
Member Reviews

The story is both captivating and chilling, seamlessly blending elements of psychological suspense, mystery, and literary fiction. Winstead’s writing is sharp and evocative, creating a narrative that’s not just about the twists and turns of the plot, but also about the deeper emotional journey the characters go through. The novel doesn’t shy away from exploring difficult and uncomfortable subjects, which may not be to everyone’s taste. But for those who enjoy deep, introspective reads with a touch of mystery and a lot of emotional depth, This Book Will Bury Me is a powerful and unforgettable journey.

I was blown away by the way that Winstead captured the capacity for people to band together for a common cause.
The Internet has given birth to the burgeoning "internet sleuth/true crime" business, and thousands of forums and podcasts have sprung up around this theme. While I wasn't aware of the real Idaho murders this book is based on, it was hard to step out of the story enough to remember - the book is a work of fiction. But because the dialogue rings so true, and the story is so compelling, I had to keep reminding myself that it (probably) was not (it isn't).
And yet we still feel compassion for Jane, who has recently lost her father and is clinging to her found family to help her through her grief. We feel it for the others in the forum, regardless of why they are there - "a place for hopeless, helpless people to raise their tiny swords against the sky". And maybe we even skate past whether what they do is morally right or wrong - because of the potential to save lives. But real life is not always so black and white, and neither was this story. But it was quick-paced, intelligent, and heartwrenching.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for introducing me to Ashley Winstead through an advance reader's copy. Now to check out her backlist!

📚This Book Will Bury Me📚
Pub Date: 3/25/25
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Wow…l absolutely devoured this book! True crime junkies will love this!!
Jane Sharp is a college senior. She loses her Dad unexpectedly and ends up dropping out of college. She becomes involved with a true crime network she discovers on the underground web after taking interest in a case where a young woman’s body is found cut up in a garbage bag. She becomes obsessed with this group of people and true crime as she needs the distraction from losing her dad. When three girls are stabbed at a sorority house, her true crime friends decide they need to find out the truth.
I could not put this down!!! It was fast paced and I was completely enthralled with this story! I think Ashley did an amazing job with such controversial cases and topics!! This will definitely be a favorite of 2025!!👏🏼
While this is a work of fiction it does have true crime elements based off of real cases like the girls stabbed in the Idaho murders.
I’m disappointed in people leaving bad reviews just because of this controversy as Ashley clearly stated this in a note on first pages. So maybe these people shouldn’t be reading and leaving negative reviews 🤷🏻♀️
People loved What Happened to Nina when the author clearly stated it was based on Gabby Petito case so why all the negativity here???
Thank you @netgalley and @bookmarked for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

A gripping and thought-provoking novel, This Book Will Bury Me is both a sharp critique of true-crime obsession and a deeply emotional story of grief and loss. Winstead masterfully explores the world of amateur web sleuths, examining their motivations and the ethical gray areas of their work. At its core, though, this book is a moving meditation on parental loss, trauma, and the ways we search for meaning in the aftermath of tragedy. The pacing is excellent, keeping me engaged from start to finish.
While I did figure out one of the twists fairly early, it didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment. The journey was still compelling, and the emotional weight of the story kept me invested. This is a smart, well-crafted thriller with more depth than your typical true-crime-inspired novel, making it a must-read for fans of the genre.

Engaging and entertaining. A recommended purchase for collections where crime and thrillers are popular.

THIS BOOK WILL BURY ME - ASHLEY WINSTEAD
4⭐
After losing her father young college student Jane Sharp longs for a distraction and gets hooked on true crime cases where she meets amateur sleuth detectives and they form a friendship and a purpose to try and find out the killer of 3 college girls in Delphine... they u earth clues missed by police only to find out that the killer is smarter and one step ahead and they all fall in a trap!
.
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This book was something different from my usual thriller reads.
Firstly it's narrated a year after the accounts with Jane telling her story and their part in solving the crimes.
It's believed to be inspired by real life incidents which I am not aware of so I went in blind and I enjoyed it and couldn't predict the suspect along with the last twist which I didn't see coming.
I only wish this book would have been a bit shorter...too long for a thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
In the Author’s Note at the beginning of the book, Winstead talks about how this book draws inspiration from real-life cases. Specifically, the 2022 University of Idaho murders. This book reflects many details from the case and with case ongoing as of March 2025, I don’t feel comfortable reading this story. I only wish for the victims to get the justice they deserve.
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RIP Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

If you have a fascination with the true crime world; you should read this book! I thoroughly enjoyed this story, and this was my first read from this author, but I am very interested in more of their work.

