This book had sooo many fun and engaging plotlines and settings mashed together -- 1920s party, locked room murder, YA mystery thriller! I read this in one sitting and while I wanted to love it, there is one particular plotline with the twist that just ethically I don't agree with. There's not a way to explain without spoiling, but it just didn't make sense to me and saddened me. If the ending had been different, if a different plot twist had been utilized, this might have been more of a win for me!

Why Did Listen To Suddenly A Murder by Lauren Muñoz?
Suddenly A Murder by Lauren Munoz was immediately appealing as far as audiobooks go for me — because I love a good mystery/thriller via audio. It is one of my go to genres. Then we add in the YA factor. Plus the fact that the main character is latina and I just knew I had to listen to this book. I also saw that the book was compared to Agatha Christie but with a modern twist. So yes, I was so glad to get my hands on the audiobook through Libby and eagerly listened. Let me just say — I am so glad I so glad I listened as this was quite a good audiobook.

What’s The Story Here?
High school is ending. Izzy Morales and her best friends want to celebrate. So, Izzy’s wealthy best friend Kassidy rents Ashwood Manor which basically is this mysterious estate. The teens have a roaring 1920s themed party – meaning no cell phone access. Someone brings a knife. Kassidy’s boyfriend, Blaine, is found dead in his room. The story becomes a whodunit and let’s just say all the guests have motive. Somehow the teens end up without cell phones but as a storm rolls in, a detective and a private investigator are stuck with them. We learn that Izzy brought the knife with her, had motive, but she may or may not have committed the murder.

How Did I Like Suddenly A Murder by Lauren Muñoz?
I was not smart enough to figure out the twist or who did it ahead of time. Izzy is a lovely character with so much on her shoulders. We learn about her sister who has some heavy struggles. We learn about her estranged father. Also, the deal with her mom. Izzy has really been through it –so it’s possible she snapped and did it. But, we also learn about her best friend Kassidy who I thought was going to end up being not so nice, but no, Kassidy is great. She really is such a ride or die to Izzy and I am sad with how things played out. Blaine, the victim, was someone that honestly, after reading his story, I had not a ton of empathy for. Yeah, he lost his life, but he was also not a very good person at all. If you like old school, classic mysteries and loved Knives Out or Clue, you should absolutely read this book. I can’t wait to pick up more books by Lauren Munoz.

How’s The Narration?
The audiobook of Suddenly A Murder is narrated by Diana Bustelo. It is 9 hours and 17 minutes unabridged. I found that I was really into listening to this while driving. Bustelo’s narration combined with Munoz’s writing is easy to comprehend and follow – particularly when you want to listen to an audiobook but need to concentrate on shifting road conditions. The production quality is top notch – no notes at all. I would say you should pick up the audiobook if that is your thing and be transported to a world of glitz and glam gone wrong.

While this sounded intriguing and seemed to have all the components I love in a murder mystery, I can’t say I was too keen on it. And this is largely because I failed to connect to the characters. While yes the author did build the character arcs, they still felt very one dimensional and missing any emotional depth for me to care about them enough. The mystery was ok it just wasn’t compelling enough to make up for lack of interest in the characters. There were some great themes although they seemed to fade into the background without much substance.

A locked room mystery with clue vibes. It was good. It’s hard for a mystery or thriller to really stump or surprise me but the characters were each good in their own way. I enjoyed reading this!

This took a second to get into but once there was a hint of romance I was much more invested ha! I thought the murder was interesting and I had a pretty good idea who did it… however I had no clue what the main secret was the entire book. Once everything is revealed at the end I was pretty surprised and I was a bit shocked by the actual ending. Not sure how I feel about it all. But I was entertained!

Suddenly a Murder is a fun and engaging YA Mystery from debut author, Lauren Muñoz. As soon as I read the synopsis, I knew I had to pick it up.

A 1920s-themed getaway, a fancy mansion, and a murder that no one saw coming - this book had me hooked from the beginning! As a big fan of Knives Out and One of Us Is Lying, I couldn’t resist this locked-room mystery, and it didn't disappoint.

The story follows Izzy Morales and her best friend Kassidy, who celebrate the end of high school with a Gatsby-style party at the Ashwood Manor. The night is all glitz and glamour, until Kassidy’s boyfriend is found dead. Murdered to be exact. Suddenly, everyone’s a suspect. And Izzy? She’s the one who brought the knife.

What I loved:
The Gatsby-inspired setting
Twisty suspense that kept me guessing a lot of the way
Complex friendships full of secrets and tension
The locked-room vibes made it impossible to put down

I did struggle a bit with the writing style, it went back and forth from first person narration to third person. The friends attitudes after one of them was just killed also felt a bit unrealistic, and the detectives were atrocious.

