Thank you to #NetGalley, Jilly Gagnon and Random House Publishing for the opportunity to read an advance copy of SCENES OF THE CRIME, to be published 5 September 2023. The description of this novel was intriguing but the book didn’t meet the same standard. It was about college students who gathered 15 years after a tragic end to one of them occurred on a coastal Oregon winery. Unfortunately, the method of interspersing a script into the novel made it quite confusing. 2/5 Stars. #NetGalley #JillyGagnon #RandomHousePublishing #TheSceneoftheCrime

Jilly Gagnon's gripping novel, "Scenes of the Crime," delves into the enigmatic world of disappearances, secrets, and the intricate dynamics of friendship. With a backdrop of a remote winery on the Oregon coast, Gagnon weaves a masterful locked-room mystery that will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the very last page.

The story revolves around Emily Fischer, an aspiring screenwriter whose mundane existence takes an unexpected turn when she encounters a woman who bears a striking resemblance to her missing friend, Vanessa Morales. Haunted by the unresolved mystery of Vanessa's disappearance, Emily embarks on a journey to uncover the truth behind that fateful final girls' trip.

As Emily grapples with her monotonous job and yearns for creative fulfillment, the chance encounter ignites a spark of inspiration within her. Determined to unravel the truth, Emily hatches a brilliant yet risky plan—to reunite the group of friends who were present on that ill-fated trip to the winery. By revisiting the scene of the crime, Emily hopes to piece together the events leading up to Vanessa's disappearance and finally give voice to the story that has been brewing within her.

Gagnon skillfully navigates the complex relationships between the characters, each with their own hidden motives and insecurities. The cast of characters includes Brittany, Vanessa's cousin and the heiress to the winery; Paige, a formidable yet easily influenced former athlete; and Lydia, the unassuming wallflower of the group. As the reunion weekend unfolds, tensions rise, and long-buried secrets resurface, forcing the friends to confront their own culpability and the truth behind Vanessa's vanishing act.

Throughout the narrative, Gagnon employs a riveting dual timeline structure, alternating between Emily's quest for answers and scenes from her blockbuster screenplay. This ingenious technique not only adds layers of intrigue but also offers insight into the shiny, alluring world of Hollywood storytelling—a world that both captivates and deceives.

"Scenes of the Crime" delves deep into themes of loyalty, deception, and the complex facets of female friendship. Gagnon's evocative prose transports readers to the scenic winery, immersing them in a palpable atmosphere of tension and unease. As Emily grapples with her own memories and suspicions, readers will be swept up in a suspenseful narrative that keeps them guessing until the shocking truth is unveiled.

In this riveting mystery, Jilly Gagnon masterfully explores the blurred lines between reality and fiction, guilt and innocence, and the power of storytelling to shape perceptions. "Scenes of the Crime" is a thought-provoking and captivating novel that will leave readers questioning the narratives we construct and the lengths we will go to protect the ones we love.

Four friends return to the place where one of their own went missing fifteen years ago. Emily wants closure and the hope that returning to the Vineyard where her best friends disappeared will help her put the pieces together.

There were a lot of twists and turns and some mixed media elements that are written like script pages. Usually, I enjoy this kind of thing in a book, but this time it didn't really add anything for me. All in all, this was just an okay mystery thriller for me, the mystery of what happened to Vanessa that weekend was interesting, but it didn't give me enough thrills or suspense to really keep me invested.

This is a book that tells the story of five college friends who really don’t like each other. Four of them return to the vineyard where fifteen years one of them disappeared/died/was killed. One of the four—Emily--plans to find out which of them was responsible for Vanessa’s undoing.

This is advertised as a locked-room mystery; however, it should be called a drunken weekend debacle. There are a lot of foggy brains and amnesia which are used to add to our suspicions of who dun-nit. Also, there are several plot holes, one of which made me think that the weekends should have taken place in the mid-1990s.

