🕵️‍♀️ Murder, Mayhem & Monologues 🖤

It is because of the 2-star review someone else gave this that I felt compelled to read it—and honestly? I’m so glad I did! Was the mystery a tangled mess of clues, red herrings, and “wait, who even is that again?” moments? Absolutely. Did I care? Not even a little. 😂

This book is pure YA cozy chaos, and I was here for every awkward crush, fourth-wall break, and dysfunctional family blow-up. Ruth is a 14-year-old mystery junkie with big Nancy Drew energy and a very sassy inner monologue—and she talks to the reader. Like, full-on Deadpool style. It’s weirdly delightful. 💀📚

The actual murder mystery part? Eh. Confusing. There were moments where I felt like I needed a corkboard and red string just to keep track of who was fighting with who and why. BUT it was so funny and so original that I forgave all of that.

My favorite parts:
✨ Murder by TYPEWRITER (yes, really)
✨ Hot-but-awkward sort-of cousin sidekick (don’t think too hard about it, I beg you)
✨ Big found-family meets murder-clue-madness vibes
✨ Ghosts? No. Weird tension and unresolved family drama? Absolutely.
✨ So. Many. Parentheticals. (Ruth really needs to tell you everything.)

Would I recommend it? Yes but not if you’re looking for a tight, Agatha Christie-style mystery. This is more like we're writing a mystery, wait, no we're not, oh yah, yes we are but can't remember what it was so i'll just start writing random mystery clues for no reason 😅

4.5 stars 🌟 because the Deadpool vibes were super fun even if the puzzle pieces didn’t make any sense. I’d 100% read more of Ruth’s chaotic sleuthing adventures!

A little less excitement/thrill/murder than I was hoping for, but it was still fun and a unique kind of mystery told from a 14y/o sleuth perspective

"Breaking the fourth wall" is a phrase kept thinking when reading this book.

Unexpectedly, the main character would 'talk' to the reader while interacting with the other characters. It worked.

What didn't work for me was following the characters. Multiple characters are often a given in mysteries but need distinctive characteristics and voices that imprint themselves in a readers' mind. Otherwise, the reader will need to either physically chart it out an (distracting) or flip back to prior chapters (disturbing flow of read) so found this to be a frustrating read.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, Random House Children's Books | Knopf Books for Young Readers, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


#TheDysfunctionalFamilysGuidetoMurder #NetGalley

First and foremost, I will read anything YA Thriller based in Australia, so maybe I am biased but this is a REALLY good book!

The characters alone will have you laughing out loud with their intricacies. The story starts with Ruth, a teen obsessed with mysteries, who has to spend the weekend on a remote farm visiting her GG who (let's be real) kinda sucks and she can't connect with the outside world (a crime when you're a teenager). However, GG suddenly dies and that gets Ruth's wheels spinning to crack the case.

Overall, this is a great book and I can't wait til my niece is a little older so I can gift her a copy!

──★ 4

this was a quirky, funky, little family story set in australia with a "nancy drew" esque main character and her cousin. a fun novel with a lot going on that technically was quite confusing and funky but i had a good time! nothing crazy at all. pick up for a light read.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖𓂃.☘︎ ݁˖

──★thanks to the publisher + netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review

i sit up yesterday and read the hoole book because i couldn´t stop reading it.
I have a really great time, Ruth is a very funny main character.
it has a really good plot and the writting is really good.
The only. bad thing that i have to say is sometimes are things a little confusing.

A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

What a great mystery. Told to us by Ruth, a 14 yr old mystery lover, her voice is what makes the story. The mystery is good with many twists and funny bits, but it is the cool setup of the narrator speaking to the reader directly that makes this so special.

This was a fun quick read with a narrator who is trying to figure out the motive and potential murderer of a family member on a short family vacation. The twists and turns were unexpected and the clues were pretty subtle. I loved the fourth wall breaks when the narrator would talk directly to the reader sometimes pointing out missed clues that made me want to go back and search for them. I had figured out some of the pieces to the mystery but not all and was left shocked at the final reveal.

3.5 stars to this one. What a fun trip! 14-year-old Ruth love of mysteries is amplified when she finds herself stuck in the middle of one. When her step-grandmother is murdered, she launches into amateur sleuth mode to solve the case. What I loved: the humor, the twists, and the turns. What I didn't love: Ruth's side notes are humorous but it started to feel like they popped up a bit too much. And I *get* where we were going with her relationship to Dylan but it still felt weird. Also, perhaps purposefully, I found it hard to keep up with ALL the family secrets at times. Still, it was fun read that I would recommend to cozy mystery lovers.

I didn’t care for the FMC of this book. I also was confused half the time while reading it. It’s just not for me.

Thank you to Random House for an early copy of this book!

