First off, can we make a little commotion for the cover?
It’s absolutely stunning!!

The premise of this one is an intriguing one. Set in a near-future Britain where energy consumption is tightly regulated in the name of environmental preservation, Who Killed Green Hope opens with a chilling discovery: an elderly couple stumbles upon the severed head of a known climate activist. And then it's revealed there are five victims in total, all members of the activist group Green Hope.

Their daughter, Ellie Sato dubbed "Britain's best investigative journalist",
decides to crack the case herself. It’s grim, political, and weirdly funny at times.

One thing I loved was how R.K. Syrus perfectly blended genre elements. Part dystopian sci-fi, part detective fiction, with themes like climate collapse, state surveillance, and the cost-of-living crisis. And Ellie is a fantastic lead. Sharp, relentless, and deeply passionate in her pursuit of justice.

Now, while the plotline is a fascinating one, the execution didn't fully land for me. The narrative tends to ramble at times, The social commentary, while relevant, sometimes takes up more space than the mystery itself. And when it comes to the big reveal, who killed the activists and the why, I wasn’t all that surprised. There weren’t many breadcrumbs to follow, so it didn’t quite satisfy on the whodunnit front. I also found myself re-reading some parts toward the end to piece together what exactly happened to the “Hereford Five.”
Overall, this was an engaging read.

Review: Who Killed Green Hope? by R.K. Syrus – A Bold, Uneven Climate Crime Thriller

R.K. Syrus's Who Killed Green Hope? presents a brilliantly audacious premise: reimagining the climate crisis as a literal murder mystery. Set in a grimly plausible near-future "Apocalypse World," the novel asks a provocative question: if Earth's ecosystems were a victim, who’s the killer? This high-concept blend of dystopian sci-fi and noir detective tropes is undeniably gripping and thought-provoking, tackling weighty themes like corporate greed, political sabotage, and societal collapse.

Initial Impressions & Tone:
My journey started with reservations. While the cover art is striking, the opening chapters struck me as surprisingly light and silly, tonally clashing with the novel's dark subject matter and the much darker, more serious final chapters. This jarring shift made the first third feel disconnected; a smoother blend of the later vibe into the beginning would have significantly strengthened the narrative cohesion. The narrative flow also wasn't always to my personal taste.

Strengths: Concept, World & Themes:
Where the book truly shines is its core concept and thematic punch. Treating climate collapse as premeditated homicide is a visceral, effective metaphor that weaponizes climate anxiety into a propulsive plot. Syrus builds a richly detailed, immersive near-future world (familiar to fans of the Apocalypse World series, though this works as a standalone), blending cyberpunk aesthetics with chilling ecological realism. The exploration of accountability and the "cost of living" in a decaying world is powerful and leaves a haunting impact. Despite my reservations about the opening, I ultimately enjoyed the book for its originality and relevance.

Characters & Plot:
The novel features a nicely diverse cast, anchored by a jaded investigator whose arc from cynicism to empathy is compelling. Supporting characters, like a rogue climatologist, add emotional heft, though some verge on caricature. A minor criticism is the slightly overstuffed central cast, making some characters hard to track at times. The plot is cinematic and mostly taut, driven by the detective's gritty noir voice. However, the pacing stumbles in the middle act, bogged down by exposition, before redeeming itself with genuinely surprising twists in a strong finale.

Writing Style:
Syrus's prose is often taut and cinematic, effectively shifting scenes. However, it can be light on descriptive detail and occasionally lacked flow for my personal taste. While the central "murder" metaphor is inventive and bold, its literalization might feel heavy-handed to readers preferring subtler allegory.

Verdict:
Who Killed Green Hope? is a short, bold, and imperfect thriller. Its stellar concept, immersive world, and vital themes are slightly undermined by tonal inconsistencies early on, occasional pacing issues, and character development that sometimes takes a backseat to plot urgency.

Who Should Read It?

Fans of socially conscious fiction and climate-focused narratives.

Dystopian sci-fi lovers seeking fresh, high-concept metaphors.

Mystery/thriller enthusiasts open to genre-blending hybrids (noir/sci-fi).

Readers of Syrus's Apocalypse World series.

Who Might Hesitate?

Those sensitive to bleak, unflinching eco-horror.

Readers who prefer nuanced villains over potential caricature.

Anyone put off by a lighter, sillier opening tone shifting dramatically.

