
Member Reviews

This Book Will Bury Me is such an addictive read. It is about Jane Sharp who is an cold case enthusiast who stumbles on evidence that will help a current cold case. Jane – along with fellow amateur sleuths – set to solve the case.
As the case unfolds Jane realises that she and her new friends may be putting themselves in danger.
Fast paced, thrilling and the epitome of a page turner.
This Book Will Bury Me by Ashley Winstead is available now.

I’m really on the fence about this, parts are great and then not so much, hence the 3*
I understand that it’s obviously based on the University Idaho murders in 2022 which hasn’t even had a trial yet (August 2025) it’s kinda weird. It was basically copying and pasting the details of the case.
Things I liked was the characters are likeable and I enjoyed the true crime forum conversations.
The end felt melodramatic like huh? All 400+ pages for that? This definitely could have been 280-300 pages max.
Overall it’s entertaining and suspenseful but personally it’s too soon to be writing fictional books based on a murder case that hasn’t been officially solved.
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with the ARC. This has now been published March 2025.

First of all thank you for approving my request!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The authors writing style had me hooked throughout this book.
I didn't want it to end, a book I really couldn't put down.

This Book Will Bury Me: A Novel by Ashley Winstead
Amateur sleuths are taking over police investigation of publicized murder case. How is it good idea, will the team be able to spot what the experts missed or create a distraction for the killer to escape. This is the theme of the book.
When Jane Sharp loses her father, she joins a true crime forum as a distraction from grief. She ends up giving up her college education and pursuing her passion for solving crimes! She becomes close with a group of crime solvers, and works on solving a high profile violent murders, she realizes that the killer is smarter and the police details don’t add up.
This book is an account of her crime solving told in first person, one year after the arrest is made. I didn’t realize this book was based on a real violent crime with the case still not closed. Is it okay to taking “inspiration” from real-life horrors when the crime remains unsolved and when the book shows the dangerous impacts of having inspiration to the ongoing cases by normal people.
It’s dragged a bit at places (400 plus pages! ) but the book has good suspense, likable characters and found family trope. Also there is no romance!!
There is also conversations of Internet forums written very well, with witty conversations !
I have given the book 3.5 stars however this was a new type of suspense book for me. Do give it a try if you are fascinated with true crime

My first read from this author but definitely not my last. Full of intrigue, intensity and mystery, this was a truly fascinating read and has made me want to read more from this author.

I am a huge Ashley Winstead fan, and this was one I decided to go into knowing nothing about.
I had similar feelings about this as I've had to previous mystery/thrillers that take very close inspiration from real-life cases. There is a level to it that I find a little uncomfortable, and I usually wish they had strayed a little more into the fictional side rather than sticking so close to the real-life case, however when I set my iffy feelings aside, I thoroughly enjoy my time reading. I can safely say I really enjoyed this one and it felt very unique, but I definitely would have preferred the references to the real crimes to be a little less on the nose.

As someone who does watch and read true crime, I found This Book Will Bury Me a gripping and really rather interesting read. It's incredibly addictive and very easy to get sucked into the story. I didn't necessarily warm to many characters, including our narrator Jane, but I was fascinated by her and the way she became consumed by the true crime community, letting it completely take over her life as she grieves the death of her father. The story is told as Jane recounts the events that led her to the place she has currently found herself in and it works really well - I found the narrative engaging and an immensely relevant take on the public appetite for salacious crime stories, and what that says about society as a whole. I would absolutely recommend this book, especially if, like me, you are a true crime fan. It's a compulsively readable book which you will absolutely devour.

I have previously enjoyed all of Ashley Winstead's thriller novels, in particular, In My Dreams I Hold a Knife and The Last Housewife, so I was thrilled to be approved to read her latest thriller release. I was even more thrilled when I realised a large part of this book was loosed based on the University of Idaho Massacre case, as it was one I was following on social media as it unfolded.
I've seen a lot of criticism from other reviewers about the author using, not only a real life case, but such a recent case to base this book off. I really didn't have an issue with that as, while the initial murders were based closely off the real life case, the rest of the story was fictionalised.
I really enjoyed how this book looked at 'armchair detectives' or 'internet sleuths' and their roles in (possibly) solving crimes. I thought the author did a good job of really making me think about both the positive and negative impacts this could have on an ongoing and current investigation.
This story also really looks at grief and the way this can both devastate us and drive us.
I did predict the overall outcome of the novel but it didn't stop me from having a good time throughout.

