DNF @ 25% - the writing style was excellent and very similar to a cozy mystery (which usually are not my vibes but will read if not too cheesy). however, as someone who has been on the other end of bad reporting and malicious reporting in my life, I cannot read about reporters who do shady things to get a scoop without seeing the negatives in it, unless something falls back on them. I know that’s super not the point of this story and maybe it’s just me and ✨ trauma ✨ but I couldn’t get past the audacity of the main characters

Thank you for the ARC! I was taken by the cover of this book and the premise hooked me. The author’s background served her well in building Jolene’s character and story and felt very thought out. However, I just felt like the story itself fell flat. I just didn’t love the end.

Jolene is a young TV reporter for a local news station. She feels her big break is coming when a radio talk show host is suspected to have been killed due to his controversial views, and Jolene is determined to solve the mystery.

This audiobook was an easy and fast paced listen. I thought the narrator did a great job and I found the book to move along quickly in this format. However, I didn’t love the story overall, I found it to be ‘good/okay’ and I probably won’t remember all that many details. I liked reading about tv reporting and how difficult that can be, but I didn’t love the rest of the plot. I didn’t like Jolene playing amateur detective, and I didn’t feel she was developed much as a whole character.

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books/St. Martins Publishing for the ARC of "Off The Air" in exchange for an honest review.
A fast, mostly entertaining read, but a very mixed bag of the good, the bad and the ugly.....
First thing to like - author Christina Estes, an award winning Phoenix TV reporter certainly knows the territory. She plunges you into the the super hectic life of a local TV station "live on the street" reporter. Jolene Garcia. Jolene spends her days scrambling around the city for a hot scoop to make the evening news, along with her equally ambitious competitors from rival stations. If the book had solely concentrated on this part of the story - the day to day frenzied life of a journalist, it might've been on its way to a much higher rating than I'm giving it.
A murder mystery rocks the city with discovery of the poisoning of controversial local talk show host Larry Lemmon,, a sort of local Tucker Carlson-Rush LImbaugh right-wing wanna-be. Jolene craves to make the story her very own exclusive since she did the last interview with Lemmon before his death. But she's scooped at every turn by "JJ", her hated glamorous and gorgeous rival. J.J.'s the embodiment of the TV news-babe in Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry" song - the bubble headed blonde who can tell you about a plane crash with a gleam in her eye..
More pressure falls upon Jolene from her station manage and news director, who demand nightly hot scoops to feed the station's growing social media outlets of facebook, instagram and twitter.
And here's where "Off The Air" starts to fly off the rails a little in terms of our investment in Jolene's hunt for news. She quickly becomes unlikable and obnoxious in a series of series of foolhardy, unprofessional and highly questionable maneuvers to hunt down her story. Her reckless interviewing and reporting antagonizes her subjects and angers her confidential police source. The only time a reader might feel empathy for her is when she's harassed by some repulsive creep trying to date her.
The pacing of the book also begins to stop cold as it takes time outs to indulge in some Phoenix lore and recaps of past true current events that relate to Jolene's tribulations.
And I should warn that those who don't care for today's all too real toxic politics inserted into novels, will see it on full display here. But given the Larry Lemmon character, it's unavoidable.......which makes the mystery factor not very surprising since he was roundly hated by everyone around him,yet idolized by many of his listeners. Hmmm......well that sounds familiar.
As I said, the nuts 'n bolts, give-and-take of local TV news reporting makes fascinating reading, but Jolene's problematic behavior only muddies up the plot (most painfully in the big reveal finale.) But there's enough good stuff that made it a quick, diverting read.

This book was well written and the story was engaging, but not for me. I feel like it was written for an audience of people in the broadcast news industry or interested in it who would appreciate the little details and specific dynamics between the characters and the roles they played. I appreciate that Christina Estes stayed true to what she knows and her experience, and I fully believe that it made the book authentic and engaging and gripping to the people in her audience. For me, I found myself getting distracted by those details and interactions while trying to piece together what was happening, and it took away from the overall story. The book touched on timely larger societal issues, incorporated in a way propelled the story forward. If the combination of journalism and metropolitan whodunit gets you excited, give this book a try!

Thanks to NetGally and St. Martin's Press for the eARC and opportunity to review!

