This Book Will Bury Me- 5⭐️

I was SUCKED into a dark true crime novella. My eye balls could not read the words nearly as fast as my brain wanted more. I love that this was written like a memoir of events that happened. Sometimes the content of the book is only as good as the way the story is told and Ashely always nails story telling.

I would like to reserve the right to change my review- as I recently learned that this was based lightly on true events & needs to digest/process with my bookclub.

Another solid read from Ashley Winstead. I really enjoyed the way this story was presented with the narrator being the main character who was giving us the back story and then bringing us up to the present. It was such a clever and effective way to deliver the information and really helped me feel a connection with the character.

When Jane's father dies suddenly, she feels untethered and without a purpose. Ironically, a dismembered body is found around the same time, and she finds herself fascinated by an online group on unofficial crime detectives and falls in with them. What starts as a way to distract herself and pass the time soon turns into what might almost be called an obsession or addiction. Jane finds she is good at it and that makes her feel good about herself. She also finds herself pulled into the orbit of four other people and together they form their own "amateur murder solving task force" - - it's almost a high for her.

However, as you see when the story unfolds, there are unexpected twists and turns that will keep you guessing. It's a fun ride.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: The narration was quite good. It made the story even better and pulled me further into the action. I thought it worked well as you were reading/listening to a book about those with an online presence. It lent a proper feel to things. 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

Ashley Winstead delivers another smart and unsettling story with This Book Will Bury Me. I was pulled in right away and found it hard to put down. It captures the fascination—and the danger—of true crime culture so well, showing how easily the line between curiosity and obsession can blur.

Jane’s voice felt real and compelling, and I appreciated how the story revealed itself slowly, always keeping me guessing. Winstead handles the chaos of unreliable information and media hype with precision, making the mystery feel even more layered and unpredictable.

This would make a great vacation read: fast-paced, absorbing, and easy to fall into, but with enough depth to leave you thinking about it afterward. It strikes just the right balance between suspense and character development.

Highly recommended for readers who enjoy thrillers that are both thoughtful and impossible to put down.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my free review copy.

This Book Will Bury Me reads like a true crime series with a group of people working together to solve a murder. It was suspenseful, but it was somewhat predictable. I usually cannot guess the murderer, but with this book, I did halfway through. I was upset with this plot being inspired by the University of Idaho students' murder on 11/3/2022 (I appreciate the author acknowledging this). However, the trial hasn't even started yet for that murder case. I feel that if this had been set in another city or state, I would have been less upset about this story. Those Idaho college women haven't even received justice yet, so I find it odd to have a fictional story based on it right now.

A suspenseful and engaging read! Short chapters and blog chat format made this a fast-paced story. All the characters were complex, well developed and intriguing. There were a few different plots and connections that were cleverly interwoven and a few twists that caught me by surprise. While I was really hooked on this storyline and the POV told by the amateur sleuths, I had mixed feelings about this being based upon the Idaho murder case, mostly because it’s still ongoing. If you’re a true crime enthusiast- I recommend diving into this one!

I’m glad that this was my first Ashley Winstead book! It was a slower pace than I expected but it had a great story that was very well developed and a character I emphasized with from page one. My favorite part of this book was easily the main character. She was so realistic and so sympathetic. I really related to her. I’m excited to read more by this author!

I loved this book! It hooked me right from the beginning and kept me interested the entire time. I really had no clue where the story was going which is my favorite kind of thriller! Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

This book spoke to my true crime loving heart. I read my first true crime book in seventh grade. It was Fatal Vision about a Green Beret who was accused of murdering his wife and children. A teacher asked me if my parents knew I was reading it and my shyish self responded that they bought it for me, so I’m sure they know. I have been captivated by true crime since.
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Jane, a college student, is devastated by the unexpected loss of her father. Seeking an escape, she becomes a bit obsessed with true crime. She finds herself immersed in an online community of amateur sleuths who not only teach her the art of solving cases but also become her friends.
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When news breaks of three murdered college girls, the forum erupts with theories, and Jane and her friends dive in. I know some had issue with how much this touched on a recent crime, but I felt there was so much more to this one that it didn’t bother me.
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As the online sleuth gang digs deeper, inconsistencies pile up, and it becomes clear to them that the police aren’t doing enough. The media causes more confusion, and every clue leads to more questions than answers. They travel to the town where the crime happened and do some of their own investigating.
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Jane and the gang suspect they’re being watched. Is the killer aware of their investigation? Things get intense. And I did figure some things out along the way, but that didn’t stop me from being fully invested and enjoying this to the end.
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The found family aspect of the online true crime community was one of my favorite parts. They were all such different personalities and all at different places in life, but true crime bonded them. As part of the Booksta community, I can definitely relate!
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If you’re a true crime lover like me, this book just might be right up your alley!

Thanks to @bookmarked and @netgalley for a #gifted copy.

Let me just start by saying that I am a fan of Ashley winstead's books but this one was not for me. I knew going into this that it was inspired by the Idaho murders, but I felt like it was too close to a case that hasn't even gone to trial yet. That being said, I know it was more about the grief of losing a parent and finding a found family through the internet. I think that Winstead did a good job at that aspect, but I couldn't look past the case. I think she could have just done a completely fictional story and it would have been a way better book.