I wish I could be more positive, but I found this book to be a disappointment.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Bantom Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

You know what you’re getting into here. It’s typical and formulaic but hey that does not mean it’s a bad book. It’s just mediocre at its best. Take that as you will.

With friends like these, who needs enemies? This twisted tale of four friends was puzzling and not necessarily in a good way. The differences between what seemed to be really happening and the scenes written by the character Emily just made for lots of confusion. Did Emily have a knife or a corkscrew? Did Lydia have a gun or nothing or a paring knife? Sorry, it was too muddled for me.

OMG! I Screamed when I got audio approval from PRH Audio for this one. I’ve had a physical copy of Scenes of the Crime on my TBR for months and this was just the SHOVE I needed to pick it back up, and boy, am I glad that I did. Scenes of the Crime hits shelves on September 5, 2023. I’m so thankful to Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine, Jilly Gagnon, Netgalley, and PRH Audio for granting advanced digital, audio, and physical access before pub day.

15 years ago, four close frenemies’ lives were changed after the sudden disappearance of their dear friend and companion, Vanessa. Flash forward to the present day, Emily, Brittany, Paige, and Lydia are back in the summer house where it all started the summer they lost their best friend. Meant to act as a journey towards closure, the girls begin to experience and receive weird visitations and gifts that could only have been directly from their long-lost friend.

Our MC/narrator is a copy-editor/manuscript writer trying to get to the bottom of this mystery with little flashbacks to key plot-hole/contextual fills in the format of an actual manuscript, so that’s a nice little reprieve for the reader.

And wait until we’re teased with the plot twist of the century! Don’t sleep on this book, and get your pre-orders in like yesterday!

The excerpt sounded like something I might like, but didn't turn out that way. I'm not enjoying the many books out there currently that focus on toxic relationships that are supposed to be "friendships". This one may be OK for others, just not for me.

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

A winery in Oregon and friends reunited 15 years after a traumatic event. What could go wrong? Obviously, in a thriller, a lot.

This book definitely kept my interest. I had a lot of fun reading it even though some bits were a little predictable. It's a fast-paced, quick read that gave me my thriller fix!

Out September 5, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

Interesting twists, fairly unlikable characters, beautiful setting and a story that will keep you guessing. Another knockout by Jilly Gagnon.

The premise of this book sounded promising - four college friends reuniting to figure out what happened to their friend 15 years ago. But it just didn't work for me at all. None of the women were likable and I couldn't understand why they were even friends in college or would agree to meet again when they hadn't spoken to each other in years or even liked each other. The chapters alternated between present day and a screenplay one of the women was writing about the events that took place. It was very confusing and as the book went on it was very hard to tell what really happened and what was created for the screenplay. I wouldn't waste my time with this book when there are much better thrillers and mysteries out there. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

A lot of reviews state that this was a predictable book and did not hold their attention enough. I did not find that as the case in this book with an exotic locale and a mystery of trying to find out what happened to one of their friends. I will say I agree with some of the reviews that it was hard to find a character to cheer for but that was probably the design of the book. I would recommend this book to other readers but I would not necessarily it is one to be put on the top of TBR piles. Looking forward to what Jilly comes up with next!

Fifteen years ago, Emily’s friend Vanessa disappeared at a remote winery. In present day, Emily spots someone who is a dead-ringer for Vanessa. This prompts Emily to tell Vanessa’s story, but to do that she has to return to the scene of the crime. Gathering the girls together in the same place, she tells them they are returning to reminisce on the old days and to reconnect. One of them has been hiding something all these years but who? And why?

Did someone say “locked room thriller but put it in a winery?!” Sign me up! I loved the atmosphere of this story (no surprise there, given my love of wine and locked room thrillers). Also I found the plot of “returning to the scene of the crime” unique and fun. Though a definitely a bit of a slow burn, I was able to read this one quickly. If you enjoy locked room thrillers this one is worth checking out!

