When beloved advice columnist Frances Keen is found murdered, her readers are left reeling. Alex, a devoted fan, leaps at the chance to fill her hero's shoes when The Herald advertises for a replacement. But as Alex delves deeper into Frances's world, she uncovers a web of secrets and dangers. With an unsolved murder looming and her own mysterious past lurking in the shadows, Alex's new role becomes a high-stakes gamble.
Jess Maxwell’s I NEED YOU TO READ THIS is a gripping mystery that unfolds in the heart of New York City. The story’s clever structure, weaving together present-day intrigue with poignant letters from the past, creates a compelling narrative. Maxwell masterfully builds suspense, leaving readers on the edge of their seats. If you crave a slow-burn thriller with a fresh perspective, this book is an absolute must-read.

After thoroughly enjoying The Golden Spoon by this author I was excited to receive an advance copy of this book, and it didn’t let me down. Alex, the main character lives in New York City in a carefully constructed tiny world of her own. The author slowly peels back the layers of Alex’s life to show us why, often in the form of letters to an advice columnist, a part of the plot I really enjoyed as it took us back in time and really gives us insight in to Alex’s choices she’s made.. Alex makes a snap decision, fueled by a bottle of wine, to change her world and the consequences are not all pretty as she lets people into her life after hiding for years. The only people Alex sees daily are Janice, the waitress at the Bluebird Diner where Alex has her morning bagel, and Raymond, a retired police detective, and Alex doesn’t even know them well until they begin to help her try to solve a murder, the bonds they build ease her loneliness as well as Raymonds. I’d love to know more about Janice’s hidden past that involves a hidden, high class bar myself! I saw a few of the twists and turns coming, but made plenty of wrong guesses as to where the story was going too. It was a fun mystery to read with a satisfying conclusion, and the descriptions of the old parts of the skyscraper incorporated into the new one really gave a creepy vibe. . Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Aria Books for my copy, I highly recommend it!

Alex Marks is a woman who is running from her past and barely leaves her NYC apartment. She only leaves to visit the diner across the street and converse with her friends Janice and Raymond. One day Alex sees a posting for the job of the murdered Francis Keen, the writer of the Dear Constance advice column. When Alex jokingly applies for the job & gets hired she begins to snoop around and question everything that goes on at The Herald. While Alex is digging she begins to get letters from someone who seems to know about her past - one she ran away from years ago. Should Alex continue to dig for the truth? Or will the fear of her past stop her dead in her tracks - just like Francis Keen.

WOW! This one was dark and twisty! Though the FMC is not my favorite character ever written I really appreciated how Jessa Maxwell portrayed different disorders such as OCD, Agoraphobia and Anxiety! I couldn't help but root for Alex as she tried to solve the murder of her beloved hero, come over her fears and run from her past.
While I did predict some of the twists early on, I still found this book to be a page turner and I could not put it down! I highly recommend if you love Mystery/Thrillers and figuring out the pieces to the puzzle!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Atria Books and Jessa Maxwell for the ARC!

First I would like to thank Netgalley and Atria books for the ARC of this novel.

I went into this book hoping it was going to be a great thriller read and unfortunately I think this book has been mislabeled. I think this would be better described as a cosy mystery in the same way her first book was.

It was a little slow moving for me but I really did enjoy the MC and it did have lots of fun twists. A few were a little predictable for me but overall I was a fun read. Just not as fast paced as I was expecting.

It was a solid 3.5/5 stars rounded up to 4 for this review.

Old school Mary Higgins Clark plotting with an Only Murders in the Building vibe - two of my favorite things! I had a great time reading this. Some plot twists were more obvious than I would have hoped, but one completely surprised me, which was fun. I wish I could go to the diner and spend more time with Alex, Raymond, and Janice. Maybe in a sequel?

#INeedYouToReadThis #NetGalley
Best of 2024.
In I Need You to Read This, Alex Marks, a woman who has carefully constructed a solitary life in New York City, finds her world turned upside down after the murder of her childhood hero, Francis Keen. Francis, the voice behind the beloved advice column "Dear Constance," was a guiding light for Alex during her darkest times. When Francis is brutally murdered, leaving her killer unidentified, the city is left in shock.Alex's life takes an unexpected turn when she impulsively applies for and lands the job as Francis's replacement, despite having no experience in the field. As she settles into her new role, she quickly proves herself adept at solving other people’s problems, but her own troubles begin to surface when she starts receiving unsettling, anonymous letters. With the killer still at large, Alex becomes increasingly paranoid, unsure of whom she can trust.Her editor-in-chief, Howard Dimitri, is particularly unsettling, with his habit of staying late and drinking heavily. As Alex delves deeper into the circumstances surrounding Francis’s death, she is forced to confront her own buried secrets. The mystery takes her from the bustling streets of Manhattan to the eerie summer house where Francis’s body was found, setting the stage for a deadly confrontation that will test Alex’s resolve and survival instincts
What happened next? I'm not going to tell you. You need to read this shocking novel.
Thanks to NetGalley and Atria books for giving me an advance copy.

