The Serial Killer guide to San Francisco by Michelle Chouinard and here are my thoughts.


Capri makes her living giving serial killer tours around her city, being the granddaughter of Overkill Bill, she has a vested interest… Especially as she is sure he was innocent. When a copycat starts killing the way Overkill used to and his latest victim is her ex mother in law…. The police are looking directly at her and her daughter…

Light, easy, entertaining read for a mystery book. I love quirky and unique reads and this one had a ton of both!

I also now need to know if serial killer tours are a real thing.. Anyone???

I felt the writing was a tad simple in spots but as a debut novel…. ZINGGG It was a well executed book. I like Capri, she was the salt of the earth, a solid kind of person with an eccentric personality. Love people like that!

I liked the mystery and how clever it was weaved into the family drama!! MIL drama is the WORST!!! The MIL ending up dead… What a nightmare haha!

The ending was great and I actually really enjoyed this one.

4 stars! Excellent debut, looking forward to seeing more from this author.

Thank you @netgalley and @minotaurbooks for my gifted copy.

The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco by Michelle Chouinard, 336 pages. Minotaur Books (St. Martin’s Press), 2024. $28.
Language: R (59 swears, 1 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL, ADULTS - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
Being the granddaughter of a serial killer has always colored Capri’s life—especially since she believes he was innocent. Researching her grandfather’s case led to other serial killers and murder cases, which eventually inspired Capri (49yo) to start a tour company that focused on murder spots around San Francisco. But she wasn’t the only one to be inspired. A copycat killer has started murdering more women, placing a glaring spotlight on Capri and her family once more.
Capri digs into both the open serial killer case and her grandfather’s closed case, tangling everything together and keeping readers on edge for two big reveals. Riding the line between helping protect herself and her daughter without impeding the police investigation makes for some amusing antics, and Chouinard kept me engaged the entire time. Plus, there are enough truths mixed in with the story that I’m on my way to being convinced I need to visit San Francisco—but only during daylight hours.
The majority of characters are implied White, though Chinese, Indian, and Latino characters are mentioned as well as a couple of LGBT characters. The mature content rating is for alcohol use; illegal activity; mentions of drugs, prostitutes, sexual harassment, rape, and sex; groping; nudity; and innuendo. The violence rating is for blood and gore, assault, mentions of corpses and suicide, gun use, and murder.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

This was decently enjoyable. I'm a huge lover of murder mysteries and this honestly captured the feel of those pretty well in my opinion. I liked the main character Capri and I LOVE her name, very unique. If you're a murder mystery lover like me I think this might be the book for you! It definitely provokes thought and has you trying to figure out who it is and usually I can figure out the whodunit pretty quickly but this one surprised me!! That's a great murder mystery in my book.

I was super excited for this book.. The cover is cute and the description sounded great. However, I found it to be a tiny bit more cutesy than I think I was in the mood for. It read a bit like a procedural tv show, having a serial killer tour guide help with a case in which she is also a suspect.

The story was slower than I hoped but there were some twists that I enjoyed throughout the book. I also had a few hunches that were not correct but I think that is due to me watching too many procedurals with my mom growing up.. I also found the MCs daughter to be very annoying for an.. adult woman.

📱 The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco 📱⁣
⁣⁣
⁣I’ve been leaning hard into the cozier reads this month and enjoyed The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco. It’s a cleaver mystery about a woman who leads tours of San Francisco. Capri has always been interested in true crime because she’s the grand daughter of a convicted serial killer- who she believes is innocent. When a copycat killer strikes the city, Capri wonders if it’s time to finally investigate her grandfather’s case. ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣This book is an easy, entertaining read. Capri is like-able and I enjoyed learning some of the darker history of San Francisco in this novel. It was quirky and fun— although at times it did seem discuss too many boring business details. Overall I’d probably give it 3.5 star rating… rounded up to four! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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⁣I recommend this one to fans of the Finlay Donovan or Molly the Maid series! ⁣
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⁣Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for my ARC in return for a review. This book is out now.

