I liked this book and the sequel but it felt like it was just trying to latch onto the success of Finlay Donovan books and I just love those so much more. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with these just in comparison I would always choose Finlay. And I know it's not a copy but they are pretty similar maybe just bad luck for Ailes or maybe not.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me access this book!

This was honestly better than I expected and funnier. I literally laughed out loud multiple times while reading it. I really enjoyed the characterizations of the major characters and the slow reveal of events in the past and how they affected the present. I really appreciated that it felt like a realistic investigation with the characters pulling what information they knew from watching documentaries or reading true crime and coming up with conclusions that maybe were silly, but felt like realistic conclusions to draw from what they knew. Obviously, none of the women were professional detectives and so it was fun, kind of stumbling along with them and making some of the same mistakes. Looking forward to the next one!

The expectant detectives is fun laugh out loud mystery. Perfect when you want a light read.it brought back memories of when I was pregnant. Maybe had I been solving
murders I would have enjoyed being more, though that was likely due to be sick so badly. Any way, fun lighthearted read!

An adorable book that will not want to make you give up big city life for the country, especially if there's a cult that lives in those woods.

The Expectant Detectives by Kat Ailes is the perfect mix of lighthearted mystery and cozy fun! I absolutely loved this book—it had me laughing out loud the whole way through. The characters were all so unique and had such amazing personalities, and I couldn’t help but be charmed by every one of them.

Alice and her partner Joe move to the small town of Penton, expecting some peace and quiet to enjoy the arrival of their first baby. But things take a wild turn when a dead body is discovered, and they’re quickly swept up in the investigation.

With suspicion following their every move, Alice and her new-found pregnant friends (shoutout to the dog moms!) decide to take matters into their own hands and solve the mystery. The small-town drama, cozy mystery vibes, and the hilarious, lovable characters made this a total page-turner. Plus, the England countryside setting was the perfect backdrop for the story.

If you’re looking for a fun, easy read with a bit of mystery, pregnancy, and lots of laughs, The Expectant Detectives is a must-read!

This book had me laughing out loud and flying through the pages to find out who did it! I loved all of the characters, especially the dogs! Can't wait to read the next one in the series!!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of The Expectant Detectives by Kat Ailes in exchange for my honest review and feedback. This book was SO.MUCH.FUN! I loved how it was a mystery but yet had humor and fun in it. I have not read anything by this author but let me tell you I will be reading lots more by her very soon!

The Expectant Detectives by Kat Ailes is a cozy mystery that combines clever detective work with a heartwarming look at the complexities of pregnancy and relationships. The story follows a group of expectant mothers who, despite their growing families, find themselves unraveling a mystery in their small community. Ailes' writing is witty and engaging, offering a unique twist on the traditional detective genre.

The characters are well-developed, particularly the protagonists, who balance the challenges of impending motherhood with their newfound role as amateur sleuths. The book provides a delightful mix of humor, suspense, and emotional depth, making it an enjoyable read for fans of cozy mysteries and character-driven stories.

Overall, The Expectant Detectives is a fun, light-hearted mystery with an interesting premise and strong, relatable characters. It’s a great choice for readers who love cozy mysteries with a fresh, maternal twist.

A cozy mystery with well-crafted characters and a smart, engaging plot. The balance of lightheartedness and suspense is perfect, though some of the twists are a bit easy to spot. Still, a fun, quick read for mystery lovers.

Loved this debut book by Kat AIles! This was so witty and unexpected, as the main character is preparing for her first child when a dead boy is discovered at their prenatal class and they are a suspect! This was such a great book--thanks so much for the copy!

This was a fun read! I loved the cozy mystery vibes that this book had and how the plot fit with that theme! I enjoyed the characters in this book they were funny and lighthearted to read about. I did wish there had been a bit more development to the characters but overall it was a fun and enjoyable cozy read! Definitely recommend reading this one!

This is a witty and fun story. A group of pregnant women join together to solve a murder of the herbalist who was murdered during their first meeting. They are a rag-tag group and add in the commune of hippies in the woods and this one was great!

This was so fun and quite enjoyable to read while also pregnant (not sure if I would have enjoyed it AS much if I hadn't been at the time or hadn't gone through the experience of being pregnant though). This had a strong voice and a strong sense of place and I hope the author continues the series.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Minotaur for the gifted audio of this title.

This book was entertaining, but ultimately just fine for me. The characters were not the most likable (and I don't particularly enjoy unlikable characters). The thing that grated on me most is that the detectives are a group of expectant moms and as a new mom myself, I could just not see them being good parents and therefore I was annoyed at the whole premise.

I was pregnant while reading this and just found the energy of the main character to be unbelievable! A fun mystery that’s light and doesn’t require a lot of brain space to enjoy.

The Expectant Detectives is a refreshing take on the cozy mystery genre. It's a perfect escape for readers who enjoy a good laugh and a touch of suspense.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.

Readers will be hard-pressed to find a more original and laugh-out-loud debut mystery than The Expectant Detectives. The detectives are “a group of soon-to-be moms” who meet at a prenatal class.

Alice and her partner Joe pick up sticks and move from London to Penton, a bucolic (and fictional) Cotswold “market town.” There’s some urgency—Alice is in her third trimester, and they want to rent a place with room for a baby and Helen, their unruly, gorgeous dog. Alice muses, with “neither of us earning a six-figure salary, if we stayed in London we’d be living in a (barely) converted garage and our baby would be sleeping in a drawer.” Alice tries to embrace their new milieu.