Oh. My. God. Talk about twists!! Alex Marks spends her days following the same routine - wake up, shower, breakfast at the Bluebird Diner, back home to work her copywriting job, and a textbook definition of “girl dinner” to end her day. However, this routine is broken when she applies and is hired for the Dear Constance advice writer at The Herald - the position of her former idol, Francis Keen. Alex is apprehensive about changing her routine but is thrilled to be carrying on the legacy. That is until she starts receiving seemingly threatening messages at work. Are these meant for her or are they left over from Francis’s stint? If they were meant for Francis, will this help solve her murder? As Alex begins to dig, more of her hidden past comes to light. Alex must decide if exposing her past is worth finding out what happened to Francis.

I devoured this book! I have had The Golden Spoon on my kindle for so long and now I don’t know why I haven’t picked up one of her books until now. I really thought I had all of the twists figured out (maybe not completely) but I was SO wrong. I was truly left guessing throughout the book - often with my jaw on the floor. This was such a fun and fast paced read! I definitely did not think I would enjoy this one as much as I did. Plus, Jessa Maxwell is a local author (please come back to Brown to talk about this one)! Highly, highly recommend!!

I really enjoyed this mystery/thriller read!!! Some of it was predictable, but there were still some twists I didn’t figure out on my own! I really loved the FMC as well!! 🙌

Highly recommend this one to mystery and thriller lovers!! 👏

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Jessa Maxwell for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for my honest review!! This was my first read by this author and it definitely won’t be my last!! ❤️

An enjoyable page turner for sure. I saw a lot of the twists coming, but I don't need to be surprised to enjoy the characters (Alex's diner companions added to the plot certainly, although I wish we'd learned a little bit more about Janice). It's an easy read thriller. The "Dear Constance" letters were a fun novelty.

I was very excited to read this book. Unfortunately I struggled through the first third of the book, finding the setup a bit slow. I liked the concept and the mystery meets thriller vibes.

Decent thriller, fast paced and easy to read. I’d say a bit too predictable, easy to figure out early on. Also the title doesn’t fit well, maybe just calling it Dear Constance would have been better. The writing was fine and flowed well. Ending worked out in a satisfying way.

This is one of my few 5 star reads this year and it is spectacular! Full of tension that twists you up and an ingenious plot driven by a protagonist who alternately frustrates the hell out of you then has you pumping your hand in the air yelling “go girl!” Every character is well-developed and plays their part to perfection. A verynearly perfect book.

title is misleading; i did not need to read this. honestly that's on me because i was expecting a thriller and instead I was delivered a sort of cozy vibe murder. like i should have drank coffee and watched the leaves change while reading this instead of reading this at the witching hours, praying my house is fortified enough to prevent a murderer from coming in. agatha christie raised me too well to not guess the ending. solid lukewarm 2.5 stars.

I enjoyed Jessa’s first book and this second book did not disappoint. At first, it felt kinda of surreal that this random person would be picked to be an advice columnist.

But as the story keeps going, you find out that Alex has a unique connection to Francis. The reader learns more about Alex’s past via letters she wrote to Francis.

Alex is a character that you can route for, but she isn’t without her own faults. She questions one relationship while not questioning another relationship.

Besides the mystery, there are also found family themes. Be sure to check the trigger warnings as there are some serious topics referenced in the flashbacks.

If you are looking for a solid mystery, add this book to your list.

Thanks to @netgalley and @atriabooks providing the ARC.

I really wanted to love this one because The Golden Spoon was so good. It was good but not great. I enjoyed enough but definitely not my favorite. It felt a little drawn out and overly explanatory.

An advice columnist is murdered, and her replacement, Alex, tries to find out what happened to her. Meanwhile, Alex is looking over her shoulder as her own past catches up to her.

I liked the premise, but I couldn’t get past some of the things I had to allow for it to work.
Alex getting hired at the Herald was absolutely bonkers. The application and interview process made no sense, and her concern that they brought her in to tell her she DIDN’T get the job… that’s never how it works! A salary of $125k to reply to one letter per week? And I’ve never heard of an “exploding offer.” The environment in the office also seemed ludicrous. What kind of newsroom empties out at 5pm? Isn’t that one of the industries in which people are always working around the clock?

The writing was okay, but it did feel a little juvenile (makes sense since the author writes children's books) and some of the dialogue was awkward. I liked Alex’s friendship with Janice and Raymond from the diner - it was nice that, even though she was on her own in the city, she still had someone who cared about her. There were very few surprises in the story - it was pretty easy to figure out who was up to no good.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy, in exchange for an honest review.

Another gripping, twisty, and riveting page-turner that you’ll devour in one sitting—this book keeps you on the edge of your seat, biting your nails as you reach the shocking climax, packed with revelations. From the author of Golden Spoon, I have to admit this book is even better than her previous work.