The Serial Killer Guide to San Fransisco is literally about someone who does just that. Capri runs tours of the whats and wheres of serial killers who have roamed San Fransisco. She is also the granddaughter of a convicted serial killer. Capri doesn’t believe he was guilty and has always wanted to prove it. Well after her grandfather has passed, a new set of crimes exaclty matching the crimes on which he was convicted. The rest is her running around proving that neither she nor her daughter didn’t do it. As all civilians in books, she stumbles onto clues and, eventually, the killer.

The book was fun to read but it didn’t offer anything that was new or inventive. The one crime I was really interested in solving was shoved in at the very end. I’d have much rather the story been about that.

Everyone has secrets….and some relate to murder

Capri Sanzo may not be where she had thought she would be in her life, but in her late forties she lives and works in San Francisco running her own small business, SF Killer Crime Tours, and is doing okay. Her daughter Morgan is in grad school nearby, and Capri works with her lifelong friend Heather. Capri had hoped to be a writer and had studied journalism in school, but when she married Todd Clement (from an old money family in the city) she instead tried to fit into his family’s idea of a good society wife. His mother never approved of Capri and Todd was a cheater, so their divorce was next to inevitable and when Capri needed to find a way to support their daughter (Todd’s career was a less-than-reliable income stream), she started up a tour business focused on the sites of the many crimes that have taken place in SF over the years. One such crime, in fact, was committed by Capri’s grandfather William Sanzo, who was convicted of the killings of three prostitutes back in the 60s and earned the nickname Overkill Bill. When wealthy Katherine Harper turns up dead in the present day in a manner eerily similar to the methods of the Overkill Bill, Capri’s interest in her grandfather’s case (she has always believed in his innocence) is rekindled. With her ex-mother-in-law Sylvia having recently announced her refusal to continue funding Morgan’s education, Capri needs to make some extra money in a hurry, and writing a book and doing a podcast on her grandfather’s case seems like a good way to do it. Then Sylvia’s body is discovered, killed in the same way as Katherine Harper was, and the police start looking at Capri and Morgan as suspects. Descendants of a serial killer who have a strong motive for wanting to kill one of the two victims are considered strong possibilities, and Capri realizes that she has to to use her knowledge of the Overkill Bill case, of serial killers in general, and her access to Clement family secrets to find the real killer before she or her daughter end up in custody. She knows only too well that innocent people get convicted of crimes they didn’t commit, and has no intention of letting history repeat itself….but can she figure out who the killer is without becoming his or her next victim?
With a city as storied as San Francisco as the backdrop and a clever hook for amateur sleuthing, this is an engaging, often amusing whodunnit with a more serious topic underpinning it. When someone commits a crime, especially something as heinous as murder, there are many who are victimized by it. In this case, the members of the Sanzo family have an indelible mark upon them…..with William convicted of the brutal killings, there are always those who assume that his children and grandchildren have the capacity within them to do the same. Capri’s father, a young boy at the time of his father’s conviction, has shut down that part of his life and in many ways in so doing he has also kept himself emotionally distant from those he loves. It was a factor in Sylvia’s disapproval of Capri and Todd’s marriage, and it now may open up Capri and Morgan to criminal charges as well. Capri sets out, against her father’s wishes, to prove her grandfather’s innocence even as she pokes into the lives of Sylvia and Katharine to find possible links between them and reasons for their killings. It doesn't help that she is fighting an attraction to the homicide investigator in charade, Dan Petito, which causes her to let down her guard at the worst possible moments. Capri is smart and is exercising journalistic muscles that have been dormant for quite a while, and having an employee at her small business who has a talent for hacking and cracking proves helpful. An enjoyable read with a quirky premise and an engaging protagonist, The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco is well worth the read. Character development isn’t terribly deep, although the strained relationships in both the Clement and Sanzo family are portrayed well. The requisite red herrings are introduced to widen the field of suspects, so the identity of the killer isn’t obvious from page one. I rate it at 3.5 stars, rounding up to 4. Readers of authors like Jessa Maxwell, Hank Phillippi Ryan and Christina Estes will find this story appealing, as should anyone who wants some background details on some of San Francisco’s less glamorous past. My thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for allowing me early access to this colorful tale.

