This book is full of dark humor. I am sure others will like it more than I did. Thanks for the review copy.

This book just was not for me. There were far to many characters and the writing felt scattered.
The story centers on Carla an owner of a writing retreat and one of her writers Toonie ends up violently murdered. It unfolds from there where Carla summons up the help from Amy and Amy's group of writers to solve the mysterious deaths.
I found myself not being able to connect with the writing style, the plot or the characters. Even the audio could not keep my interest. Nothing against the author I just did not feel what I needed from Amy or any of her sleuths.
Maybe if I had read books 1 and 2 I could have been more invested in the story.
Thank you Net Gally for this advanced copy read/listen of this book. I was not influenced for my honest review.

3.5 stars!

I think unfortunately not liking this book might have been my fault as I did not realize it was a follow up in a series. I liked that it was a fun cozy mystery that was maybe at time a bit too long.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* This was longer than i thought it needed to be lol but not bad, a bit more cozy mystery than expected for the length but would read more

A truly enjoyable read. The characters make this story! A murder mystery with a comic twist!
Thank you NetGalley for the arc.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this novel in exchange for a review. This novel released on Aug. 23, 2022.

I was drawn to Amy Among the Serial Killers by the cover and the title. At the time I didn’t realize it was the third book in a series, but I’m not sure it’s necessary to read the first two books, the author does a good job of reflecting back on what has happened between the characters.

The story is told from the view points of the two main characters: Carla, a former child star who now runs a writers retreat called The Point, where authors rent “cells” to work uninterrupted, and Amy, a retired writing instructor. Carla has previously attended Amy’s course and saved her life when another student attempted to kill her. When one of Carla’s renters is murdered, Carla calls upon Amy for support and, along with other writers and friends, they begin to try to solve the murders.

I loved Amy, she was funny and reflective and her chapters felt more focused on actually solving the crime. But I found myself always a little disappointed when I turned to another Carla chapter. Even though the murders and other suspicious events revolved around her, I found her story scattered and distracting. Her character was juvenile and hard to like, and that absolutely may have been the author’s intent, but it just wasn’t as enjoyable of an experience. The murder mystery itself was enjoyable and had some interesting twists, but overall this one just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the opportunity to review this book! Amy Among the Serial Killers is out now.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review! I loved the spooky vibes! Def got me into the season!

Quirky and offbeat, Amy Among the Serial Killers is part of a series but can be enjoyed without prior knowledge of the work. A recommended purchase.

If you like dark humor and quirky characters, this book is for you. A fun and fast read.
Thank you netgalley for the e-review edition of this book.

I did not realize this was part of a series until after I had finished. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing!
I enjoyed the book. I always like books about writing groups and bringing people together which I think always sets up a mystery well. It makes it a little more believable that something can happen when you bring a bunch of people who aren't terribly close (or aren't close recently) together than if a family or close friends just stumble on crime! I felt like it was a little slow going. The plot really didn't get moving until 40% in which is fine but a little slow paced for a mystery. I don't know if the other books are like this.

I found the characters were funny and certainly all had their own special quirks, however this was my first Jincy Willett and unlike most cozy mysteries, it was more difficult to read as a standalone, as not all characters get a brief backstory of how they are connected. It took me a bit to understand how they were all conected.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's for this quirky cute read, it was perfect. If you love quirky characters and overall want a good time while reading something quick this will be your story. Jincy Willett really knows how to craft a character.

With her controlling stage mom in the gilded Acorn of Cremains, Carla Karolac’s been working with Toonie, her therapist, to overcome writer’s block. But when Toonie turns up dead, and dismembered bodies start piling up, Carla calls her former writing coach, Amy Gallup, and the old writing group reunites to catch a (maybe) serial killer. Darkly humorous, gory, and oh so wickedly entertaining.

I loved the dark humor in this cleverly crafted plot.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Amy Among the Serial Killers by Jincy Willett

Amy does it again -- wins our hearts with her calm demeanor and dry wit. It just seems she always has the right thing to say!

