Goldman delivers a respectable and suspenseful story with The Murder Show. Some dual timeline moments help shed light on what might have happened all those years ago. The author leads us on as we get to know the other characters and the part they might played all those years ago. So much so that readers can’t be too certain who is telling the truth. No one is 100% innocent.

But underneath the murder mystery is a seemingly second-chance relationship study between Ro and Ethan. The friends have a shared trauma, and for that reason, they were unable to explore what might have been had they not discovered their friend’s body. Readers will wonder if they will get their happily ever after, in addition to the truth about their friend’s death.

In truth, however, some of the characters seemed one-dimensional and the slow pace led to underwhelming storytelling. Even so, the story picked up in the third act and I didn’t quite expect the big reveal. Readers who enjoy suspense novels should add this to their reading list.

This is quite an interesting read, and I wasn't sure who the "bad guy" was until near the end. 

Ethan and Ro were friends in high school, but haven't seen each other in about twenty years. Ethan is visiting his parents during a writers strike and is sucked into finding out what happened to their classmate Ricky during their high school years. Ro has done some digging and found similar cases and might have unearthed a pattern. Now, to get someone to take her seriously before they all end up dead.

I enjoyed the interplay between the characters. Will they get together (Ro and Ethan), or will they move on to others? And will almost dying bring them closer together? There are clues scattered throughout the book, and while I had my suspicions about one character, I did not see the depth of the crime and how far it extended until it was revealed. 

The book is action-packed, and sometimes they escape by the skin of their teeth. I suspected a few other characters, but when those characters are killed, you know they couldn't be involved. However, they were acting very suspicious.

The book ends with most everything wrapped up, but there are a few open questions regarding the characters' personal lives. What is in store for them? Will they meet back up at a later time?

Overall, we enjoyed this and gave it 4 paws up.

I enjoyed the mystery and seeing Ethan and Ro investigate. Some twists were good, while I thought others missed the mark. I liked Ethan and Ro working together, but their will they, won't they thing didn't work for me.

I did have an overall good time while reading this, and would read more by this author in the future

Sadly, this book missed the mark for me. The premise sounded interesting, but it failed in the execution. It never really caught my attention, and some parts were just boring. I was expecting far more action. There is nothing that will stick with me now the final page has been turn

The Murder Show by Matt Goldman is my fourth book by this author and I really enjoyed it.
Well-written, strong characterizations and an equally strong story makes this latest book by Matt Goldman is a thoroughly compelling read.
This one kept my interest throughout and I truly could not wait to find out what happened.
The characters were well developed. It's filled with mystery, intrigue and surprising twist.

The Murder Show was a miss for me. I was intrigued by the concept but the execution didn’t work. This felt like a made for tv movie - a couple hours entertainment but I started forgetting it the second I finished the book.

I wanted to like this one. The setup had potential, but the mystery never really clicked for me. The pacing felt off, the twists didn’t land, and the emotional beats didn’t have much weight. It just kind of… floated along.

If you’re into quieter mysteries and don’t mind a slower burn, it might work for you. But it didn’t give me the tension or momentum I look for in a thriller.

When this book begins, Hollywood is once again in a writer’s strike, so television writer Ethan Harris left his home in New York and went back to Minnesota to visit his parents. A writer for a loosely-based-on-true-crime show, he has an idea on how to turn this time into opportunity. If he doesn’t come up with a good plot line for the fourth season, “The Murder Show” will be cancelled and he’ll have to start his career over again.

After getting to his parent’s house, he is looking out of the window and sees his old friend in her parent’s house - and she’s not alone. She’s arguing with a man, and the argument seems to be escalating. Though they haven’t seen each other in about 20 years, Ethan runs over to make sure everything is okay. Ro is shocked to see him at the door, and after the man leaves, she fills Ethan in on her life. She is now an officer for the Minneapolis Police Department, and the man she was arguing with was another officer who doesn’t like what she’s getting into.

When they were in high school, their friend Ricky was killed in a hit-and-run accident while walking down a country road. Ethan and Ro were both there, and it’s clear that the memory still eats at them. Ro has decided to start investigating the cold case, as she never thought it was just an accident. As she’s talking, Ethan gets his idea for the fourth season of his show. He’ll write a fictional narrative surrounding Ricky’s case, with the hopes that someone will see the similarities and come forward with new information.