Based on the reviews for this book, I’ve noticed most people’s opinions fall into two categories - they either loved it or hated it. Not much in between. I am in the loved it category. This book grabbed my attention to the point where I could not put it down! I was hooked all the way though. I did knock a star off due to the fact that this story is too closely related to an actual, current event. Felt a bit icky and too soon to be using a current case as a storyline.

Thanks Sourcebooks Landmark and Netgalley for the ARC.

Okay so I guess I know what book I am buying this week because yes! I am loving the critique of the true crime community, the exploration of grief, the use of online forms, and the corrupt police force. I think the serial killers and crimes were a little predictable (Barbie killer?) but I also understand it. Men and other women hate beautiful successful women, and they want them gone.

Overall, this is a pretty decent thriller and I will be adding a shelf trophy to my collection.

“I suspect I was born to fall into rabbit holes.”

Ashley Winstead once described herself as a mood writer and it’s my favorite way to describe her—especially since everything she writes is gold.

This Book Will Bury Me is no exception—utterly captivating from the very first page, I was mesmerized by Ashley’s ability to not only capture the impact of amateur sleuths on true crime cases, but also the behind-the-scenes elements of what drives people to want to solve cases from their couch.

At the heart of this story is grief, community, a search for answers, and a desire to belong. It’s about love, loss, and finding our purpose in life. It’s about giving back when we’re no longer sure what we have to offer.

“Sometimes the joy of being human lies in the things we cannot describe.”

I love how Ashley portrayed this story. Sharing the events that transpired a year ago, a fictional portrayal woven with very real cases, with regular breaks of the fourth wall as Jane Sharp shares her hindsight with her readers. A book within a book, a multitude of stories, and the coming together and falling apart of many lives.

“It’s what we will never know about the ones we love that binds us to them.”

In a time where so many of us form relationships online, it felt particularly striking how at the very heart of this book is just how much we can trust those online. How much can we trust them to solve a crime? How much can we trust them to take care of us? How much can we trust them to not steer us wrong?

I have recommended this book to countless people and I will likely never stop. Written in such a unique manner, I cannot get over Ashley’s ability to morph her writing style into whatever her story needs in order to thrive.

Make sure to pick this one up if you enjoy:
- True crime
- Online communities
- Found family
- Unique and unputdownable thriller
- Serial killer stories
- Epistolary story

I was not a huge fan of this one- I think it mirrored real life a little too closely and felt a little more true crime than I tend to prefer my books.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a readers copy of this title. My reviews never contain spoilers and are freely given.

Told from the perspective of a female member of a five person team of online true crime sleuths, this book examines multiple issues, i.e., grief and loss, trust, obsessive attachment to the investigation.
While investigating multiple murders, our protagonist is also trying to deal with the sudden death of her father. Both investigations lead her to surprising discoveries about her subjects and ultimately about herself.

This Book Will Bury Me by Ashley Winstead is a thriller about five amateur sleuths that come together to solve the murders of three college girls. The mystery just gets stranger and stranger as they learn more about what happened. And they keep getting pulled into the drama. This book is very much like a true crime thriller, and it is actually loosely based on real world events. I really enjoyed the writing style and the mystery, and I'll definitely be reading more of Winstead's books in the future. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

For true crime lovers, the obsession gets REAL! Jane Sharp finds like minded amateur sleuths through the internet and gains notoriety when they all solve a big case close to her hometown. She’s hooked. This motley crew understands her better than anyone ever has. When things start to get a little too close to home, she realizes they may not all be who they say they are. I have enjoyed Ashley Winstead but this one took a while to get into.

This book lives up to its hype! A fictional memoir about someone who helped solve a serial killer case in Idaho, with lots of twists and turns. Absolutely loved it and highly recommend.

After the unexpected death of her father, Jane distracts herself with an obsession with true crime and an online community of amateur sleuths. After a massacre on a college campus, Jane and her group investigate the case to try and catch the killer.

I enjoyed the format of this one, written as a tell-all book from Jane's perspective a year after the conclusion of the case. I liked seeing the chat threads from the online community and watching the group try to piece together the puzzle of the crime. It accurately portrays how sometimes internet sleuths find things detectives may have missed, but also get things wrong and can hurt innocent people in the process.

Overall the story was a little long and I predicted the end, but the pace and characters kept me engaged.

This Book Will Bury Me is definitely a polarizing one. I really got into the storyline of websleuths who try to solve a grisly crime themselves. But the parallels to a real-life case (the murders of four students at a university in Idaho) felt a little gross and opportunistic at the same time.

Ashley Winstead is one of those authors I’ll always read, and *The Book Will Bury Me* was no exception. While it didn’t quite hit the same high for me as 'In My Dreams I Hold a Knife' or 'Midnight is the Darkest Hour', I still found myself pulled in right away.
This one leans into the true crime/online sleuthing world, and I thought that angle was super engaging—especially since I personally don’t spend much time on Reddit, so it all felt wild and fascinating in a slightly terrifying way 😂. Winstead’s writing is as sharp as ever, and I loved how quickly the story grabbed me (despite other reviews mentioning a slow start—I didn’t feel that at all!).

What kept it from being a 5-star for me was that I guessed the killer fairly early on, and while that didn’t totally ruin the story, it did take away from the suspense a bit. Also, the way one real-life case clearly influenced parts of the plot felt a little tricky for me, mostly because that case is still so unresolved. That said, this was still a really solid read—dark, addictive, and full of that creeping dread Winstead does so well. If you’re into true crime, murder mysteries, or internet rabbit holes, definitely add this to your TBR.