This time she is involved, along with her friends and colleagues at the Inspiration Point! writing center, in some deaths that are happening in the area. Is there a serial killer in their midst? Is it one of the members at the Point!?

Well, you'll just have to read it to find out, but in the end, as always, Amy wins the day. Along with several recurring characters and also some new ones, the group of friends and writers help the police to solve the mystery.

Though the topic is serial murder, Willett writes in her recognizable style, adding in lightness and humor along the way. This was a very enjoyable book, and definitely worth the nine year wait!

I'd like to thank NetGalley, Jincy Willett, and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

This is a hard one to characterize. Carla panics when she finds Toonie, her therapist, strangled in one of the rooms in her house (referred to as cells) that she rents to writers. She calls Amy, her former writing teacher, for help and Amy, now generally retired from writing takes her in. The problem is that there's a serial killer afoot and now the writers in their respective groups are out to find out who it is. This gets graphic in spots (well, the descriptions of the murdered bodies) but it never goes over the top. The characters are probably the best part of it- they're quirky yes but they also feel very real. This does get a bit frantic in spots but persevere. I didn't read the first two books but I don't think this made a difference. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Not a cozy, not a thriller but somewhere in between, sort of.

"Amy Among the Serial Killers" is my first of Jincy Willett's books though it is the third in the Amy series. While I was still able to enjoy this book as a standalone I think I would have appreciated is more if I was familiar with the previous series installments.

Jincy Willett's writing is witty and fun but at points I felt it was drawn out. I was here for the mystery but (due to my lack of reading her first two Amy books) wasn't as invested in the character development. I think readers will enjoy this quick read, especially if you are familiar with her other books or if you are a writer.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.

This review will be posted on August 20, 2022 to: https://instagram.com/amandas.bookshelf

I might have enjoyed this more if I'd read the earlier two books in the Amy series. But, I didn't. Willett did a good job of rehashing the important parts of the earlier books, so I didn't feel behind. But, at the same time, because these were new-to-me characters, I didn't feel super connected to them. I couldn't even visualize the important characters. It felt like a lot of the world-building was sacrificed to ruminate on the act of writing or for Amy to brainstorm story ideas. Also, I didn't really like the main character. Most of the time, Amy came across as crotchety and stuck up, but all the other characters adored her, so...I guess it's me. 🤷‍♀️ That said, some parts of this were funny. I did enjoy the mystery. I just wish we got more of the mystery and less on Amy and Carla reflecting on writing and/or their pasts. #AmyAmongTheSerialKillers Rating: 😐 / meh, it was ok
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This book is scheduled for publication on August 23, 2022. Thank you @stmartinspress for providing me this digital ARC via @NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In real life, nine years have passed since the second Amy Gallup book, but in book time it’s three years. Amy is still writing, having overcome her writer’s block, and even making enough with her writing that she doesn’t need to take on editing or teaching jobs anymore. She has gotten out of touch with her writing class members.

Carla, her most devoted student, has turned her estate house in La Jolla into a writer’s center. She turns the usual writer’s retreat pampering on its head: at Inspiration Point, writers are required to work in distraction-free “cells,” put in a mandated number of hours per week, and there are no yoga classes, massages, catering or social events. It turns out this business model is a hit. But all that crashes when Carla’s therapist and would-be writer is murdered in her cell. Other weird events follow and it even appears that this may be part of a serial killer spree.

The murder brings Amy and Carla back together, along with several other members of the writing class. The group tries to solve the case(s) before Carla’s business is ruined and anybody else gets the ax.

As with the first Amy novel, The Writing Class, this is far from a conventional murder mystery. Sure, the murder investigation drives the plot forward, but much of the novel is about writing and the emotional lives of Amy and Carla. For very different reasons, both have spent years closing themselves off from developing personal relationships. Throughout this series, and especially in this book, those barricades begin to fall.

Jincy Willett excels at portraying her characters’ interior lives, at lively descriptions of the writing process, and at deep dark humor. I definitely wish she had pulled back on the graphic descriptions of violence at the end of this book, but it wasn’t a deal killer.