The style of this book is unique and I personally enjoyed it. I felt like I was part of the writing process but still very invested in the story of the West Heart Club. I enjoyed the rich club members with secrets.. and then there is a murder.... but I need the answer to be more obvious at the end! I need things completely spelled out for me!

I liked the tid bits of history of how a murder mystery should be written.. and how I never really knew who was the narrator of the story. It was as if I was watching a murder mystery play with the voice over narrator.

I tried to start this book multiple times. At first your thinking is this a text book on how to write a mystery? Then it switches to a story that you not quite sure is a story or "the " story example of a mystery. The writing was fine ,but the execution seemed to be lacking. Maybe I am just not familiar with this style, but when I read a story I don't want to know how to write a mystery, I wanted to READ a mystery. After multiple tries I just had to stop. It didn't hold my interest. I don't want to have to work hard to enjoy a story or try and figure out what the author is trying to get me to learn. To each his own I say. I appreciate to advance copy, and I am sorry to say that I wouldn't recommend this read.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Dann McDorman for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for West Heart Kill coming out October 24, 2023. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This was a fun read. I love the whodunit genre, so all the references to famous authors like Agatha Christie was fun. It was a fairly short read. I wasn’t completely a fan of the long chapters. It would go back to the beginning of the chapter if I didn’t finish a chapter, so I had to keep going. I prefer shorter breaks. However, I did enjoy the different formats in writing. I love a lot of dialogue so I enjoyed the parts of straight dialogue and playwriting.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys mysteries!

West Heart Kill is an interesting, quirky story that never truly hits the best mystery ever but has fun with characters and the overall genre to make it a fun story to read

The setting is in NY at a hunting lodge called West Heart Country Club. A group of wealthy are attending a Bicentennial weekend, among one is Adam McAnnis whom happens to be a Private Detective. During this weekend three come up dead. I can't call this book a "cozy read", maybe a murder mystery, but I can't really say it's a, "who done it", kind of mystery either.

This book was an intriguing book to read, I do like the storyline. It did seem a bit complex to read but in all I personally enjoyed it.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

While for the most part entertaining, this felt a bit like being cornered by the know-it-all at a cocktail party. This is a whodunit or more accurately a whydunit that has some interesting structural distinctions. The first part is in the voice of our detective -- Adam McAnnis. Then the second half is an unknown narrator from among the residents of West Heart. The author also uses a play as a storytelling device in the last 1/3 of the book. The Narrator is almost omniscient. So, as noted above, I found it an entertaining read. The ending is a bit ambiguous, possibly even pretentious. Not a fan. So, 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for a strong debut.

Thank you to Knopf and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

This novel reads like a cross between regular fiction and a stage play. There are also tidbits of "historical mystery facts" thrown in and around in order to help you better understand the story. Or explain the tropes. Either way, I was a tad confused by it. It just seems like a gimmicky way to tell a story instead of just letting a slow-burn mystery unfold. The narrator also breaks the fourth wall and tells the reader exactly what the reader is thinking. (Even if that's not what you were thinking.) Basically, it's 1976 (it seems like from the descriptions certain items, new events, etc.) and private detective Adam Macannis is on his way to the West Heart Hunt Club w/ his friend James Blake. We find out a bit later that Macannis was hired by an unknown client to dig up some dirt on this club. Across the 4 days of the rainy July 4th weekend, there is a suicide and 2 murders.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for this e-arc.*

This was a difficult book to get into for me. It did not read like a book but more of a screenplay which was a little hard to follow along and keep my attention. I wish it would have read as a straight mystery because that part was good but I feel like there was too much excess involved to really enjoy it.

Thank you Netgalley, the author and publisher for my ARC.

A fun whodunnit with some unique elements that helped it stand out from others! I'm definitely interesting in reading more from McDorman in the classical mystery genre.

One of my college roommates was a film & tv major, & this reminds me a bit of subject matter for screenwriting class. I used to teach & judge creative writing, & it also feels like an example I could’ve used for that. A P.I. procedural meets a writing/reading procedural. Bonus of genre history amongst the actual mystery. Things broken down. The story becomes more than just the story. The author stops & talks directly to the reader. The reader’s eyes are openly directed where the author wants.
Voice
Setting
Mood
Characters
The characters list even seems to have bits of info missing.
I found it interesting that I didn’t know if the narrator was leading me in the right direction or not. I thought many times about the possibility of being completely misled. The author addresses that very thing. The author’s note of common frustrations readers have regarding POV in mysteries is perfectly timed. It was literally crossing my mind. Calling out exactly what I’m thinking happens later, too. A little unnerving, but also oddly reassuring.
The Word Problems chapter is brilliant as foreshadowing. The unusual questionnaire goes from shallow to ocean depth in no time flat.
I was definitely echoing Emma @ the end of the final scene.

All this being said, I found the mystery, the characters, & the unique writing style compelling enough to wade through the asides.
I’ll finish by saying I’m glad I read it, & turning my brain off to go to sleep after finishing wasn’t easy.
I might have to read parts of it again…

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read & review an advance copy.

This was a quirky, weird mystery book but I liked it. It’s so different as it mixes the traditional mystery novel with a tutorial for readers in solving the mystery to talking directly to us readers and involving us in a screenplay.

I found the writing style of this book off putting. It’s very disjointed, partly narrative and partly play and I just never connected with the story enough to care about what was going on.

