"Pomona Afton Can Solve a Murder" is a delightful mash-up of rom-com and murder mystery, packed with wit, charm, and a dash of self-discovery. Pomona Afton, a spoiled hotel heiress, suddenly finds herself penniless and forced to solve her grandmother's suspicious death to unlock her frozen trust fund.

Bellamy Rose creates a fun and engaging mystery as Pomona, with the reluctant help of her grumpy yet charming roommate Gabe, stumbles through her investigation. Their banter and budding romance add sweetness to the plot, while Pom’s hilarious struggle to adapt to a life without luxury provides plenty of laughs.

With quirky characters, unexpected twists, and a heroine who grows in surprising ways, "Pomona Afton Can Solve a Murder" is an entertaining, feel-good read that leaves you rooting for both love and justice.

I received an advanced copy from NeGalley for my ho eat review. I LOVED this book! I love romance, I love comedy, I love mystery. This has all three! This was such a cute story, and I loved how someone so rich has to figure everything out on her own without money and it’s hard for her at first. I love Gabe, he’s a great character. Actually, all of the characters are well rounded! I guessed pretty early who the killer was based off of the clues, but that didn’t matter to me because there was more to the book than just “who dunnit.” I can’t wait to own my own copy! Love the cover art as well!

📖 Book Review 📖 We once lived in a hotel when our house sold and my parents wanted us to finish out our school year and so I lived a lap of luxury in the Embassy Suites for just about two weeks! I can still remember the indoor pool and getting to eat strawberry frosted donuts every day for breakfast…it might not be the lap of luxury hotel heiress Pomona Afton is accustomed to but it was pretty sweet for a five year old! Luxury is fleeting because nothing is the same for Pomona after she discovers her grandmother’s murdered body and the cold case leaves her trust fund frozen. Even pulling yourself up by the designer bootstraps is no easy feat and Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murderis a hilariously heartwarming journey and you can’t help root for her the whole time.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

This was a fun, hilarious, and charming read. I liked the characters and their development. It gives Only Murders in the Building vibes if Paris Hilton was a lead character. I will definitely read other books Bellamy Rose writes in the future.

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

Was a really good book! I didn’t see the ending coming. I wasn’t sure at first, it was a little slow, but when the murder happened I was hooked. The mystery of trying to find out who did it, and the little love story was amazing! I highly recommend this book! A really cute fast read.

Pomona Afton can so solve a murder, and she did it while finding love along the way! I never knew I needed a rom-com murder mystery in my life, but this was actually such a fun, quick read. I've been in a major reading slump, and this was the perfect little book to get me out of it. It was funny, charming and slightly suspenseful.

After Pom's grandmother is murdered, she finds herself with no trust fund and no apartment. Having no clue what to do, she ends up moving in with her ex-nanny's son Gabe and they end up trying to solve the murder of Pom's grandmother together. And while they are playing sleuths, you also get to see Pomona's growth and realization that yes she can do hard things. Oh and that maybe she found love where she least expected. I guessed the ending pretty early on, but that didn't take away any enjoyment from the book. Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very quick and easy read. I enjoyed the humor along with the murder mystery. I did feel there could have been more character development, but overall a good read.

Perfect for fans of Only Murders in the Building. This book was hilarious with perfect twists. The ending connected everything so nicely. I really enjoyed Pomona's world!

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this one! I like the character development of Pomona as the book progressed.

Pomona Afton is for fans of Lucy Score's Riley Thorn. This book had everything I could want as a cozy mystery reader: there's romance (not too spicy but enough tension there to keep you reading for the relationship as much as the whodunit), there's comedy, and there's a murder to solve!

Pomona Afton starts off as a spoiled brat with way too much time and money on her hands. Thanks to her grandfather's success with Afton hotels, she's never had to think about what it is she wanted to do in life which means she's never actually tried to do anything. Something which sorely comes back to bite her in the bum when her grandmother is found murdered.