Thank you to Bantam and Netgalley for the ARC! “Scenes of the Crime” releases September 5, 2023! This review will be shared to my Instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly.

After a chance encounter with an old friend's doppelganger, Emily Fischer, a dead ended screenwriter for a sitcom that she wants to give up if it wasn't her bread and butter, decides to call 4 of her former girlfriends to have a weekend reunion at a remote winery that is hopefully soon-to-be-owned by one of them. Said reunion was to find closure from the death of their friend 15 years ago. Emily was allegedly the last person to see their friend, Vanessa, alive, but no one found her body. The story is told in alternating prose and a script by Emily's hand who plans to make the story of Vanessa's disappearance into a movie. Some are flashbacks--and the flashbacks are either told as part of the story, or as part of the developing script. Emily hopes that, by the time the weekend comes to a close, they already know who actually killed Vanessa, for she suspects one of her own friends murdered her.

What I liked about the book was the totally unique style: the alternating story telling and script writing. That being said, it seemed like some parts of the script were inserted in the story telling areas where it sort of didn't fit at all and stuck out like a sore thumb. It was only as you get midway in the book does the story and script flow together seamlessly, and you begin to get a better picture of how the events were unfolding. Emily's character was well developed as a mediator of the peace who is jealous of Vanessa paying attention to their other friends more than to her, that I suspected she was in love with Vanessa for real. However, this wasn't made clear in the book, and so you're left wondering if she's gay or just someone who maniacally wants to hog Vanessa's attentions all to herself. The other girlfriends appear to feel the same way towards Vanessa: they like/love her so much, they were jealous of any attention Vanessa paid the others. Vanessa appears to have been aware of this and exploited their feelings by holding something over each of them that she could blackmail them with. So now the question is, did one of the 4 friends kill her because they can't take the blackmail any longer?

Now for the downers in this book: the inappropriate and often-used words "definitively" and "vulpine". Whoever edited the book apparently doesn't know exactly when to use "definitively" as opposed to "definitely" or even "definite". It made the book sound childish and very amateur, especially as "definitively" was used so often without regard to whether it was grammatically appropriate for all the instances it was used. Meanwhile, "vulpine" was used to describe the smiles of the various characters at one time or another. I mean, you can't have all 4 of them having a "vulpine smile"--why not spice it up with "a mean smile", "crafty smile", "wolfish grin", that sort of thing?

Another downer was the slow progression of the story until midway in the book, when it sort of picks up, but not by much. I mentioned the better interspersing of the story-telling prose with the script midway through the book, but this is also when I started to not like the book too much. Although the script was interspersed in between the story telling, there was not much change between the writing style of the script and the prose: in the beginning where the script alternated with the story, you could definitely sense a change in writing style, as if Emily was truly writing the script, and the author was writing the story. Midway through, that fell completely apart as now you definitely know it is the author also writing the script. It was as if Emily's writing style disappeared; I expected the difference in writing style to continue since the script is supposed to be written by the fictitious character.

Finally, as is often the case with a lot of mystery books written in the last 5 years or so, the final twist and tying up of all loose ends happens in the last 50 or so pages. I've read and seen this so many times, and each time I read it, the story feels rushed. As if the author was told, "Hey, you're reaching your max of 350 pages, you better end this right now beginning at page 300." And everything is suddenly just tied up so conveniently, it leaves your head spinning. In this book, everything was supposedly "neatly" solved and tied up in the Epilogue, it left me flabbergasted: "Say, what?! That didn't happen at all?! Oh, you mean that person really didn't do that?! It happened where?! You mean she just invented all that as part of the script?!" There should have been some sort of better explanation for all that. If you like the feeling of the rug being pulled under your feet after knowing that everything happened just as you suspected, then this book is for you. I don't like that feeling and, combined with the above downers, made me rate this book 3 stars.

