Thank you #macmillian.audio for providing this ALC for review consideration via #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
She Doesn’t Have a Clue is the first in a series of adult mystery rom-coms. Sign me up for all of them because this is JUST WHAT I LOVE in a book. It starts strong and my enthusiasm for the story and its characters never waned.

Kate Valentine is a mystery writer and calls on inspiration from her fictional main character, Loretta Starling, when she finds herself embroiled in a real mystery at an island wedding. It has some book-within-a-book and everyone-is-a-suspect elements that I enjoy. Kate has someone willing to help her with the mystery and there is tension, banter and fun surrounding this pairing. I LOVE IT.

She Doesn’t Have a Clue has that combo of fun mystery vibes and humor akin to The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year, the Finlay Donovan series, and the Stephanie Plum series, but a bit more romance, which I am all about.

Sarah Mollo-Christensen was truly remarkable performing this audiobook. I always marvel when a narrator must juggle so many characters and accents. Her Australian and American English accents were impressive, she mastered men and women, and I didn’t have any issues keeping the many characters straight.

This book releases on January 21, 2025 and I highly recommend a pre-order!

5/5 stars
10 hours 24 minutes at 1x on audio
Location: a private island off of Washington state called Hempstead Island

I honestly wasn’t sure if this was going to be my kind of book but I loved every minute of it. I didn’t see it coming until the main character pieced it all together. It was so enjoyable and the narrator did such a great job. Absolutely loved this.

She Doesn't Have a Clue by Jenny Elder Moke is a delightful mix of mystery, romance, and humor, set against the backdrop of a luxurious wedding on a private island. The premise of a bestselling mystery author stumbling upon a real-life crime at her ex-fiancé’s wedding is both engaging and clever, offering plenty of twists and turns. Moke brings a colorful cast of characters to life, each with their own secrets and motivations, and her sharp writing keeps the reader intrigued. Kate Valentine, the protagonist, is relatable and flawed, which makes her journey through this unexpected mystery both entertaining and authentic. The romantic tension between Kate and her former lover, Jake, adds a layer of complexity that fans of second-chance romance will appreciate.

However, while the story’s blend of mystery and romance is enjoyable, the pacing at times feels uneven, with moments of tension being overshadowed by lengthy descriptions or the chaotic nature of the wedding. The resolution of the mystery may also feel a little too neatly tied up, with a few character motivations left somewhat underexplored. Despite these minor drawbacks, Moke’s writing is engaging enough to keep readers hooked, and the setting, along with the quirky characters, makes for an enjoyable, if not entirely unpredictable, read. She Doesn't Have a Clue is perfect for readers seeking a light, entertaining mystery with a dash of romance.

"She Doesn’t Have a Clue" by Jenny Elder Moke is such a fun murder/romcom! I’ll be real—I clocked the big bad almost immediately, but the twists and turns had me second-guessing myself more than once. It’s got big Knives Out energy, blended with a splash of Nancy Drew and Veronica Mars—and the best part? Someone in the book literally calls this out.

Kate is an absolute blast to follow. She knows she’s flawed but actually works on herself throughout the story, which I totally appreciated. As for Jake...ugh, I wanted to like him, but he drove me up the wall sometimes. Dude needed to own his lack of communication instead of pointing fingers.

There were a few detours in the plot that felt unnecessary, but overall, the journey was so worth it. And can we talk about the audiobook? Sarah Mollo-Christensen crushed it! Not every narrator nails multiple voices, but she shifted between characters and genders effortlessly. Her narration pulled me in and never broke the vibe. She’s seriously next-level, and I’ll definitely be checking out more of her work.

All in all, I had a great time with this book, and I’m so grateful for the early read. Definitely recommend if you’re into clever whodunits with a romcom twist!

4.5 stars
This is a fun, entertaining read. Jake and Kate are interesting, relatable, intriguing, complex, wounded, flawed, strong, entertaining characters. I enjoyed their romance and the path it took to get to their HEA. The mystery was fun to read and sucked me just as much as the romance. The secondary characters added to the fabric of the story and my enjoyment. The story is easy to read and get into.