A mean, hateful, and downright awful old woman dies, and the family isn't too put off about it.... that is until they all learn that her will states all accounts are frozen and there is to be no access to the Afton hotels until the murderer is caught. Now the family cares. Nicolaus, the heir to the business and beloved child has a girlfriend he can stay with, and the parents can stay in the Hamptons during the off season (side note: they're still well off, just not so keen to share it with their children), That leaves Pomona...

Her "friends" all of a sudden don't have a place for her to crash, and everyone else in her life seems to have disappeared, so in a moment of desperation, Pomona calls her old Nanny who sets her up with living arrangements with her son Gabe, a hardworking heartthrob who just happens to run a coffee shop where he can get her a job.

Pom doesn't want to be stuck in this apartment with Gabe for too long, and Gabe wants his mom to get the inheritance money the grandmother promised in her will (after all, Gabe's mom did raise the Afton children). So together the two set out to solve the mystery of who is the murderer, and along the way they form a friendship that, as it turns out, both of them needed.

I can't stop raving about this book to my friends, my employees, and anyone who will listen. I know it isn't released for another 6 months, but someone PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me, Bellamy Rose is working on a sequel.

Pomona Afton lives the life most people could only dream about. Her grandparents founded a successful hotel chain, and she and her family live in luxurious apartments overlooking Central Park in one of them. At 28 years old, her life is a series of partying, galas, trips on private jets, and being an influencer (when she can be bothered). One day, she takes the private family elevator up to visit her grandmother. in her penthouse apartment. The grandmother is mean and critical to everyone, but Pomona is horrified to find her grandmother dead in a pool of blood. The police quickly determine she's been murdered. That is disturbing enough, but it soon becomes apparent that grandma had a feeling someone was out to harm her. She's recently made a provision in her will that freezes all assets if she dies in suspicious circumstances. This means that Pomona's entire family is given only a few minutes to pack up any belongings they have and leave their apartments. Her brother and parents are out of jobs in the family business. With nowhere to go, Pomona calls the one person who she felt cared about her, her former nanny Andrea. Andrea is sympathetic and mentions that her son is looking for a roommate. With no other options, Pomona is forced to move in with Andrea's son Gabe in an apartment in a much less upscale part of town. Not only that, there isn't even a doorman, not to mention an elevator, in the decidedly rundown building. Desperate to get back to her jetsetting lifestyle, Pomona decides it's up to her to track down the murderer so her grandmother's assets can be unfrozen.

I enjoyed spoiled rich girl Pomona's fall from grace and forced self-reflection. She was funny and had plenty of asides about the fabulous life she used to lead. She got on with things, even though she'd never had to do anything for herself before, and even discovered a passion that was missing in her formerly aimless life. And of course, there is a bit of romance thrown in! Very enjoyable.

This book was very interesting to read. definitely a new concept to read. It is a great read, I recommend this book to anyone who like a fun mystery aspect.

An absolute delight of a gossipy, riches to rags mystery that I literally couldn’t put down (and I mean literally - I read it in a single sitting). It lives up to its Only Murders meets Gossip Girl promise and I truly loved it.

Ultimately, Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder is a fine book. I honestly think the major issue with the book is that it's so short. In the NetGalley app it's only 237 pages and that includes the pages at the beginning and the acknowledgements at the end. In that small space, there's a murder with multiple suspects to investigate, a romance, Pomona changing from a spoiled heiress to someone who figures out how to more genuinely care about the people around her. and she also learns to bake bakery quality treats and starts a whole business around it. It's just a lot in such a small page count and it needed room to breathe. It doesn't help that the story takes place in a short amount of time too, meaning Pomona decides to bake some brownies for the first time and has a business about a week later.

What I think could have absolutely sunk this book and, thankfully. didn't, was Pomona herself. While it was a perfect balance, she does learn how to be a somewhat decent person pretty quickly, but she also doesn't change with just a switch, which could have messed with her characterization. I can see if some people don't like her, but I thought she was fine.

