Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy to review.

Ashley Winstead writes mysteries that have just enough danger to raise your pulse a few beats. She’s knocked out a good recipe for writing mysteries that are told as memories and moments from the past which is usually where the danger lives. As the reader, you are sitting in the present listening to a story unfolding, almost like a true crime podcast, for most of the book. It’s a good formula and I enjoy it!

Thank NetGalley and Tantor Media for this Audiobook!
This book will be love by a lot of people but unfortunately I didn’t like it. It was way too close to the real life Idaho College Murders. It feel super unethical to me, the real alleged killer hasn’t even had a trial yet. The main character’s motivations for joining in the true crime community was not convincing and the plot twist didn’t impress me. I was bored because I knew most of the facts and details of the case already because it was the same as real life. It was kinda boring at times and to long.

This Book Will Bury Me
By: Ashley Winstead
4 stars

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for the eARC & for the audiobook! I was hesitant to read this one at first because of the controversy surrounding this one. Having been heavily influenced by the Idaho 4 murders that are still in the process of going to trail this year, many readers felt this was insensitive. While knowing this going in, I have to say that in all things, especially art (which books definitely are), are influenced by real life events or experiences. This book relied on real life inspiration but the overall book had its own story to tell and veered off the path of events that have taken place.

I felt a kinship to this book as I have studied forensic science along with having had an obsession with true crime podcasts in the past. I hold a master’s degree in forensic science with a concentration in blood pattern analysis & crime scene investigation so whenever books get into the weeds of death, I open up my critical eye and comb through it. The way this book explored the internet sleuths and true crime obsession/junkies was spot on. There’s many documented crimes solved thanks to internet sleuths, one of my favorite being Michelle McNamara who was mentioned in the book who helped solve the Golden State Killer cold case posthumously.

This book follows Janeway Sharp, a 24 year old who loses her father to a heart attack in her senior year of college ( she attended later than her peers) and turns to true crime board to try and make sense of his death. While there, she finds herself connecting with a group of sleuths who are looking into the death of a middle aged woman found in a trash bag in a lake near her home in Florida. When the police have no leads and give up on the case, she finds herself invited to a special crime group made up of 4 other people to continue the hunt for the murderer. Together, Jane, along with the 65 year old librarian, a retired police officer, an ex army guy, and a computer genius working at Amazon successfully identify the murderer and become a sort of family she needs in her life.

When a shocking murder takes place in a small college town in Idaho where 3 college sorority girls are murdered, the true crime boards are in a frenzy to solve the case. Gaining national media attention and thousands of internet theories on TikTok, the crime group starts lookin at the evidence. Having gained a bit of fame from solving the murder in Florida, the group has a notoriety about them and when they hint at the wrong guy as a suspect, the world turns on them. As the group is under heat from media outlets, the college town police force, the true crime board, and people all over the internet, a second tragedy strikes the small town with another murder of 3 college students. When Jane finds a piece of evidence that no ones investigated, the five not only get asked for help from the FBI, but decide to meet in person in Idaho to stop the killer. Things really take a twist when the evidence starts to point to something no one thought possible and it becomes very clear that the groups lives are all in danger in Idaho.

My Thoughts:
While this book felt 100% true to what we see on the internet everyday whenever there’s a major crime event, there were times when I felt the world of fiction. For instance, in all of these cases the group worked on, there was ALWAYS someone willing to leak information or share crime scene photos. That’s truly rule number one when it comes to forensics. Any bit of information is evidence and having civilians looking at it would ruin any case brought to court.

The delivery of this book was done as an after-the-fact tell all by Janeway in the form of her essentially writing a book to clear her name. You know as the reader that someone terrible has happened if our protagonist is trying to justify her innocence right off the bat and that felt fun! With the snippets in between the story from Janeway, it added an element of almost a podcast and I’ve been loving the thriller trend lately of of mixed media/interviews/podcasts.

The found family in this one was so good. Each of our characters in the crime solving group had their own traumas to deal with and this was an outlet they allowed them to do some good in the world, despite being only human and occasionally messing it up. I think for me it was just a bit off with the whole idea of Jane solving murders because her father died young of a heart attack. I get that everyone grieves in their own way, but the harping on making a legacy for him/jane to honor his death, for me, didn’t make a lot of sense. You get a real sense of darker themes such a grief, obsession, power, and ethical boundaries that get blurred when mixed with fascination, danger, and the need for answers.

The portrayal of how fickle the media and internet can be was the most compelling aspect of the story for me. Once minute you do something the trained professionals couldn’t achieve and you’re a hero. The next, you speak too soon and ruin an innocent mans life and become the villain of their story. The book did an excellent job of raising the question about the true crime phenomenon and society’s role in sensationalizing tragedy for entertainment. As someone who has gotten their news from TikTok, that aspect of amateur’s taking advantage of a tragedy struck home a bit and made me rethink how I will proceed in the future.