I enjoyed the audio version of this book and the narrator.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a cute romance/murder- mystery novel. I feel like the premise for this locked room mystery was excellent, but the execution was just ok. The MFC, Kate, is likeable despite her flaws and she does experience personal growth during the course of the story which is nice. There are several genuinely funny moments that I enjoyed. I listened to the audio book and felt that the narrator did a fantastic job of using different voices for each character to help distinguish them from each other. It focused a little too heavily on the romance for me with the romance at times actually getting in the way of the protagonist solving the crime and protecting other potential victims.
Thank you to #netgalley and #Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of this audio book in exchange for an honest review.

Engaging characters and a secluded island setting make She Doesn’t Have a Clue a highly enjoyable cozy mystery. I love the idea of a mystery writer solving a crime with the voice of her highly-successful, sleuthing character in her head the whole time. The mash-up of a second-chance romance and a “locked-room” mystery is a creative and fun premise.

A small publishing house with disgruntled authors, a dysfunctional wealthy family fighting over the estate, an ex-friend/crush along with a handful of secondary characters come together for a wedding on the family’s private island. Instead they endure a significant storm, power outages, sabotage, and murder. Everyone is on edge, and our main character and narrator, Kate Valentine is every guest’s prime suspect since she used to date the groom.

A cute cover and a cute re-encounter of Kate and Jake, an attempted murder and an actual murder, and a fumbling mystery writer turned sleuth make this a laugh-out-loud cozy mystery with a romantic twist and a very good read. I thoroughly enjoyed this highly entertaining story, and I am hopeful for a second book featuring the Charlie and Juliette characters.

The audio book is excellently narrated by Sarah Mollo-Christensen.

4.5 stars

I was not the right audience for this book. I thought that it would be mainly a mystery with a side plot of romance, but the romance was so in the way that when the main characters thought they knew who the murderer was, they paused worrying about it to have sex.

I enjoy romance when it feels realistic, but I couldn’t buy into their relationship because I couldn’t buy into Kate’s character. Her dialogue and choices read like she was a teenager rather than a full adult. The mystery was interesting, but the plot was choppy, like it was trying too hard to balance being two different things. If I found Kate more likeable, this would have been easier to overlook, but there wasn’t much to hold onto.

I did enjoy the narrator for this audiobook.

ARC received from Macmillan Audio via Netgalley.

If you loved Knives Out and Nancy Drew, here is a book for you.

Kate writes mysteries for a living, but her life in launched into one when she attends a wedding on a remote island off the coast of Washington. From poison to sabotage to family arguments to way too much wine, so many things are going wrong and Kate finds herself wondering what would her protagonist Loretta Starling do in this situation?

She Doesn't Have a Clue was such a fun mystery with loads of humor and suspense. I really enjoyed the FMC Kate and her stumbling fish out of water investigating. Jake the Australian as the love interest was a nice touch. The audiobook was extremely well done and the narrator did an excellent job giving each character their own distinct voice, especially Jake's deeper Australian accent.

Tropes:
* Locked room
* Forced proximity
* Stormy nights
* Inheritance drama
* Ex lovers

4.5 stars

I really enjoyed Jenny Elder Moke's previous books so I thought I would enjoy this one as well, even though it's not quite my usual genre. Unfortunately, I did not.

The main problem I had with it was the protagonist and POV character. She was so incredibly dumb. She bumbled her way through the "investigation," going around accusing everyone willy-nilly when she thought she'd found a clue that pointed to them. She was also kind of ditzy and incredibly irritating.

The romance was also really irritating. I'm not sure if it was supposed to be a love triangle, but on the one had we have her friend that she hasn't seen in awhile that she has a huge crush on, and on the other hand you have her ex, who is the one getting married. She bumbles through the scenes with them as well and I just kept wanting to facepalm.

She also is a mystery writer and it's sometimes unclear whether the things that are happening are happening to her or to her protagonist in her head. Because she tends to rewrite everything that happens into potential scenes for her novel. And she asks herself what her protagonist would do so often (because her protagonist is everything she isn't - smart, capable, forceful, etc) that she sometimes forgets that she's not actually there. Which is confusing both to the other characters and to the reader.

If that's not confusing enough, the actual murder attempts are copying scenes from her books in an attempt to frame her. It's all very meta and not in a fun way.

If there had been a character I could latch on to I might have made it through but I couldn't stand any of them. They were all just so irritating and had no redeeming qualities.