This is my first Ashley Winstead book and definately won't be my last. This Book Will Bury Me is a story about a young woman called Jane who when her father suddenly dies she takes it very badly and searches for something to latch on to. That ends up being true crime where in the forum she meets up with other misfits like her. She quickly catches the true crime bug and gets involved in the murder of a woman. Even going so far to confront her killer. When that case is solved a sorority house murder happens and the true crime are desperate to catch the killer. The situation gets more intense when another murder happens. Is it the same killer or a copy cat? This Book Will Bury Me will keep you up late into the night and stay with you for a while. Five star read, highly recommended.

I'm going to take real life context out of the equation for this review. I got hooked on this way more than I expected to. As someone who decided to largely give up true crime, it was interesting to get into these characters. To understand why people get so involved with it. What need it drives in them. Our cast of characters as richly vivid and their motivations are fascinating. It's also such a fantastic protrayal of grief in its many forms. It makes our protagonist Jane make some terrible decisions in ways that were intriguing. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this.

‘If you’re reading this, chances are last year you flipped on the news and saw me getting shoved to my knees in the dirt’
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This book has been my companion during our long tech days and our opening previews, and I have been LOVING every time I picked it up. Ashley Winstead has done it again, with another absolute hit of a novel!
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A wonderful blend of true crime vibes mixed with the perfect twists you come to expect from Winstead, this story takes you along for the ride as we follow Jane as she deals with the loss of her father and loses herself in true crime forums that spiral into her investigating a murder in real time and getting too sucked into the narrative… and let me tell you I was hooked! The story telling, the revelations, the trying to figure it out along with our rag tag team of internet sleuths, this hit the perfect note for where my mood reader brain was, and just scratched the perfect itch! I highly recommend 🙌🏼📚
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And for the perfect companion piece to this book, head over to @professionalbookgirl and listen to @kayreadwhat’s spoiler free interview with @ashleywinsteadbooks about this book!! 🕵🏻♀️
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#ThisBookWillBuryMe #AshleyWinstead #BookReview

I am a big fan of true crime, and I love Ashley Winstead's writing. I am also fascinated by what draws people - especially women - to true crime, and how the consumption of it is changing owing to social media and the increase of true crime podcasts and documentaries.
Winstead's new book explores all of that and also looks at the relationship between a father and a daughter, told through the eyes of a grieving 24-year-old college student.
If you're familiar with Winstead's writing, you'll know she's a fan of morally ambiguous narrators. You'll also know her writing is scalpel-sharp, but also poignant. Jane, in the aftermath of her father's death, is looking for comfort and answers. Jane finds her focus in an online forum for amateur true crime sleuths and, eventually, as part of a small, more focused group who dissect and attempt to solve real cases as they play out. Meanwhile, she is trying to find out who her father was before he became her Dad and why he died.
Winstead took inspiration from many cases for this book, the most obvious being the Idaho University murders in Moscow, Idaho. There's lots of nods to the case - some of them very close to the bone - and every reader will have to make up their own mind about whether they're okay with that. I think it's fitting with what Winstead is doing here, which IMO is providing a commentary on how people and groups are inserting themselves into the narrative of cases as they play out because of how accessible information is online now. It's an interesting conversation, and I think she handles it very well.
And it isn't a new thing, either: Emma Cline did it, and so has Catherine Ryan Howard. Look at Bright Young Women, All Good People Here, Notes On An Execution. The difference is that this case is still awaiting trial, and the victims' families haven't gotten justice or closure. Again, every reader will need to make their own call on how they feel about this.
I thought this book was very well done, I loved the cast of characters and the found family element, and I really liked how it explored grief. It was right up my street.

