West Heart Kill sounded like it was going to be such a clever twist on the classic whodunit, but the execution just didn’t work for me. The experimental style felt more distracting than innovative, and it kept me from getting invested in either the story or the characters.

The pacing dragged, and by the time the mystery wrapped up, I didn’t feel much payoff. Great concept, weak delivery—I ended up more frustrated than entertained.

DNF due to time, but from what I did read, it was just not for me. The promise of an immersive mystery novel was interesting, but I found that I didn't like it as much as I did a typical mystery novel.

This book had such a great premise, but was not, after all, my cup of tea. The voice of the author was so self-aware and navel-gazing that I just couldn't stomach him at all.

Set in the 1970s, the novel revolves around the members of an exclusive hunting club in upstate New York. Long-standing members gather to discuss and disagree on the club’s finances, the admission of a new member and much more.

This is one of those books that I keep thinking about over a year after reading. It follows some of the common tropes of a locked room mystery but the character development sets it apart. The main characters are fully developed in a way that makes you think truly anyone could be the murderer.

It is far too common in new mysteries where the culprit is someone you have barely been introduced to who happens to have a convenient backstory revealed only after everything is solved.

Sooo….how to write a constructive review of this “mystery”. It’s hard. I almost DNF’d within the first chapter as the only time I like second perspective is reading choose your own adventure types of books but I stuck with it. I should have stopped or jumped to the epilogue.

I liked the hunting lodge and the detective and the mystery. The interspersed little history of mystery novels and mystery writers were mostly annoying but I understand Mr McDorman wrote an experimental mystery novel. I disliked the last quarter of the novel where the reader has literally become the detective and the story is presented in a play format. What I couldn’t abide and what honestly is insulting to every reader of this book was the non-existent denouement. It’s not often I get angry at a book but this did it. I suffered though 4 hours and 52 minutes of the audiobook for THAT ENDING?!? Insulting.

So glad I did not buy this book, I absolutely do NOT recommend it at all and I highly doubt I’ll read another of his books. Based on the Goodreads reviews for this book I’m not alone in my feelings. I’m leaving a 2 star review only out of respect for the author getting a book published but my initial feelings were 1 star.

**Thanks to the author and Knopf for the e-arc I received via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I also got the audiobook and physical book from my library. In the physical edition someone who’d checked the book out ahead of me wrote “cheated” at the bottom of the very last page. Now that I finished it I have to agree.**

An interesting premise but unfortunately it didn’t hit for me. There were too many characters to keep track of and the pacing felt too slow to keep my interest.

I tried this one on audio. I just couldn’t get into the characters or plot. So I had to DNF around 8%.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-book copy.

I wanted a fun, yet classic style murder mystery read and this seemed like the perfect book for that. I do appreciate what the author was trying to do here with making this "whodunit" style of mystery novel a bit more modern for today's reader, but I feel like it feel just a bit short of his goal.

Overall though this was an entertaining, fast read that was enjoyable, but I am not sure if I will remember much of it later on.

This is presented in a highly unique style that made it difficult for me to connect with, not only the characters, but the story as a whole. I usually read a book from beginning to end within a couple of days if not hours but I found myself opening and closing this one in a battle to get it read. It was a bit exhausting for me. I believe there are readers who are going to love this style, but I'm looking for a more traditional read with great twists and not one that I have to work so hard to enjoy.

This book was easy to read. A page turner. A guy finds himself in a bar with strangers. It leads to more and more interesting twists.

I wasn’t particularly a fan of the fourth wall breaking and the book felt sort of derivative and weak. It lacked the charm I think it was trying for and also just fell flat in most other areas. The characters lacked depth as well.

“…for every writer is a murderer, and every reader is a sleuth.”

This is quite unique as it is not any sort of typical murder mystery. Nor is it suspenseful. It’s written more like a thesis that attempts to explain the art of writing this genre of fiction. The tropes, the various methods of murder, the possible motives, and even how a clever whodunit should be constructed. Much discussion of other authors and their canon. It’s described as metafiction. I found it disorienting.

The shifting point of view is crazy — starts out in second person with the narrator, who seems to be the author, speaking directly to the reader with explanations, literary references (primary sources), and hints guiding our reactions to the situation and the characters. Then, to third person limited, to first person singular, and to first person plural.

The plot: there is a detective, hired by someone, who is meant to report back on any suspicious or interesting observations that he makes while attending a 4th of July celebration at this wealthy enclave where the residents have known each other all their lives. Did I mention there are a ton of characters and I found them hard to keep straight. During the weekend there are deaths. Who is the killer?

And believe me, this moves along and I’m very interested in the detective’s process and the clues and red herrings. Totally invested. And then the big reveal at the end…doesn’t come. Now I’m the kind of person who feels cheated when faced with ambiguity.

So, despite all the pretentiousness and thought provoking commentary, I was frustrated and confused by the way the narrator pulls a one up at the end. I come away thinking, what in the heck did I just read. I wanted to like it but the unconventional ending just ruined it. Sure I can guess all day but I wanted the author to do the work for me. Maybe this is brilliant work, but I’m just not clever enough to get it.

I listened to the audio book while following along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher. I liked the voice of the narrator, Robert Petkoff, and he did an excellent job. I did, however, find the redundancy of the question and answer interviews hard to listen to so had to fast forward thru that. It definitely enhanced my appreciation of the book.

I had a very hard time with the formatting of this book. it was an interesting plot but i ended up not finishing this as i just couldn’t get past it.

I was surprised this was nominated as I felt that the whole thing was a mess. Smarmy I think is the word I used to describe it. Just not for me but maybe others?

I tried getting into West Heart Kill and it has a pretty interesting and unique vibe to it. It’s just one that I can’t really dig into. My brain just can’t nestle on it and get comfortable with the format and story line. Which is a shame because I was getting a little bit of Clue and that’s always a favorite.

This started out really good and I was enjoying it a lot. But the further into the book I got the less enjoyment I was getting. I feel like there were a lot of red herrings and it was longer than it needed to be. I also was not a fan of the ending. I believe this is a debut novel, so that being said, I believe he has the potential to become a better writer down the road. I did like it enough that I would consider reading more by this author in the future.

This is unfortunately a DNF. This book has been on my TBR for so long and I’ve tried reading it multiple times, but I just couldn’t get into it. I don’t know if it was the way it was written, but it did not hold my attention. I tried reading the eARC and I tried listening to the audiobook.

Y’all, this is one of the strangest books I’ve ever read, both in plot and writing style. (And I mean that as a compliment!)

It is a locked room murder mystery and metafiction* combined, which turned the genre on its head. If you need a good old fashioned Agatha Christie story to tuck into, this one may not be for you but if you want a book where the narrator pulls you into (by speaking to you directly and even giving you lines to stay), absolutely pick it up.

*a story where the author, narrator, or even characters are aware of and analyze the elements of the fiction they are in. It’s the same as an actor breaking the fourth wall during a performance.

I really don’t understand why this one has such low reviews on so many websites because I really enjoyed this one. I felt like a detective trying to crack the case at the fancy country club. Great for fans of locked room cozy mysteries. I really liked it from start to finish.