Emily is a fun protagonist that I enjoyed cheering for with a unique spin as an influencer. And, of course, the way to my heart is including a dog in a book! Author,
Sydney Leigh, created a cool mystery and I enjoyed my first book by her!

Sadly I found this one to be rather slow and guessed the twist really early on so the whodunnit aspect wasn’t the best for me. I will say I enjoyed the main character and liked having someone to root for, but I felt it missed the mark in some areas overall e.g. the relationship with Noah, with the buildup I was expecting more to come from it. Decent characters and I liked the writing style with the blog posts but not one for me.

I really enjoyed Peril in Pink by this author so when her new book was available, I needed to request it. It was easy to read, enjoyable, fun, and quick!

Instagoner is the first book in the new Bark and Blog Mystery series written by Sydney Leigh. The sleuth is lifestyle blogger Emily Dalle, who gets mixed up in the murder of the Queen of Mean, a controversial talk show host with a vicious gossip feed. Emily enlists her blog followers to solve the mystery. She ends up in the killer's sights and has to solve the mystery before the killer comes for her.

This cozy has a fun, modern vibe. The sleuth has an interesting profession, a quirky best friend, and a cute dog. I liked the concept of a lifestyle blogger crowdsourcing clues. It felt like cozy crime meets true crime. I would continue on with this series.

Thanks to Level Best Books and Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for a fair review. All opinions are my own.

Fun read and a perfect palette cleanser between literary reads.

With the town of Eliot HIll, Sydney Leigh has created a twon that I would love to visit, even live in, regardless of the murder and bike gangs. Supported by a charming cast of characters, including her best friend Fitz the barista and her furry companion Murray, our lead character Emily is ready to face any challenges, whether it's an internet stalker, career moves with her mother or a run in with her ex.

I look forward to returning to Eliot Hill in future books and following up with Emily and friends.

Oh my gosh, the different twists this book had. It's so good. It kind of reminds me of the Good Girls Guide to murder. She doesn't stop looking for information and uses social media and then gets herself into trouble. It's very good and keeps your attention the entire time. I really liked this book.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc!!

This book was so fun, I had such a great time reading it.

Will definitely pick up more from this author!

If you find joy in the whimsical dance between digital life and reality, this book might just become your new guilty pleasure.

In Instagoner, Sydney Leigh invites readers into the colourful yet chaotic life of Emily, a social media influencer with a penchant for poking her nose where it doesn’t belong—specifically, the local sheriff’s business. Set against the charming backdrop of Eliot Hill, New York, and above her best friend Fitzwilliam's Longbourn Café, Emily's story is a blend of humour, friendship, and amateur sleuthing that feels both relatable and, at times, utterly absurd.

Emily is the quintessential influencer, navigating her fluid schedule with the grace of a cat on a hot tin roof. While I found her relentless curiosity about small-town affairs amusing, it often bordered on irritating—like that friend who insists on knowing your business but can't remember your birthday. Her antics raise a thought-provoking question: in a world where influencers thrive on engagement, is there such a thing as too much curiosity?

The dynamic between Emily and Fitz is the novel’s heart, with their witty banter illuminating the complexities of friendship in the digital age. Fitz’s jibes about Emily’s “profanity diet” serve regular sniggers. However, the inclusion of supporting characters like Murray the dog and the token gay best friend felt a tad clichéd, as if they’d wandered in from a different, less imaginative narrative.

I couldn’t help but wonder about Emily’s living situation—what does her apartment look like? Surely it reflects her influencer aesthetic, but the details were elusive. While she claims to don heavy make-up for her online persona, I found myself craving more insights into the dichotomy between her curated image and her authentic self. Is her life a beautifully staged photo, or is there a messiness beneath the surface that remains unexplored?

As a reader who typically steers clear of cosy mysteries, Instagoner challenged my expectations in delightful ways. I found myself reevaluating what I enjoy in a narrative—who knew that an influencer's escapades could lead to such introspection?

