<i> I would like to thank Net Galley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. </i>

One of my easiest 5* of 2026!

If you're looking for a clearly written review, you're going to have to bypass this one because I'm going to spend a lot of the time screaming into the abyss and I can't even help it because this book was everything. It deserves the hype it should receive in July 2026.

I'm no stranger to Ashley Winstead so I was ready for a few twists and turns. Strap in, this book is a true rollercoaster AND I was here for every single part of it. I want to tell you everything about this book but I seriously can't because you deserve to read this book for the first time.

I refuse to hint at any spoilers so instead, here's a list of why you should pick this book up:

1. Sisterhood
2. Jealousy
3. Betrayal
4. Serial killers
5. Conspiracies!

I feel sisterhood is an oversimplification of this story. This story will unite all females because we've all experienced or seen injustice - perhaps not to the degree of this book - but we've all truly felt it.

I should have hated this book. I hate multiple POVs and I hate flashbacks but these tools were instrumental to this book. It couldn't be told in a linear fashion from point of view. We needed to hear the voices. We needed to understand how the past influenced the future. I'll never truly understand the actions of a certain character but I, like the characters in the book, became infuriated by the consequences of her actions. She didn't deserve that.

Men wield power.
Women deserve to fight back.

We all wield power.
Is it always used for the right reasons?

Winstead, I'm going to be thinking about this book for a long while.
Thank you.

‘Hot Girl Murder Club’ by Ashley Winstead is a sharp, thriller set in Hollywood. Ten years after losing her sister Georgia to a mysterious death at an industry party, mid-tier pop star Scout Sage has clawed her way through the music world in her memory… until a series of targeted murders across LA suddenly points to Scout as the killer, and she becomes the world’s most famous alleged murderer overnight. Meanwhile, the young detective assigned to her case begins unearthing secrets that run deeper than even Scout knows.

Ashley Winstead’s versatility as a writer never ceases to impress me… having been blown away by her music industry romance ‘The Future Saints’, it was a joy to return to her in full thriller mode, and this is another fantastic, twisty and gripping tale. The feminist themes crackle with energy throughout, and the cast of strong, complex female characters kept me constantly on my toes… even when I wasn’t entirely sure who to root for.

I also loved her the narrative style. The non-linear presentation and multiple narrators added momentum and made this an almost impossible book to put down. Twists came thick and fast to the very end!

A compulsive and ferociously entertaining 4.5 star read - highly recommended for thriller fans.

I received an advance Digital Review Copy of this book from the publisher Aria & Aries via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Past and present collide with a force I couldn’t ignore. Stolen identities, hidden truths, and ambition thread through fame, desire, and sisterhood, twisting loyalty into something fragile and sharp. Police procedures carve a rigid path through the chaos, exposing fractures in every relationship, while secrets ripple outward, refusing to stay contained. Drama isn’t decoration here—it drives every choice, every betrayal, every risk, pressing on the characters and on me as I read.

I followed the consequences of ambition, deception, and longing, noticing how every hidden truth reshaped not just the characters, but the space between them. Sisterhood is tangled with danger and desire, protective and precarious at once. Every revelation cuts through morality, leaving choices sharp, impossible to untangle, and impossible to ignore. The tension between what they want and what they must face builds, relentless and inescapable.

The story stays with me in the fractures of identity, in the pull of secrets and ambition, in the sharp edges of trust and betrayal. Fame and desire twist connections into something unpredictable, while the procedural rigor of investigation forces truth into the open, leaving nothing comfortable or simple. Drama, longing, secrecy, and sisterhood collide in ways that feel raw, dangerous, and unforgettable.

Hot Girl Murder Club’ by Ashley Winstead is a, thriller set in Hollywood. 10 years after losing her sister Georgia to a mysterious death at an industry party, pop star Scout Sage has clawed her way through the music world in her memory… until a series of murders suddenly points to Scout. At the same time, a young detective assigned to her case begins unearthing secrets that run deeper than even Scout knows, while searching for her missing sister who disappeared from a notorious nightclub.

This was an engaging, fun read. It wasn’t flawless but that made it all the better!

Ashley Winstead’s Hot Girl Murder Club is a dark, addictive thriller set against the glossy but sinister backdrop of Hollywood. A decade after her sister Georgia died under suspicious circumstances at a music industry party, pop star Scout Sage has built her career in Georgia’s shadow and memory. But when a string of murders begins to circle back to Scout, she suddenly finds herself at the centre of a dangerous investigation. Meanwhile, the detective assigned to the case is dealing with secrets of her own as she searches for her missing sister, last seen at a notorious nightclub.