The characters are captivating, including the supporting ones like Janice, the observant diner waitress, and Raymond, the old-school detective who feels like he stepped right out of a Raymond Chandler crime thriller. Alex, the protagonist, is equally engaging, a survivor trying to rebuild her life alone in the city that never sleeps. She faces her fears and past traumas while honing her consulting and creative writing skills. The advice columns in the book are especially well-crafted, making them just as enjoyable as the central mystery of who killed Francis Keen, the famous advice columnist known as “Dear Constance.”

To summarize the plot: Alex Mark, a pharmaceutical firm copywriter, is trying to start anew, connecting only with two people at a diner near her apartment—retired detective Ray and the overly friendly, talkative Janice. Janice always has her bagel and jelly ready before she sits next to Ray, who’s often covered in toast crumbs.

When Alex’s favorite columnist, Francis Keen of the Herald newspaper, is found brutally stabbed at her beach house, Alex is devastated by the loss of her icon. Keen was a lifeline to so many vulnerable people who sought her advice. When Alex learns that the newspaper is already looking for a replacement, she, like many fans, is outraged at how quickly they’re moving on. After a few too many glasses of wine, Alex checks out the job requirements and, on a whim, fills out the application, writing sample advice letters. To her surprise, she gets a callback for an interview with Francis’s famous editor, Howard Demetri. Amazingly, she’s offered the job on the spot, with a salary more than double her current one.

But Alex knows this job will be intense, demanding, and draining, with thousands of letters to sort through for her column. Luckily, she has the help of eccentric young assistant Lucy, though Howard’s other assistant, Jonathan, treats her like dirt, and Howard himself is acting strangely, engaging in long, mysterious late-night calls and drinking heavily.

Soon, Alex starts receiving threatening letters, raising the terrifying possibility that someone is watching her, digging into the past she’s tried to bury. Could someone have targeted her because she took over Francis’s column? Could the killer be coming after her too? To relieve the mounting pressure, Alex decides to conduct her own investigation into Francis’s murder, enlisting the help of her only friends from the diner—risking her life and confronting her own dark past.

Overall, this is a well-written, engaging, heart-pounding, and enjoyable mystery with some great twists that I highly recommend.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for sharing this unputdownable book’s digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I was a big fan of Jessa Maxwell’s debut novel “The Golden Spoon” and had rather high hopes for this next book of hers. While I thought that the story was unique and interesting, it took quite awhile for the story to really get going and I had a hard time keeping myself interested in what was going on.

I thought the anxiousness of our FMC Alex was super captivating and the portrayal of OCD through some of her tendencies was well done. I thought that the friendships/relationships of hers that we got to see were insightful to the kind of person she was, as well as what her level of trust and comfortability with other people was.

There were a few too many things going on in this book for me though. Firstly, there were a LOT of “Dear Constance” letters from the same someone throughout the book that you get to read, as well as other letters from other people that you also got to read. It got to be a bit much at times. Second, the ending had way too much going on in it. I feel like we got smacked in the face by a multitude of different plotlines colliding and exploding all at once. Third, there were a few too many characters involved to keep up with at certain times, and I do pretty well with large casts, so do with this info what you will.

Overall, it was a good thriller that keeps you uncertain of everyone and everything as you read through it. I would recommend!

Thank you so much to Atria Books for this advanced copy on NetGalley!

3.75 rounded up

Alex is clearly cautious as we meet her. She may even be hiding. But when she starts a new job her confidence grows and she stops looking over her shoulder.

Overall it’s a quick paced book with the story mounting little by little as it goes. Clues are dropped and the characters are developed, including Alex and her fear/nervousness. The end is full of a few twists that aren’t obvious but also don’t feel shocking either.

Advance reader copy provided by Atria and NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

3.5 ⭐️

When the iconic figure behind the Dear Constance advice column is murdered, Alex Marks leaves her dull copywriting job to take on the responsibility of offering life-changing guidance—and perhaps solving a murder.

Jessa Maxwell’s latest book is an atmospheric and cozy mystery that hooked me from the very first page. The novel is fun and a bit whimsical, which is exactly what I anticipated based on her debut, The Golden Spoon. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the more intricate mystery woven throughout this story.

I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, even if they leaned a bit into caricature territory. From Alex, our anxious and mysterious protagonist, to the array of side characters she encounters, each added something special to the narrative. My favourites were Raymond and Janice, Alex’s slightly older friends from the diner across from her apartment, who provided delightful comic relief.

The advice columnist subplot was another highlight for me. I loved the inclusion of past responses from the original Dear Constance, as well as following Alex’s experience as she stepped into the role herself.

While the plot was somewhat predictable, and none of the reveals truly shocked me, the book felt more like a cozy, warm read than the nail-biting thriller I expected based on the cover and description. It was a bit slow at times, but still a quick and enjoyable read.