Enjoyed the storytelling style of this mystery as the protagonist was channeling her favorite book character to solve the crime. The occasional bits of humor (various Halloween costumes, a cat named Earl Grey) really showcased the author’s love of language. Unfortunately I’m showing my age by confessing the main part of the plot concerned algorithms and using them to manipulate private information was both scary and confusing to me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC to read and review.

Intriguing set up about a young Chinese-American woman working for a detective agency who focuses on verifying the profiles of online dating matches. Client mystery leads to a fun almost heist setup. I appreciated the main character's family relationships.

oh i'm obsessed with this. i love the kind of surrealist noir vibe, i love claudia, she's just like me, for real. i love the bend of her involvement in matchmaking, it's giving jessica jones!

The Verifiers is a smart and timely contemporary mystery with a Chinese-American protagonist. The premise is clever, solving crimes committed through a dating app makes it very relatable to the times we are living in. Claudia is a character I found myself rooting for. I think this would really appeal to younger audiences. A unique and fun, quick read.

Thank you to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and NetGalley for this ARC.

Firstly, I don’t know even why I decided to request an arc of this book. I was just browsing the mysteries section of netgalley on a whim and was intrigued by the cover, and then the blurb. It felt like something unique and I just thought I’ll give it a try. And now I can’t believe I’ve read two locked room mysteries in consecutive days.

The writing in this one took me a while to get into. I don’t know if it was the narrative voice or just the way the author described things, I couldn’t focus much on it initially. But once I got introduced to the characters and a bit of the mystery, it was easy to get hooked. I don’t know if this was supposed to be contemporary New York or near future because I couldn’t get a hang of it. I also thought that the characters played fast and loose with the law and I guess it made for good convenience so that our characters could get to the root of the mystery. But don’t think I’m being all negative - these are just things are observed but they didn’t necessarily take away from my enjoyment of the story. The mystery itself is pretty intriguing and the author ensured that we couldn’t guess the culprit or the motives till almost the end, and getting to see it all unfold was fun.

The other thing I really enjoyed about the book was how relevant it felt to our times. The major backdrop of the story is online dating as a concept, finding love in these times when we are almost pathological about showing only our best self in public and social media, the high dependency on algorithms by big tech companies which mine huge amounts of data that we inadvertently provide them, and how this affects the choices we ultimately make. There are quite a few interesting discussions but no solutions (because it’s not that black and white) about how the algorithms might be used to subtly nudge us towards what choices to make based on what the companies want us to do, without us ever realizing that the decision we made might not be what we wanted, just what the algorithm thought we should want. Where to draw the line between convenience and infringement of privacy is a fraught issue with no clear cut solutions and I think the author captured the dichotomy of how big tech founders might come up ideas with good intentions but ultimately they all have to bow down to what the venture capitalists want because that’s the kind of capitalist society we live in where profits are king, the customer be damned.

Claudia is an interesting young woman to follow. The only sibling among three who actually grew up in America, she wants to be filial to her mother but can’t reconcile the woman who chose to keep her close while sending her brother and sister to live with her grandparents, with the mother who keeps putting her down with every chance she gets. But otherwise, she seemed like a bit of a loner who didn’t have many friends, hasn’t come out to her mom, but doesn’t mind being single for now and work at a place which is both fun and interesting, even if the pay isn’t great. She is also a huge mystery novels fan and ends up at the almost perfect job for her. I absolutely loved all the times she talked about her favorite fictional detective Inspector Yuan and his exploits in various cases, and how she could apply his methods in specific situations she encountered. It felt like something I would do if I was an mystery lover too and I had such an urge to look up if her favorite detective books actually exist.

I can’t say I liked both her siblings, Charles and Caroline. They were supportive when needed but I didn’t think it was unconditional, and each of them had their own problems which they kept bottled up, never confronting their mother. They mostly indulged her even when she was being negative towards them and misunderstanding their intentions, but I think however much we grow up in America, Asian children will mostly choose the path of least resistance, be filial and obedient. But it did seem like the siblings would be okay towards the end and maybe communicate more, so who knows.

Becks definitely felt like a mean girl initially and it’s not surprising because she was quite rude to everyone and sometimes, I can’t tolerate when a person is being a prick but with good intentions. Komla was a very guarded person who spoke in platitudes and seemed like a very typical tech startup guy. But he had his moments and I didn’t know how to feel about him by the end of the book. Sarah and Iris were interesting too but I didn’t feel like we got to know them much directly, just through second hand information.