BOOK REPORT
Received a complimentary copy of The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco, by Michelle Chouinard, 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 honestly thought, as I was reading, that this was this author’s first book. Because, y’all? She used way, way too many words.

Seriously.

I know it does me essentially no good to cry out into the pitiless night, “My kingdom for a copy editor!” – especially when it’s 3 o’clock of a Tuesday afternoon.

But yet here we are…..

Also the plot was convoluted-y and there seemed to be too many characters to keep up with, which is I swear the first time I ever remember complaining about such as that.

I also didn’t enjoy the character of San Francisco as much as I normally do when it plays a large role in a book. Which is a real shame, because I love it both in fiction and in real life.

Unlike Los Angeles. I LOATHE LOS ANGELES.

Oh, wait. Wrong time to get on that particular carton of Tide.

So, yeah, this book wasn’t for me, and I don’t think I’ll be reading any more by this author. All that said, kudos to her for writing books and bringing joy to many through them!

DESCRIPTION
In Michelle Chouinard’s clever mystery The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco, the granddaughter of a serial killer shows readers another side of the beloved city.

Welcome to San Francisco, a city with killer charm.

The chill of a San Francisco summer can be deadly. No one knows this better than Capri Sanzio, who makes her living giving serial killer tours of the city. Capri has been interested in the topic since she was a kid, when she discovered she’s the granddaughter of serial killer William ‘Overkill Bill’ Sanzio. She’s always believed in his innocence, though she's never taken the leap to fully dive into the case.

But now an Overkill Bill copycat has struck in San Francisco. And Capri’s former mother-in-law, Sylvia, just cut off Capri’s daughter’s tuition payments. Needing cash, Capri wonders if this is the time to exonerate her grandfather. The case is back in the news and the police will be looking to understand the past to catch a present-day killer. Capri could finally uncover the truth about Overkill Bill—documenting the process with a podcast and a book—and hopefully earn some money.

Before Capri can get very far, the cops discover the copycat’s latest victim: Sylvia. Capri soon finds herself at the heart of the police’s investigation for an entirely different

Title: The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco
Author: Michelle Chouinard
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Rating: 3.75
Pub Date: September 24, 2024

I received complimentary eARC and ALC copies from Minotaur Books (St. Martin's Press) and Macmillan Audio via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted

T H R E E • W O R D S

Creative • Fun • Predictable

📖 S Y N O P S I S

The chill of a San Francisco summer can be deadly. No one knows this better than Capri Sanzio, who makes her living giving serial killer tours of the city. Capri has been interested in the topic since she was a kid, when she discovered she’s the granddaughter of serial killer William ‘Overkill Bill’ Sanzio. She’s always believed in his innocence, though she's never taken the leap to fully dive into the case.

But now an Overkill Bill copycat has struck in San Francisco. And Capri’s former mother-in-law, Sylvia, just cut off Capri’s daughter’s tuition payments. Needing cash, Capri wonders if this is the time to exonerate her grandfather. The case is back in the news and the police will be looking to understand the past to catch a present-day killer. Capri could finally uncover the truth about Overkill Bill—documenting the process with a podcast and a book—and hopefully earn some money.

Before Capri can get very far, the cops discover the copycat’s latest victim: Sylvia. Capri soon finds herself at the heart of the police’s investigation for an entirely different reason. She and her daughter are prime suspects.

💭 T H O U G H T S

The fun title and lighthearted cover were what originally drew me to The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco. After reading the synopsis, I was drawn to the idea of city tours, a main character with a mysterious past, and the amateur sleuthing. It felt like the perfect place to jumpstart my fall reading.

Told in the present timeline with glimpses into the past, this novel has a creative and clever plot. It unfolds at a slower pace that I was anticipating and the mystery is a little too simple, yet the lack of character development was what kept this from being an entirely engaging experience.

I really enjoyed the main character, her tour guide company, and the San Francisco setting. It is the tours that provide a background guide to San Francisco and offer the historical context to the plot. This element really bring the city to life as San Francisco becomes a character in itself.

The audiobook narrated by Stephanie Németh-Parker is very well executed. Each character has a distinct tone, allowing to easily distinguish between them. The pacing suits the plot and the interviews make it feel like a true crime series.