A hunt club is meeting in an isolated cabin for a retreat, but as a storm approaches them, they realize there’s no escape… and one of them is a killer.

This is definitely a trapped who-done-it. Where the finger can point at literally anyone. I mean imagine being in a locked, can’t escape, situation. The voices and narration were definitely unique and different. There are times the author speaks at you and I think that threw mw off at times. While definitely interesting it was also weird. So I think of you want a unique way of a story being told than definitely check this out.

I liked it but wasn’t overly thrilled by it. It didn’t lack imagination, I just think it wasn’t for me or my mood wasn’t for it. But I definitely don’t want someone else to not try it because you might enjoy the story. I think those who love who-done-it’s will love this. Think like escape room meets knives out. Where you can’t escape until you solve who’s doing this.

So for all my who-done-it lovers, this book will definitely gravitate towards you!

While I did not finish West Heart Kill by Dann McDorman, I will certainly be recommending it to those who like an interesting take on the mystery genre! The concept was so intriguing... but I had a hard time getting into the story, and found myself confused by all the details/storylines/back story. The way the reader is inserted in the plot was just too much, in my opinion, and all different formats of the story distracted me from the plot. However, a different type of reader will certainly enjoy this book.

I am glad I gave it a try but it is not for me at this time. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Social clubs are the Petri dish of all things corrupt for rich people. They hang out together to talk behind each others’ back, do illegal stuff, cover for each other, and hide their dirty secrets because they all have one on each other. Especially if they have a “club house”, they are even worse. They think they have a little kingdom and they get to run it every so often. West Heart club was such a club.

Private detective joined West Heart club for their 4th of July activities. Someone hired him to figure out what happened to a female club member some time ago. However, detective got bit more on his plate than the suicide of that female resident. Another suicide hit the community followed with a murder. Now it was up to the detective to figure out if these suicides and/or murders connected. How far he could go without pushing murderer to hiding?

I liked the style of this book. It was directed to the reader. Narrator changed few times. It was more like a how solve a murder guideline. You might be annoyed by the ending, but it also fit perfectly with the style it was written.

This was definitely the most unique mystery novel I’ve ever read - part crime story, part mystery writing how-to, part history lesson on sleuthing.
The writing style took a little while to get used to, and, at first, I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue with it, but ultimately, I got sucked in, and actually started to enjoy the off-kilter feel of the whole thing.
Not sure I’m completely satisfied with the “wrap up”, but it was an ironically fitting end.
Thanks to #netgalley and #knopfpublishing for this #arc of #westheartkill in exchange for an honest review.

Normally when I have a one-star review to share, it feels like a hot take. But when it comes to WEST HEART KILL by Dann McDorman, I believe I am in good company with my displeasure at how this whodunnit mystery turned out. The ending almost had me throwing my Kindle off my high-rise balcony. That's all I have to say about that.

I liked the writing style of the narrator addressing the reader and being on the inside track with the detective but I struggled with keeping the characters straight and really didn't enjoy most of second half.

Thank you to Knopf and Netgalley for this EARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a literary murder mystery set at a remote hunting lodge for the *rich*. We mainly following Private Detective Adam McAnnis as he learns about the families tied to the lodge and the mysteries goings on. An isolated mystery, locked room trope, familial drama, and rich people problems are the main players in this story.

This was a very unique written mystery novel. There was switches from first, second, and third person. There are also inserts through out the book of the history of the mystery genres and how the novels have changed over the years, that feels more like nonfiction. And then at the end we are taken into a screenplay essentially. There was so many different writing styles within this book, I found it a bit hard to follow.

Even though this writing style was interesting I was gripped from the beginning, I really liked how the narrator felt like a character. It felt like the narrator wants you to solve the mystery but also you don't trust them. It also feels like, we the reader, are the detective, trying to solve everything ourselves, which becomes apparent later on.

After a while, I was getting tired of the inserts about the mystery genre, I really did not care for them, because it felt like it was distracting from the story. I also know that the author probably spoiled a million mystery books through out the book. I did not understand the ending at all… like I could go back and reread it and I still wouldn't understand it, I don't think.

So if you are looking for a unique, open-ended mystery, this one is for you.

Just finished this novel by Dann McDorman.
Imagine if you will “Clue”, but written.
Set in the high hills of New York at a hunting club, “West Heart”.
Several families, of old and well to do, have gathered for a weekend “sixers” social, hunting and bonfire.
You get a quick intro of all the families in addition to the grounds keeper , and new member hopeful, Jonathan Gold.
From there, “the game is a foot” with detective Adam McAnnis.
From there, your plot develops seamlessly, and includes a suicide, adultry, a shooting, and a murder. All the makings of a classic “whodunit”.
However, this read also contains several anecdotal passages/ sections on the origins or how to’s (for lack of a better phrase) on mystery writing. This for me, was distracting and took away from the books flow. It became choppy in some parts because of this.
Also to consider is the way this story is told. From multiple narrative persons: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and the author at times. Almost as if reading from lines with regard to a stage play in certain instances. This was a little difficult as I had to focus on a paragraph or two off and on throughout the book, to be certain who was telling the story for better understanding at that point in time.
This ended on a cliff hanger which I don’t usually mind, as it may indicate a sequel. But to find a key character murdered, it leaves an opening, like mouth opening “you’ve got to be kidding “. Maybe author McDorman will give us a sequel; I would like to know “whodunit”.
Overall 3 stars from my perspective of West Heart Kill.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House publishing for an advanced reader copy for my honest review.