The human desire for connection and purpose was forefront in this story as the reader sees Jane descent into obesssion to the point of missing work, not taking care of her body, and making poor decisions. Having a skewed hope of honoring her father in a way trauma bonds her to her new crime solving family and she takes pieces of each of them on to heal her heart as she copes with the loss of such an important figure in her life.

While I wish we got a glimpse into the current life of Jane at the end, I think the overall message was receive that she was healing and moving on with her life. Winstead is a master of her craft and weaves dark and complex stories that give you a suspenseful plot and even crazier ending.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Tantor Audio, and the author for the ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When I started reading this book, I was not aware of the Idaho murders, and so here’s the thing: now that I know, I just can’t ignore the fact that it’s based on a very real, very recent murder case, with victims who are young and still have grieving families. That makes me seriously uncomfortable, and honestly, I don't even think it's ethical considering the case hadn't even gone to trial when the book was planned to come out, which just feels wrong.

I requested this book because I absolutely loved In My Dreams I Hold a Knife and was so excited. This book kind of felt like a lazy attempt at fictionalising and profiting off a real-life tragedy, considering how much it seems to have borrowed from reality. Another fact that made me feel icky is the memoir format. While grief and some other elements like race dialogues were handled really well, the book included way too many details that made it weigh down without any benefit in removing the real-life elements—as in, there were too many precise reflections for this to be called a fictional work 'inspired by a real-life tragedy.

This is an audio re-read for me. I loved it in print and loved it even more on audio. The narration and production value was fantastic and really brought the story to life for me.

✨This book has so much to love including its fast pace, multiple layers, richly developed characters and one of the absolute best endings I’ve read in a thriller. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, that ending hit – and it was just absolutely astonishing.

✨In addition to being a compelling thriller, this book is also a harrowing, devastating and ultimately beautiful study into the journey of loss, grief and acceptance seen through the lens of a daughter who is coping with the death of her father. As a daughter who has lost her father, I can tell you that these were the most tender and authentic aspects of the book.

✨In true Ashley Winstead style, she is able to blend a cunning thriller with a social commentary on the true crime sleuthing commentary as well as elements of found family, grief, a father-daughter story and – wait for it – Star Trek. I say “in true Winstead style” because this is the author who writes romance novels in between her mind-blowing, “what the heck is in this woman’s head” knockout thrillers. Is there anything she can’t do?

✨Now I must veer into a less positive aspect of my review – and that is the inclusion of the eerily similar details to the Idaho college murders. There has been much discussion of this in the book community, and it almost kept me from reading the book — but I wanted to read for myself before making a judgment call. I must admit, it was very off-putting for this reader to see the details so similar to such recent murders. I will add that I read an advanced copy which did not yet include the author’s note. Perhaps the author will address this in the final copy author’s note, and I will edit my online reviews, if so. With that said, I can still give this book no less than five stars. It’s a truly exceptional read.

🌿Read if you like:
✨True crime
✨Online communities
✨Found family
✨Father/daughter narratives
✨Stories of the grief journey
✨Compelling thrillers
✨Serial killer stories
✨Multi-layered, fast-paced suspense
✨Star Trek

Framed as a tell-all after an online sleuthing operations goes horrifically wrong, this book simultaneously shines a bright light on the problems with true crime while also managing to fit into the spotlight. Jane Sharp is looking for a distraction after the sudden death of her father, and true crime becomes her escape. When three college students are brutally murdered in Idaho, it's exactly the twisty turney case that she so craves, and the farther she digs, the more questions she uncovers.
Firstly, Jane is a bit of an insufferable narrator. She's quite pretentious. Secondly, pretty gross to take such a recent and brutal true murder case and fictionalize it so lightly to capitalize on it. That's just nasty.

To deal with the grief of losing her father, Jane Sharp dives into true crime forums. Soon, she becomes part of a community she never knew existed.

When 3 college girls were murdered in Delphine, Idaho, of course Jane and her friends were going to try to solve the mystery. They got involved in the case, only wanting to help. But things weren't adding up, the police were cagey, and evidence seemed to be overlooked entirely. In the end, things didn't go as expected.

Now, a year later, Jane is breaking her silence, telling her story and unveiling secrets. All in response to a book published about the case that is determined to shine a negative light on her and her friends. They might not be the heroes of this story, but they deserve to have their truths be heard.

