I loved everything about this book. I am a true crime web sleuth was so excited to read this one. The character building of the web sleuths was very well rounded. The ending was predictable but i still enjoyed it. This will be a great book club book. I would love to hear all of the different views of this book.

It's the most famous crime in modern history. But only she knows the true story.

After the unexpected death of her father, college student Jane Sharp longs for a distraction from her grief. She becomes obsessed with true crime, befriending armchair detectives who teach her how to hunt killers from afar. In this morbid internet underground, Jane finds friendship, purpose, and even glory...

I do agree with a lot of other reviews that say this was slow to start, but a good slow burn is usually always worth it.

I really enjoyed the true crime/Reddit sleuth plot even though I am not a Reddit user (it intimidates me).

read if you like: true crime books, serial killer tropes, murder mystery plots

Thank you to NetGalley & SOURCEBOOKS Landmark | Sourcebooks Landmark for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Most of Ashley Winsteads books were 5 stars for me, I’m so impressed by her ability to write thriller and romance well. This one wasn’t it though. Loosely based on the Idaho murders, it just didn’t wow me.

This is a slow-burn mystery about "the crime of the century" told from the view of an amateur sleuth who belongs to the true crime community.

Because I went in completely blind, I was lost as the book didn't seem to have any straightforward story. It seemed to me more about a grieving woman than about any plot. I felt it was slow moving but once it found its groove, I was hooked.

I had fun exploring the case along with our protagonists. I think that serial killer stories are rarely done well because they're usually done as heavy police procedurals, but this was a fresh take on the sub-genre. I felt like we were going through an actual case even though there are some unbelievable parts to the story,

I was surprised by the twists and felt that it was a good read. I'd recommend it to all thriller fans.

Thanks to Netgalley & Sourcebooks Landmark for the e-copy!

3.5/5

I always look forward to Ashley Winstead books, but "This Book Will Bury Me" exceeded all expectations, soaring to the top as my favorite of her books. Thus, I was kind of surprised to see on Goodreads that the ratings mean score didn't necessarily reflect my enthusiasm. It came down to this. The story is inspired by the sad murders of the four college students in Idaho a couple of years ago. Some people took great offense to this. I too believe victims should be honored and their memory carefully handled.

However, writers have always gotten inspiration from the world around them. Two books I've read recently were of a similar vein. "Bright Young Women" by Jessica Knoll brilliantly takes a different spin on the Ted Bundy murders. Derva McTiernan wrote a gripping book, "What Happened To Nina", based on the Gabby Petito tragedy. What Winstead has done is no different here. I heard she gives an explanation in the beginning of the book, but I listened to an audio version and it did not include that. The story does not dwell specifically on the murdered victims, but on a group of five online crime fighters who come together to solve the case.

This story is so well written and the action moves forward so fluidly, I could not put it down. This book takes a little over thirteen hours to listen to, and I finished it in a little over one day if that tells you anything! I loved the way Jane's story unfolded. There was a framework around which the story starts and ends. Jane tragically loses her father, and cannot come to terms with the death, and all the unknowns she had about her quiet steady father. Looking for a distraction, she gets involved in an online murder case. She plays a big part in successfully solving this case, which leads her to become part of an elite group of online sleuths. I loved this band of misfits who called themselves family, especially the older woman who goes by the handle Mistress. I loved watching Jane come out of her shell as she finds out that she is really good at this crime solving.

I'm not going to go into the whole plot, but if you are at all interested in online chats where people band together, crime podcasts, or anything in that vein, you should love this book! It is definitely one of my favorite books I've read this year!

Thank you to NetGalley, Ashley Winstead, and Sourcebook Landmark for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I did end up finishing this one after thinking it would be a DNF. I ended up enjoying it although it was different than I thought

This theoretically should have been a good book for me. Unfortunately, it just didn’t turn out to be for me.
I think the fact that this is about a real life case still awaiting trial seemed a bit vulturish to me. Jane’s obsession with leaving her dad’s name marked on the world just didn’t resonate with me. I know we all grieve differently but hers just seemed to be used when it was needed to fluff the story.
I think the author just focused on our online sleuths and cut this book down by about 100 pages I would have rated it higher.
I received a ARC of this title, all opinions are my own.