Huge fan of deep dives into investigative reporting and finding a killer! Seeing the behind the scenes look at what that works is like was very fascinating.

This books explores a profession that I never knew was so cutthroat- journalism.

This was a slow-burn cozy mystery about the murder of a radio jockey that nobody liked, which makes it hard to care as the reader. When one-third of the way in the lead reporter on the case starts to get threatening messages, the story finally started to intrigue me.

This book wasn't a mystery in the traditional sense. Overall, it felt like it was 50% whodunnit and 50% crash course in journalism. The MC was more invested in being the first to get the scoop- and get applauded for it- which, fine given the victim, but in general was quite distasteful. She doesn't want justice folks, just an Emmy.

It was hard to get invested in this read. Just OK. Three and a half stars downgraded to three stars, Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an early review copy in exchange for my thoughts.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

This book wasn’t for me. I couldn’t relate to the MC and honestly found her pretty annoying. I did end up DNF’ing this book which I rarely do for an ARC but I just couldn’t finish this.

This is a new authors debut book and while I feel like she actually did her research and knew about her subject (journalism) here, I still felt a disconnect from the characters. I struggled even liking the supporting characters.

This book felt less like a murder mystery and more like a documentary into the ruthless world of journalism and being the first to “tweet a breaking story” whether it’s true or not.

I know this book will be for someone out there but it just wasn’t me.

This was a quick read but it seemed to be a bit chaotic. The original storyline was very interesting but I felt that it went off in too many directions once a new suspect came to light.
The actual writing was really good, and before knowing anything about the author it was obvious that there was a history as a reporter which is not a bad thing. I would like to read more of her work in the future.

Jolene Garcia is a reporter in Phoenix looking for her big break. When a local talk show host is murdered, she seizes the moment and tries to solve the case. The murder mystery is overshadowed by explanations of everything: behind the scenes at a TV station (probably takes up about 40% of the book); local neighborhoods, restaurants, and shops; and Jolene pursuing exclusive interviews she never gets. I didn’t care for the talk show host, so I wasn’t invested in solving his murder. The solution was full of exciting action and then the story limped to the finish line. If you’re looking for a suspenseful mystery, you won’t find it here. However, if you’re curious about what producing the news entails or all things Phoenix, AZ, this is your book!

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I really disliked the main character which I realized from the jump when she didn't like dogs...red flag. My dislike was further confirmed when her true cut-throat and rude personality was revealed. My distaste for this character out shone my ability to enjoy this book.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to review this arc.

I’m having a hard time rating this book. There were times when I was very interested in the mystery of who killed Larry Lemmon but that was in conflict with how I felt about the main character Jolene and other characters in the book. I was mostly annoyed with Jolene. I’m not a reporter and maybe this is how it really is but it’s like she spent the majority of the book complaining about how she was getting scooped by other reporters. In the beginning I felt sorry for her but the fact that it just kept happening throughout the story just got annoying. I was also really bothered by the neighbor that was interested in her. I didn’t see the point in him and why he was needed in the story. I get the nosy older female neighbor but not him. There was just a lot going on that I feel like took away from the main plot of solving the murder. Now when we finally find out who did and why I was all in on those chapters. My heart was pounding waiting to see what was going to happen.

Overall I enjoyed the book. I think there are a lot of people out there who are going to love this book and I hope it finds them. For me it was just a like not love if that makes sense.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

This was somehow both stressful and boring, even though it had all the pieces to be an enjoyable murder mystery. The lead character never wins, there's nothing to keep us hooked on her success or invested in her survival, and she's such a hater of other women. The mystery should've been great but it was like the story was looking to create fewer suspects. It was kind of exhausting to read.

Off the Air was an interesting mystery with lots of information about journalism and politics. I thought it was overall okay but I really had to force myself to finish the book. If you like reading about journalism then this would be the perfect book for you.
Thank you Netgalley and St.Martins Press for the ARC!

Off the Air by Christina Estes
Rating: 3 stars

This was a fun debut, blending the thrill of investigative journalism with the intrigue of a cozy mystery. Jolene Garcia, a spirited local TV reporter in Phoenix, Arizona, finds herself thrust into the midst of a high-stakes murder investigation after the suspicious death of radio host Larry Lemmon.

