The Carpool Detectives is not your typical true crime book—and that’s exactly what makes it stand out. Chuck Hogan masterfully recounts the real-life story of four determined suburban moms who refuse to let a cold case fade into silence. What unfolds is a compelling blend of investigative journalism, human resilience, and the fierce, underestimated power of ordinary women doing extraordinary things.

Hogan brings cinematic flair and emotional nuance to the storytelling, highlighting both the complexity of the case and the personal lives of the women involved. Their transformation from everyday parents to relentless investigators is both inspiring and thrilling. The pacing is tight, the tension real, and the outcome deeply satisfying.

This book hits the sweet spot between I'll Be Gone in the Dark and Bad Blood—but with a unique voice and heart all its own.

5 stars – Riveting, emotional, and empowering. A must-read for true crime fans who crave stories with depth and soul.

Thanks for the review copy. I like the cover. This book is captivating and compelling. This was not overly sensationalized.

I knew nothing about this true crime case, but the amount of time and effort these women put into solving this case was amazing. A very interesting story.

This was a fantastic book! I love true crime and always think about what I would do to investigate a crime. So reading about four women like me who actually did investigate a case was fascinating. I was sucked into the story right away. The author did a great job keeping the narrative moving along without getting bogged down in excessive details. Once I started reading, it was hard to stop. I will definitely be recommending this to my patrons because they love true crime. We also have a true crime book club at my library and I will be telling them to read this book for one of their meetings.

This was a very interesting look at a group of moms who, during Covid lockdown, are determined to unravel the 15 year murder of a married couple. With basically no previous experience, they learn as they go and develop theories and friendships along the way.

Using the women’s actual notes during the investigation, this reads very easily and moves quickly. Definitely a good read!

Four women who interrupted their careers to raise kids share a realization … they miss the opportunities provided by their former work lives to make use of their smarts and creativity. An interest in investigative journalism creates the chance to research a mysterious cold case of an older couple whose car careened over an ocean cliff. Together they create a formidable workforce built upon their separate and unique talents. Their task, however, is not an easy one. Covid restrictions, uncooperative police detectives and witnesses, a complicated financial mystery, and the passage of time, all contribute to a difficult and time consuming resolution.

I didn’t hate this one, but I’m not sure I enjoyed it either. The unraveling of the crime was interesting, but I prefer fiction where there’s personality and plot. This was non-fiction with lots of detail and minutia. That’s just my own bias. I think lovers of true crime books would find this to be a good read.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the chance to read and review this book.

Oh. My. Goodness!!!!!

I read the description and thought it sounded OK, read the reviews and thought it was a cute, little fiction - a group of mom friends solving a mystery - and I'm so pleased to say this book wildly exceeded all of my expectations. The author did such a great job setting up background information on the situation and all the characters; all the information was easy to understand and follow without being too boring.

The story itself was unbelievable! After learning in the first few pages that this book was actually a NONfiction, I started questioning it towards the end because I couldn't fathom any of this being real life. At 89%, I was going insane because it was so close to the end of the book and it didn't seem like there would be any answers for readers, but boy was I wrong. I sat mouth agape and WISHED I had someone to discuss this with. I'm thanking my lucky stars that I had an opportunity to read this book, and I'm hoping if the ladies are feeling really motivated, that the author will be generous enough to give us a new book covering a new case (or EVERY new case??)! I hate a series but that is one I wouldn't be able to resist.

As a true crime lover, this book was fantastic and tremendously enjoyable but I think that people who aren't typically into true crime would enjoy it as well. It's full of secrets and twists without being too graphic or gruesome. I wish I could erase it from my brain so I could read it for the first time again - easy 5 stars!!

I usually like Chuck Hogan's writing, so the thought of blending his writing talents with a true crime/cold case setup seemed very appealing. And it was, in the beginning.