Overall though, I rushed through the book because it was so easy to read. While it is a cool locked room mystery with many possible culprits that we’ll keep guessing till the end, the author also balanced this with great character arcs, and some fascinating but subtle commentary on our data driven world. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I can only hope that our wannabe amateur sleuth gets to solve more mysteries in the future books.

Claudia Lin bailed on her tedious entry-level corporate job to work for Veracity, a highly secretive firm hired to investigate people on dating sites. A client ends up dead, and Claudia can’t stop herself from getting in too deep and running her own investigation, all while trying to manage her disastrous love life and complicated relationships with her sister, brother, and mom.

What a debut! I loved this book. Claudia was smart and funny and weird and a goddamn delight. It reminded me a little of The Spellman Files series by Lisa Lutz — not plot-wise, but the overall tone and the feeling it gave me — there was an edge of hilarity mixed with family drama and emotional depth and mysterious business that is just perfect. It did feel a little slow in the middle & I was sort of confused about who was doing what and why in a few spots, but The Verifiers was overall an extremely fun mystery with a great female lead. Highly recommended!

Also: Please, oh please, let this be a series….

Claudia was thrilled to parlay her love of murder mysteries into a job at Veracity, a discreet firm devoted to helping people determine whether the dates they met online are lying to them. Iris seemed like a standard client at first. She got increasingly shifty, then committed suicide. Claudia doesn’t buy this, so she starts investigating using the methods of Inspector Yuan (whose novels are the only thing she has in common with her judgmental Chinese mother) and all of Veracity’s creepy surveillance programs. Claudia is a brash, genre-savvy protagonist unafraid to go deep down the rabbit hole, looking into human nature and the dangers of technology.

This cover does not do the book justice.

Claudia works for a detective agency that looks into online dating personalities to verify that the person is who they say they are. One day a client goes missing, and Claudia can't help but look for her no matter the consequences.

I love Claudia. She was so bright. When I think I know which way the book is going, it will zigzag on me. I also loved the relationship Claudia had with her family. Yes, it was dysfunctional, but that made it very interesting and genuine. The image of her just hanging out with her mother watching Chinese dramas is so cozy.

In the end, I'm hoping for a second book because I'm shipping Claudia with a woman. I don't want to spoil the identity, but them getting together would be very interesting.

This review is based on an advanced copy that Netgalley has provided for an honest review.

Claudia Lin is a Chinese-American lesbian (closeted to her mom, but out in general) living in New York City. She loves to bike around the city (no matter the distance), read mystery series, and solve murder mysteries. She lands a new job with a company that verifies people's identities on dating apps. One of the first clients she interacts with commits suicide and Claudia realizes that that might not be the whole story.
There were so many aspects of this mystery that I enjoyed, the primary one being Claudia herself. This is told in first person narrative, and so we get to know Claudia well and she is a joy. She is smart and determined and funny and flawed and I really enjoyed her voice throughout.
I did not really feel riveted by the actual mystery however. It was quite technical (lots of databases and bots and synths), which just isn't my jam. I found myself skipping over some passages, but this didn't really deter from the story so it was fine. I do wish there was a little more action and the end was a little anti-climactic, but overall I found this to be a really fun and enjoyable read and I am looking forward to the next one.

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

I enjoyed this mystery and the backstory of the main character's family . Claudia is a determined sleuth and her family interjects interesting background. A lot of time is spent on the matchmaking industry but it ties up nicely at the end. Can't wait to read more from this author.

I loved this book, and truly hope there is more Claudia Lin to come! The story finds the perfect balance of coziness. The crime, characters and setting all felt very realistic without being gritty or depressing. I found it to be just the kind of mystery I needed.

The main character runs a company called Veracity that promises to find out if people are who they claim to be online for prospective love interests. When client Iris is found dead under suspicious circumstances then the real Iris shows up at Veracity, Claudia decides she has to get to the bottom of this situation.

I can't wait to recommend this to mystery fans looking for something fresh and fun!

Unique aspect of online dating - a job as someone who confirms someone's identity and information.

Well written, slow to build mystery that goes beyond the initial premise of confirming someone is who they say they are. Impersonators abound online and off.

Claudia Lin wanders through the pages like Harriet the Spy, following the clues as an online dating detective but kinda missing the mark a lot of the time. She solves the mystery and along the way finds her personal calling, supported by a loving and glamorously wacky family and some "only in NYC" friends.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced read!