While I did find the story interesting, there were a lot of moments that lost my interest. I did like the group of sleuths that Jane had found to work with, flawed as they might be, though I wished that Jane might have confided in them a little more, especially Lightley and Mistress. She could seem so lost and untethered sometimes, which led to the lack of interest.

While I've enjoyed other books narrated by Leslie Howard, this one was a bit hard for me. I was in a lot of pain while listening to this one, so was likely more sensitive, but I couldn't find a volume that could make the pitch comfortable, so I found myself listening in small increments.

Overall, 3.5. I found the book a bit different from my normal reads and was glad I tried it.

I don't know if the world is ready for a fictionalized take on the Idaho Four Murders, but this book seems to be the first to take it on. Honestly, I am still so disturbed by that case that I had to read This Book Will Bury Me like it was not related to that at all.

I really enjoyed the story from start to finish. The character being lost in her grief was both over-the-top and relatable. Doesn't everyone have seemingly too strong reactions sometimes? The little band of true-crime loving detectives was great and made me want to find one to join!

The story had moment of heavy sadness and darkness. It also had moments of levity, which I always appreciate as a break from the hard stuff. The mystery was very engaging and the resolution was pretty satisfying.

After Jane’s dad dies, she finds comfort in a true crime online forum trying to solve the murder of a local woman. After successfully solving several cases, Jane and her new online family meet up in Delphine, Idaho to solve a triple homicide. But as they investigate, they only find more questions, not the answers they seek. A year after the murders, Jane decides to tell the twisted story of what really happened in Delphine. This is possibly my favorite thriller from Ashley Winstead so far! Her thrillers are always very unique, and this one totally shocked me! It also made my little nerd heart happy that the main character was named after Captain Janeway (one of the most underrated Star Trek captains IMO)!

Unfortunately I did not care for the narrator; I felt like she was whispering half the time. Now I do understand that was for dramatic effect, but it was really hard to hear, and I had to keep turning up the volume. I think I would have enjoyed the physical read even more!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for my copy! ALC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was up and down and up and down on this one. I loved the premise of losing her dad and finding her way into true crime. I was also a fan of the internet group trying to solve crimes.

It was a little slow for me and I had never heard of the real life case it is based on, which is all on me, but made it so I didn't have the connection to the story others might have.

Maybe with a little more action and a little less information on the crimes, I would have been all in.

Leslie Howard did a good job narrating this and working with the story to bring the crime and intensity to life.

Let’s start with addressing the elephant in the room. Winstead has been under scrutiny over her use of details from a real crime that occurred in Idaho - the murder of a sorority girl. I wasn’t familiar with the case until looking into this book and I will say there are a lot of details taken from the real case. It just felt lazy to me. This author has written other novels in the genre and hasn’t felt the need to pull heavily from real tragedies so why start now? She could have easily kept the whole plot fictitious especially since the story deviates from the real one quite heavily as the book goes on. It’s borderline disrespectful to the victims and their families and ultimately left a bad taste in my mouth.

Outside of the controversy, I had multiple issues with the book. It was just way too long. There was loads of extraneous detail that might be interesting to a die hard true crime fan but did little to move the story forward. I enjoyed the ending and the final twist but getting there was a slog. I also didn’t love the memoir format. I forgot multiple times that we were supposed to be reading our character’s memoir since there were large gaps between references. I think die hard true crime fans would enjoy this but I think there’s better options out there to scratch the itch.

I love Ashley’s writing and her books always entertain me! It’s hard to not compare her books but this one didn’t hit like her others. I figured out the murderer really on and that was kind of disappointing. But none the less I was still entertained.

I’ve enjoyed Ashley Winstead’s previous novels, but this one was way more emotional. The story follows Jane, a woman grieving the recent loss of her father. She turns to true crime as a way to cope, and what starts as a distraction quickly becomes an obsession. Jane is lost and hurting, and you can feel her grief on every page.

As Jane gets deeper into the world of true crime, she meets others online who share her passion. And slowly, these people become her chosen family. It was emotional watching her form real connections and find purpose again.

When Jane and her new friends start investigating a recent murder, the tension builds fast. The search for the killer is intense and had me completely hooked. It felt like I was on the hunt with them. Every clue and every wrong turn made my heart race.

This book wasn’t just about solving the murders. It was about Jane’s emotional journey and her grief. And there’s something really powerful in the way the book explores loss and the ways we try to make sense of it. If you’re looking for an emotional read that is full of tense moments, this is a great pick.