I listened to the first 50% mainly because it was too much effort to figure out what to listen to instead. If I hadn't been listening to the audiobook, I wouldn't have made it nearly that far. I stopped when I realized that I had no idea who the murderer was but more importantly, I had no desire to know who the murderer was because I disliked every character so much.

The audiobook narrator was decent but a lot of the character's voices sounded very similar and were sometimes hard to distinguish. And the main character's ditziness came through in her voice which just made it unpleasant to listen to.

*Thanks to Macmillan Audio for providing an early copy for review.

I really can’t decide how I felt about this book. So we have Kate, who for some reason is at her ex fiancés wedding and ends up with her ex crush as her fake date. But to make this even more complicated, the bride survives an attempted poisoning after the rehearsal dinner, and several of the guests think that it was Kate. So Kate decides that the best thing for her to do is to solve the murder herself. Shenanigans ensue.

You can definitely see the clue inspiration with the extreme personalities of many of the side characters. Just in case you didn’t understand the fact that Jake was supposed to be attractive the first time it was said, the author felt the need to mention it every time they referenced him in the first few chapters. I really enjoyed the characters of Kate and Kennedy and the design of the conflict in the storyline. Unfortunately, most of the other characters are unbearable which makes getting through several of the group scenes in the book feel like a chore.

After we started to get into the mystery of it all, it did start getting better, but the book still became a game of “guess the tropes.” Considering that the FMC is an author herself, I was wondering if this was intentional on the author’s part. I did end up guessing the murderer a little over halfway through the book though, but it was fun watching them get theirs in the end.

I thought that the audio narrator did a great job with the different accents and voices to set the characters apart.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC!

Kate, mystery author goes to a secluded island for her ex-fiancées wedding. Everything starts to go wrong as soon as she gets on the ferry. We get a murder mystery ala Clue (my fav), romance, and rich people scheming.

I had a blast with this one. I may have had a couple little instances of secondhand embarrassment when Kate is put in every awkward situation possible. An attempted murder followed by an actual murder kicks Kate into slueth gear. It doesn’t help that they seem to be conveniently inspired by her books. The setting of an old mansion on an isolated island was fun, then you add in bad weather? Even better. There are Clue vibes with the murder mystery, tons of people having motives, and other things you’ll have to read to find out. The second chance at romance with her old friend, Jake was fun and added to the story. I was rooting for these two to not only figure out the mystery, but to have a chance at something real. I’d recommend for fans of a whodunnit mystery and rich people drama.

🎧 Sarah Mollo-Christensen did a great job at narrating as Kate. A little quirky, stuck in her own head, and constantly putting herself in her characters shoes. It made for a fun and enjoyable time + I didn’t want to stop listening.


Thank you to Macmillan Audio for my alc. All opinions are my own

She Doesn't Have a Clue by Jenny Elder Moke

Blurb: "With a colorful cast of characters and a cellar full of wine, anything can happen—from murder to a second chance at love—in Jenny Elder Moke’s half mystery, half romance adult debut set at a lavish destination wedding."

This was my first read by Jenny Elder Moke and it didn't disappoint! She has a few young adult fantasy titles that I'm adding to my TBR because I enjoyed this one so much.

Kate Valentine writes mystery novels about an amateur detective named Loretta and she finds herself at the wedding of her former fiance/editor. She has to asked herself "what would Loretta do?" a lot because she finds a body. There are a lot of complicated rich family dynamics, but have no fear because Jake, the hot Australian, is there to help her track down the clues.

I did catch some hints and figured out "who dun it" about half way through but I enjoy that, personally. It means that it made sense instead of pulling things out of nowhere at the last minute. This is a mystery, not a thriller, so it's not scary at all. There are two descriptive open door scenes.

The narrator of the audiobook is Sarah Mollo-Christensen and she is a new favorite of mine. She reminded me of Julia Whelan in the best way. It sounded like there were multiple people in the audiobook cast but there was only one talented one. I want to listen to more audiobooks read by her. She does a great Australian man accent, but what I think is even harder is making all the Americans all sound unique, at which she did a great job.

It will be available in January so put the audiobook on hold on Libby!

This was a perfect mix of romance and mystery. I saw @booksmartkate ‘s review and knew I needed to try this one out, and I’m glad I did! I love romances when there’s an interesting plot alongside it, so this mystery of a murder attempt at a wedding was just the perfect story to be going on.