This Book Will Bury Me by Ashley Winstead is a fascinating look into grief, true crime and obsession. This thriller in my opinion is best read trying to go in blind. The reviews are very polarizing but I think Winstead did a great job!
Janeway Sharp is still processing her father's unexpected death. To try to deal with her grief, she starts reading through internet message boards all about true crime. After joining in on the conversations Jane actually makes a discovery that helps solve a case. From that moment on she starts on a long journey of obsession, trying to solve other cases when she couldn't figure out how to save her father. Joined in with four other true crime aficionados, Jane gets involved in a brutal set of murders. Can she piece together the clues to find out who the killer is? Or is she just putting a target on her back?
I am a true crime girl all the way so I really liked the idea of message boards and internet sleuthing. This plot was clever and I could not stop reading it. I really liked the exploration of grief and what some people do to cope. The reviews for this book are very divided, mostly because of the similarities to the University of Idaho killings, but I don't think in any way that Winstead was capitalizing on the family's grief or being lazy by writing the real life crime out, and that was just some of the things that were said about this book online. I really enjoyed this book and will definitely recommend it to anyone who loves true crime and thrillers!
Thank you to NetGalley, Ashley Winstead, and Sourcebooks Landmark for this ARC. Release day was March 25th 2025.

I received This Book Will Bury Me as an ARC for my review.
I loved this book! My favorite Ashley Winstead book was 'In my Dreams I Hold a Knife,' but I think this one is a new favorite. It was an easy read and the book flowed so well I just wanted to keep reading to find out what was going to happen. The twist definitely surprised me and when I finally caught on, I think I gasped out loud. A five star read for me. Can't wait to see what Ashley puts out next.

Ashley Winstead is one of my favorite writers. It's been a long time since a book hooked me like this one, and it held my attention the whole time. I loved the concept of crime sleuths coming together to solve crimes. I also loved the character development with Jane. Her grief was portrayed in such a real, genuine way. The author was able to draw from her experiences to write this storyline.
My only complaint with this book is that drew inspiration from an ongoing case, the Idaho murders. It felt "icky" reading about it because the killer hasn't been brought to justice yet. I wish Ashley wouldn't have used this case as such a large part of the book.

I went into this book completely blind, and I have to say it was captivating from the first few chapters. It is rather long, but despite that, I found myself staying up late to read.
First off, I love true crime and that trume crime space. Its incredible to me that there are online slueths that help solve crimes. This book is about a group of online sleuths that come together to solve a crime in a small college town. Jane, the main character, is dealing with the sudden death of her father and this true crime community is helping her heal. When the opportunity pops up for them to work with the police on a crime, they all head over there, and that’s when everything starts to go ary.
I will have to say I’m not sure how I feel about the similarities to the Idoho college murders. I think the author had a great note before the book started, but it did give me a little pause. The fictional murders really closely resembled the real life ones, and it felt a little insensistive to the families.
Despite that, the storytelling and the characters were amazing. The author has a way of making all the characters unique, and really has a great pace. It’s full of mystery and suspense up to the last few pages. It was very well-crafted that I was still able to enjoy the book. It turly never dragged, and I loved the way the narractive was told.
If you are into a fast paced, true crime book- look no further!
This book comes out March 25th. Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark

I have two completely disparate, conflicting feelings about this book!
First of all, I LOVED it. I was hooked from the beginning. I fully bought in to the world of this book. The characters felt believable and the narrative felt personal. I cried along with Jane every time her grief showed up. I was invested in the case and in the investigation. I had my own theory as an amateur sleuth.
On the other hand… the murder in the book was taken, piece by piece, from a real true-crime story. The setting, method, murder weapon, suspects - even the state it was located in was the same. I followed the real-life case very closely, so I was acutely aware of all these details. The story does eventually diverge from its real world inspiration, but the damage is already done. I followed the case in real life, so I know it was a great story, but it felt wrong that it was copied so closely.
In addition to being kind of disrespectful to the victims and their families, it was also a little lazy. The author could have taken inspiration from the real event without copying every detail so closely. More should have been changed about the setting, the victims, and the suspects to truly make this fiction.
If only the murder weren’t so close to a real, still-active case, this would have been a five-star read for me.