Jolene is determined to uncover the truth before her rivals. She uses her skills as a journalist to do this, and while I personally find the subject of journalism interesting ( I was a journalist for a short time), I can see why many people might not. The story reads like a love letter to the profession and includes a lot of ins and outs of the job. It’s also very political, which I wasn’t that fond of, and contains whole paragraph descriptions of Arizona which made the story drag in places.

This is marketed as a cozy mystery, but I’m not sure it fits that description. There are plenty of suspects and twists, but Jolene isn’t as interested in solving the murder as she is in getting the scoop. It’s hard to connect with her character in that way.
Off the Air is a debut novel and it’s clear Estes is a talented writer. I’ll be excited to see what she comes up with next. Thank you so much to Netgalley and Minotaur for my advanced copy.

Phoenix TV reporter Jolene Garcia heads to the scene where controversial radio talk show host Larry Lemmon has suddenly died. Jolene had conducted his final interview and her bosses hope this gives their TV station the advantage. But Jolene finds herself scooped by her rivals several times when her police source prevents her from using vital information in her broadcasts. This leads Jolene to make some unprofessional & pushy moves to try & advance her story. This was an interesting look into the highly competitive world of live TV reporting.

I received a digital ARC from Netgalley and Minotaur Books. All opinions are my own.

Journalism isn't all fun and games - especially when your station's reputation is on the line. This is especially true for Jolene Garcia. After securing an advantageous last interview with local celebrity Larry Lemmon, Jolene is confident her station will lead the pack on the reporting of his death. However, the competition is moving in quickly - and they will do anything to get exclusive interviews and information. As the coverage continues, Jolene finds herself steps behind the competition and becomes desperate to come out on top. She is willing to go through any lengths to get the perfect story, and eventually uncover who is behind this strange murder. Will Jolene break the case or will the case break her?

This was a fun and fast-paced whodunit story! At times, it did drag a little bit, but at other points I felt like there could have been more. Christina Estes also provides a look into what happens behind the scenes of the news and how stations come into information regarding different cases/topics. That being said, it wasn't anything that blew me away. It was a cozy read that did get you thinking toward the end, but did not leave you on the edge of your seat. If you are looking for a read that will give you a weekend adventure, this one is for you! However, if you're looking for something action-packed and puzzling, you may be slightly disappointed.

DNF @ 30%. I requested this after getting an email from St. Martin's Press about it, but it was just not for me.

The plot centers on the murder of a right-wing radio host, and the journalists fighting to cover the story. There is so much infodumping constantly, in both the text and the dialogue. There's half a page dedicated to summarizing the events of Jonestown - the protagonist is supposedly intelligent, educated, and raised in the US; it's hard to imagine a professional journalist not knowing even the slightest details about it, and needing to "discover" it so she could inform the reader. There were repeated instances of the protagonist digressing to reveal some tidbit about her past that had a bearing on current events, which was extremely heavy handed. Add on some more clunky dialogue, really dumb nicknames, and literally no feeling of suspense despite an active murder investigation, and I just couldn't keep going.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

You can definitely tell that the author used to be a reporter! This is the best and most realistic depiction of working in a newsroom that I have ever had the privilege of reading. From the tension between journalism and the need for clicks, the use of social media for story ideas, turning everyone into a MMJ, to newsroom dynamics, I appreciated it all. The newsroom setting, main character reporter, and the core mystery were so well done.

However, I think the level of detail in those areas served to highlight some story elements that weren't as fully realized and even detracted from the story.

[LIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD]

- The Oliver storyline was unnecessary. The way it wrapped up so cleanly made it even more clear how pointless it was.
- I didn't understand the main character's attitude toward her recently widowed neighbor. She just seemed bizarrely rude to a woman who didn't seem to do anything but be nice to her? It rubbed me the wrong way and made her hard to root for.
- In general the main character's background story needed to be better fleshed out. The quick mentions didn't serve to round out the character, instead they seemed like excuses.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and it seemed like it was a setup for a series. Hopefully these background elements will get to be more fully realized if that is the case.

This was a great, fast read. Books with reporters are always interesting because you get inside information into that world. Estes was a reporter so although this was a debut book, it read very realistic and polished. A great debut.