One thing I generally don’t like with mystery/thrillers with romance is when the love interest is a suspect. Because if you ever even have a slight suspicion the person you’re interested in actually killed someone- that’s not really a great foundation for your relationship. (Unless you’re into that sort of thing, lol.) But this story didn’t do that, and I’m very glad it didn’t. Because I loved the love interest, Jake. (Was it because he was Australian, and said things like “mate”? That might have influenced me a bit… 💁‍♀️)

I might have been distracted by the smeggsy scenes a bit to try to figure out who the villain was in this story, because I was actually surprised. I think this was a really fun and cute book overall, great for those that want to mix the two genres!

𝘼 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣:
Okay I swore that there were multiple narrators because I couldn’t believe the narrator also did Jake’s voice. Ngl, Jake’s voice was actually kind of hot 😂, so props to Sarah Mollo-Christensen!

This book was really fun. I found myself laughing out loud. The plot of this reminded me of clue but sooo many mishaps haha. I really liked the MCs. I found them both likable even with their faults. I'm a sucker to friends -enemies- to lovers. I think there insecurities were relatable and the growth was👌🏻 Also the narrator really brought the characters to life. They were distinguishable.

Thank you @macmillan.audio for the gifted copy.

for some reason i just couldn't get into the audiobook . i made it to 7% and just can't get myself to listen to rest of it. normally i would but this time i just cant do it. the premise does sound interesting maybe i will read the ebook when it releases

This was a fun fall read! I really liked the premise, and thought it was well executed. I also enjoyed the narrator.

3.5 ⭐️ If you loved the charm, humor and crazy antics of the Finlay Donovan series, I think you will like this book! This is a locked room murder mystery crossed with a romantic comedy with a touch of spice (more on that later), sounds crazy, right? This is a fun book that doesn’t take itself too seriously and was the perfect read between mediocre and heavier books. The murder mystery part isn’t overly dark or sinister because it is infused with so much bumbling comedy and romantic tension. I received an advanced listeners copy of this book and highly recommend the audio version. It is a single narrator by Sarah Mollo-Christensen. She does a fantastic job with the voices of the other characters and accents (there’s a ‘Hotstralian’ = hot Australian, compared to a Hemsworth. Need I say more?).

I loved the first half pacing of this book, it kind of jumps you right into the story following Kate (a writer of a series where her heroine solves murder mysteries) who is traveling to a remote island where her ex-fiancé, who also happens to be her editor, is getting married to the woman he left her for. An almost death and a body later, Kate and the Jake (the hot Australian) sleuth around trying to capture the murderer. At first I found it odd when the book quickly switches to the POV of Kate’s fmc (Loretta) from her books as the plot line of the book mirrored their current reality but then I got used to it and kinda liked it. It helped showcase Kate’s character growth and journey. Admittedly the second half lost me a bit, I was having a hard time keeping all the secondary characters straight but I didn’t figure out the murderer, which always makes me happy. Another strange aspect of the story that kept me from rating this higher was the oddly placed spice scenes, there are two that I recall and both times it felt weird considering there was a murder to solve and they just go for it… weird. The spice was mild in my opinion but it just didn’t feel like it fit. A closed door might have suited this one better but overall it was OK by me. Jake and Kate’s chemistry wasn’t off the charts but it was cute with some mildly fun banter thrown in.

Overall this was a breezy fun read and would definitely read a second book from this world, as it definitely leaves the door open to follow Jake’s brother in a sequel.

Thank you MacMillan Audio for this advanced listeners copy in exchange for my honest review. This book is set to publish on January 21, 2025.

SHE DOESN’T HAVE A CLUE is a steamy 2 hot pepper romance merged with a madcap mystery.

Take one plucky yet addlebrained herione who happens to be a bestselling mystery writer. Add a marriage on a private island. Have the marriage involve the heroine’s ex fiancé. Throw in a new love interest for the heroine who happens to be the one who got away. Then a family fracas that leads to an attempted poisoning and a murder. Plus … a storm that threatens everyone and everything.

It’s a sexy Agatha Christie mystery comedy for millennials.

I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narrator, great differentiating voices- especially accents! The characters were interesting and messy and the mysteries were fun. But for some reason I had a hard time staying focused on this one and it took me many days of listening for a bit (and then completing other books in the meantime) to finish. This one wasn’t a favorite for me but I’m sure others will love it.