While this started off intriguing me. I did find by the end I had lost most of the interest.
There was just something missing. Maybe I needed more suspense to keep me invested throughout.

I'm currently watching "Yellowjackets" Season 3 and this book went along perfectly with that. There's also a plane crash and messy queer girls in the wild and the crimes they commit to survive. It's the story of Mel and Chloe, forever connected by murdering a douchebag at age 16. That day haunts them ever since and now, at age 24, Chloe's been missing for 6 years and Mel is hired as a private investigator to find her. Finding Chloe was difficult already but bringing her back turns out to be a real obstacle course. There's a reason why Chloe was living isolated in the Canadian wilderness and she's paranoid that people are still after her. I was pretty invested in finding out what actually happened all these years ago and the book was written in a way that held my attention constantly. We get both Mel's and Chloe's perspectives throughout different points in time and the whole complicated story unfolds bit by bit. The current time is mentioned at the beginning of each chapter, so it wasn't too hard to keep track of all the events. It really is an action-focused book and the characters are confronted with new situations constantly. The book literally starts with a plane crash and it basically never gets better for Mel and Chloe. I liked both characters and their connection was credible. Once upon a time they were messy teenage girls, forced to react to awful situations and awful people, and they bonded through fist fights, car crashes and murder. As you do at age 16. Their 24-year-old selves also read pretty young to me and I honestly don't see that much of a difference to Tess Sharpe's usual YA novels. Half the story even takes place during the teen years of the girls. It's marketed as an adult thriller (I think), but all content is suitable for teen readers as well in my opinion. It made sense that Mel and Chloe were aged up though, because that way they had more history together and more resources at their disposal. Overall I can't really complain about anything in this book. I could have done without the kinda unnecessary villain POV, but it didn't occur too often and it was fine, really. And well, I can't lie, so I tell you how it is: I love a book where all the men feel superior but are actually laughable, and all the women get shit done and look incredibly badass while at it. And this is exactly what "No Body No Crime" served from beginning to end.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Dead Ink Books for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

I read Far from you from the same author ages ago, when I was a baby dyke craving for any kind of representation in the media, and I remember loving it dearly. I probably expected too much going into No Body, No Crime: I'm not a baby dyke anymore, my expectations have grown significantly since then. I did find it chronically readable, the settings were nicely described, I did like the characters and wanted to know what would happen to them. But sadly the plot twists felt predictable, and the villains too stereotypical. I'm not against writing men as misogynistic idiots, but you either have to deepen it to make me really hate them, or exaggerate it to make it laughable. A lot of it felt too surface-level for me. The biggest issue for me was the romance: it didn't feel believable, and I kept getting frustrated at the things I wasn't getting. I wish we saw some realisation on both parts that the other has changed, or that the relationship can't be the same as it was when they were teens ; instead we got an insta love the second time around, an awkwardly written sex scene and a happy end quickly wrapping it all up.

To sum it up: an easy read that entertained me, but nothing to write home about.

The thing I love about Tess Sharpe novels is that I always know what I'm going to get (in the best way possible): wilderness, bad-ass female characters, and sapphics. This isn't any different, although the plot of course is - Tess is so good at leaning into PIs, in her YA as well, and having characters go on a tear. The body count is actually lower in this one than usual, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, and I did feel like there were maybe a couple of loose threads left at the end but overall, it was fast-paced and I loved the twists and turns - it kept me riveted right up until the end.

thank you to netgalley & the publisher for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

No Body, No Crime is a thriller about two reunited women battling a powerful family whilst rekindling the romance torn apart by the guy they killed aged sixteen. Mel is a private investigator whose latest job sees her tasked by the Harper family to hunt down their daughter, Chloe. The thing is, Chloe was Mel's girlfriend back when they were teenagers, after they bonded killing Toby Dune at Chloe's sixteenth birthday party, and Mel's been battling internally for years after feeling left by Chloe disappearing. Chloe had her reasons, however, and those reasons are still out there: a powerful local family, after something that Toby had stolen from them.

This book sounded like an adult version of Sharpe's novel The Girls I've Been, and that's really what it is: a fun, queer thriller that makes for an escapist read. Even though the book does touch on some deeper topics, like Mel's brother's drug problems or her abusive dad, these tend to be more like texture in the story rather than anything that is really explored. The narrative is told from a variety of perspectives, mostly Mel and Chloe but not just them, and this works pretty well alongside the non-chronological structure to build up a picture of events slowly, so revelations come at the right time. However, I was expecting a few more twists at the end, as the conclusion was all a bit too neat and perfect for a book that seems messier.

You have to take this book like you would when approaching an action film: sure, it's going to be a bit ridiculous at times, with the two protagonists being ridiculously good at fighting and survival, but that's the kind of fun you signed up for. As a queer person who loves action films, I like what Tess Sharpe does in making action thriller-type stories which also feature queer romance.

This was a fun read! Such a page turner and as usual Tess Sharpes female characters are loveable badasses!
This story had me riveted right from the start and the plot took lots of unexpected turns.
I was really invested and I thought the ending was very satisfying.

One thing about Tess Sharpe she's gonna write a thriller who's actually thrilling. This was amazing quick and fast paced, i read it in one sitting. The romantic tension between our MC was so electric and i was at the edge of my seat the whole time

DNF @ 40%.
This is excruciating.

It's all very eyeroll worthy. So they had some sort of secret affair when they were 16 - yep, true love in high school, OK - then Chloe fucked off and they haven't seen each other for, what, six years, is it? I think the characters are 24 now. GIVE ME A BREAK. Acting like it's some epic love story but no they were just horny teenagers.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.