What a strange, but intriguing book. A young woman goes to work for a secretive firm that investigates online dating relationships. But only under tightly-controlled rules, which gets the young woman in trouble when she grows too determined to detect on behalf of a murdered client (who was, apparently, a struggling writer investigating dating services using her sister's identity). Our heroine is a mystery fan, and she can't resist seeing her life as a story.

It's not the most suspenseful narrative, but it's original and asks some interesting questions about self-representation, online relationships, and the ways these systems are kept in a black box.

Like other reviewers, I was super excited to read a mystery with a Chinese-American female protagonist (I'm also Chinese-American and have been a long-time mystery fan!).

I'm also a millennial, so this book definitely drew me in right away with its dating app mystery. Unfortunately, it lacked in execution for me; I felt like the unraveling of the mystery dragged in the middle with many red herrings, and the ending was confusing and somewhat unsatisfying for me.

The story somewhat expands to become a larger commentary on how we (mis)present ourselves on the Internet, both intentionally and unintentionally. I thought this was the biggest strength of the book; it all felt so relatable and true given the culture of the Internet we all live in today.

love love LOVE!

i was sold on this story the moment i read the synopsis, but seeing it all come to life felt so special. the mystery and twist that happens at the 17% mark got me hooked but i ultimately fell in love with claudia, the chinese-american protagonist who’s trying to keep her family happy all while pursuing her dreams and solving an insane mystery. and i haven’t even mentioned the tech/dating app/algorithm storylines in this book that i loved. read this if you’ve ever been frustrated at a dating app or stayed up at night wondering if your mother would be disappointed in your life decisions.

thanks to net galley for this kindle e-arc!

Thank you to Knopf Doubleday and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

First off, as a reader of Asian descent, I am so excited to support the author, who is originally from Singapore. There really needs to be more authors and protagonists of color in the mystery genre. Just like the protagonist of this book, I grew up reading mysteries ranging from Nancy Drew to Sherlock Holmes. I would have loved to see an Asian detective on TV. Thank you again to the publisher for this opportunity!

The Verifiers by Jane Pek is an excellent #ownvoices mystery and techno-thriller that seems poised to become a future classic. The story revolves around Claudia Lin, who quit her job six months ago to work for an online dating detective agency. The agency investigates online profiles for their clients to see if they match up with real life. For example, a woman comes in and wants to know if the man that she's matched with on Tinder is as good-looking as his profile picture or if he's using an older picture. When a client winds up dead, Claudia goes behind her boss's back to do some investigating of her own. What she finds is a sinister web of deceit.

Here is an excerpt from Chapter 1 in which Komla, Claudia's boss, explains their company to a client:

"A detective agency might seem like an obvious parallel, he said, but he tried to dissuade clients from viewing Veracity as such. The verifiers didn’t solve crimes, and they didn’t intervene in the course of events beyond reporting their findings to their clients. Think of us, said Komla, as a personal investments advisory firm.
A month into the job, it’s obvious to me that all our clients think of us as a detective agency.
“It’s highly unusual,” Komla is saying to Iris, “for clients to ask us to verify matches they haven’t yet met in person.”
She frowns like she thinks he’s making an excuse to pass on the case. “Why?”"

Overall, The Verifiers is a well-written mystery about the perils of online dating. One highlight in this book is the representation. I read a ton of mysteries and thrillers every year, and it's so refreshing to see myself represented in this book. If I had to complain about one thing, I would say that I thought I was coming in for an Agatha Christie-style mystery. A character even refers to Claudia as "Miss Marple" at one point as a joke. I thought that the murderer would be unveiled in the end in a fashion similar to a classic mystery. Instead, this book has more techno-thriller aspects than what I was expecting. I would compare it to shows like Netflix's Black Mirror or the movie The Circle. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of mysteries in general, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in February!

I am full on obsessed with this book. Claudia Lin is young woman chock-full of intelligence, wit, and endless curiosity. I basically want her to be my best friend. Jane Pek has created a tech match-making world that is frighteningly possible, if not probable. I appreciated her attention to detailed storytelling - all the bike riding/drama/specificity I was living for - while keeping the suspense moving. I did not want this book to end and am stoked for so many different age groups and demographics to get their hands on it. It is truly a spectacular, and smart read.
Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Verifiers.

