As a classic crime lover, I loved this. The references to our favorite authors and literary devices kept and the perspective jumps kept the main story arc fresh and interesting. It never felt too on the nose or condescending but turned the genre on it’s head. The final perspective shift was wildly unexpected and really brought it home. The deaths served almost as a background character rather than the driving plot but in a good way.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eArc. I was drawn into the description of “daring structure” and “subversive narration that set this debut apart.” Unfortunately, those are the elements that led to my dislike of this book. I feel that the murder mystery and suspense was lost every time the writer interrupted the story with commentary to the reader or history of the murder mystery genre. By the end of the book, I was skimming over the commentary/history aspects in order to get to the plot twist which end up leading to more disappointment.
I do agree that it was a unique take on the murder mystery which readers may enjoy.

I love murder mysteries like this! Kept me guessing til the end and I had two main suspects. I turned out to be right about the one but all in all, it was a solid read.

My Rating: 3
A truly unique narrative style, one I've never seen before. Some parts enjoyable and some parts not. The switches in perspective could be quite jolting, especially at the end when the "Reader" got involved. I found the parts that were nonfiction studies of the mystery novel more interesting than the actual mystery.
Whether you will like it is probably going to be based on how much you love the genre. As this book is both a love letter and study of the mystery genre.
I myself only occasionally read it, so I wish the actual mystery had been a little more interesting. I do have to give it points for the writing style being utterly unique as that's the thing that kept me reading.

If you love the genre, perhaps this is worth a read.

**This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!**

Thank you to NatGalley for a copy of this in return for an honest review. I know this is not a standard mystery, however, it was not my cup of tea. I did not like the style and found it hard to get into.

West Heart Kill is a very unique and interesting twist on the murder mystery. It is part mystery on its own while also being a study on the genre as a whole. It shifts perspectives from the characters, to the author, and even you, the reader. At times this works great and adds an interesting wrinkle to the story while other times it feels like it breaks up the pacing and bogs everything down. There are also spoilers for several other murder mysteries so you have to skim or skip ahead at certain parts if you do not want a story you have yet to read to get ruined.

Speaking to the contained story itself, I think it's pretty well done. There are lots of red herrings, just about every little detail is important and will show its significance later, and you do get those satisfying Sherlock Holmes-esque details read back to you at times and wonder how you missed it. Plenty of twists and turns are found throughout and the read is very fun until, unfortunately, the end where it kind of goes off the rails and left me feeling unsatisfied. The story itself wraps up but it still feels somewhat unfinished and rushed. Good, not great, this is a fun read for those interested in the genre.

I thought this book was good but definitely a different timeline then I normally read. I would recommend this book to others.

This book read more like a mix between book and screenplay. The whole goal being to engage the reader in witty banter and solve the mystery. While a very compelling writing style, I prefer reading my murder mysteries and not being actively drawn into the storyline.

I really enjoyed this unique mystery, which twisted genre conventions in the most unexpected of ways. It kept me guessing and was very unexpected. The structure was something new and different and I think any lover of golden age mysteries will appreciate the way the author is clearly a fan, and crafted this as an homage to those. The way the story is written, it's like the reader is a part of the book - I've actually never read anything with that type of writing before. The central mystery also pulled me in and kept the pages turning as I tried to figure out what was going on. My only drawback on this one would be that the mystery gets a little bit of short shrift in service of the unique writing style and structure, which was a little unfortunate. But overall really enjoyed it for how unique it is!

West Heart Kill is a mystery for folks enjoy reading commentary about the genre, and the world of publishing as a whole. It's quite meta with a unique structure that won't be for everyone. The reader is addressed directly, with long monologues that distracted a bit from the story at hand.

A murder mystery that takes place at an isolated hunt club during a raging storm featuring a cast of monied, scheming, unfaithful characters and the intrepid protagonist, private detective Adam McAnnis. A different take on the locked room mystery, this book is geared toward a certain audience and not for everyone – if you like an old school mystery with shades of Knives Out, this is for you. Thank you NetGalley, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and author Dann McDorman for the advance read copy of this book.

