BOOK REPORT
Received a complimentary copy of Off the Air by Christina Estes from St. Martin’s Press,Minotaur Books/NetGalley, for which I am appreciative, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Scroll past the BOOK REPORT section for a cut-and-paste of the DESCRIPTION of it from them if you want to read my thoughts on the book in the context of that summary.

I was so looking forward to reading this book, both because it won the Tony Hillerman Prize, usually a great indicator of a really good mystery set in the Southwest, and because it features a journalist as its main protagonist. As a recovering one of those sorts my own self, I’m always up for a walk down memory lane.

Alas, I didn’t even get hardly any steps down this particular path before realizing that the writing style was the sort that seems very forced to me, and that I was going to have a hard time ignoring really “off” word choices and phrasings.

I dunno, maybe better in concept than execution? Been what, all of five minutes since I said _that_ about a book, right? LOL.

So, yeah, did not finish. In a big way.

But I'm still almost always going to give a Hillerman Prize winner a go.

DESCRIPTION
Equal parts thought-provoking and entertaining, Off the Air introduces Jolene Garcia in Emmy Award–winning reporter Christina Estes's Tony Hillerman Prize–winning debut.

Jolene Garcia is a local TV reporter in Phoenix, Arizona, splitting her time between covering general assignments—anything from a monsoon storm to a newborn giraffe at the zoo—and special projects. Stories that take more time to research and produce. Stories that Jolene wants to tell.

When word gets out about a death at a radio station, Jolene and other journalists swarm the scene, intent on reporting the facts first. The body is soon identified as Larry Lemmon, a controversial talk show host, who died under suspicious circumstances. Jolene conducted his final interview, giving her and her station an advantage. But not for long.

As the story heats up, so does the competition. Jolene is determined to solve this murder. It’s an investigation that could make or break her career—if it doesn't break her first.

I enjoyed this book. The story line seemed intriguing to me. While I found the beginning of the book to be on the slow side, once the plot surfaced, it read fast. I felt like the author drew me in and I was assisting the reporter on finding the culprit. The way the author included the neighbor's visitor threw in a plot twist but I don't necessarily know if it was pertinent to the story. I can't remember if we find out who wrote the notes though.
I would recommend this book to my peers

A conservative talk show host is found dead under suspicious circumstances, news reporter Jolene hopes to be the first one to report this story and determine to find out the truth about his death. This book has a lot of political mentions and journalism jargon, it was a slow read for me. Expected the book to be more focused on the mystery/thriller rather then journalism, history of AZ and the political conversation.

Thank you Netgalley, author and publisher for this ARC

I have never been so glad that a book ended.

This book was so unbelievably boring. I am a huge fan of amateur sleuths but this was more of a reporter complaining the whole time that other reporters were getting her stories.

Jolene had the most bland personality in the whole entire book.

I kept going with this book because I really wanted to know who killed Larry Lemmon.

Controversial radio talk show host, Larry Lemmon has been killed and journalist. Jolene Garcia, was the last one to interview him. Now she works harder than ever to also learn who murdered him and interview that person as well.

This was a slow read and I struggled to get through it. Jolene is a reporter working in Phoenix. She wants to land a really juicy story so that she can further her career.
I found her whinny and her integrity was questionable.
Seeing what it is like behind the scenes as a broadcaster in a newsroom was interesting. Reporters always seem to be going for the next scoop.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book. I commend the author on finishing her first book.
The book was a very, very slow burn. It seemed repetitive in storyline in that Jolene simply kept looking for a lead. By the end of the novel, I found that I really wasn't at all invested in the ending. It was also quite evident that, intentionally or not, the book was derivative of Sue Grafton's work. Jolene's entire persona was akin to Kinsey Milhone (just a different job). Given time and experience, I'm sure Estes can grow in her storytelling.

The concept was entertaining but I just felt that the book overall didn't really deliver. The first 30% of the book felt like it dragged on and then the last bits just felt hurried and not a complete story.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy of this novel for review purposes.

This was a good book; however, I was not 'wowed' by it. The plot was solid and the story was well written but I couldn't warm up to the characters at all.

I would be interested in trying another novel by Christina Estes but this one was a bit of a hard read.

I enjoy murder mysteries! This one was fun! I’ve never read about it from a reporters perspective so that was awesome!

The famous but equally loathed talk show host Larry Lemmon collapses and dies, and his death is investigated due to its suspicious nature. Reporter Jolene Garcia tries to get the exclusive rights to the story, and delves into an investigative journey that ultimately leads to bringing a killer to justice.

This was a fun read that really explores the inner workings of investigative reporting, and it brings to light a lot of social issues that are portrayed by the media. There was also some pretty interesting background about the Phoenix, Arizona area and many of the complexities of this city and surrounding areas.

I felt like this book was a social commentary wrapped in a murder mystery presented as behind the scenes footage from of investigative journalism, which certainly made for a read that differs from my normal territory!

i graduated with a degree in politics and i did not enjoy the politics in this book. i read to escape and felt like i was doing side work for a class lecture.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for this advanced copy of Off the Air. Unfortunately, I had to DNF this one as I really could not get into the story.

I felt like character development was lacking and the story seemed to drag on unnecessarily.

Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur for sending me an early copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this one. I think I came in expecting a funny cozy mystery, since that’s how it was presented to me, and was instead met with an unlikable protagonist, a very procedural storyline, and lots of heavy topics.

The protagonist was ultimately unlikable to me, often complaining about how people around her weren’t willing to bend over backwards just because she had a story to deliver. She’s very rude to most of the people she crosses paths with, slamming the door in her elderly neighbor’s face, saying “they don’t see why this is important to me” while bothering someone at a funeral.
She also had a primary enemy of another female reporter who is prettier than she is, which didn’t feel like a modern storyline. Ultimately I found it unbelievable that a liberal 29 year old would have a lot of the thoughts of this character, for example, typing “c u soon” to her best friends, or caring a lot about Facebook in 2024.

Everything in this book was overexplained, if the author made a simile with Jonestown, we got a full back story on Jonestown. If the character turned down Indian School Road, we got two pages on how the road got its name. If a character appeared, they got a full name and backstory that never came up again. I love little details in mystery novels, but there were too many in this one to pay attention to the ones I needed to solve the case myself. I’m not sure I could have with the given information.

It’s very clear throughout the book that this was written by a journalist, and often reads more like a newspaper article than a murder mystery.

I love reading debut novels, and I wish the author nothing but the best, but as a reader of an advanced copy, I would have DNFd this book early on if it weren’t for the generosity of the publisher.

If you’re seeing this review after the pub date, give it a shot! Maybe some things have changed.

Jolene Garcia is local news reporter who is called to scene of a suspicious death of local conservative radio host. We follow her as she tries to find the killer and stay ahead of her competitors in reporting the story.

The initial intro to the mystery was interesting but the story was constantly bogged down by descriptions of conservative talking points, how local news reporting works and the history of Arizona, which didn’t seem to add to the story. I think more development of Jolene and her background would have made the story more interesting. I would recommend this anyone that is interested in journalism and the tv news industry.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for offering me an advanced eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I did not love the story from the beginning. I’m not really into politics and it seemed they played a larger part of the storyline than I would normally enjoy. Jolene was a great character, but it didn’t grab me the way I thought a thriller/mystery would.

Off the Air was an enjoyable read, and the protagonist, Jolene Garcia, is a likeable sleuth. While reporting on the death of famous (or infamous) radio host Larry Lemmon, Jolene is drawn into investigating his death, and does a little (well, a lot) of unauthorized sleuthing to try to solve the murder. I really appreciated the insight into TV journalism, although it was a little depressing to see the perspective that it's all about clicks and likes and not actually reporting the news.

I didn't love this book--the characters weren't as well-developed and multi-faceted as they could have been, and the plot moved slowly at times, but I'm looking forward to see Christina Estes' next book!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Off the Air by Christiana Estes was a challenging read. The premise is intriguing: Larry Lemmon, a radio talk show host, dies on air. The reporter who conducted his final interview is eager to cover the story and outdo her competitors. Unfortunately, it is difficult to empathize with the main character, Jolene . She alienates sources, neighbors, and co-workers, and even when handed clues, she fails to utilize them effectively. The story does not follow a conventional whodunit format, and I found myself unable to connect with any of the characters. The author, Ms. Estes, would have benefited from a more thorough beta reading or editing process, as she included a great deal of unnecessary backstory that caused me to skip pages. If the information does not advance the plot, it should be omitted. Why must I know about the mailroom guy’s child? Why am I given so much information about Indian School Road? How does knowing Pat Tillman’s story advance the plot? None of this explains the motive or means of the murder. While I see potential in this author, I cannot recommend this book. Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the drc.

A reporter tries to catch the scoop without crossing lines and while reporting fairly. Can she come out on top and solve the mystery?

To put it simply, this book wasn’t for me.

I couldn’t connect with the characters. I don’t have much empathy for reporters. Especially as the author preached about being neutral, no bias and yet there were paragraphs upon paragraphs of bias and personal opinions. The author, a reporter herself, was letting her own bias show. This book is as exhausting as the current media/reporting we have going on in the real world. I’m trying to escape this when reading, not have more of it jammed down my throat. All of this was so off putting.

In summary, there is potential to be a cute story after some editing.
As always, thank you to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

What intrigues me about Off the Air is what feels like an inside look at TV investigative reporters, balancing humdrum "news" and less-than-challenging assigned projects with breaking stories that catch the attention of news stations beyond the Phoenix, Arizona area. And the fact that author Christina Estes is herself a Phoenix investigative reporter lends authenticity to the story.

It doesn't matter that Jolene Garcia doesn't undergo much character development throughout the book. What makes the plot memorable is that we see her insinuating herself into every possible situation and trying to interview every person of interest, while negotiating with a high-level law enforcement officer for tidbits that will thrill her boss by clinching exclusives, and interacting with followers on social media at the insistence of management. It's interesting to see how competing reporters garner their own exclusives--some with their sex appeal. The case they are covering is the murder of a recently retired conservative radio host who is beloved to many followers but hated by some with their own agendas.

It all makes for an absorbing, exciting read that kept me in suspense and thoroughly entertained me.

My thanks to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.