The second book in the series. We are back with Lin and Veracity, where the organization discovers that matchmaking services are using fake profiles called synths.
Not as strong as the first book. I think mostly due to the technical detail and language (which doesn’t much interest me) and other subplot points. I think Pek maybe tried to do too much.
I did love Claudia and her quirkiness. The relationship with her siblings was also sweet to read about. The ending definitely left a lot unresolved and set up for the next book!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for honest feedback

Thank you to Vintage and PRH Audio for the copies to review.

I have really enjoyed this series, The Rivals is the second book about dating detective agency Veracity, who verifies the accuracy of how people present themselves on their dating profiles. This book went a little darker than the first and also got a little tech-y, with the major dating sites creating ‘fake people’ or ‘synths’ based on profiles of existing clients. This concept went a little over my head, but we had a murder, and so Claudia Lin, co-owner of Veracity, is vested in trying to get to the bottom of everything. She is a great protagonist and really makes this series. Her coworkers and family are good supporting characters (some are flawed), and I enjoyed the banter in here as well as Claudia’s personal struggles. I listened via audio and enjoyed it that way, the ending was very satisfying, a solid resolution to this one overall.

The second in a series focused on Claudia Lin, a "verifier," that is someone who verifies the information people provide on dating sites for clients looking for love on the apps. This book does an excellent job recapping the events of the first book to get the reader properly situated for this next installment. This time around, there's suspicious clients (Mason Perry, who has no idea who Erle Stanley Gardner is), desperate clients (a young gay man who discovers a profile on a dating site that is his exact match), and clients who Claudia might want to get to know better (wink, wink). When a client ends up dead, and Claudia worries that her brother's work might be too close to the danger, she and her fellow verifiers must figure out how the dating apps are using personal data and AI to manipulate and potentially murder!

I loved all the espionage thriller references throughout the book and other literary nods. The author does an excellent job of crafting the mystery, but also fully developing the characters with Claudia's romantic and family struggles. The series is perfectly set up for a third book while still giving the story a solid conclusion.

Maybe it's because I haven't read Jane Pek's other book, but I was lost. I know this is a me thing, and I might come back to this book later.

This is my second book by Jane Pek and it was ok. I wasn't a huge fan of her last book and this one was a little better. It was slow at parts and I had a hard time keeping my attention.

I enjoyed this book just like I enjoyed the first. I think there’s a lot of really interesting concepts around the use of AI in a way that is digestible. My mysteries are not my favorite genre, but I do dabble and I think this is an enjoyable series so far.

The Rivals by Jane Pek is the sequel to The Verifiers, which I absolutely loved.
There is a severe lack of Sapphic amateur murder mysteries, but this series feels like a modern crime noir. The protagonist Claudia Lin is a Chinese-American lesbian woman in her mid-twenties. Now in control, or at least 1/3rd in control, of a semi-secret dating detective agency called Veracity. Veracity is a “personal investments advisory firm,” bluntly speaking they verify the person you met online is really who you think they are or who they are advertising themselves to be.
When Claudia’s not-quite-legal means to track people’s online dates leads to a murder and a discovery that some profiles in the big three matchmakers are actually highly sophisticated AI bots, she and her partners work to discover how the “Synths” are being created and why. This plot is continued from book one and honestly I don’t want to give anything away because the twists were fun.
This is a plot heavy mystery, filled with not only a deep background of our main character, including the complicated dynamics of the Lin family, and her relationships with her co-workers Becks and Squirrel. But also a techie spy plot with intersecting smaller mysteries. However Claudia’s clue loving, old detective novel reading, and general gay girl panicking personality keeps the humor and the plot from getting too dark

Immediately drew me in. Engaging narrative style. Well-paced. I wish I'd read THE VERIFIERS earlier, but THE RIVALS reads well on its own too. I would love to read more of Jane Pek's work!

Another exquisitely crafted mystery by Jane Pek that was well worth the wait. The will they won't they vibe she has with Becks is so promising for this series overall. I am fascinated by the Lin family, I enjoy reading about all the interpersonal drama alongside the murder investigation and romance.

