Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the early read. I loved The Necklace by Matt Witten so as soon as I saw this, I had to request it. Killer Story was indeed that, this story keeps you guessing until the end. You follow Petra as she tries to solve the murder and your suspects change just as often as hers. You will fly through this book.

Desperate to save her journalism career, Petra starts a podcast to investigate the murder of her friend, a college student and YouTube star. This fast-paced thriller has lots of twists and turns, and Petra's sometimes questionable actions give the reader a lot to think about. A great read!

4.25⭐️

I loved the authors previous book a mystery/psychological thriller The Necklace, so couldn’t wait to jump into this book.

Petra is a young journalist, struggling to keep a job in a volatile industry. Her old friend Livvy who she had drifted away from because of her far right views is murdered. The suspected killer was found not guilty. Petra is determined to do her own investigation, she managed to save her current perilous job by offering the story to her boss, with supposed breaking new information. The condition is that it’s done as a podcast, on a tight deadline.

I quickly gelled with the easy going chatty writing style. Petra is despicable with the aggressive measures she takes to get her story out there, She was heavily coerced, but that doesn’t let her off the hook!
She got swept away with fame and glory losing sight of the cost to others.

I really liked Jonah. A caring guy with a great moral compass.

The revelations and red herrings are smattered throughout to keep interest levels high. There were lots of grey areas in the book,accusations were bandied about on suspicion not evidence and certainly not verified from other sources before putting it out to the public.

It’s described as a mystery, but to me the mystery element takes a back seat, and it’s a story about integrity and morals.

I thought including book club questions was a good idea. I’ll post my answers in a separate post on my blog for anyone who has read the book and wants to participate.

It’s a book that had an impact on me. I shouted at Petra frequently. I can’t say I exactly ‘enjoyed’ it, I didn’t like the majority of the characters, but it did get a marked emotional response from me. It wasn’t an easy relaxing read.

It didn’t have the same impact as The Necklace, but it’s a very different book to that one. I would recommend reading it

I am looking forward to the next book.

If like me you are interested in true crime, this fiction is for you.

This was an absolute engrossing story of what happens when the media crosses with crime investigations.

Petra Kovach is a writer. A writer in the struggling art of print media. With the threat of being laid off from another newspaper hanging over her head, Petra decides to give it on last shot and make a big sensation with an old cold case.

The uniqness to Petra revisiting the murder of a controversial right-wing You-Tube sensation, is that she has a personal connection to the victim.

And she's ready and desperate enough to go after all the dirt and dig up anything new she can to save her job, I mean solve the case.

This book involves the sensation and my obsession of true crime podcasts reevaluating old cases and putting it out to the public.

This book was thrilling, intriguing and made me cringe with the lengths Petra goes to to prove she's the best reporter.

Dealing with moral dilemmas, professional ethics and general human nature, this story takes the reader deep into the dark world of murder and media.

Petra’s career as a reporter is failing with yet another disappointment. She needs to find a way to rejuvenate her career. She pitches the idea of a true life podcast. The first case will be about a victim that she is familiar with. The victim was an alt-right influencer on a social media platform. The victim was a camper at a camp Petra was a counselor. The case never turned out any leads and Petra felt she needed to find justice for her. She used all her resources and burned bridges along the way. Her only saving grace is to solve this case before she catches the eye of those involved. A solid mystery/thriller story, that has enough twists and turns to keep this story exciting.

Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley and Oceanview Publishing for this review copy, I received this review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This thrilling novel follows a journalist who displays deep hunger and passion for the potentialto discover the truth behind the murder of her well-known acquaintance, an infamous YouTuber. A deeply involving and unusual thriller based around that journalist, Petra Kovach. The book in general is easy to read, but hard to put down. Each time I was thinking "This is the last chapter" and everytime I proved myself wrong.

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC of this book for an honest review.
Petra is a reporter who has been down on her luck with jobs. She is about to lose the latest job when she pitches the idea to just let her try to hunt down her young friend’s killer and what a big story it would be helping the paper. She starts out wanting to find the person but another employee is working the story too.and it becomes a jealousy issue. She picks one guy after another bringing the story out in a podcast but just about ruins her reputation,, her job and her relationship with her fiancé. She definitely goes overboard. The story starts out exciting but I have to say there were just too many suspects brought into the storyline.

American crime author Matt Witten’s sophomore mystery, Killer Story, is less a mystery than a fast-paced journey down the worst of modern true crime reporting. When budding reporter Petra Kovach flukes some potentially revelatory information about an old murder, after which a suspect was tried but exonerated, she stakes her career on a podcast pursuing justice. Only the case proves thornier than expected, and she plunges down a rabbit hole. The author is a smooth, involving stylist and the tale, told through Petra’s eyes, is well-paced and offers surprise after surprise (although the climax underwhelmed me). A former journalist, the author also stages a morality narrative about modern reporting and its shortfalls. An engrossing read, Killer Story is a refreshingly straight, lively mystery/drama, well worth reading.

Matt Witten is a mastermind! I was roped in from page one. This particular book although written by a man was written incredibly accurate from a woman’s perspective. The surprise plot twists and incredibly believable premise truly drew the reader in. I found myself staying up until the wee hours of the morning reading. The author capitalized on some of our hot button topics happening in our country right now with the media and race relations. Somehow, he managed to pack this into an artfully writer suspense driven novel. I can’t wait to read his next book!

This is a story you can really get your teeth into, lots of leads to a murder and each one followed up but was it right? I wasn't sure who had done it and was surprised at the ending but it was right and makes you realise there are no short cuts in life.

I liked this story. I live true crime and true crime podcasts. But the MC was awful. Did not like her or most of the other characters at all. Also not a big fan of the writing style

A no holds barred look at the current state of media and reporting in modern times, Killer Story is an engaging whodunit novel that will intrigue and infuriate you. A car crash of a story that you can’t look away from as the investigation to find the killer unfolds.