Overall, The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco is a fun read with complex family dynamics that made me want to travel to the city. There are certainly flaws in the execution, yet it's a palette cleanser worth picking up this fall, especially when looking for something lighter.

📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• learning about a city's history
• amateur sleuthing
• true crime

⚠️ CW: murder, gun violence, violence, death, death of parent, grief, blood, infidelity, classism, injury/injury detail, alcohol, suicide

This was a very strong debut novel! If you're a resident or fan of San Francisco, it's a must read. The writing was a bit simplistic at times, but l liked that we were never caught up in details too long.

Capri's lived with the baggage of her grandfather being convicted as a serial killer for her entire life, but she's made a living out of it by giving true crime tours around the city.
When her very wealthy ex-mother in law and grandmother to her daughter winds up dead, by the same methods as Capri's convicted grandfather, all eyes are on her.

She uses her true crime knowledge and journalist skills to uncover the truth of the murder today and of her grandfather's case.

Capri Sanzio makes her living giving tours of San Francisco’s most notorious serial killers. She knows this topic better than most, as her own grandfather was the infamous serial killer known as “Overkill Bill” – although Capri has always believed her grandfather was innocent. Now a copycat killer has emerged, and Capri thinks it might be time to cash in on her family history with a podcast or book. But after tragedy strikes too close to home, Capri and her daughter find themselves at the top of the suspect list.

Take a serial killer thriller but make it cozy and also an homage to the City by the Bay, and you have The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco. The charming atmosphere of San Francisco was spot on, with famous landmarks and little bits of culture sprinkled throughout. Capri is such an appealing character, smart, sassy, and determined, and her true crime knowledge makes her a logical amateur detective. The mystery is complex enough to be engaging, with a big reveal that surprised me but also made perfect sense. There’s no indication that this will be a series, but Michelle if you’re listening, I would love to read more about Capri and company in the future!

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Minotaur Books for providing me an advance copy of this book.

The Serial Killer Guide To San Francisco by Michelle Chouinard read like a love letter to the city and had me yearning for another visit! The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco in quick, rapid-fire thoughts.

-I instantly loved main character Capri from the get-go. She reminded me a lot of Tess from Tamara Berry's By The Book Mysteries series in the best of ways!
-even still, this book took a bit for the plot to grow on me, but then it was love and not simply infatuation!
-two mysteries for the price of one, plus a bonus bit of romance on the side!
-I wished the names of the two detectives, besides Homicide Inspector Dan Petito, were less stereotypical
-I screamed, "That's who it is" at one reveal, happy and delighted by the outcome
-audiobook narrator Stephanie Németh-Parker added to the fun Chouinard created, nailing the voices for each of the characters

Not to compare to Finlay Donovan, but this mystery is similar, but with more substance and less reality suspension needed!

I desperately want this to be made into a series, so if you're listening publishing Gods, can you make that happen!? (Although I don't know where the series would go - but I'd happily take a romance as a spin off!)

Have you ever been to San Francisco? Like me, are you equally obsessed with speakeasies?

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio for the complimentary copies to read and review.

This was a really enjoyable read! I’d describe this as a popcorn mystery. Capri Sanzio is a serial killer tour guide in San Francisco, who better for the job than the granddaughter of a serial killer, right? Though, she’s always believed in his innocence. Now, there’s a copycat in San Francisco, and Capri’s family is back in the spotlight, and now her and her daughter are the prime suspects.

This was fun mystery to read. Capri’s career is super interesting, I am one of those people that would attend those tours. I actually did a Jack the Ripper one in London! I enjoyed how the original kills and the copycat killer played into and off of each other. The whole plot was very well thought out and very well executed. There were no plot holes, and nothing that left me wondering what happened.

Is this your typical amateur sleuth book? Kind of. But the connection that Capri had to it all, and the urgency that she had to make sure the keep her daughter safe and not be a suspect is what made this whole book. Also, the secrets and reveals towards the end were something that I never saw coming!

Overall an enjoyable read that I would definitely recommend!

I found the storyline of this novel to be quite captivating. The protagonist, Capri, is on a quest to clear both her and her daughter's names after being implicated in a murder that mirrors the notorious pattern of killings for which her grandfather was imprisoned—killings Capri has always believed he did not commit.