I really liked the way I was drawn in, and found the concept of the four moms looking to reconnect to their previous professional selves and finding each other around the mystery to be an intriguing one. Unfortunately a lot of this book turns out to be about the moms' responses to COVID, and the parts that do focus on the case get a little repetitive through the repeated inclusion of full transcripts of interviews. I was a mom through COVID, struggling with so many of the issues these women were, and I don't know if it's just too soon for me to find entertainment value in that or if it was too resonant, but I did not enjoy those parts of the story at all. I kept wanting more of the case, but as I am not a person who wants to solve cold cases from a series of facts, I wanted less to see exactly what they were finding in its entireyy and more of their thought processes and conclusions.

Art the end of the day, this wasn't what I expected - it moved a lot slower than I wanted it to and I kept struggling to juggle all of the pieces in a way that kept myself engaged and connected. The approach wasn't problematic in and of itself, I just didn't find it as enjoyable or fast-paced as I hoped. This one wasn't a great fit for me...

Embarrassingly enough, despite this being clearly marketed as true crime (literally on the cover!) I was initially confused because I thought, surely a crime like this would have been national news? Why don’t I remember reading about this at all? But as I continued the book I understood how many details were changed and why considering the nature of this crime.

While a little dry at times, this is a compelling true crime read which focuses on the human aspect of what happened in addition to being an excellent character study of the women who ended up investigating and likely solving this crime which had eluded detectives for over a decade. This is also a compelling account of how strange and terrifying the height of the COVID pandemic was although it’s very interesting to consider that these women very likely would not have had the time to devote to investigating this in other conditions.

I appreciated that the family of the victims had a voice throughout this and that this wasn’t overly sensational. The author and also the women who were investigating were very careful to always keep in mind that this impacted actual humans and was not just a story for consumption and nothing else.

I wish the book had a different title. I get that it’s snappy, however I don’t think it’s fair for suburban moms to be reduced to carpoolers, especially when they didn’t even carpool. I’m also curious about why, given the sensitivity of what happened and the valid security concerns, the real names of the four women were used, however presumably they fully understand what is at stake.

This book is excellent for folks looking for non-exploitative true crime in addition to featuring a relatively obscure case.

Many thanks to Random House and to NetGalley for this ARC to review. This review is my honest opinion.

First I want to thank NetGalley, Random House and Chuck Hogan for allowing me to read this advanced copy of The Carpool Detectives!

I found the writing very easy to follow and it was clear and concise. I was intrigued by the case and it had me glued to the book with each development.
My only criticism would be that I felt Covid and the lockdown etc was mentioned a bit too much. I understand this happened at the height of the pandemic and it hindered a lot of the investigation etc However I felt it was a little bit too much.
Apart from that I think it is a very intriguing true story and I am hoping we see more about these 4 women!

Although I'm not usually a fan of non-fiction I found myself fascinated by these women who "become" detectives in a grisly car crash that leaves two people dead under mysterious circumstances. Of course detectives and police are overworked and the deaths aren't really worth investigating as it appears to be just that--a crash! So these fearless women begin digging for information as something just doesn't feel "kosher" to them. It's a crazy tale that's hard to believe but it shows that if one is willing to dig beneath the surface to uncover the truth, it just may work!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Thank you to @RandomHouse and #NetGalley for the DRC of #TheCarpoolDetectives. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own. NO SPOILERS

This is the best amateur investigator/true crime book I've read! I could NOT put it down. It's so well written, you feel like you're part of the mom-gang, reading their texts and listening in to their zoom calls and interviews. There's enough background on each mom-investigator that's relatable - from balancing work, kids and covid-era homeschooling to mid-life career changes and finding your new normal. The cold case at the heart of the story has enough shady characters to keep you guessing until the very end.

If you're a true crime fan, I highly recommend this book.

I was really intrigued by the premise of The Carpool Detectives. A suburban dad teaming up with a group of moms to solve a crime sounds like a unique and fun twist on the genre. Chuck Hogan sets up a compelling mystery, and there's a definite 'cozy thriller' feel to the story that many readers will likely enjoy. The pacing is generally quick, making it an easy book to get through.

However, I found myself wanting more depth from the investigation and the characters. While the carpool dynamic was interesting, the amateur sleuthing sometimes felt a bit too convenient, and the plot didn't have the grit or complexity I typically look for in a thriller. It's a solid read if you're in the mood for a lighter, character-driven mystery, but it ultimately wasn't a new favorite for me.