"Why did I ever invent this detestable, bombastic, tiresome little creature!"

Never has a more apropos quote been included in a book because this story is in fact detestable, bombastic, and tiresome. The writing is a hodgepodge of styles, voices, and perspectives that are confusing, unclear, strange, and unnecessary. Hidden underneath is actually a very good murder mystery, but getting to the pertinent information is exhausting. At leaset 50% of the book is a thesis on literary style that has no bearing on the story. If those pages were ripped out it wouldn't change the story one bit. We spend pages on a little boy answering math problems to which we don't know the questions and making cryptic notations on a map that we never see. Everything is a red herring and you leave the story having absolutely no clue who the narrator is, which I guess isn't necessary but it's still really, really annoying. The final reveal is inexplicably written as a multi-act play. And the conclusion is that there is no conclusion. Great.

Sidebar, I find it very hard to believe that people were using the term "in your cups" at all in the 1970's, and this term is bandied about a lot in this book. Maybe in the 1770's, but the 1970's?! Come on.

I found the whole thing tedious and pretentious. I won't read this author again.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC.

I so badly wanted to like this one, but ultimately it wasn't for me. While some may enjoy the author commentary, I found it to be distracting and unnecessary. A sad miss for me, but I'm sure others will love it!

Really different story that takes the reader on a journey through the mystery genre. I was not sure I would enjoy this, but I kept reading and did actually find this to be enjoyable.

I received an e-arc from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.

Classic murder mystery meets Knives Out. This was an enthralling murder mystery evening the classics such as Agatha Christie. This pays homage to more of the earlier classics vs some of the newer elements seen today. I loved the entire ride of trying to figure out who-dun-it and the noticed behind each murder. Defn recommend for fans of classics and Knives Out

This was written in a very unusual way, sort of like breaking the fourth wall in film or TV. There were several comments like "... and now you're thinking..." referring to the reader. I wasn't sure at first if I liked it, but then I really got into it. It was a clever way for the author to point out things he hoped the reader had noticed, but maybe they hadn't. The story itself was a good murder mystery. I was a little less than happy with the ending, but others may like it. Otherwise I would have given it five stars. I won't say more than that, to avoid spoilers. However, I do recommend the book and look forward to reading other works by this author.

An meta look on the mystery genre with extreme fourth wall breaking that was to the book’s disadvantage rather than to its advantage.

I don’t really understand what this book was trying to say. I was confused the whole time. Didn’t understand what was happening and didn’t like a single character, including the detective.

I picked up at one point that a dog was killed and that was almost enough for me to put it down.

But the real atrocity of the book was breaking of the fourth wall. It’s used well in some books, but this one was tough and I dislike being told how I’m feeling and what I’m doing in a book.

I appreciate the chance to read this and wish it worked for me. But I am not the audience for this book and can’t understand who would be.

I usually don't review books that I didn't 100% finish, but given all the hype around this one I feel like I have to talk about it. The conceits of the book feel sort of fun at first, especially for any longtime mystery fan, but quickly the second person narrative and then switching narrative styles becomes annoying alienating. You can not sink into this story, it's very hard to get a real sense of any of the long list of characters and by the time the murder happened I didn't care who did it, why they did it, or how the detective would solve it. It seems there are plenty of people who like this fictional meta study of the mystery novel, but for me to drained every last bit of fun I usually get from this genre.

This novel was a challenge for me to read. In fact, it was one I was unable to finish. my disclaimer though, is that the writing style of the author, is just too "wordy" and descriptive for my tastes. this is a personal preference, one that should not reflect anything negatively towards this author. The subject matter piqued my interest, and thats why I chose to read it.

Loved this book. While the style is somewhat unconventional via the insertion of historical mystery facts and structure, and breaking the fourth wall at times, the story and character development hit the mystery lover in me. From word one you are questioning what's going to happen, who is going to be the victim, and of course, who is the murderer. I've seen split reactions on this book, but I think the author did an excellent job of setting up multiple stages for the reader to switch between and ended the book in a satisfying way. Definitely a read for Agatha Christie fans, would love to see what the author does next!

#WestHeartKill #NetGalley