Scenes of the Crime took me on a mysterious journey with former college friends, bound by a dark secret from their past. The story revolves around Vanessa, the magnetic center of their group, who vanished without a trace during a fateful girls' trip at a remote winery. Fast forward 15 years, and Emily, now a disillusioned screenwriter, spots a woman resembling her lost friend, igniting her determination to uncover the truth behind Vanessa's disappearance.

As Emily orchestrates a reunion weekend at the winery, the secrets of each friend come bubbling to the surface, leaving me with a sense of unease and suspicion towards them all. However, I couldn't shake the feeling that Emily's motives were not solely driven by the quest for truth but also fueled by her desire to create the ultimate screenplay to escape her own mundane life. The story weaves between the present, past, and Emily's screenplay, adding layers of complexity to the mystery. While I found the surprise ending a bit underwhelming, the characters' narcissistic tendencies and the story's pacing made it challenging for me to fully connect with the book. Overall, Scenes of the Crime is a thought-provoking exploration of friendship, culpability, and the blurred lines of storytelling in Hollywood.

This was told from the viewpoint of Emily, a screenwriter. Fifteen years ago, she and four college friends (Brittany, Vanessa, Paige and Lydia) spent a holiday at a remote Oregon coast winery owned by Brittany and Vanessa’s wealthy grandparents. One night of over imbibing sees Vanessa go missing, presumed dead.

In present day, Emily is determined to solve the mystery of what happened that night so she can write a lucrative screenplay and leave her boring job behind. The four estranged friends (read “frenemies”) reunite at the winery for closure and discover that secrets have been kept by each of them regarding that night and their relationships with the charismatic but manipulative Vanessa.

I really wanted to like this book more, and this author is a really talented writer, but I had two issues here. First, the story is told in two timeframes (15 years apart) and in 2 formats (Emily as narrator and Emily’s screenplay scenes). So not only are we reading past/present events and their interconnections, we are reading Emily’s viewpoint and also her creative license with the events included in her screenplay. This format was distracting and confusing as I had to continually go back to figure out what elements were “real” and what was “fictional” (and sometimes I was still left in the dark). Second, none of the characters were likable/redeemable. They all were self-absorbed, and most were spoiled, conniving and just plain mean. I would like to have had at least one of the women be relatable in some way.

As I said, the writing is definitely above average, but the overall layout just didn’t work for me.

My thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for providing the free early arc of Scenes of the Crime for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

The structure of this story is intriguing. Real-time narrative is enhanced by sections of the main character's fledgling movie script. These scenes of the crime provide insight on the main character's suspicions as well as flashbacks that offer the reader insight into the true nature of the friend group relationships. I've only one complaint. The setting descriptions are luxurious and long...Sometimes a bit too lengthy. I found myself skimming large paragraph chunks of description to get back to the narrative. Beyond that, the mystery is nostalgic and slightly gothic, with the secluded setting, rich winery history, and underground caves. A great book to settle in with for a long night of uninterrupted reading.

This is my second Jilly Gagnon book and I really enjoy her writing style. 5 huge stars for that! The plot of Scenes of the Crime I feel has been told before; 5 old college friends reunite years later, in this case 15 years later to deal with all the emotions of the disappearance/murder of someone in the group. Emily is now a writer on a tv sitcom and plans to write a screenplay on the disappearance of Vanessa, hoping to use this as a way to solve exactly what happened that night all those years ago. Some of the chapters in the book are actually written as a page of a that screenplay and I liked the uniqueness of that. All the characters are difficult to like and while that didn't turn me off, it was hard to understand how these girls were all friends in college to begin with. Overall I enjoyed this story.

"An ambitious screenwriter tries to solve her friend's disappearance by re-creating their fateful final girls' trip in this riveting locked-room mystery from the author of All Dressed Up.

It should have been the perfect spring break: Five girlfriends. A remote winery on the Oregon coast. An infinite supply of delicious wine at their manicured fingertips. But then their center - beautiful, magnetic Vanessa Morales - vanished without a trace.

Emily Fischer was perhaps the last person to see her alive. But now, years later, Emily spots Vanessa's doppelganger at a local café. At the end of her rope working a lucrative yet mind-numbing gig on a network sitcom, Emily is inspired to finally tell the story that's been percolating inside her for so long: Vanessa's story. But first, she needs to know what really happened on that fateful night. So she puts a brilliant scheme into motion.

She gets the girls together for a reunion weekend at the scene of the crime under the guise of reconnecting. There's Brittany, Vanessa's cousin and the inheritor of the winery; Paige, a former athlete, bullish yet easily manipulated; and Lydia, the wallflower of the group.

One of them knows the truth. But what have they each been hiding? And how much can Emily trust anything she learns from them...or even her own memories of Vanessa's last days? Suspenseful, propulsive, and interspersed with scenes from Emily's blockbuster screenplay, Scenes of the Crime is an unforgettable mystery that examines culpability, the shiny rearview mirror of Hollywood storytelling, and the pitfalls of female friendship."