In giving this book a solid 3/5! I think this is a very funny quirky thriller but geared more toward middle grade and not quite the YA realm. I did genuinely love the plot line of family vacation and somebody ends up dead! It’s a classic who dunnit that to me never gets old. Ruth is a really cute quirky character who really wants to be the next Nancy drew which isn’t a bad thing! Ruth was written to be 14 but how she spoke was more so like she was 10, no 14 going on 15 year old refers to adults as “grown ups” but that could just be me?? I did also feel like her inner monologue became too much of a spoiler, she did a lot of leading into what would happen next when I wish the author would just let us discover it on our own. There were a lot of random tangents Ruth did that started to be distracting and not fun so I started skipping when it happened.
BUT this book did make me laugh out loud quite a bit! Her dad was funny and so was shippy! I think the humor was there and the mystery DEFINITELY there! I do hope this becomes a series because the characters are very well written!

⭐⭐⭐⭐

THE DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY'S GUIDE TO MURDER by Kate Emery

Thank you Netgalley and Knoph Books for Young Readers (GetUnderlined) for the earc (Oct 21)

Ruth wasn't expecting a m*rder on ber family's vacation, but when her step-grandmother turns up d*ad, she's glad to have a m*rder to solve. It doesn't hurt that Dylan is there to help. Together, they delve into the mystery, but who there is actually capable of m*rder?
THE DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY'S GUIDE TO MURDER was a riveting YA m*rder mystery that I found to be quite unpredictable. Going into this, I was immediately drew in by the author's writing, though I didn't necessarily like the way that the reader was addressed (iykyk)---I felt like that took away from the story a bit even though I know it's because the reader was encouraged to solve the mystery...which I tried to do. There were times when my suspicions were here and there, but I never leaned the actual whodunit.
THE DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY'S GUIDE TO MURDER is also full of humor. Not to sound cruel, but I found Nick's luck---or lackthereof---to be the most funny + Ruth investigating her family was also humorous in its own way.
I really liked this book, and I found these characters to be likeable---even the ones who shouldn't have been. I though THE DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY'S GUIDE TO MURDER was well-crafted and I loved that big twist, and how it kept twisting.

Thank you Netgalley and Knopf Books for Young Readers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Kate Emery’s “The Dysfunctional Family’s Guide to Murder” is a zany, sharply funny YA mystery that establishes a classic whodunnit setup with a delightfully offbeat cast of characters and a narrator who practically dares you not to laugh.

At the heart of the story is 14-year-old Ruth, a mystery-obsessed teen with a fondness for Agatha Christie and a sharp tongue. Ruth reluctantly joins her father for a weekend trip to a remote family farm in coastal Western Australia to visit GG, her icy step-grandmother. With no Wi-Fi, no friends, and a long-standing (and now very awkward) crush on her sort-of cousin Dylan, things are already looking bleak—until GG dies under suspicious circumstances. Suddenly, Ruth finds herself in the middle of a real-life murder mystery, and she’s not about to leave it to the adults (or the police) to crack the case.

The story thrives on Ruth’s voice: sarcastic, self-aware, and hilariously unfiltered. Emery cleverly uses Ruth’s inner monologue and frequent fourth-wall breaks to pull the reader in, making you feel like you're her co-investigator—and occasional therapist. While some may find the humor a bit much or repetitive over time, especially those outside the target YA audience, many will find Ruth’s commentary laugh-out-loud funny and incredibly relatable.

The supporting cast is equally entertaining. From Ruth’s eccentric Aunt Vinka to her quietly chaotic family members—all of whom are plausible suspects—the characters are colorful, dysfunctional, and weirdly lovable. Emery leans into the absurdity without losing sight of the central mystery, which unfolds with just enough twists to keep readers guessing (or at least second-guessing themselves). Even when the final reveal feels “obvious in hindsight,” the journey there is filled with smart clues and silly detours.

Romantic tension—of the light, awkward teen variety—bubbles between Ruth and Dylan, adding another layer to the chaos, but it’s handled with self-aware humor that sidesteps anything too uncomfortable.

There’s little emotional depth or grief in the aftermath of GG’s death, but that detachment works in the book’s favor, enhancing the quirky tone and focusing more on the comedic dysfunction than the tragedy. Still, some might wish for a touch more heart or stakes.

Overall, “The Dysfunctional Family’s Guide to Murder” is a refreshingly irreverent mystery that will charm fans of YA, humor, and clever storytelling. Ruth is a bulldozing, overthinking heroine you’ll root for even as she barrels through awkward moments and family secrets alike.

A cozy YA mystery with a smart and precocious teen protagonist. 14 year old Ruth is on vacation at her family's remote farmhouse. But when her step-grandmother GG dies by typewriter, Ruth uses her sleuthing skills to find the culprit. The only problem is all of the prime suspects are family members. Could someone she knows really have committed murder? A fun mystery with humor, suspense, and a bit of romance.