I will say, I did call who the murderer was pretty early, although that's just going to be a by person thing, but this isn't a bad book at all and if you want a breezy murder mystery, you could do much worse.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the advance reader copy of Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder by Bellamy Rose.

Pomona Afton is an Upper East side hotel heiress. When Pomona Afton’s grandmother is murdered, Pomona and her family’s assets are frozen while the death is investigated. This turn of events leads to Pomona moving in with Gabe, the son of her former nanny, and get a job.

I received this book as a widget and was immediately drawn in by the comparison to Gossip Girl and imagining Pomona as Blair Waldorf and Gabe as Dan Humphrey. It was definitely a book I wanted to check out!

Pomona (Pom) is definitely a standout character. I enjoyed the mystery and thought that Pom and Gabe really developed a good dynamic with each other. I found myself more into the mystery than the romance, though both were enjoyable aspects of this story! I also liked Pomona's character development and discovering her own talents along the way. In regard to the mystery, I didn’t think the final reveal was obvious from the beginning which is what I hope for in a mystery. This is one that I'd really like to check out as an audiobook.

Like a frothy drink this mystery is fun and bubbly! Pomona is the classic rich girl, until her grandmother dies and everyone is a suspect. Pomona loses her hotel apartment, her money and her trust fund overnight. She must ask for help from her old nanny, Andrea. Andrea has a son the same age as Pomona and he needs a roommate. The stage is set for love and solving a murder. While I found this a quick read, the characters were a little thin overall and Pomona's change of heart from ditzy party girl to person with honor was too fast for me. Overall a fun easy read for fans of lite romance.

This was such a fun mystery book! Fans of Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers will enjoy this. It also reminds me if a slight more intelligent London Tipton was in Only Murders in the Building! I loved the personal growth of Pomona's character.

This was a fun, sweet, and feel-good mystery. It's a really niche part of the murder mystery genre but it's actually become one of my favorites with the way humor, found family, and optimism are coupled with the premise of murder (ironic, i know). This one came from a new background within the niche genre. I'm used to old people solving murders unexpectedly, but this is rich girl meets life changes and murder mystery. Think Schitt's Creek, but with a bit more death.
The initial set up of this story was quite slow paced, really bringing the reader into Pomona's extravagant world and how quickly it falls apart after her grandmother's death. The real mystery solving doesn't begin until a good chunk through the exposition, and it's set up much more unwilling than I expected. But her and her new roommate Gabe make a fun and cute team as they set out to solve the mystery. They have fun banter and very explicitly lay out suspect after suspect that they investigate. In that sense, it's a bit more direct with suspense than I prefer. There's just an overwhelming sense of curiosity and mysteriousness that's not as scary to a traditional murder mystery.
It's still so fun to go through the side characters and suspects in Pomona's world as she simultaneously experiences some great character growth. I think her reflections are really valuable and well paced as she transforms into a new character. I think the entire book was just as fun and loving as her character; you can't help but smile through it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Pomona Afton (Pom to those in the know) is a New York socialite and heiress to the Afton hotel fortune. She loves her life of galas, clubbing, and sleeping in, until she wakes up one morning to find ten missed calls from her grandmother overnight. She goes to check on her and finds her stabbed to death. In a bizarre turn of events, her grandmother’s murder leads to her family being removed from the business and inheritance unless they can prove they were not involved. Pomona, now living in a walk-up apartment with her former nanny’s son, is determined to solve this case so she can get her old life back!

This book is so fun! Pom has the vibes of Alexis from Schitt’s Creek mixed with a little Paris Hilton. She has a really great character arc and proves herself to be a lot smarter than her family gave her credit for. The mystery was pretty good - I thought the clues were laid out well and the mystery was fun to solve. I found myself eager to read this and looking forward to quiet times when I could sneak in a few chapters.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Bellamy Rose for this ARC!

This was accidentally accepted to be reviewed after being invited to read it. Doesn’t seem like something I would honestly be interested in.