After her father dies, and needing a distraction, Jane becomes obsessed with true crime. She befriends others who solve crimes on the internet. When several students are murdered, how far will she go to find the killer? Is one of her new "friends" the killer?

I was already a fan of this author and was thrilled to be able to read and to listen to this book! The story is about Jane Sharp, a college student whose father dies, and her grief puts her into something of a tailspin about her present and future direction. She becomes fascinated with a true crime group on the internet and from there, the die is cast as the group is like a buzzing hive regarding the murder of 3 sorority girls in Idaho. Jane is one of a smaller group who band together to physically investigate the crime, and not just on the internet. An unsolved murder had occurred in Oregon and in looking at crime scene photos, the team spotted an eyelash that turned out to give DNA evidence, so the friends were working on two crimes at once and they seemed unrelated.

There was a lot of back and forth that seemed difficult to follow in audio, so I backed up and listened several times.

In the end, the culprits were the ones I had guessed, and the ending was satisfying. Jane and her mother went to scatter her father’s ashes after she finished working through her grief.

4 stars! I enjoyed the book and look forward to the writer’s next effort. The narration was really excellent and gave many variations between all the characters.

I received a copy of the digital ARC and the ALC via NetGalley. My review is voluntary.

This Book Will Bury Me, from Ashley Winstead, looks at the world’s True Crime obsession with a critical eye. I’m one of the many who absorb documentaries, podcasts, and books about many awful things that have happened to people (or about the people who did the bad things). They interest me psychologically. But sometimes I wonder if consuming such content exploits the victims.

Bury follows a college student named Jane Sharp, who, after the ultimately passing of her father, becomes obsessed with True Crime. Through a message board, she joins a team of amateur sleuths from around the US who attempt to solve cold cases. This group ends up becoming heavily involved in the investigation of a series of murders in Idaho. How involved? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

Winstead’s tome is incredibly well written with excellent twists and intrigue. I highly recommend it if you’re a fan of True Crime or you’re intrigued by the genre but feel conflicted about it. It’s a great read.

I love a good Ashley Winstead read, and This Book Will Bury Me was no different!

This thriller follows Jane, who, while grappling with the death of her father, falls into the dark and dangerous world of true crime internet. Soon, she finds herself deep in a group of amateur sleuths trying to solve a high-profile murder. As Jane becomes more and more obsessed, she throws herself into this world with little regard for her own safety.

As a true crime and thriller girlie, this book was right up my alley! From the very first page, I was hooked. The twists and turns were so well-paced and natural, never forced. And can we talk about Jane’s dad? A hardcore Trekkie who named his daughter Janeway? That little touch totally made me smile—I’m here for any Star Trek reference.

If you’re a fan of dark thrillers with plenty of suspense and a touch of nerdy humor, This Book Will Bury Me is a must-read!

True crime + amateur sleuths + gripping mystery = a book that I couldn’t put down! This story was so intriguing to read with very fascinating characters! It made me feel like the 6th amateur sleuth trying to solve the mystery. In true Ashley Winstead fashion, this book had all the dark, twisty, and obsession vibes I love in a true crime mystery. I highly recommend picking this one up!

Jane, the FMC, gets drawn into true crime after the death of her father. She finds a place in an online amateur sleuth group as they investigate a murder case. The plot has layers and contains many twists, most of them were guessable but they were still executed well. It was engaging as a thriller, but the reader was also following Jane as she processes and moves through her grief. It's a statement about obsession with true crime and the consequences, found family and loss.



Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

As a true crime fan, I found this book engaging with likable characters and a gripping plot full of twists.

The short chapters kept me hooked-"Just one more chapter” is what I kept saying to myself 😂

However, I did feel uneasy about how closely the story mirrored the real-life Idaho college murders. While there were differences, it was a little too close.

But that ending I personally didn’t see it coming! A powerful coming-of-age tale of grief, community, and friendship. This book is a great option for people who love suspenseful mysteries.

This Book Will Bury Me was one of my most anticipated reads this year and from page one I knew I was in for a ride. Winstead’s main character, Jane Sharp, is one of the most compelling and complex main characters I have read about in awhile. This book will take you on a journey of grief and obsession, as well as leave you with a creeping sense of dread. Winstead’s novel is packed with tension and suspense and each twist and turn reveals a darker truth. I raced through this book, desperate for answers to the growing pile of chilling questions. If you enjoy a book within a book format, true crime, and psychological thrillers then you need to check this one out!