I'm a huge fan of mysteries and an Asian American so I was excited to see an Asian American heroine featured in The Verifiers.

Claudia Lin is a smart, savvy, resourceful young woman; she's the youngest of three, not your typical Chinese daughter (she doesn't like to dress up, bikes everywhere and prefers girls), and loves mysteries.

When a client is found dead and is discovered to not be who she claimed to be, Claudia immerses herself in an investigation that brings into sharp focus what it means to live and love in a digital world where nothing is ever private anymore.

There were many things to love about The Verifiers; the writing is good, Claudia is a relatable, very likable character especially when she talks about her family and the struggles her mother and siblings went through as immigrants.

I loved the descriptions of the Asian foods they ate, NYC and Queens, though perhaps I'm biased as a born and bred local New Yorker.

There were only a couple of things I wasn't a fan of; first, the mystery was tech-y and not very interesting or compelling to me.

Second, in the beginning I enjoyed Claudia's constant references to a mystery series she loves and learns from but after the 11th reference, this got old.

Claudia began to sound a bit childish and immature. She's young, I get it, only 25, but her constant references became tedious.

I did like the ending, which means a sequel is in the works. I'm looking forward to the next book!

A fresh take on the classic mystery novel, The Verifiers is a gripping, thrilling debut that you won’t want to put down.

MV Rating: 7/10
* Set in NYC in the height of the online dating scene, Claudia finds herself with a new exciting job, and a dead client.
* Like Claudia, I can’t just drop something once I’m intrigued, and the wild ride that follows is worth the slow burn build.
*There are coming of age within your family elements, but overall the story is a simple, engaging mystery with a very satisfying ending.

Overall this one is a must-read here at GMTA! Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

This was a really grounded mystery - not a lot felt outlandish or crazy and I think that worked both for and against the enjoyability of the book. Claudia is a fun character who actually has brain cells (!!!) which is always a perk in mystery novels. The writing wasn't anything spectacular but it was enjoyable to read. All the characters are interesting although I think the book's strongest point was the themes it covered. The mystery itself is ehhh but the ending was super intriguing.

Absolutely loved this modern mystery book!

This book is fun and cozy, but it most importantly felt realistic. The main "case" revolves around who's telling the truth in the online dating world (who hasn't wondered if that perfect match is really who they say they are?!). So many mysteries these days feel over-the-top and forced, by Jane Pek managed to write one that's twists, turns, and final resolve come naturally and feel rooted in reality and today's technology.

The Verifiers is filled with diverse, fully formed characters (the main character Claudia is Asian and LGBTQ) that each have their own needs, desires, and issues. The setting of NYC feels relatable to how most people live in NYC, with roommates living in outer boroughs. It was easy to imagine this book as a tv series in my head because the characters and their world are so well-crafted.

I want to spend more time with The Verifiers, and it seems like we can expect Pek to deliver a sequel based on where we end. If so, I'll be pre-ordering because I want to be friends with Claudia and to continue to follow her detective work.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Vintage . and #NetGalley for my honest opinion.

Quirky, quaint, fun!

As a lifelong mystery fan and a Chinese-Canadian, words cannot express how refreshing it was to read about a protagonist that shares my heritage (and university major). Disenchanted with police procedurals and tired of the plain homogeny of the mystery space, Claudia Lin is everything I wanted in an up-and-coming detective. Smart, ambitious, and ready to kick model minority stereotypes to the curb, Claudia is someone that I can both see both echoes of myself in and could see being one of my friends . Jane Pek does an excellent job portraying the second-generation immigrant experience, with laugh-out-loud cultural blunders, nagging parental expectations, and incredibly powerful sibling relationships driven by both love and jealousy. With an impressive cast of deeply drawn characters, and an addictive locked-room mystery that speaks to our technologically driven times, Pek's debut novel kept me enraptured and left me hungry for more!