I really enjoyed this quirky mystery featuring Claudia Lin, a 20-something, queer-identified Chinese American woman living in New Jersey and working in New York City for a mysterious company called Veracity. In her interview, she refers to Veracity as a dating detective agency, which her boss disagrees with, but which is totally what they do. Clients come to them (through discreet referral only) to have them check up on dates they meet through dating apps and websites. The story begins with a client named Iris who comes in looking for verification of two matches - one she's met in person and has been dating for a while, and one she has never met. She's suspicious of the latter because she thinks he's trying to get information from her rather than actually date her. A few weeks later, the real Iris comes to Veracity to let them know that her impersonator, her sister Sarah, died by suicide after her last meeting with the firm. Claudia, a voracious reader and particular devotee of the Inspector Yuan detective series, is fascinated and decides to investigate Sarah's death, despite clear instructions to the contrary from her superiors at Veracity. As she gets more and more embroiled in the case, she learns that Sarah was a freelance journalist investigating AI profiles on different dating apps, and was in the process of uncovering some corporate intelligence that may have led to her death. I found Claudia really compelling as a character, and I hope this is a series because I'd love to read more about her, her dysfunctional family, and her dysfunctional workplace.

Enjoyable debut. Locked room mystery. This was a fun read. Claudia, the main character, is a Chinese-American 20-something working for Veracity, a company that verifies online profiles. Her older brother is ivy-league educated, her older sister a beauty, and Claudia closeted (from her mother, anyway) lesbian who seems to garner all of her family's disapproval.

The book contained some commentary on what it's like to be an immigrant, and the use of technology both to improve our lives and our choices. But Claudia trying to solve the mystery of the dead client is very entertaining. In the process, Claudia learns that being more honest with herself and those around her improves her life.

"Claudia Lin is used to disregarding her fractious family’s model-minority expectations: she has no interest in finding either a conventional career or a nice Chinese boy. She’s also used to keeping secrets from them, such as that she prefers girls—and that she's just been stealth-recruited by Veracity, a referrals-only online-dating detective agency.

A lifelong mystery reader who wrote her senior thesis on Jane Austen, Claudia believes she's landed her ideal job. But when a client goes missing, Claudia breaks protocol to investigate—and uncovers a maelstrom of personal and corporate deceit. Part literary mystery, part family story, The Verifiers is a clever and incisive examination of how technology shapes our choices, and the nature of romantic love in the digital age."

Thanks to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love a good mystery. I also love a good mystery that has LGBTQIA+ characters. Great intersectional representation in this book!

Thanks to Netgalley and Vintage for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication.

Claudia Lin is a sharp, witty Chinese American mystery lover working for an online dating detective agency. When one of her clients fails to show up for their meeting, Claudia begins to uncover layers that look a bit more like murder than suicide. I adored Claudia in all of her talents and her flaws, and I loved that the side characters were also well-developed. It's as if Harriet the Spy were grown up, lesbian, Chinese, and immersed in technology, online dating, and privacy, And this is not only a literary mystery, it also delves into family drama and how we represent ourselves to each other, whether in person or online. The setting in NYC is immersive, with the food, the different neighborhoods, and Claudia's commute via bike. I loved the commentary on self-discovery and the mystery genre. I generally do not like locked room mysteries, but this did not feel like a "typical" one. Looking forward to many more works from this debut author!

A fascinating mystery surrounding the technical side of online dating. At the mystery evolves, you begin to realize you are reading a treatise on privacy and big data. This is more than a "buyer beware" and more of a "it's already happening and time to deal with it." While this book is a work of fiction, many topics covered in this book are not OR they definitely have every possibility of happening. The future is already here. A highly recommended read.

Before I start my review let me acknowledge that I was given access to an advanced reading copy by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘝𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘴 has me twisted up in all sorts of ways. This book is a detective mystery with a serious twist of cyber tomfoolery.

Claudia Lin is a fan of literature, especially detective novels. She takes this love of detective novels and filters it into her work at Veracity. Veracity is an agency dedicated to verifying the identity of those engaging in online dating. I sorta viewed it as an agency that one could go to to make sure the person you were interested in on a matchmaking site weren't a catfish. The book is about Claudia's newest client and the rabbit hole that Claudia goes down. That's the simple synopsis but there's so much more to 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘝𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘴 and I'm not sure how to write about it without giving it away. Some if it went over my head (hence the 4 star review) because it has to do with computer programming and algorithms and other technology stuff that is above my pay grade. But I still understood the nuts and bolts and that understanding has me twisted and questioning the small print on everything I sign.

I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me of Dave Egger's 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘦 and the privacy concerns reading that book raised with me.