This was my first book by Ashley Winstead, and although I’d heard mixed things about her earlier work, This Book Will Bury Me instantly drew me in. It’s a dark, twisty, slow-burn thriller that not only delivers suspense but also smartly critiques the culture of online true-crime obsession. The story follows Jane Sharp, a college dropout haunted by her father’s sudden death, who finds a new kind of family in a tight-knit online forum of amateur sleuths. What starts as an emotional distraction quickly spirals into a deep, dangerous dive into murder cases—especially when the group sets its sights on a high-profile triple homicide in Idaho, clearly inspired by the 2022 University of Idaho murders. Unlike some novels that fictionalize real tragedies without care, Winstead treats the case as a thematic backdrop rather than the book’s core, which worked well for me.

What really sets this novel apart is the unique mix of character dynamics and internet sleuthing. Jane and her quirky crew—a retired cop, a tech whiz, a librarian grandmother, an ex-army investigator—feel like an oddball found family bonded by grief and obsession. Their parasocial connections and fractured motives made for a compelling, layered ensemble. It was entertaining, well paced and I couldn't put it down

The narrator did a good job in impersonating all the characters, and her voice drew me to the story even more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Media for the ARC!

This Book Will Bury Me is a great slowburn thriller. The FMC has lost her father and afterwards drops out of college and joins a true crime society online. There she tries to solve different cases and is welcomed by virtual strangers. They became a tight-knit family even though they've never met in real life. Our FMC has an own true crime podcast and this was an element I really enjoyed. I'm a sucker for the multimedia aspect. The mystery part was interesting and made me second guess several people and decisions. The ending caught me totally off guard. The book had a good pace and had me biting my non-existent nails nervously at times.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

No one should be at all shocked that I absolutely LOVED this book. Ashley Winstead is truly a favorite of mine - I've loved nearly all of her thrillers and this was no different. She handles sensitive topics so beautifully such as internet friendship, grief, loneliness, and more. The biggest criticism I've seen of this book is how she used the Moscow, ID murders as a backdrop and PLEASE, seek out an interview with Ashley explaining her choice in doing so. I think she's received so much unnecessary flack for her choice.

This Book Willy Bury Me is dark, sad, medium-paced, fantastic on audio. It's absolutely worth the listen/read.

I know there is a lot of controversy around this book, and while I value those opinions, they did not take away from my experience with the book. Using a real and relatable story set in modern day was a bold move, but I don’t think it was a wrong move.

The story revolves around Jane, who upon losing her father becomes entangled with a group of people that do some amateur detective work on murder cases and find themselves in the middle of a dangerous situation. People who love true crime and devour true crime podcasts will love this book. Some parts moved a little slower, but the backstories of characters were well thought out and explained, and I think it helped the overall orchestration of the ending, which was left pretty open ended.

I love a buttoned-up story, but the questions remaining at the end really worked for this book. The audio worked well, narrator Leslie Howard fit the vibe of the book and made the audio flow well. Great fun

This Book will Bury Me is a psychological thriller about Jane Sharp and her team of amateur sleuths who meet on an online forum. After three college students are stabbed to death they decide to take on the case and travel to Idaho to investigate.
Great for fans of true crime who also consider themselves to be detectives. Unfortunately, I found the ending a little disappointing.

I've heard a lot about Ashley Winstead's books but hadn't read one yet, and she's a favorite of my daughter. So when I had the chance to listen to this one, I decided it was time. And I'm glad I did - apparently it's written a bit differently from her usual style, nevertheless it has me interested in reading more of her backlist. There's a lot going on here - how grief and depression can affect a person and lead them to do uncharacteristic things. The current obsession with true crime and how podcasts and social media can affect police investigations for better and for worse - and whether the good outweighs the bad. The internet in general - another cautionary tale, and not a bad thing because we never really learn, do we? Then there's also the relationship between parent and child - and whether what we think we know about our parents is entirely true. There's a lot going on in this story of a young woman who goes down a true crime rabbit hole after the sudden death of her father. And it leaves the reader with a lot to think about. I listened to the audiobook, and the narration by Leslie Howard was excellent.
My thanks to Netgalley and Tantor Audio for providing a digital copy for an unbiased review.

Wow.

Ashley Winstead blows me away every time. I feel like my eyes may fall out of my head while reading/listening.

This story was very close to the Idaho murders. I feel like it may be a little too soon to write that story or have someone benefit off that tragedy. It even takes place in Idaho!

Our main character, Jane, has faced some challenges and seems quite lost. Her father died and she’s having a hard time coping. She becomes obsessed with a murder case of 3 girls in Idaho. She joins online forums and it takes over her life. She even takes the sleuthing off the computer and hunts clues down in the real world. The forum really works hard and doesn’t believe the police are doing enough.

This did keep me on the edge of my seat & also left my jaw on the floor a few times. But I had a hard time getting past the Idaho reference. I watched that all unfold in real time. The killer hasn’t even been sentenced yet so this felt icky.