*4.5 stars rounded up*

True crime is a multi-layered beast, & this author has tackled it in a captivating fictional story that had me quickly flipping pages to get answers.

Narrated a year into the future as a sort of tell-all book about a series of murders that rocked the nation & shook the internet’s amateur detective community to its core, Jane Sharp describes her journey to obsession after the death of her father. She is welcomed into a smaller group of more “elite” armchair crusaders that ultimately become like family. But when they decide to meet up IRL in the town where their case takes place, things get complicated…

I loved the format in which the information was relayed to the reader, complete with footnotes! It was also fun to have a character from Iowa, my home state. The author’s note about content warnings & how she came to have the idea for the novel in the wake of the loss of her own father made the deeper themes of legacy & accepting that one can never have all the answers resonate even more.

Thank you very much to NetGalley & Sourcebooks for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you Netgalley, author and Source Landmark publication for the ARC.


Jane Sharp is drowning in grief after her father’s untimely death, desperate for closure. When she stumbles upon a group of armchair detectives obsessed with solving real-life crimes, she finds unexpected friendship, purpose, and the thrill of cracking the unsolvable. But when a chilling string of sorority murders thrusts Jane and her new true-crime sleuths into the center of a very real nightmare, she learns that some mysteries are better left buried…
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Ashley Winstead never misses, and This Book Will Bury Me just cemented why she’s one of my go-to thriller authors. In My Dreams I Hold a Knife still holds the crown for me, but this one? A close contender.

Inspired by a recent true-crime case (which Winstead acknowledges upfront), this novel follows Jane—haunted by loss, searching for answers, and unexpectedly finding a digital family in a group of internet sleuths. What starts as an escape morphs into a high-stakes game when fiction and reality collide in a way none of them saw coming.

At over 400 pages, this thriller is a rollercoaster—fast-paced, unputdownable, and emotionally charged. Just when I thought I had it figured out, Winstead veered off the expected path, keeping the story both true-crime inspired yet distinctly fictional. The blend of raw emotion and edge-of-your-seat suspense? Chef’s kiss.

It's a 4/5 ⭐ read for me.

If you love true crime, adrenaline-pumping mysteries, and Winstead’s signature psychological depth, This Book Will Bury Me belongs on your TBR. Trust me, by the end, you’ll understand why!

This is a very unusual book that focuses on the on-line community composed of amateur sleuths who attempt to solve open cases that have stymied the authorities. Beyond that, This Book Will Bury Me also focuses on the process of grieving and the loss of a parent. It should be mentioned that the description of some of the murders is quite graphic and could be disturbing for some readers. It certainly isn’t something I normally read and I found it difficult at times.

There are five main characters in this book and the story is told from a single point of view. The writing is very good, the characters have a lot of depth, and the plot is well-conceived and logical. One thing that was a bit uncomfortable is that one of the crimes depicted is based on a real-life and on-going case that has yet to go to trial. This felt a little exploitative.

As I read the book I was mentally giving it 4 stars. But, I finally gave it 3.5 stars. The reasons are two-fold. First, it’s a longer book to begin with and it seemed to drag towards the end. Secondly, the smooth, clean writing that I enjoyed throughout most of the book seemed to get a little murky. There were multiple theories and players moving in and out, adding multiple threads to unravel at almost the very end. NetGalley provided an advance reader copy.

Ashley Winstead is one of my auto-buy authors. This one was worth the hype. I was hooked from the beginning! This story did remind me of a situation that happened in real life...not sure if this was supposed to emulate it but it was still a well written suspenseful thriller.

This Book Will Bury Me by Ashley Winstead was published March 25, 2025. Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for the eARC. All views are my own.

I didn’t realize when I received this ARC that it took the facts of the recent Idaho college murder and used them in a fictionalized but very, very similar way. At the very beginning of the book, Winstead does acknowledge this as the inspiration in an author’s note. And while I’ve read true crime fiction based on real events and enjoyed them (see Bright Young Women), they’ve never been based on active cases yet to be resolved by trial or separated in time. Ultimately, I found TBWBM’s use too soon and exploitative.

As for the plot, it lagged, and the book was too long. Overall, I did not enjoy and did not finish the book. If you want to read this, know that it’s based on the Idaho murders before reading.