For his career, this may have been a good idea, but for his safety, it definitely wasn’t. When he’s shot at the first time, he wonders what he’s doing…but the lure of a good story makes him keep going. Soon, he and Ro are in the middle of something they may not be able to get out of, which made for quite a suspenseful book. This was definitely full of action, and it was a quick and easy read. The ending was rather abrupt and action thrillers aren’t my favorite genre, but this was an entertaining read! Four stars.

(Thank you to Forge Books, Matt Goldman and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on April 15, 2025.)

This one pulled me in quick. It’s got that moody, small-town vibe mixed with just enough Hollywood drama to make things interesting. Ethan Harris is kind of a mess—his TV show’s in trouble, he’s creatively burnt out, and now he’s back in his hometown digging into a decades-old death he barely remembers.

The setup feels pretty simple at first: a hit-and-run from high school that never got solved. But of course, things are not that straightforward. Ethan teams up with Ro, who was honestly one of my favorite parts of the book. She’s sharp, no-nonsense, and clearly hasn’t let go of what happened to their friend Ricky.

There’s a nice balance here between personal stakes and mystery. As Ethan and Ro start peeling back layers, it becomes clear someone in town doesn’t want the truth coming out. It’s not overly twisty, but the suspense builds steadily and keeps you flipping pages. And the fact that Ethan’s trying to use the case as inspiration for his show adds this meta, kind of unsettling layer—like, is he solving a murder or just writing one?

A few slow parts here and there, and Ethan isn’t always the most likable narrator, but that actually worked for me—he felt real. If you like slow-burn mysteries with complicated characters and buried secrets, The Murder is definitely worth the read.

I have enjoyed Matt Goldman's books, from Carolina Moonset to the Nils Shapiro series, so when his new novel, The Murder Show, became available to me, I jumped at the chance to return to Minnesota for another wonderfully plotted, fast-paced mystery to solve. I was doubly pleased when Nils shows up for a bit of a cameo in this novel, as the husband of the chief of police and son of Ethan's parents' friends. The Murder Show is about a New York showrunner, Ethan Harris, who has returned for a visit to his parents in Minnesota, and maybe a little inspiration, during the writer's strike. He joins forces with his high school best friend, Ro Greeman, to investigate the death (murder?) of a high school friend and several similar killings, and gets caught up in more than he bargained for as someone is intent on stopping them even if it means they end up dead.

Goldman's characters are interesting, and their backstory is, to say the least, complicated. It has been 22 years, Ethan and Ro have not stayed in touch, and they both have possibly ulterior motives and unresolved feelings to make things interesting. I enjoyed how difficult it was to know who to trust, and the romantic tension between Ro and Ethan was palpable. I am also very happy that even though this particular mystery is resolved (maybe a little too neatly), Goldman leaves the door open for a sequel, if not a new series. Aside from the somewhat too clean wrapup, I was a bit disappointed that one character's outcome (critical in hospital) is not resolved at the end. I am hoping that it will be a positive resolution in the next book!

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group-Forge for the digital ARC of The Murder Show by Matt Goldman. The opinions in this review are my own.

3.5 stars
I really enjoyed the twists and turns in this one and loved the amateur investigation aspect of the story. With the main character being a crime drama show runner, the story felt very meta as he seemed to live out one of his shows. Very entertaining.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

"The Murder Show is a pulse-racing novel about secrets, old friends, and how the past never leaves us by New York Times bestselling and Emmy Award winning author Matt Goldman!

Showrunner Ethan Harris had a hit with The Murder Show, a television crime drama that features a private detective who solves cases the police can't. But after his pitch for the fourth season is rejected by the network, he returns home to Minnesota looking for inspiration.

His timing is fortunate - his former classmate Ro Greeman is now a local police officer, and she's uncovered new information about the devastating hit and run that killed their mutual friend Ricky the summer after high school. She asks Ethan to help her investigate and thinks that if he portrays the killing on The Murder Show, the publicity may bring Ricky's killer to justice.