☆ Book Review- This Book Will Bury Me ☆
✍🏻 Author: Ashley Winstead
📖 Genre: Thriller
⭐️ Rating: 4.5/5
💻 Format: Kindle @netgalley
🫶🏼 Read if you like: true crime, internet sleuthing, serial killer, twisty slow burns, intricate characters
Swipe for synopsis ——>
True crime lovers- this is one for you! I am a huge fan of Ashley Winstead, and this cemented my love even more. Honestly, when I wasn’t reading this book, I was thinking about this book. Theorising. Wondering. OBSESSING over it. It certainly didn’t feel like a 400-and-something page thriller.. I absolutely flew through it!! It is heavily based on the tragic Idaho University murders that will go to trial later this year, so I’ll leave that with you as a reader as to if this is a book for you…
This book took true crime and internet sleuthing to a whole new level. It explores the obsession of true crime in a captivating yet unsettling way, and centres around the lengths amateur detectives/civilians will go to for the satisfaction of solving a crime. The mystery was continuous, there were so many twists and turns which had me glued to the pages. There was a constant sense of unease that left me unable to trust literally anyone!
I also need to touch on how eloquently Ashley wrote about the grief of losing a parent, and how she incorporated Jane losing her father as the core reason she felt the need to investigate these murders. Ashley drew on her own experience of losing her father, which made this part of the story very personal and emotional. It was so, so beautiful to read ❤️

I’ve enjoyed all of Ashley Winstead’s books even if I can wholeheartedly agree they are not for everyone. The writing takes a while to sink into, but once you’re hooked there’s no stopping.
This was a particularly interesting story told as if it were a memoir of Jane, an “internet sleuth”
, who joins a ragtag group of other sleuths and gets swept up in solving a murder investigation (or two, or three.)
The story was highly emotional when Jane mentioned her recently deceased father and grappled with grief throughout the book.
It had that strange, ethereal dark edge that all of Winstead’s books seem to have and it’s why I keep coming back. Similar in style to ‘In the Cut’ by Susanna Moore which often receives mixed reviews too.

3.5 stars
The Book Will Bury Me follows Jane as she becomes an armchair detective following the sudden loss of her father. This is a book that requires your full attention to fully grasp, fortunately it is equally as gripping. I struggled to tie some aspects of the story together but overall nicely executed.

This book had me hooked from the first chapter. It was such an intriguing perspective to write this story from and it felt so immersive. One thing I always like about Winstead’s books is that they keep you guessing and this one was no different. There were some twists that I didn’t see coming and finding out how they played out kept me feverishly reading. The last 15% of this book was so good and also the final words were so heartbreaking. Overall, a great read.

3.5⭐️
I went in completely blind to This Book Will Bury Me and I’m glad I did because I think if I’d read many reviews beforehand, I might have spoilered things for myself.
Janeway Sharp is our MC and while struggling with the recent loss of her father, she finds a new obsession in true crime and strikes up an online friendship with a group of amateur sleuths.
I didn’t connect with Jane at all which frustrated me. While I appreciate she was grieving her father, she made some decisions that baffled me and I feel like she didn’t really help herself. I did like the dialogue between her and her increasingly important fellow armchair detectives, the online forum sections of the book were written well. I also may be the only reader that didn’t actually guess the twist!
This book was longer than it needed to be but it was entertaining for the most part.

One of the best addictive thriller i've read all year, so fast-paced, full of twists.
A must to add on your TBR for 2025.

I absolutely loved this book. I love Netflix documentaries and this was as similar and amazing. I loved the main character and could feel her pain through losing her father and her attempt to distract herself from reality by spending time on an online forum.. but things just keep getting worse and more terrifying. Absolutely brilliant, if you loved the documentary Don't F**k with Cats, you'll love this book. Nothing like I've ever read before, 👏

Yet another fantastic book from Ashley Winstead. This Book Will Bury Me was every bit as good as her previous three novels: In My Dreams I Hold a Knife, The Last Housewife, and Midnight is the Darkest Hour, which were all 5⭐️ reads for me.
This Book Will Bury Me had a compelling and intriguing storyline, lovable characters, and crazy twists that I didn't see coming at all.
I was drawn in immediately, and I honestly couldn't put it down.
I love how unique each of Ashley's novels are. They aren't cookie-cutter thrillers. They are very different from other thrillers out there.
Writing the novel from a true crime sleuth perspective was a great idea. It really gives you insight that you wouldn't have gotten from another angle.
Ashley is definitely one of my go-to thriller authors now, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.
I can't recommend highly enough.
5 well deserved stars from me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks to Netgalley, Aria & Aries, and Ashley Winstead for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.