Petra Kovach is a newspaper reporter in Boston, trying to make a name for herself and find stability in a tough industry. However, the paper is struggling and desperate to keep from being laid off yet again, she pitches a true crime story idea to her editor about an unsolved murder of Olivia “Livvy” Anderson, a young woman she knew and cared for until she was killed. This being a very personal story for Petra, she will stop at nothing to find new clues, conduct an investigation and find the killer. Fighting office politics, apathetic law enforcement, multiple suspects and her own code of ethics, Petra must constantly make decisions on how far she’s willing to go and how many people she’s willing to burn to get justice for Livvy…and to become famous for her reporting while driving millions of clicks to her written stories and podcast.

Matt Witten has achieved quite an interesting feat by making unlikeable characters sympathetic. The main characters in this book are not good people. They are constantly exercising poor judgment that show them to be unethical, conniving, self-centered and criminal, all while deluding themselves into thinking the ends justify the means as long as they solve Livvy’s murder. However, despite wanting to smack some sense into these people, you still can find a way to understand their desperate behavior because we all know what it’s like to be ambitious about your career and/or struggle to deal with the loss of someone close to you. So while the decisions these characters make – Petra, Natalie and Dave in particular – are frustrating at best and unforgivably despicable at worst, you keep reading with at least a little understanding of their predicament and a smidge of sympathetic hope that they will see the light, turn it around and do the right thing before they become completely unredeemable. And if not, you want to be there to see them get what’s coming to them for their terrible actions.

If you like true crime podcasts and books, then you need to pick up a copy of Killer Story. This is right smack in the middle of your wheelhouse. And if that’s not your jam, it’s still a compelling read for the suspense and spectacle of a solid murder mystery.

With A Journalistic Bent,,
Petra Kovach needs to save her job. On the brink of career catastrophe, she decides to launch a true crime podcast dealing with an unsolved cold case, a horrific murder. Will she be the one to solve this crime or will it ultimately be the death of her? The stakes are certainly high. With a well crafted and credible cast of characters, a plot peppered with misdirection, twists aplenty and an immersive storyline this is a slickly written, edgy suspense written with a true, contemporary journalistic bent.

Publishing date: 01/17/2023
CW: Abuse, rape, murder

Petra has not had the best luck at keeping her job as a reporter at various Companies across the country. Even now, she is on the verge of being laid off again. However, Petra comes into some new information about Olivia, a young collage Youtube star's murder. Petra starts a podcast to help solve the murder of her friend and bring justice to Oliva, and well…. Save her job.
This is my second book by Matt Witten. I loved his book "The Necklace" and was looking forward to reading this new book. Once again Matt had me hooked. His writing style is so good that it pulls you in from the start wanting to solve this murder mystery. I could not stop reading this book and was done in a day. However, I had mixed feelings about various aspects. As the story progressed, the main character was less and less likeable (her coworkers were even worse). Even her own boyfriend did not recognize who she was or understand the lengths she went to save her job. There were many questionable moral decisions made. Now, just like "the Necklace", the authors note at the end once again saved the book for me. I understand that he wanted to show the obstacles that journalists are now facing and the lengths they are willing to go to make it in this "dying" industry. He always connects his stories to real life people and real life issues which I love. So the fact that I disliked the decisions these characters made, was part of his storytelling.

In relation to the writing, I found the book to be a bit repetitive at times. The amount of times Petra mentioned she was getting justice for Olivia or that she had figured out who murdered Olivia was a lot.

Even though I had my qualms about the character, I really enjoy reading it and I engulfed it in 2 sittings. Matt has a great writing style that just locks you in. I enjoyed the twists and the "whodunit" up until the very end and I am glad there was "justice" made. With all this being said I would recommend this book, for the writing, for the twists and especially after I read the authors note (which again was exactly what happened when I read The Necklace).

Thank you to the author, publishing company and NetGalley for this electronic review copy in exchange for my honest review!

Can Matt Witten do any wrong? I think not. This book was so good and just got better with every page I turned. I will definitely read it again. It will keep you glued so prepare to go without food as time stands still. Highly recommend.

Killer Story was definitely a different take on podcasts . Petra is a reporter who has been fired many times and looking for a big break story. Petra wants to catch Livvys murderer but at what costs Petra’s a character you root for and hate all at the same time

The plot is woven around a struggling journalist and to what extent she would go to survive. The protagonist is unscrupulous with no redeeming qualities. The story is good and the suspense somewhat becomes obvious as the buck gets passed around. The author has maintained a good pace and also clearly shows the character transformation and the primal instinct of self preservation. Hope journalists in real life are not so.

This thrilling novel follows a journalist who displays a desire and passion for the potential to discover the truth behind the murder of her well-known acquaintance, an infamous YouTuber. In a desperate attempt to save her reporting career, Petra Kovach pitches the idea of a true-crime podcast, one that explores the depth behind this unsolved murder, and her trials lie within both her office, as well as weaving in between the lies that are told by each potential suspect. The realistic and riveting tale of the web of suspicion that is a part of journalism becomes foggily clear in this deliciously captivating novel as Matt Witten provides thrills with every sentence.

As a last ditch attempt to save her job, journalist Petra Kovach pitches the story of the murder of Olivia Anderson to her boss. Petra counselled Olivia in college and wants to find out who really murdered her. Through many trials and tribulations she gets her story but at what cost
This book sets the reader onto a morality complex, some of Petra's leads are dubious to say the least and have major repercussions for her interviewees.
After reading and enjoyingThe Necklace I was happy to have received an advanced copy of this novel from Netgalley and publishers, I liked reading about the investigative side of journalism.