Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing this book, with my honest review below.

Making Friends can be Murder is such a great idea for a book. While I don’t have a common name I love the idea of those with a very common one forming an international group, in this case The Sarah Jones Project. What starts as a redeeming project for a 17 year old who created a hurtful meme to bully turns into a close group who do things like yarn bomb a notable tree and make friends across age lines. Unfortunately when another Sarah Jones (not in the group but an employer of one who is) is murdered and that coincides with an investigation into fraud of one of the members, The Sarah Jones Project has to recalibrate and decides to investigate the murder themselves.

Other characters involve a nun with a secret, a cute FBI Agent with trauma in his past, and a non Sarah Jones named new member who become involved in the mysteries (including a cold case of a young boy who disappeared). The author, Kathleen West, writes in her acknowledgements that this is one of the most fun books she’s written in content and I have to agree. She brings her experience with women’s and adult’s fiction to write points of views across characters incredibly well while introducing the intrigue like a pro. Fun to read and try to solve, if you’re a fan across genres from mystery to fiction (hold the thrills) you’ll enjoy this.

I was laughing one minute, gasping the next, and just cheering for Sarah and her ragtag group of unlikely friends. If you love your mysteries with a twist of humor and an unpredictable cast of characters, this one is an absolute must-read. It’s clever, it’s heartfelt, and it’s everything I didn’t know I needed in a cozy mystery.