Thank you for the copy I tried to get into this one but it just wasn’t for me. That’s more about me as a reader rather than the book.
The premise was great but I just wasn’t immersed in the story.
I suggest people that love the music industry give this a try.

I am rating based on writing and fairness.

Ordinarily neo-noir and heartwarming feel like they should be oxymorons but that's exactly what this book provides: a moody, atmospheric tale of murder, music, and found family. Martin and Valerie make up the Wade detective agency. They run background checks, scour pawn shops for hocked jewelry, and catch philandering spouses in the act. When a woman walks in with a familiar face that Martin can't quite place, it's the first step in a sequence that will lead to him facing down demons from deep in his past.

If you're a music nerd, this will be right up your alley. The references scatter throughout write their own playlist to accompany the story.

This isn’t a unique story and there’s nothing new here but the way the author used music simply elevated everything about it.

I will have to recommend it to everyone I know as it is like a secret shorthand throughout the book. A must read for any fan of Rock.

Thanks to NetGalley & Datura for allowing me to read the ARC for this book coming out on September 10th.

This book was an average read. I enjoyed the connection to music throughout a lot. If you know music, then the way the author used it to describe emotions would make sense to you. As someone who works in the music industry I did really enjoy that portion of it. As for the plot itself, it felt very all over the place to me. I feel like things were happening extremely quick and there was no smooth flow as things were revealed. I did enjoy the Hannah Montana-esque feel to the character who is the victim in the book. Definitely interesting seeing that from a mature point of view.

Valerie was honestly such a hard character to like. She just seemed so unsure of herself constantly and it really just bothered me. I understand why she was like that but I feel like it was just too much non stop throughout the book. I did like the character of Martin a lot. He is definitely the ideal anti-hero.

Martin Wade is the former hard-living, barely-made-it-out-alive lead singer of a punk band, now in recovery and working as a private investigator in a similarly bedraggled city in upstate New York. He’s training an assistant, Valerie, who has abruptly returned to town, covered in tattoos and scarred, hiding something. When a young woman hires Martin to follow her estranged father to see if he is still using drugs, Martin is thrown off his game to learn the father is his former bandmate. As his life comes back to haunt him, his demons arrive too.
This noir, with lots of alternative rock references, builds momentum slowly then throws the reader for loop after loop. If you like noir, and especially if you like alternative music, you’ll love this edgy suspense novel.
Thank you to NetGalley and Datura Books for an opportunity to read an advance review copy.

The girl is negative, but the review is not! Libby Cudmore has written a very interesting story that for sure will hook the reader and keep them enthralled until the story is over.

Negative Girl took me about 1/2 the book to get into but once I was in it; I couldn’t put it down. I enjoyed the characters and it was very character driven. Unfortunately the constant references to songs, bands, and albums had me a little lost; I didn’t understand a lot of the references and they overwhelmed the novel for me. Also, I feel the ending was predictable. I guessed what happened before I read it and I like a good surprise or twist ending. Overall, a solid 3 stars.

Thank you @daturabooks, @record_saturday, and NetGalley for the eArc in exchange for my honest and unbiased review!

I had to look up the definition of a “neo-noir thriller” which has been applied to this book as I had not come across it before. Seems to refer to themes with lots of sex and violence. Having read the book I do not think it really fits into this category. And I might not have read it if I had read this definition beforehand.
I really enjoyed the book however. A Private Investigator in a sleepy upstate New York town who was in a briefly successful band before drugs and booze wrecked things was a good backdrop for the lead character Martin. He and his assistant Valerie are fully fleshed out characters with plenty of secrets in the past and it is easy to feel empathy with them.
There are lots of quite detailed musical references in the book which verged on becoming a bit too much for me even though I am also an Elvis Costello fan. Music and music themed establishments are a big part of the book.
A new client for Martin has connections with his past and she is soon found dead, drowned in a river. The police feel there is no crime but Martin and Valerie come to think otherwise and doggedly pursue the case, despite the dangers of reconnecting with some of their past. There are not a vast numbers of characters to be suspects so it is not a big surprise to find out who the killer is at the end. But it is a very enjoyable read getting there.
Thanks to NetGalley and Datura for the ARC.

A dark crime novel set in the forgotten landscape of American society. Though well written, I could not engage with the story and failed to finish.

Negative Girl is a brilliant exploration of redemption, obsession, and the dark underbelly of forgotten America. If you're looking for a thriller that combines deep character study with an intense, fast-paced plot, this is the book for you. Highly recommend!