I struggled to finish this one. The characters are not very believable, the relationships are all too toxic to get me to care about them, and the motivation for the villain seemed pretty contrived. Sorry, I can't recommend this.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bantam Books for an advanced reader copy.

The place is a beautiful winery built with stone and timber on the Oregon coast unlike no other. There are three caves on the property that are stunning but dangerous when the tide is in. Inside, one can see a view of huge cliffs and the ocean. And then the bonus: there is a cellar with a variety of rich wines to taste and enjoy. What’s there not to like?

How about four college friends – Emily, Brittany, Paige and Lydia – who have decided to regroup at the Cliff Edge Winery. Besides sipping really good wines, they have agreed to rehash what happened to their good friend Vanessa when she vanished 15 years ago. Emily figured that Vanessa had slipped over a dangerous cliff. An exhaustive search took place with no results. Then, Emily thought she saw Vanessa recently.

It had been some time since she chatted with the others in the group. She was hoping someone would remember something critical at the winery. After a few calls, they agreed to go there which I found to be amazing since they were no longer close.

Emily also had another agenda. She was a screenwriter and figured an interesting true story like this could boost her career. Every step of the way, she kept a secret sequence of events on her laptop which were recorded in the story. She needed some type of resolve.

The four women had their own agendas with lots of jealousy and drama. At least someone from the group should have been likeable. Even though I found it to be predictable, it kept my attention.

My thanks to Bantam Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of September 5, 2023.

Four women reunite fifteen years after their glamorous friend Vanessa disappeared and was declared dead. Emily, a TV sitcom writer, hopes a script based on the events, past and present, will catapult her career. Brittany, Vanessa’s cousin, acts as host at the secluded family winery she inherited. Lydia and Paige agree to come but are reluctant to fully engage with the group. Secrets, lies, and their dysfunctional friendship dynamics surface as what happened all those years ago is revealed.

Traditional prose is interspersed with sections of the script Emily is writing based on the mystery surrounding Vanessa’s disappearance. Both versions are heavily filtered through Emily’s perspective and reimagined in the case of the script. While the approach is innovative and fits perfectly with Emily’s goals and personality, the scripted sections adversely affect the novel’s pacing and kept me from bring fully invested in the storyline. While I appreciated the innovative storytelling, I feel the scripted sections would have worked better if they occurred less frequently.

I would have liked to have seen Lydia and Paige developed more and more scenes that included all four women. Some of the happenings felt a bit unrealistic, but the way the story is positioned through Emily’s fictionalized script helped make the events more palatable.

I enjoyed Emily’s goal driven character, her career woes, and her insight into the friendship dynamics. The conflict between the women was nicely shown and the setting exuded a cool modern gothic feel.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to Bantam Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, for providing an Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley.

Five college friends have a spring break at a winery on the coast owned by Brit & Vanessa's grandparetns. One of them goes missing...each of the other three think they may have killed her. Fifteen years later Emily gathers the other three at the same winery to learn who killed Vanessa Emily is a screen writer and she is writing scenes of what she imagines occurred. As Emily learns about each of her 'friends', she writes the scene including stage directions.
Read to discover the true story of the events that happend fifteen years ago. Plan on being surprised.

The atmosphere and the premise are great, you really feel as if you're in at the vineyard. The cave scenes were chilling. The unconventional structure of the story then a movie script was a tad confusing at time. I did like the ending but how you get to the twist was a bumpy ride. I did read it in one sitting so it did keep me entertained.

I'd give this a 3.5 out of 5.


Thank you NetGalley, Jilly Gagnon, and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

The setting of this novel is lovely. It's definitely got a creepy vibe but I also (strangely) wanted to visit. The chapters set up like a script were fun. However, the writing style was a little too wordy and long-winded for my liking, and there were definitely some parts that felt a bit dull. Additionally, some of the characters just didn't make sense to me. All in all, I wouldn't say that I loved this book, but I certainly didn't hate it either.