Those who favor lush description or found the prose style didn't click.

Overall: 3.5/5 Stars – A thought-provoking and inventive page-turner with a killer premise, let down somewhat by tonal shifts and uneven pacing, but ultimately rewarding for its ambition and chilling relevance.

(Acknowledgments: Thank you to NetGalley and R.K. Syrus for the advance review copy.)

Many things where problematic for me.
Tranfobic narratives are always a trigger for me.
And it's a dnf

This book had me at first glance. No, seriously — that cover is a whole aesthetic. The kind that makes you pause mid-scroll and whisper “okay, but what is this?” Between the mysterious glasses, the soft floral chaos, and the font that just gets it, I was intrigued before I even knew the premise.

And then? Boom. Page one, and I’m thrown headfirst into a crime scene that’s anything but delicate. Sato isn’t here to play. His investigation into the murder at Green Hope is tense, emotional, and moves like a heartbeat you can’t calm down. Every chapter felt like stepping into another trapdoor of secrets — I was constantly trying to outsmart the plot and consistently getting outplayed.

I wouldn’t call the ending explosive, but it landed with purpose. It made sense. It completed the arc like a final puzzle piece sliding into place — not flashy, but satisfying. Definitely the kind of story that lingers in your mind long after the final page.

Was thoroughly enjoying this book until the protagonist went on an incredibly unnecessary transphobic tirade. As I’m from England originally myself, a lot of the book was nostalgic up until this point. But no amount of nostalgia is worth suffering through hate speech and bigotry. DNF as a result as I don’t support transphobia whatsoever.

This was okay but not as gripping as I thought it would be. It was a quick read but probably not something I would read again.

I am grateful to the publisher for providing me with an eARC through NetGalley. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me.

DNF @ ~40%

In a near-future Britain, where there are rigorous restrictions on energy use for environmental considerations, an elderly couple stumbles upon the severed head of what turns out to be a climate activist, Green Hope. Their daughter, Ellie Sato, "Britain's best investigative journalist," takes it upon herself to solve the crime.

The premise sounded really interesting. I am particularly fascinated by a combination of genre fiction (murder mystery in this case) and real-life issues that can be highlighted through its use (I expected either the climate crisis itself or the governmental control of citizens in the name of a greater good). I wish I had waited a bit before grabbing the eARC for other reviews to start trickling in, because my concerns are basically the same as in those reviews. I should mention that I usually give more chances to a book when it's an ARC, do not readily DNF, and at least try to read further than where I would already DNF a library copy.

So I was committed to trudging through, especially since it's a shorter book. But where it lost me for good is when the protagonist mentioned that she had done a personal favor to V******r f-ing P***n so she would be a welcome refugee in Russia, and a character who is portrayed as overzealous in making sure he doesn't support anything imperialist, colonialist, chauvinistic, or ecocidal—he accepts that as something that gives her credit! Sorry, what? I understand that this is satire, like everything else in this story, but satire, of all genres, is supposed to be politically consistent for it to work.

Okay, back to something more objectively measurable.

Style. I understand that the intention was to support the satirical take with this slightly pompous style, but it's overdone and doesn't really work aesthetically.

Plot. I clearly can't judge the mystery plot in its entirety after DNFing, but one could expect some interesting twists to already happen by 40%.

Characters. Not very convincing. The main protagonist is supposed to be someone who had many adventures, was entangled in international politics, etc., which she wrote about in her best-selling books, and also the proprietor of a large tabloid—but she doesn't read as someone with the life skills to have done any of that. There are also characters that jump out of the box at convenient moments to solve her problems—okay, I concede that reading till the end might have helped to judge if that was meant to indicate their own malicious involvement in the events. But so far there's not actually much "detective work" done; new details just fall onto her by themselves.

Worldbuilding. Mixed: in some aspects, near-future with fascist control vibes; in others, too contemporary-feeling. Also, if in that version of Britain the government is so into "encouraging" citizens' eco-friendly behaviour, why are climate activists still a marginal and outsider flock?

The cover of this book is what first caught my eye - I mean, how can you not feel something looking at that cover? Between the glasses, the flowers, and the beautiful lettering it just sucks you in - or at least it did me! I wasn't read for the way that this book captured me - it had my attention from the very beginning and didn't let go. The crime scene was grisly, and Sato is on such a rush to solve the murder of Green Hope. The twists and turns kept me turning the pages, and I really just loved the shock of so much. Though the ending wasn't anything remarkable on it's own, it worked out well with the overall book and theme of the book!