As far as it’s possible to tell via Google, Penton gave off a certain vibe that I would vaguely describe as “posh hippy”. When picking our future home, this was something I felt I could get onboard with, as despite being neither posh nor hippy I have, more or less successfully, masqueraded as both at various points in my life.

Alice is feeling pretty good as she and Joe roll down the highway, although Joe’s “a tad stressed.” Understandably since he’s driving and did most of the packing. Them’s the breaks: “being heavily pregnant gives you a get-out-of-jail-free card for lifting anything heavier than a sausage roll.” Kat Ailes is not shy about describing pregnancy in minute detail. Not only does Alice “need to pee every five minutes,” she’s “chronically uncomfortable” and “radioactively overheated.” Only five weeks to go. Joe is a freelance graphic designer and Alice is a copywriter at an advertising agency—her job is “mediocre, but at least reliable.” For now, though, she’s on mat leave.

The first challenge in our new life threatened to derail me at the outset: making new friends as a grown-up. Is there anything more painful, more fraught with pitfalls, more ridden with such potential for deep humiliation? The last time I made friends—nearly a decade ago—I worked in an office crammed with people who shared my interest in HBO box sets, semi-educational podcasts and the kind of wine that comes in the “3 for £10” deals at the petrol station.

The Expectant Detectives is told in Alice’s self-deprecating, unfailingly honest, and very Bridget Jones voice, i.e., “I’m thirty-one, heavily pregnant, and largely running on an unstable cocktail of hormones and icing from a can.” She’s hopeful they’ll make friends at “an alarmingly named prenatal “crash course.”” They arrive late at the Nature’s Way shop where the course is being held above-stairs. Joe is uncomfortable with the “weird hippy shit” vibe of the store. The proprietor, Mr. Oliver, engages them in conversation—suggesting herbal pregnancy concoctions. Joe’s ready to split but Alice isn’t about to forego a “hundred quid”: “Let’s go and make some expensive friends.” They aren’t thrilled with the instructor.

“Hi, mums and dads,” she began. I hated her already. “I’m Dot!” She looked like such a Dot. She beamed. Constantly. “Well, isn’t this exciting!”



We all stared at her in stony silence.



“I thought we’d start by sharing what we’re most excited about for the birth!”

It’s grueling and uncomfortable.

The second session begins with a bang: ““I’m in latent labor,” announces Hen at the start of that evening’s meeting.”” It’s all hands-on deck after her water breaks. Dot punctuates Hen’s labor by feeding Antoni, Hen’s partner, inane slogans.

“My partner and I are the world’s best team.”



Hen gave him a look that promised to strangle him with the umbilical cord.



“I am overflowing with oxytocin?”



At this point Hen projectile vomited all over Antoni. Then she yelled some more. And then—she had a baby.

At long last, an ambulance shows up. The paramedics are in the shop. Alice shouts down.

“We’re upstairs. She’s already had the baby!”



There was a pregnant (ha) pause.



“Oh . . . we’re not here for the chap down here, then? ’Cause I’m pretty sure he’s dead and there’s not a lot we can do about that.”

Poor Mr. Oliver. What could have happened to him? Alice, Ailsa, and Poppy, the two other expectant mums, think to themselves, they’ve got a bit of time on their hands before their babies arrive—why not investigate? Perhaps Hen could join in. Alice texts the details to her best friend Maya (a Londoner who is also her backup birth partner): “Maybe I’ll investigate and find out! Like a youthful, pregnant Miss Marple in tie-dye leggings.”

Mr. Oliver’s murder is the first of many local mysteries: “Between the discovery of a shady commune up in the woods, the unearthing of a mysterious death years earlier, and the near-tragic poisoning of Helen, Alice is soon in way over her head.” There’s more. Might some of the “expectant detectives” partners be up to no good? Folks seem reluctant to let the amateur detectives on to the commune’s property. Why? Who was the girl who joined the commune and died mysteriously then years ago? What’s up with a siren by the name of Flora—decades earlier, everyone in the commune seemed to have a crush on her. Rumor has it that Flora left the commune when she was in the family way and like the movie Mamma Mia, three men might have fathered her child, including the late Mr. Oliver.

The Expectant Detectives sends up too-gorgeous-to-be-true Cotswolds Instagram accounts, replacing fantasy with mothers-to-be finding friendship, and solving tricky mysteries, all whilst living in a glorious spot. Poppy’s partner Lin rhapsodizes about Penton to Alice: “You don’t get proper seasons in London, not like in the countryside. Out here, it’s a whole new world with each passing month.”

The Expectant Detectives was such an enjoyable debut mystery. I’m looking forward to Dead Tired: A Mystery—what’s next for Alice and the merry mothers/detectives?

I did not expect to enjoy this book as much as I did!

I loved the humour, the writing style and the characters!

I will definitely read more by Kat Ailes!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I have been having unfortunately bad luck with the ARCs I have received lately and this one fits the mold once again. If I could describe this book in one word, it would be "silly." I couldn't get myself to grab onto the plot, the characters, or anything in between.

Cozy mysteries are normally a hit for me but this one was a miss and I unfortunately did not enjoy it. After getting about 25% of the way into the novel I did not want to move on any further. I was hoping for something more along the lines of Finlay Donovan series but this one fell short for me.

I am hopeful other readers of cozy mysteries and such will enjoy this one in my place.

This was such a fun read!! I loved the humour as well as the main character. She is realistic - and reminds me of the times when I was pregnant! I need to read the next book in the series as soon as possible!