel to anyone. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A fun new mystery series starring Lyla Moody as a sassy southern girl raised to have good southern manners and her mother does not approve of Lyla’s choice to work with her Uncle in his private investigation office because of the danger and she definitely doesn’t approve of the subject matter of the Jane Doe Book Club that Lyla is apart of. But, Lyla is determined to find out who murdered her friend and fellow book club member no matter what. I really enjoyed this mystery and look forward to reading more books in this series.

4.5 stars

This is the first book in the A Jane Doe Book Club mystery series by Kate Young.

Boy, this gal sure gets no respect in this book. Her mother is all about her own selfish need too look good and her father is a therapist who pays very little attention to his daughter’s needs. I got the whole dysfunctional vibe before the book even started.

Lyla is coming back from a trip with her boss, her uncle. They work in a PI type business. She is more of a receptionist than anything but most of the people all over storyland think she is the PI of the firm even though that is her uncle’s job. In her free time she is part of a book club where they rotate between popular new mystery books and some mystery classics. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie is of particular importance in this story. It is their current book pick as well as the murders way to send his victims warnings through sing-song messages.

I thought this was a well crafted mystery that succeeded on so many levels. I loved the character of Lyla and even her weird parents. But the best part of this was how all the different levels of the story worked together. The character base was excellent, the mystery spot on and the villain hard to figure out. I guess in the end I should have seen it coming considering all the clues offered but I was more focused on how it was effecting Lyla and her life. I would waffle between the though of “he dun it!” and “no, it was this other person” from moment to moment.

I am definitely looking forward to seeing more in this series. I did enjoy another work by this author called Southern Sass and a Crispy Corpse. That also was a great read.

If you like cozy mysteries, definitely check this one out. You won’t be disappointed.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

With thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC.
Description
A shoe-in read for fans of Ellery Adams and Kate Carlisle, On Borrowed Crime is the first in Kate Young's new Georgia-set, sweet tea filled, Jane Doe Book Club mysteries.
The Jane Doe book club enjoys guessing whodunit, but when murder happens in their midst, they discover solving crimes isn't fun and games...
Lyla Moody loves her sleepy little town of Sweet Mountain, Georgia. She likes her job as receptionist for her uncle's private investigative firm, her fellow true crime obsessed Jane Doe members are the friends she's always wanted, and her parents just celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. But recently, with her best friend Melanie on vacation, and her ex-boyfriend and horrible cousin becoming an item and moving in next door to her, her idyllic life is on the fritz. The cherry on top of it all is finding Carol, a member of the club, dead and shoved into a suitcase, left at Lyla's front door.
Review
This hooked me in right from the very beginning. As an avid cozy mystery reader, I have to say that not many cozies broach long term serial killer plots and this falls about halfway between the usual cozy content and a full on thriller. It has some very sinister elements that drive the story forward at a good pace and enough twists to keep you guessing. It also does not have the humour that many cozy mysteries include. DO NOT let that put you off, it is a cracking good read and has a satisfying conclusion. I suspected but did not entirely predict the outcome. The only negative I could point to, is that it needed slightly tighter editing. Every now and again a poorly constructed sentence or paragraph pops up. I still give it a solid 4 stars.

This was an interesting book to start this new series. The mystery was well-written with a large cast of characters. A very small part of the story was in my opinion a bit gruesome for a cozy mystery. I will definitely be looking for the next book in the series.