While I noticed some elements felt repetitive, the narrative managed to hold my attention throughout. Each time a tense moment arose, I was drawn right back into the story. The conclusion tied everything together nicely, although it felt somewhat predictable. Nevertheless, I was left feeling satisfied with the resolution.

Thank you Net Galley and Minotaur Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

THE SERIAL KILLER GUIDE TO SAN FRANCISCO by Michelle Chouinard was light, immersive fun. The main character is engaging and I enjoyed her perspectives as she followed clues to leading to solving a new murder and a cold case murder -- at risk to her own life, relationships, and sanity. Yes, I saw plot points coming, but it was such a breezy and enjoyable ride, I enjoyed being right and also the times when I was dead wrong. A quick and lovely read set in a city I have enjoyed in real life -- and now in the fiction universe as well. I received a copy of this book and these thoughts are my own, unbiased opinions.

3.75 stars

This was a pretty quick popcorn mystery/thriller. I enjoyed it. Nothing spectacular about it, but 2 murders to solve in this one; very cold case and more recent murder. Will she prove her grandfather isn't a serial killer or will she just prove that he is? Who killed her ex's mom? I really enjoyed how things started to fit together. I'm always trying to figure out the ah-ha moment and I feel like I did a good job here. I didn't guess it all, but I got some of it and that's good enough for me!

The main reason why I wanted to read this book (and it did not disappoint) is because I was hoping that San Francisco would be as much a character in it as any humans. I used to live in the Bay Area for and this book made me miss it so much. It's honestly like a free tour of San Francisco in itself.

Thank you, Netgalley and St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books for the ARC.

Happy Pub Day to The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco! Thank you to Minotaur Books and Netgalley for this ARC.

I had some mixed feelings about this book, but ultimately enjoyed it. I really liked the MC and thought her backstory was very interesting. I found the overarching mystery very interesting and the end definitely surprised me. And I actually liked the romance subplot quite a bit.

But other than Capri, the main character, none of the characters were well developed or had really any personality. They were quirky and fun, but lacked depth. The story was good, but the business parts were boring and made it drag a bit. I think I would have enjoyed it more with a bit of editing.

Like I said, I ended up enjoying it but it wasn’t a home run for me. However if you enjoy cozy mysteries with an eccentric cast of characters, this book might work well for you!

3.5/5

The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco title had me picking up advance copy. While the title is creative the story is basically you cozy mystery with cute, fun and likable characters. A story that moves quickly with moments of humor and a little shock.
Everyone has a reason for being in the book and there are not throw away characters.
It not a bad way to spend an afternoon.
Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of Michelle Chouinard book.

The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco is not your average murder mystery! This was such an enjoyable thriller.

Capri was a great main character. She’s a hardworking, dedicated single mom, who might just be too smart for her own good. I loved her job and it was such a unique aspect to base a book around. I especially enjoyed the glimpses into the city of San Francisco it gave us. I’ve been to San Francisco several times and I feel like one will never be able to truly discover everything the city has to offer, but these little insider secrets made for great details.
The lengths Capri went to to clear her name and seek justice for her mother in law was incredible and I was heavily invested as she found hidden clues and problem solved relentlessly to try and find the killer and their motives. The reveal I actually did not see coming and culminated in a resolution that I felt was well done.
Her grandfather was also a unique storyline I really enjoyed. The question of whether an innocent man spent his life in prison for crimes he didn’t commit is such a heavy one and the mystery finally being solved (again, thanks to Capri and her persistence) was very satisfying.

The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco took several unique premises and made one great mystery. I really enjoyed this read and hope there may be more in the future, especially with the way the book ended for Capri.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for the advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco by Michelle Chouinard was a fun murder mystery.
I was glued to the pages as Capri worked out the mystery. Her character and personality was great. Really enjoyed her.
This was a really fun and entertaining mystery with a likable main character and a great setting.
A humorous and unique story.
The writing was done so well here. Michelle Chouinard kept me glued to the pages.
I will definitely be picking up her next titles.

Thank You NetGalley and Minotaur Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!