I mean, the only reason you'd go on this trip is if you're the killer and want to silence everyone right?

Jilly Gagnon's "Scenes of the Crime" was a fun and twisted mystery full of new reveals and interesting characters. I felt like this book was a grown-up version of "Pretty Little Liars," which I thoroughly enjoyed. I was intrigued by Emily's sketchy memories from the night of her friend's disappearance, and different roads each member of the group took after experiencing such a loss.
While I loved the flashbacks to the past as readers learn what led to Vanessa's disappearance, I didn't like the way it was written as a script, it made it disjointed and kind of took me out of the story. Otherwise - this book kept me turning pages, needing to know what was next!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam And NetGalley for an arc edition of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A script writer, Emily, who cannot deal with the past of losing a close friend rallies her old girlfriends for a final weekend away at the winery where they last saw their lost friend, Vanessa. Slowly the past gets revealed through the storytelling of our MC and through the script she is writing for her show. Layers are peeled back and secrets revealed as we eventually learn what happened to Vanessa and who was guilty. Lots of twists and turns have you guessing and rethinking who is the culprit.
A different mystery with a story in a story. Well done, but a little slow in moving along at times. A solid 4 stars for me.

2.5 confusing stars

Emily Fischer is our main character, now a screenwriter, and still dwelling on her college friend’s disappearance 15 years ago. She’s writing about the disappearance and decides to bring the friend group back together to unlock her writer’s block and solve the case. The setting is a remote winery on the coast of Oregon with dramatic cliffs and dangerous staircases.

It sounds like an amazing premise, but I struggled to keep the women and their stories straight. Perhaps five characters were too many. The modern-day chapters were intermixed with scenes from her screenplay. Again, this sounds terrific, but I kept mixing up what was real, what was in the screenplay, and what I should be thinking.

What really happened to Vanessa 15 years ago? Each girl has a different recollection and none of them were honest with the police. Each girl also has skeletons in their closet that they are protecting. And just how strong were the friendships anyway? Some of the girls had money and others didn’t, so there was often that power play in the mix.

I might need to take a break from thrillers as they all seem to be following the same formula these days.

Five longtime friends get together for a Spring break vacation. They choose to go to Oregan where there is a winery. Everything goes well until Vanessa goes missing. Emily was the last person to see her, but each friend seems to be hiding something. They decide to return to the same location to try to retrace that day when their friend went missing, but can they trust what each of the friends seem to recall.
I could not identify with these characters. I try to imagine them like I was watching a movie, but unfortunately this book was not for me.
I do thank the author, publisher and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

What an absolute page-turner! Scenes of the Crime kept me up past my bedtime just waiting to see what would happen next! Though it was occasionally predictable and some of the characters were a bit less complex than I would’ve liked, it kept me engaged and wondering what would happen next!

A group of friend's friend disappeared 15 years ago and secrets come out through all the friends. This was just ok for me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review.

This book is proof that you cannot judge a book by its cover, as the cover is what initially caught my eye. I kept thinking that if I stuck with the story, it would be worth it, but it was difficult to connect with any of the characters, which is how I usually most enjoy a story. They were mean girls, but not in the fun way.

Thank you, NetGalley,

It is a slow burn, with characters that are all mean girls. I don't like reading about groups of girls, who shouldn't be friends. If they hated each other that much why still hang out? I also found the movie script hard to read, I found myself skipping over those parts. I think it would be better as an audiobook. This book would be a good book to start reading thrillers/ mysteries but was someone who reads mostly thrillers this book didn't stand out to me.

It’s okay that the romance genre is formulaic. We read romance anticipating the witty banter, the frustrating miscommunication, and finally the happily ever after.

It’s not okay that the over saturated thriller market, is becoming formulaic and predictable too.

This time the locale is an Oregon Coast winery, instead of a ski chalet or an Island, (see epilogue) but that is about all that sets it apart.

We have a group of 5 friends (frenemies) who had gathered for a Spring break getaway where one disappears. The “friends” go their separate ways until one decides, after 15 years apart, that there should be a reunion for “closure” about what happened.

This time it’s Emily Fischer, now a screenwriter, who is inspired to tell their friend Vanessa’s story, when she spots her doppelgänger at a local café. Emily puts a plan into motion, suggesting that the reunion take place at the scene of the crime-the winery owned by Brittany and Vanessa’s grandparents.

Their back story is shared with us through the pages of her screenplay, (original) but it reads very YA.

The other friends who agree to attend are Brittany, Vanessa’s cousin who has inherited the winery, Paige, the former athlete of the group, and Lydia, the meekest of the five.

The characters are not well developed and those descriptors are about all we learn about them, Their toxic “friendships” didn’t feel authentic, since we never really got to know them.

Of course they each know something about that night which they haven’t shared with the others-and then we all learn the truth.

I was not at all invested in learning the outcome.