If you enjoyed Dateline you might wanna try this book. A group of women in the beginning of the Covid pandemic set out to open up a cold case of an elderly couple who suddenly disappeared and then are found dead. I found the book to be a bit repetitive and I have to admit I ended up skimming thru a bit just to get to a more interesting part. But if your into true crime dramas this might be a book you want to try. Unfortunately it wasn’t really my thing. I had a hard time connecting with the people in the book.

This was truly fascinating! Haven’t we all listened to a true crime podcast and thought “i could solve a murder”?
I have!
That was the intrigue for picking this one up and I am so glad I did. I only wish I had the chance to listen to it on audio!

This was an ARC from NetGalley and Random House.

I enjoy a good true crime book and this was an interesting read. I found the story captivating but the ending seemed rushed. I liked how the case and investigation were explained and the book was well written .

This book is for those true crime fanatics who dream of starring in their own podcasts or writing a book that solves a cold case. This is a true story that reads like a legal thriller, but unlike fiction, real life demonstrates the hard work, initial misinterpretations, small victories, and stumbles that go into a murder investigation.

It’s during the pandemic and four neighborhood smart women, Marissa, Jeannie, Samira, and Nicole pool their skills to investigate a 15 year double murder. Various circumstances have contributed to them meeting and discovering their shared true crime addictions, but don’t call them bored housewives — 2020 was an unprecedented challenge for everyone and some people, like these four, discovered that they were good at something new.

DIY crime solving aside, author Hogan, normally a fiction writer (I know him via his collaboration with Guillermo delToro and the horror trilogy “The Strain”), creates a reconstruction of the women’s investigation with the utmost care. This isn’t a boring revelation of facts, but it injects the passion of the four into the narrative. I loved this as a reminder that the crime thrillers I love so much have real life counterparts but not everything gets wrapped up neatly. I hope the Carpool Detectives have luck with their next venture. 3.5 stars.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy!

I love a story about citizen sleuths, especially when those sleuths are a group of suburban moms who were bored out of their minds raising small children (oh, hello, been there!) and became obsessed with a local mystery. I do think the book could have been tightened up a bit -- there was A LOT of repetition as they worked their way through the crime, so I had to do some skimming, but this was overall an engaging story about a group of smart, determined women working together and using their varied skills to find justice and rediscover themselves in the process.

I found this fascinating. I don't typically read true crime, and so this was very different for me.

Marissa, Jeannie, Samira, and Nicole meet during the start of covid, and are interested in a 15 year old cold case that had occurred locally. Joel and Angela Watkins were found near their car at the bottom of a ravine 10 days after they went missing from their home and business. Their business was in financial difficulties and their son, a failed CPA, closed the business down only a couple of days after their disappearance.

The women are struggling during lockdown, homeschooling their young children, managing their families and needing intellectual stimulus. They set about solving the crime.

Their attention to detail,meticulous note taking and organization all comes over very strongly. They are helped and then hindered by the police detective assigned to the case, now retired. They gain the trust of the dead couple's daughter Carrie and are determined to solve the crime to give her answers.

They eventually get the ADA involved who reopens the case, and they get to work with the homicide detective now assigned to the case. They find themselves in a dangerous situation as the true perpetrators are revealed.

It was a shame to see how this ended, although it was completely understandable. The women seem about to take on another crime, and I would certainly read about what they did next.

The author did a great job of laying out how they ran their investigation as well as showing us their feelings and frustrations as they researched the crime.

Am I the only one concerned that these women may be in danger once the book is published, as their names were not changed?

Excellent read.

I loved this book. It was a fun mix of true crime and memoir and I really enjoyed getting to know the moms involved. During the pandemic I was working but took up sourdough towards the end, so it was pretty cool to read about these moms who took up solving an old cold case crime instead. It was great to read about how the women put the pieces together slowly and diligently working together despite drawbacks along the way. The writing style was engaging and held my interest throughout. This is one that I wish I would have been able to binge in one sitting but I looked forward to being able to pick it back up.

If you’re looking for a fun and interesting true crime mix, and don’t mind reading about the pandemic then pick this one up.