This was a little too silly for me. I just couldn't get into to it.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam for sending me this arc. This was an easy, light hearted mystery/ reality TV parody. I think this target audience is fans of the Stephanie Plum series, One for the Money etc. While I figured out who was behind it halfway through, I didn't know how everyone else was involved so I still wanted to see how it wrapped up. Overall, not the best book ever but I believe it has an audience.

This was a fun cozy read. I like the whole tv show premise and the mystery surrounding it. When o e of the cast members get missing from the hit show love island, the producers hire a private eye to solve this for them. The private eye turns out to be an ex social worker that’s trying lead a double life as a private eye and she is more than excited to solve this mystery.

It was pretty good cozy mystery and I enjoyed reading it.

Thanks NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for providing me with this eARC.

Jo Firestone’s main character Luella is an interesting take on the amateur sleuth genre. The narrator recently changed careers and finds herself in the middle of a missing person case on Sex Island. Quick read with easy to read flashbacks informing the reader about the narrator’s past. Recommend if you enjoy lighthearted murder mystery. Looking forward to the sequel Sex on Murder Island.


Thank you NetGalley and Random House for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Hysterical! I had never read Jo Firestone before and I am so glad I did! This was a fun, entertaining mystery which I enjoyed! Highly recommend! Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing-Ballantine for the ARC. All opinions are my own. Rating: 4.5 stars. Expected Publication Date: June 24, 2025

This book made you laugh from the first chapter to the last. There is plenty of suspense and action within this mystery. PI Luella van Horn has been asked to investigate a missing contestant on the reality show “Sex Island” by the producers. What she doesn’t find out until she arrives is that the producers decide to have Luella become a contestant. This way no one will know that she is there to find out what happened to David G. Before you know it, Luella has found David G. dead in her bathtub, and someone is on to her identity as an investigator. This is when the fun begins plus the twists and secrets that make you guess all through to the end to figure out whodunnit. I would recommend this book for mystery readers who enjoy satire, tons of red herrings and guessing who the killer is. Thank you Netgalley and Bantam for the ARC in Exchange for an honest review

This book was so absurd and enjoyable. A total guilty pleasure beach read. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Murder on Sex Island felt like a combination of Love Island and Only Murders in the Building. Don’t let the title Sex Island deter you as it actually has minimal spice.

After a cast member goes missing from the set of Sex Island, the producers bring in Luella van Horn. Luella van Horn is hired to go undercover as a contestant and simultaneously find the missing contestant.

Unbeknown to the producers, Luella is actually Marie Jones, a former social worker who doubles as a private detective. After bungling her last case, Luella is determined to get this one right. After the head contestant shows up dead, in her bathtub, Luella will have her work cut out for her to find the killer and solve this case.

Murder on Sex Island hooked me right away with its main character and mystery. Unfortunately the last third of the book felt like someone trying to get as much information into the story in as little time as possible. The result was a jumbled ending that felt rushed and very anticlimactic.

A hilarious combination of reality love shows and murder, aka the read perfect for your summer vacation. This kept me laughing from start to finish!

A contestant on everyone’s favorite reality tv show Sex Island has gone missing. Have no fear Marie’s alter ego Luella is on the case. We get to join Luella as she goes undercover as a contestant on Sex Island to see if she can catch a killer. Hilarity ensues.

This book was a delight. Lighthearted and so funny, but with a good mystery that kept me guessing the whole way through.

This was great. Luella van Horn is hired to go undercover as a contestant to solve the case of a missing cast member on the hit realtiy shoe Sex Island. BUT she is actually a woman named Marie Jones a divorced ex–social worker from Staten Island attempting to lead a double life as a private eye. This was fun, funny, and mysterious all rolled into one. If you like reality shows or mysteries or both you will love this. Plus you will laugh and that is bonus!

MURDER ON SEX ISLAND is a delightful and incredibly hilarious cozy mystery. Undercover PI Luella van Horn ventures to the set of the reality show Sex Island to investigate the disappearance of a popular contestant. However, Luella is not honest; she's secretly an ex-social worker named Marie, who enjoys cosplaying as a detective and solving mysteries. It is a satire of reality TV with absurd humor that will keep you entertained throughout. I highly recommend it for mystery book lovers who need a good laugh.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, for this delightful summer read that had me laughing out loud. And a special thank you to Jo Firestone; I can't wait to read more of Luella's adventures!

Murder on Sex Island
By Jo Firestone

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Pub Date: June 23, 2025

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishers for the advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This book is a whodunit mystery, but also hilarious. Very ‘Only Murders In The Building’ meets ‘Big Brother’.

This is the first book in what will I’m sure become a series for the gumshoe alter ego of Marie Jones, Miss Luella van Horn.

I enjoyed this one.

Murder on Sex Island is a humorous light mystery set on a reality tv show aptly called Sex Island. A former social worker turned amateur sleuth, Marie aka Luella van Horn, is hired to go undercover as a contestant on the show while helping the producers locate a missing (and unfortunately murdered) contestant and find the killer.

This book was an over-the-top take on reality dating shows like Love Island and Bachelor in Paradise and, having watched quite a bit of reality tv, I found it hilarious. In some ways the tone reminded me of Libra Bray’s Beauty Queens, about a plane full of teenage pageant contestants that crashes on a desert island. It was also reminiscent of the movie, They Came Together, which makes fun of romcom clichés.

Marie Jones is an ex-social worker leading a double life as a private investigator named Luella van Horn. She's hired to find a missing contestant on a sex driven reality show.

I actually ended up liking this more than I thought I would. I enjoyed the antics of Marie trying to keep her ‘Luella’ persona from being found out. Whether that was due to messy wigs or missing false teeth.

For much of the book, I didn’t feel like Luella was much of an investigator. However, at the end, she had a trick up her sleeve that showed how good she was. Also, I didn’t know who the murderer was until the reveal.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam and NetGalley for this ARC.

This was a fun book that caught and held my attention from the beginning. For fans of reality television, the setting will be familiar - a dating show set on a tropical, remote island with attractive contestants ready to mingle, and uh - have sex. (The scenes are minimal, "behind closed doors", and not explicit.) With a considerable cash prize at stake, the cast members navigate forming allegiances, pursuing relationships, and keeping up with a busy production schedule. A ripe environment for a leading contestant to go mysteriously missing. Enter stage left, the perfect private investigator for the job, Luella van Horn. I found myself rooting for Luella and laughing out loud at the author's satirical pokes at reality TV and dating shows. This is the perfect book for summer vacation and/or book club. My thanks to the author, Random House - Ballantine, and #NetGalley for the opportunity to review an advanced reader copy.

A murder on the set of a reality “dating” show? Sign me up! Luella is the private investigator alter ego of Marie, a 28 year old divorcee in Manhattan. She has made a name for herself finding missing animals in New York, and is called on to find a missing contestant on a reality show called Sex Island. Chaos and hilarity ensue and the bodies start to pile up. Will Luella find the killer before she has to participate in a mourning orgy? This was silly and soapy and fun. Very enjoyable.

Jo Firestone creates fun for every character
as well as every reader. This is a well crafted
book that is also great fun, albeit with a few
dead bodies! With really kicking laughs,
we just become part of the investigation
and part of the fun!
My thanks to Random House via NetGalley
for the download copy,of this book for review
purposes.