I probably wouldn’t have requested this book, but when I was invited to read it, I took a chance on it because I spent a year living in Oregon and I loved tasting at the wineries there and visiting the gorgeous Oregon Coast, but unfortunately the locale wasn’t enough to save this tired premise.

As always, if you haven’t yet read a lot of these stories, it might work better for you.

AVAILABLE September 5, 2023

Thank You to Bantam Dell who provided a gifted copy through NetGalley in exchange for an HONEST review.

This is an Agatha Christie “locked together on an island” type of mystery, only set mostly at a winery in coastal Oregon. The lead character is a screen writer in Los Angeles (hence the ‘Scenes’-plural-in the book’s title) haunted by the disappearance of her friend at the winery fifteen years earlier. She vows to bring together the others in the circle of friends who were present, in the desperate hope that she can piece together her own, almost nonexistent, memories.

It turns out the friends aren’t such good friends after all. They were held together the by the glue of the forceful personality of the woman who disappeared. This becomes evident when they arrive at the winery manor house and barbs start to fly. Pretty soon, it feels like you’re in a scene from Mean Girls.

There’s a little bit too much description for my taste (I don’t need to know what’s on the crackers, how high the ceiling is, or who’s got the most money), but this will appeal to some. For me, it’s a kind of literary voyeurism that distracts from the story.

(Note: if you’re bothered by the f—- word, this is not your book. By the middle of the story it is the most frequently used adjective.)

I’ll give the author this: I read through to the end to find out what happened. But my feeling about this book is that is overly dramatic, overly described, overly mean, and alcohol soaked. The device of a script writer trying to make her friends into a salable script really doesn’t work for me. Sadly, Scenes of the Crime does not make me want to pick up another of the author’s books.

Fifteen years ago, five college girlfriends spring break together at a remote winery on the Oregon coast. But at the end of it, only four of them emerged. Vanessa, the one holding them all together, disappears without a trace, and Emily is left with a hole in her memory, wondering if she had something to do with it. Fast-forward to present day and Emily is a screenwriter stuck in a dead-end job, and while writing in her favorite LA hangout she swears she spots Vanessa. So she calls up the other three and convinces them to go back to the winery together to get closure--but secretly hopes she can find the inspiration she needs to turn their story into the script that will make her career. But when mysterious things start happening at the winery, it seems that someone knows more than she's saying about what happened that dark, wine-soaked night, so long ago.

I loved the flashes between the narrative from Emily's POV and the text of the screenplay she's writing. We know she's weaving a story with some creative license in the screenplay, but it becomes harder and harder to tell what is truth and what is fiction. Can she trust any of her memory? Complicating that are the TOXIC relationships that all the "friends" seems to have with each other, both in the past and present. I found myself asking how they were even friends? Everyone seemed to be using each other and keeping secrets. And when the mysterious things start happening, everything gets so tense. It was the right amount of tension for me, and no gore. I don't want to ruin the end, but I love how the truth was used, abused, and how it all turned out. Such a great story and such a wonderful, unique structure in which to tell it!

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for my advance electronic copy. Any opinions expressed are my own.

This is a suspensful thriler of 5 friends who reunite after one goes missing., Part of the story was told through one of the characters writing the story to the reader and the remainder of the story is told with the story. The characters did not resonate with me as the types who would be friends or bother to investigate a cold crime. If you like thrillers based around groups of friends, wineries and a missing person story you will like this book.

Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley. My review opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book had a very promising premise. A group of girlfriends get together again on a girl’s trip to get some closure on the disappearance of their friend years ago. However I felt like this one didn’t hit the mark for me.

To start of with the good, I thought the incorporation of the script to help piece together the events of the night of the disappearance was clever. Though, as it went on, it got very confusing to distinguish what was actually truth vs fiction, which may be what the author intended, but as a reader, it was frustrating.

All of the character’s motivations were all over the place and didn’t make sense. I started to lose sense of the plot around 50% in, and from there the book became hard to finish even though it is fairly short.

I also didn’t understand how these girls became friends to begin with. None of them had anything in common, nor supported each other on anything, so it was unbelievable that they would get together in the current timeline to go on a trip together. The toxicity of the friendships is a theme throughout the book, but it was too much for me to enjoy.

Creepy thriller that fell a bit short. I thought the cover was beautiful and the synopsis quickly caught my eye. I did not like the screenplay chapters, it didn't flow well and was very distracting. It is worth finishing, as the ending was fantastic! While this wasn't my favorite thriller, I will happily read more books by this author as there seems to be good potential.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

This story is about a group of “friends” who reunite after a traumatic experience. Friends is I. The very loosest definition of the word. Each character is unpleasant enough that it is hard to champion any. The story that unfolds is full of drama.

Included in the main thread of the story is a fictional story being written by one of the characters. It muddies the original narrative of the main plot and makes truth difficult to distinguish. I really wish this had been left out.

I’d still recommend if you like psychological thrillers, stories with highly flawed characters, and lots of drama.