This is one of those multi-POV thrillers that could easily become messy, but it never does. Every perspective adds something important, and the different storylines weave together brilliantly as the tension builds towards a genuinely shocking finale. I loved how everything clicked into place by the end.

Underneath the murder mystery, this is really a story about sisterhood, grief, revenge, and how far women will go to protect each other and seek justice when the system fails them. I also really enjoyed the mix of vigilante justice, police investigation, and the darker side of fame and celebrity culture hiding beneath Hollywood glamour.

It’s intense, messy, dramatic, and more than a little unhinged — but that energy completely worked for me. I was hooked the entire way through and never quite knew where the story was heading. The twists landed well, and the ending genuinely caught me off guard.

“Tonight, I'm going to make him scream your name so loud you’ll hear it in Heaven.
Listen for it, my darling girl. And forgive me.”

Holy moly, I don’t know where to start!
The layering of these characters was done brilliantly. You still don’t know who to root for at the very end of the book, as the twists just keeeeeep on bloody coming!

I really like the layout of the chapters, POVs and time jumps, i feel like it’s something people will complain about (god forbid we ask you to use your brain while reading) but i really enjoyed it. You really have to read it all in one go, or maybe take notes at the beginning of every chapter to keep the timelines in check lol.
It was so helpful to have context of The Bottle Girl, too….I nearly jumped out of my seat getting to this chapter!

“It was amazing. How the same wound remade us so differently.”

This book truly covers so many topics. Coming of age in Hollywood; trying to rise to fame from nothing. Women exploitation. The lives of two sisters taken too soon. Women banding together to make a difference. Betrayal, heartache. Frustration of a system that has always let us down. Layered like a sad little angry onion this is.


“Why are you doing all of this for Juliet?”
Scout didn’t even blink. “Because she has no sisters.”


We have Izzy and Scout who are aspiring actors in LA, when a tragic accident bands them together but sends them in different career trajectories.
We also have Grey Holloway, a “Detective Barbie”, blond, badass and takes NO SHIT. She’s on the force because she’s trying to uncover her sisters disappearance twelve years ago…She also works part time at a strip club slinging drinks to try get intel about it. Double life queen!!
That’s pretty much all i want to reveal because honestly this book is so wildly layered and emotionally intricate, woven so well that you should really know as little as possible. Cause trust me, you think you know what’s going on, meanwhile Ashley is laughing in our faces. Buckle the hell up!

That last page? Absolutely brilliant. Made this a 6 star for me, cherry on the cake.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. I am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy.

Really liked the twists and turns of this one! I so thought the club was the way it was going in the first half! Such a story that could be real life and def a movie. U could feel the emotional bond of the sisters both blood and in friendships

Ashley has just bought me one hell of a brilliant read.
Scout is a pop-star. Georgia mourns the loss of her sister every day. she is trying to honour her sister by making it in her career. she is embedding herself into the Hollywood life that definitely fits with the line all that glitters is not gold.
Scout is not just any pop star when she is linked to a chain of murder.OH!
how can she possibly clear her name.
Grey is the officer who has to find out. whats true and whats not. but there is more to her too. this isn't the only thing she is trying to figure out. her stakes feels just as high.
this book was stunning. but hard stunning too in the way it was way too good, way to apt, way to truth telling. this book creates a story that shines a mirror, a mirror into our very current world. its tough. but im so glad when i see people in any way making this LOUD in any way they can. and this way i cared about this book more deeply and loved how the care was put into this book and for the characters we meet.
power is used in this book. not just the bad kind but also that when people fight back. when people come together. when people are trampled and get up. when you are there for your people. this felt both vulnerable and fierce. the friendships in this book are stunning.
this book shouldn't be appropriate. but it is. and this made me want to gobble it up so i could soak in some of the fight that Ashley writes into her book even in times of trauma and strife. i wanted some of Ashley's perfection in writing and perfection in connecting to us. and she connected to my whole heart and soul. the pov's are distinct and always important.
this book make my chest ache and my chest breathe deeply again.
being part of this book in its way felt like the group of found family inside it. you feel part of something. seen. part of something.
i loved this book. spot on.

Mysterious - and diverse! - deaths of powerful and decidedly unpleasant men across the entertainment industry appear to be occurring in a pattern linked to the lyrics of an up and coming female musician. With rumours and gossip spiralling out of control, Scout Sage and her entourage have earned themselves the title of Hot Girl Murder Club.

But is this all as simple as #MeToo taken a step further? Part of the answer may lie in Scout's family history but as the young detective digging into this question soon discovers, there is far more to what is happening here - and some of it is closer home than she can imagine...