Ethan is skeptical that Ricky's death was anything but a horrible accident, but with the clock running out on his career, he's willing to try anything. It doesn't take long for them to realize they've dug up more than they bargained for. Someone is dead set on stopping Ethan and Ro from looking too closely into Ricky's death - even if keeping them quiet means killing again..."

I love the kernel of truth in Matt Goldman's stories. Here it's that he moved home to Minnesota after fleeing Hollywood.

Every time I had to step away from the book, I had no problem settling back in and was a little sad when it was over. This is my second Matt Goldman book that I’ve reviewed for Horror Tree, the other being Still Waters, and he is definitely staying on my mystery to-read list.

Read my full review here: https://horrortree.com/epeolatry-book-review-the-murder-show-by-matt-goldman/

Well-plotted, well-paced, a deep mystery, and interesting characters. Plenty of action; kept me turning the pages. I did not know who the villain was. Plenty of suspects; this one was not on my list! This is a new to me author and I will check out his previous books. I was entertained - Well-done!

This book has sold me on Goldman as a writer. Very suspenseful and kept me on the edge of my seat through the whole book. I am looking forward to reading more books from Matt Goldman.

I’ve enjoyed all of Matt Goldman’s books, but this book seems like it was specifically designed for me. I love the meta cop show element and the writer solving crimes element, but in this book they’re more than just gimmicks, they’re the foundation for a really solid mystery and some great character work. I had high expectations for this book and it cleared the by a mile.

If you recognize Matt Goldman’s name as an author, it may be from his Nils Shapiro private detective novels. And, Nils even appears in Goldman’s latest, The Murder Show. However, this book features two characters who knew each other in their teens, and reunite twenty years later to try to discover what happened to a friend.

Ethan Harris is the showrunner for a TV show, “The Murder Show”, featuring a PI who solves murders that the police can’t solve. While the writers and actors are on strike, he’s supposed to be coming up with an idea for the fourth season. He’s stuck, so he returns home to Minnesota to visit his parents.

When he sees his high school crush, Ro Greeman, arguing with a man in her house across the yard, Ethan knocks on the door to break it up. Ro’s now a plainclothes detective and she was arguing with a fellow officer. But, once he leaves, Ro has a proposition for Ethan, an idea for his show. Twenty-two years earlier they were on the way to a cabin with a classmate, Ricky, when Ricky’s car died. He never returned. After Ethan and Ro reported his disappearance to the Wisconsin police, they found Ricky’s body along the road, apparently the result of a hit-and-run. But, Ro thinks there’s more to it. Too many white teens about that same age have disappeared in the Minnesota, Wisconsin area. And, she thinks she and Ethan should investigate.

While I liked Ethan, it felt as if Ro manipulated him throughout the story. And, there were too many murders, too many disappearances. It never felt as if Ethan has any control over this story or his actions. He may have been forty, but his insecurities allowed him to be too easily controlled by women.

I liked the concept of The Murder Show, but I’ll pass on others if it becomes a series.

The Murder Show by Matt Goldman is a smart and engaging mystery that kept me hooked from start to finish. The plot is full of twists and turns, with sharp writing and compelling characters that bring the story to life. The pacing is excellent, and the mix of suspense and humor adds a unique touch. While some aspects of the mystery felt familiar, the execution was so well done that it didn’t detract from the overall experience.

I really wanted to like this one, all the reviews said it was great but it was a bit of a let down for me. I found it rather boring and it didn't captivate me. I was expecting a bit more action or something. I would still recommend this to someone looking for something lighter but it was just not my cup of tea

Goldman delivers another entertaining mystery with new characters and a past favorite. The Murder Show is a quick read and I liked the ending and turn of events. I enjoy Goldman’s writing style and the humor he blends into his story telling.
This was an ARC, so there may be editing before the pub date, but the one drawback was the need of a subtle shift in focus bridging the scenes where there was a transition to the thoughts of the characters.

Overall, I’d recommend mystery fans and most definitely Matt Goldman fans to add this book to your 2025 TBR.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
#NetGalley #TheMurderShow