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Honestly, I chose not to rate this book, but it is a requirement and my review will be rather short.

I DNFed this book. I came in for the cover and the title. The description also interested me, but the cover and title were the starter points for me. Going into the story I was still invested. There became a part where a character was eating her hair. I gagged. Somehow I thought I could continue reading, but that section was so detailed that I continued envisioning it after reading past that part. I believe I was so close to being done with the book, but yeah I could not continue reading.

My 2 stars would be for the cover and the title.

This was very short so made for a quick, easy read. I think the pacing could have been better and the writing felt a bit disjointed at times, however, saying that I still enjoyed it.

Who Killed Green Hope by R.K. Syrus is a short, thought-provoking murder mystery that tackles serious topics like politics, climate change, and the cost of living with some surprisingly humorous moments.
While the book's themes resonated with me, the writing style didn't quite flow for my taste.
The lovely cover caught my eye, but the narrative wasn't my cup of tea.
Fans of socially conscious fiction and mystery enthusiasts might appreciate this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Welcome to a future where the world is facing the imminent consequences of climate change and is restricted on how much energy they can use. This is important given Green Hope was an environmental activist prior to being murdered and becoming one of the Hereford Five, a name given to the five victims whose heads are found on a remote road in a snow storm by an elderly couple. Turns out this couple's daughter is none other than Ellie Sato, renowned journalist and author (Ellie's backstory is apparently explained in Syrus' other books but this novel can be read as a standalone). Ellie finds herself drawn to solve the mystery of who killed Green Hope and these other four victims. She enlists the help of her eccentric roommate and begins to receive tips from interested sources. This all culminates in one of the most stereotypical ways a murder mystery can ... by being one of a handful of people to be invited to a recluse mansion where questions will hopefully be answered, but not before having to come face to face with the killer.

I was originally intrigued by the cover and short description of the book. From the beginning it felt like I had found myself watching a British whodunnit/crime procedural show. Unfortunately, once I got into the meat of the book (keep in mind this is a short, ~4ish hour read), I found myself getting lost in the writing. There were several times when the climate and energy crisis storyline seemed to get in the way or interrupt the murder mystery aspect of the book. Add this in with the writing style itself, where one sentence could span the screen of my kindle due to the use of commas and semicolons. I'm all about variety in sentence structure, but I found myself having to reread for fear I had lost the point.

While this book can be read as a standalone, there are several instances where main characters of the story reference other characters or events that occur in Syrus' other books, which can leave the reader feeling as though they've missed some information. For me a mystery novel can really be judged by the path we take to find out 'whodunnit' - and this fell short. While the big reveal is not necessarily surprising, I found myself confused by the events that led to the Hereford Fives' death and how Ellie pieced the clues together. It feels like too much of her figuring it out happened off page and time was wasted on irrelevant things (like the main character being afraid her roommate has "a lesbian crush" on her). There was a lot of potential for this to be a funny/cozy mystery, but instead I found myself parsing through this futuristic world's political climate.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC.

This book has a beautiful, eye-catching cover and I was so excited to start reading it. Unfortunately, the contents of this book didn't really match the outside.

I had no idea based on the description that this book took place in the future. I also haven't read the other Ellie Sato books, but the book does work as a standalone.

I didn't like the characters in this book and the dialogue was very exposition heavy. Overall I didn't really enjoy the writing and it's really tough to get through books where you don't like the main character.

I'm sure someone would enjoy this, but it wasn't for me.

Entering a murder scene of 5 heads of climate activists, discovered by two retirees on their way home. Who killed them? What happened to their bodies?
Eleanor (Ellie) Sato, a journalist and daughter of the two retirees starts to investigate.
This book touches on climate change, politics and the cost of living in the UK. It does ramble on a bit in these areas while trying to find out who the killer is.
Towards the end of the book, you would think this was becoming a cozy mystery book with some added humorous moments. It got a little confusing with how the Hereford Five came to their deaths, which I had to read that part again. In the end, I wasn't surprised who the killer was, but there aren't as many clues to guess who it could be.
Apart from the storyline, I love the book cover!
Thanks to Netgalley for this book.

THIS COVER IS FANTASTIC! I absolutely adore it! The writing was great as well. It kept you guessing and hooked until the very end. Overall, great job.