Winstead really delivers a gripping, socially relevant, and highly entertaining story with some nuance in this book. Highly recommended.

I thought Hot Girl Murder Club was absolutely brilliant. It had everything I want in a book: Hollywood secrets, glamour, conspiracy, a compelling mystery, starlets and rock stars... wow. What a spectacular thought experiment: what if an up-and-coming star like Sabrina Carpenter was a suspected vigilante, out for revenge on the Harvey Weinsteins of Hollywood? There was so much to love here, and so many twists and turns. I'll definitely be recommending this as the perfect summer read.

I went into Hot Girl Murder Club expecting a thriller. What I got instead was an ambitious, character-driven saga that completely took over my life.

The story follows a series of murders in Hollywood that appear to be connected to the Hot Girl Murder Club, a group believed to be targeting sexual predators and those who enable them. It’s a fascinating premise, but what surprised me most was how much the book focuses on the people at the center of the chaos rather than the murders themselves.

This is my third Ashley Winstead novel, and I genuinely think this is the strongest cast of characters she’s written so far. There are a lot of moving parts here…far more than I expected…and yet every character feels distinct, fully developed, and necessary to the story. Each comes with their own history, relationships, flaws, and motivations, creating an intricate web of connections that I couldn’t stop thinking about.

At times, this felt less like a traditional thriller and more like a Sidney Sheldon-style drama. You’re not simply following one investigation; you’re following multiple lives as they collide, unravel, and contribute to a much larger story. The result is a book that feels incredibly immersive and difficult to put down.

I also loved the moral complexity woven throughout the novel. The story constantly challenges your sense of right and wrong, forcing you to wrestle with questions about justice, vengeance, and accountability. Detective Grey Holloway serves as the perfect lens through which to explore those questions, and I found her internal struggle between her instincts and her duty especially compelling.

And then there were the characters themselves. Grey, Scout Sage, Isabel, Brooks - every one of them felt vivid and memorable. Brooks was a particular favorite, but the truth is I became invested in all of them.

Even when I wasn’t reading, I found myself thinking about this story and wanting to return to it. That’s always the sign of a great book for me.

I’ll absolutely be buying a finished copy and rereading it in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Aria & Aries for providing the ARC ✨

5/5 stars

A fantastic thriller set in Hollywood. This book has all the glamour and fame you would expect, following a young detective who has to go against the grain of the male dominated industry to get to the actual truth, whilst wading through bias and corruption. A really good read. Highly recommended.

A brilliant and exciting read, this book is perfect for the beach, aero plane or your lunch hour! I am looking forward to more from this brilliant writer/

Hot Girl Murder Club by Ashley Winstead, is a must read book for the Summer. Detective Grey Holloway nicknamed 'Barbie's murdered twin' once a lady is murdered and looks similar to the detective. Grey is intelligent and keen to get cases solved and studied criminology at UCLA.
No sooner is the Charlotte Tilbury lipstick being applied, another murder is committed.
The women in the entertainment industry are relieved the men who abused them are receiving karma. The scenes have written passages above the bodies. I EAT TRAITORS FOR BREAKFAST. However is the murders being committed, karma, done by the female icons of the music and movie industry of Hollywood? Or is it a crazy stalker killer?
This story had me page turning swiftly. It grabs your attention and gives you the most exciting story of the season! Kudos to the author who is talented and I'm looking forward to the next book by this author.

I love Ashley Winstead books! She isn’t afraid to mix things up and tell important stories in such a powerful way. Another 5 star read from a favourite author ❤️

We delve into the dark side of Hollywood and the men who think they can do anything with their power and money. The women are fighting back, it are they killing the bad men? The press seem to think there is a not so secret gang of women taking them out one by one. This is a story of female power, friendship, revenge, greed, grief, and secrets. Women who have been wronged are no longer staying silent, but far will they go.

Sadly so much of this book is a reality, the way that women are treated and forced to be second class citizens to the men in power. It is a toxic world that we live in today, and in Hollywood it is even worse. Through mixed media we learn the story of these women and their struggles.

It is an emotional and dark story with a lot of characters points of view and timelines to keep track of. Trust me it is worth it. The ending was perfect!!

Thanks so much to Aria and Aries for my early copy of this book to read. Out on July 14th.

I feel like Ashley Winstead gets all her ideas from world events and chooses the most appalling stories to write about! This was perfect. I loved the drama and the intensity. I really enjoyed the main character - as detectives go Grey is really great. Sage is also a really complex character and brings so much to this story. Really well written, I couldn't put this down. I enjoyed it even more than THIS BOOK WILL BURY ME.