Wow!
What have I read?
My first impression of this book was shallow. I thought, here’s another lost college kid, dealing with grief from the sudden death of her dad and coping by getting obsessed with a true crime aficionados alike.
But, lo and behold that changed. As soon as the ball started rolling, it kept going and bouncing! I would say its better to not read the reviews but just dive in blind. The main case of true crime that this book was based on was in fact a real one and that was very compelling to read from a different point of view. This book is very much still a fiction and yet, the grip it has on my attention was quite tight all the way to the very last page.
Good read over all and I recommend!
Thank you to Sourcebooks via Netgalley for the complimentary copy to review.

Happy Pub Day!! First and foremost I would like to thank NetGalley and Sourcebooks for this eARC.
This book is a solid 3.5 stars for me. The FMC struggles with the grief of the loss of her father and drops out of college to then become consumed with true crime. After solving a murder case as an amateur sleuth she joins a group of very different individuals who have one goal in mind, to solve murder cases.
I enjoyed the very different personalities of each individual and how they all work together within their group. I also enjoyed the unexpected twists and turns that this book took. It was a bit of a slow burn but the ending made it worth it.

i am not a true crime girlie. the farthest i’ve ever gotten is the first season of serial (the podcast) & even then, i found it uncomfy to peek into the lives & deaths of these people. so reading THIS BOOK WILL BURY ME was like getting a crash course in true crime. i knew the basics about the murders of gabby petito & just recently started getting literal ads on news stories about the idaho college murd3rs, which ashley acknowledges she used as research material for this book.
in this novel, our narrator, jane, is writing her own autobiographical story about her involvement in solving cases as an amateur true crime detective. it starts out as a distraction from her father’s own passing, but it quickly transforms into an obsession for her. she quickly finds herself invited to join an elite group of crime-solving aficionados who subsequently get called in as consultants to find a serial killer.
this book focuses on true crime, yes, but what drew me was the exploration of grief & the reasons we as a society prioritize the peace & dignity of some victims over others. what ashley does well is tell that story while also honoring her grief & reminding us of the importance to seek justice for all victims—especially black and indigenous folks. i thought this book was cleverly crafted, albeit a little predictable. overall, i found it to be a fun, thought-provoking ride, as i have with all of ashley’s books. thank you to @sourcebooks for an arc of this book! please continue sending me all of ashley’s thrillers as soon as she writes them xo
THIS BOOK WILL BURY MEthis book will bury me is out now!

Very unique format for a thriller that really leans on the place of true crime in society at this moment. Maybe a little dated in how the main character interacts with other characters but I think that's more or less the point because it is a reflection of things that have already happened. Love the dig into grief and how we handle it. Honestly an absolute banger of a thriller and I am genuinely so picky about those.

Sourcebooks eARC
This was a fascinating look into grief and true crime and obsession. Jane’s dad died and to distract from her grief, she becomes invested in a true crime solving internet group. This story does have similarities to the University of Idaho murders, which Winstead addressed in her note at the beginning of the book. I thought this book highlighted how obsessed people become over true crime and how they can help and hinder cases. It was also a tense thriller that kept me wanting to know who the murderer was. I really enjoyed it and look forward to what she does next.

The way I devoured this book was unlike any other. I’m a true crime junkie though and through, so the way this book was set up drew me in immediately. The back and forth while the case was trying to be solved let me feel like I was right there in the book trying to crack the case. Thank you so much for the advanced copy of the book, too!

After her father’s sudden death, Janeway Sharp is on a mission find answers to who he really was. In the midst of her grief, she is swooped into the world of amateur sleuths and true crime. Jane becomes involved in a case as an FBI informant and is determined to crack the case. Will she find the answers she is looking for?
I was hooked from page one. When the murders (based on the Idaho Murders) were mentioned, it didn’t sit right with me. However, Winstead puts her own twist in the case which allowed me to keep reading because I was no longer comparing the murders in the book to the actual case. The plot was well thought-out, and the ending truly delivered.
I was fully invested in Jane’s character as she navigated her grief while trying to catch a serial killer. Also, I enjoyed getting to know the other characters as they became Jane’s family and support system.
This book was full of twists and turns and I am so happy I was able to review this book! Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for this arc!