I don't know when the next installment is expected but once again I will be putting in my pre-order as soon as it is announced.

liked this book and the pacing was good. This also set up for a next book very well. I enjoy these characters and the mystery that this story creates. I did find it hard to follow at times since it has been so long since I read the first book, so definitely reread before jumping into this one. Details from the first book were important for this story as well

The second book in this series picks up with Claudia Lin continuing her work at Veracity. I really enjoyed book one in this series and the second one did not disappoint! What a story full of twists and turns! I really enjoyed it.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC copy.

I was so obsessed with The Verifiers that I have been eagerly anticipating this sequel since turning the final page. Thankfully, it did not disappoint. This book is both vintage noir fiction and a modern commentary on technology, and handles the line between the two with humor and grace. I am eagerly awaiting more Jane Pek!

Overall a great sequel to the verifiers! I overall was still interested in the story but sometimes it dragged a little bit, perhaps the book could’ve been a little shorter. Besides this point, I enjoyed the read a lot! Well done mystery

The Rivals picks up where the Verifiers left off. Claudia tries to deal with her family, her (lack of a) love life, and her conflicted family relationships while co-helming Veracity. We are treated to a continued analysis of how dating apps treat our performative profiles and how bots are used to subtly or not so subtly affect our choices. And wait! Of course, there's murder!

And best of all, these 2 things that seal the books' charm: Claudia's detective skills have been honed by her adoration Inspector Yuan Lei of the Ming Dynasty Chronicles, a fictional book series; love book with in a book references. Claudia is a bike rider in NYC which is described in all its gritty glory, ups and downs, as practically another character in the books.

Jane Pek is a delight. Can’t wait for the next one. Her main character is interesting and complicated, navigating technology and contemporary relationships. No one is who they appear to be online and knowing someone in person isn’t knowing them if you ignore their online activities: that’s part of the lesson her detective is learning and teaching us. A truly millennial detective series is developing that is a worthy heir to the detective classics of the last two centuries..

The Rivals by Jane Pek is the sequel to The Verifiers, which I absolutely loved. The protagonist, Claudia Lin, is a Chinese-American gay woman in her mid-twenties who works for a semi-secret agency called Veracity that "verifies" the honesty of potential partners who have met through online matchmaking sites. Through their not-quite-legal means of investigation, the verifiers have discovered that some profiles in the big three matchmakers are actually highly sophisticated AI bots and not humans at all. That's the main plotline of The Verifiers, which leads to other discoveries in The Rivals.

While I enjoyed the tech plotline in The Rivals, my favorite part of this series has been the developing relationships among Claudia and her siblings and mother, as well as Claudia and her coworkers, Becks and Squirrel. The Lin family has some serious multi-generational trauma and extremely complicated relationships among the siblings as well as the separate child-mother relationships. I so appreciate the author writing a real, highly dysfunctional family that is not meant to be comic relief, while somehow not making the story too depressing.

One other thing I love about this series is Claudia's obsession with the Inspector Yuan spy novels, which she often uses as a blueprint or key to figuring out something in her work for Veracity. The spy-novel trope and mystery genre are regularly mentioned in a tongue-in-cheek way that gives the story a little levity.

Thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this e-galley.

I LOVED THIS BOOK. The MC is so fun and, let's be honest: adorable. I love the idea behind this book and the intrigue that having a dating detective agency automatically implies.

I think the MC working in the environment she does is perfect for the book because it adds an air of mystery.

The characters in the book interacted well with each other and I liked the dialogue.

I was in love with book one of this series (The Verifiers) and was ecstatic when I found out there would be a sequel. I sank right back in to life with this loveable narrator and am always ready to go down any hilarious and mysterious rabbit hole with her.

The Rivals by Jane Pek – Thank you so much, @vintageanchorbooks, for my gifted copy. I enjoyed every part of this story. I didn’t realize it was the second book in the Claudia Lin series until I was more than halfway through, so it can definitely be read as a standalone. I love all the nods to classic murder mysteries, blended with Claudia’s acerbic wit. It’s the perfect narration/protagonist to keep me engaged.