This is perfect for fans of YA thrillers. If you love messy friendships, murder mysteries, and high-stakes drama, Suddenly A Murder should be on your TBR!

A gripping locked-room mystery where a 1920s-themed party turns deadly. After a murder at Ashwood Manor, seven friends are forced to confront their secrets and alibis. With twists and tension throughout, this thriller is great!

When I read the blurb for this, I just knew I had to read it. A modern-day "locked room" mystery but in a 1920s setting? That sounded awesome!

However, while the storyline itself is pretty well done, and I definitely did not see all the twists and turns coming, it was really difficult to like any of the characters, especially after their friend has been murdered and they just... don't really seem to care all that much. I know they're all eighteen and literally just graduated from high school, but their reactions just didn't make sense to me at all.

The flashbacks got a little confusing as well, because they aren't in chronological order, and while the "now" narrative is first-person present tense from Izzy's POV, the flashbacks are third-person past tense from various characters' POVs, depending on what's being described/explained. That made it a bit jarring to follow along, especially when we learn things from another character's flashback that Izzy doesn't know about in the present, so it almost feels like a continuity error at first read until you remember that the "main character" during that flashback wasn't her.

There's also a "consulting detective" involved in the case who seems like the author's attempt to create her own Sherlock Holmes/Hercule Poirot, albeit female. There's a lot of attention given to her but not the actual homicide detective, so at times, it felt like this was almost supposed to be a "backdoor pilot" of sorts for that character, and though Izzy is the main character of this book, we'll actually be following the consulting detective in future books as she's called in/asks to investigate a particular crime.

After finding out this was a debut, I felt a little bit better about it, as this author definitely has potential, and I would be interested in reading whatever she comes up with next (and seeing if my theory about the consulting detective being the common thread holds true). Though I hope it's a little more organized and the characters are a bit more tolerable than this one.

3 stars

**I received a free copy from Netgalley and am leaving this review voluntarily. All thoughts and comments contained within are my own.**

I adored this one! The characters, the setting, the murder! It was great. I adored this one! The characters, the setting, the murder! It was great.

This book was okay... I liked the twists in it, but it was a little too far fetched and I wasn't a big fan of how it ended.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review an advanced copy of this novel. I highly enjoyed it and will be recommending it to others.

This is just not for me. The switch in past vs present but also going from third to first person made it really confusing to follow and get into the story

The first 1/3 was kind of boring and the main character feels like she has no personality. Most of the characters only traits were that they’re rich.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was full of twists and turns. I loved the 1920’s party vibe that was happening in the background of the story. The mystery in the book was very well done and it had me guessing throughout the book. The cast of characters all had skeletons in their closets and motive for murder. This felt like a game of Clue and was a fun read.

Loved this.
Genious setting and amazing 1920s vibe - perfect for a little murder.
Even though I saw the murder from a mile away, I don´t hold that against the book - I´m no longer the target audience - and the set-up of the book and the plot are just masterful.

A unique and interesting locked room thriller that kept me intrigued but overall a little disappointed in the predictability of the twists and turns.

2 stars!

I was unfortunately very disappointed in this book for so many reasons. Anything compared to Knives Out is an auto read for me, and then mix in a locked room mystery and I'm absolutely sat. However, I felt like the mystery in this book was honestly not that great, and I felt uncomfortable at times that these were only high schoolers.

I think one place where this book really suffered was the characters. No one really had any personality trait except being rich, except for the guy who wanted to be an olympic rower. I thought the 1920s aspect was going to be more integrated into this, but you honestly could've taken that part out and the book would've been the exact same.

I also don't feel like anyone (except the killer) had any motive for committing the murder so when it was explained I was like yep. I also strongly disliked the main romantic subplot (I did not find the man compelling nor did I believe they liked each other), and the main character Izzy didn't actually figure things out but instead just listened in on the detectives.

Finally, don't even get me started about the end of the book. (Minor spoilers ahead) The grooming storyline??? The victim blaming??? The detective knowing who Izzy was the whole time??? That definitely docked the story down for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I love a good locked room thriller! This book kept me guessing and turning those pages. The last 3rd of the book was very action packed. I enjoyed it!

This was an interesting graduation celebration turned murder mystery. It's intriguing and has twists and turns at every corner. It makes you question who the real killer is and what the real motive is.

With comps like One of Us Is Lying and Knives Out, this book has a lot to live up to—and Muñoz delivers! The atmosphere is stellar and there’s plenty of suspicious motives to go around. Suddenly a Murder is a fun and compelling locked room mystery that nods to classics like Agatha Christie while weaving in hard-hitting modern issues. Looking forward to Lauren Muñoz's next book!

Thank you Penguin Teen and PRH Audio for the free advanced copy!

I thought this was really well written and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future. I think it will find readers at our library, so we will definitely be purchasing for the collection.