Hot Girl Murder Club is dark, twisty, addictive, and full of messy women making dangerous choices.

🖤 Hollywood thriller with multiple POVs

🎤 A pop star accused of murder

💭 Themes of fame, misogyny, and exploitation

🔥 Constant twists and shifting truths

✨ Dark female friendships and ambition everywhere

I loved how unpredictable this felt. Every time I thought I understood what was happening, the story completely shifted direction again.

Ashley Winstead always writes stories that dig beneath glossy surfaces, and this one definitely delivers on that!

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

Holy fuck, I LOVED this. I've read almost all of Ashley Winstead's books since I gave In My Dreams I Hold A Knife 5 stars and none of them have lived up to that one for me (and her last two especially really disappointed me), but Hot Girl Murder Club might've actually surpassed it. The title is absolutely perfect in a Crazy Ex Girlfriend way (“it's a lot more nuanced than that”) and the whole story was so compelling.

There are a lot of POVs, but I never had any issues telling them apart and I really liked seeing how each of the different characters navigated the events of the book. There's so many complex female characters and the fact that they were the focus is part of why this book worked for me SO much better than The Future Saints and This Book Will Bury Me. I'm all for angry revenge Good For Her books and this absolutely delivered. Also the way it dealt with image and people’s perceptions about celebrities, fame, etc. were super interesting to me.

I absolutely loved this and I'm so grateful to NetGalley UK and Aria & Aries for providing me with the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Hot Girl Murder Club” by Ashley Winstead is not a typical thriller, but an ambitious, character-driven saga that completely gripped me from start to finish. Set against the glamorous yet sinister backdrop of Hollywood, this novel weaves together themes of success, sisterhood, revenge, and justice in a way that feels both fresh and deeply compelling.
The story kicks off with a series of murders across LA, each seemingly connected to a secret group called the Hot Girl Murder Club—women targeting powerful men they believe have harmed them. Cryptic lyrics at the crime scenes point to superstar Scout Sage, and as the investigation unfolds, I found myself drawn into the complex web of motives, secrets, and betrayals.
What really surprised me—and what kept me hooked—was how much the focus is on the people at the heart of the chaos rather than just the murders. The multiple POVs, especially Detective Grey Holloway’s, added layers of depth, making the story feel immersive and alive. Each character is vividly drawn, with their own flaws, motivations, and secrets, which made it impossible for me to know who to root for. I loved how the narrative switched between past and present, building momentum toward that shocking finale.
Ashley Winstead’s writing is sharp, energetic, and emotionally charged. The feminist themes crackle throughout, and the exploration of sisterhood, grief, and revenge felt raw and authentic. The dark side of fame, the corruption beneath Hollywood’s surface, and the moral ambiguities of justice all add to the intense atmosphere. I appreciated how the story challenges notions of right and wrong, forcing me to wrestle with complex questions about accountability and vengeance.
The twists came thick and fast, often catching me off guard, and the ending was genuinely surprising—exactly what I love in a thriller. It’s messy, dramatic, and unhinged in the best way, creating a sense of chaos that I couldn’t look away from.
Overall, “Hot Girl Murder Club” is a brilliant mix of Hollywood secrets, conspiracy, and powerful women fighting for their truth. It’s a layered, thought-provoking read. If you enjoy character-driven thrillers with moral complexity and a splash of glamour and grit, I highly recommend giving this a read.

Another 5 star read from Ashley Winstead. An auto buy author for a reason. Having read all her work, had to get my hands on this copy ASAP. And rightfully so, with this roller coaster across PoVs and timelines. It is jaw dropping, heart breaking, heart stopping and powerful all at once.

Can I just say that I love a thriller that also makes you feel? Especially for characters you know won't make it, but you still want to root for. That's the magic I see consistently in Winstead's work.

Couldn't put this down for a second as the narrative and premise is so well thought of. The power of raising one's voice isn't always easy. Especially in a world of power dynamics. This book does a brilliant job of leveraging this. There are several themes of friendship, love, family, grief, sisterhood and loss. Also love how media and social media are gently tied into the narrative.

The twists are a rollercoaster and some of the back to backs will make you reel. I literally held my breath at almost every twist, especially in the second half. Have to say that this book also breaks your heart slightly for the characters, which is its strongest point. The ending stayed with me for a while. A definite 5 star read for the year. Go for this blind.

Thank you NetGalley and Aria & Aries for this e-arc in exchange of my unbiased review.