"3.25 stars. I LOVEd the protagonist's career and backstory. Reading about her blogging and social media job was fascinating, and I loved the drama between everyone. However, I wish there wasn't any cursing in this (it was minimal, but still). I also felt like the subplot with her mom wasn't really wrapped up.

Thank you to Netgalley for the eArc of this book. All thoughts are my own!"

I am including this book in an upcoming reading vlog. It's just not edited yet.

Great mystery!

This one had me going, I definitely fell for several of the red herrings which is always fun! To me the point of a good mystery is that the author sends me on a bit of a wild goose chase before giving me enough bread crumbs to unravel the mystery along with the sleuth.

The victim had a lot of enemies so to begin the mystery with so many possible suspects was kind of fun too! It was trying to rule out people instead of trying to hunt down one or two possible suspects, which was a different approach to a mystery and I enjoyed it.

Instagoner had a fun premise with the main character working as an online influencer who had a tumultuous history with the victim. And we got a little bit of a budding romance between our sleuth and the detective (I'm hoping this blossoms into more in future books!). There is no spice in this book.

For me the pacing was a bit off at the beginning, the first five chapters came so fast it felt like trying to drink from a fire hydrant between finding the victim, learning about the history between our FMC and the victim, and meeting all of the side characters plus the setting - it was a lot. After that the book slowed down and I was able to get my bearings a bit, and that was the reason for the lowered star rating. Otherwise, I enjoyed the mystery!

*note for my squeaky clean readers - this book did have a couple of instances of taking the Lord's name in vein and one d-word, but otherwise no swearing.*

This was a little boring for me and I do find influencers to be pretty vapid most of the time. I thought this was going to be more of a cozy mystery than it was. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second book from Sydney Leigh that I have read.
Instagoner I just loved, I liked that it brought modern day to day life to a book such as an influencer lifestyle.
I feel instagoner is a huge progress for Sydney and makes me excited to read more from her

I received this book from NetGalley.

So far the book is pretty slow going. I'm 22% in and the murder has happened but not much else.

Also, I had no real problems with Emily until she started arguing with Noah. He's the sheriff, aside from being her best friend's brother, and she doesn't listen to him at all about getting involved in a homicide investigation! Doesn't even listen to reason, and people like that just annoy me. She gives off very much entitled influencer vibes.

Becka also runs over Grant's garden when they don't even know if he has anything to do with Jackie's murder. Again, immature and entitled. Just not likeable.

Also, isn't it weird that she's an influencer and doesn't even know that you can search by image on Google. This is a pretty old feature.

To be fair, it's probably on me that I chose a book about an influencer when most of the time I find this behaviour entitled.

I feel that there isn't much chemistry between Emily and Noah and it just feels a little forced and thrown together at the end.

Overall, decent idea but took too long to get anywhere.

I really wanted to like this book. Cozy mystery, coffee shop apartment, big dog, cute policeman - it had such good elements. But as a whole I found this to be too much. The plot is chaotic and the FMC is kind of annoying. She makes so many awful decisions and constantly messes with the investigation, it was frustrating to read. Not my cup of tea but I could see what other people would like about it.

This was such a fun cozy mystery. Emily was so fun to see what kind of mischief she could get into, and what fun non-cuss words she would cone up with!

This cozy murder mystery took me by complete surprise, i binged this one in a weekend (which is saying something when you’re a mom of two 😂)

When a local television host is murdered, the main character, Emily, takes it upon herself to use her unique platform as an influencer to assist in the investigation.

This one has the whodunit aspect lumped in with some strong friendships, small town scene and an easy to love pup as a sidekick. Literally, everything you need for a great, easy ready. It had me forming all kinds of suspicions and ultimately kept me guessing until the end.

If you’re looking for something quick to take on a weekend vacation or something you can read in your spare time (hey moms, that school pickup line or during the kiddos extra circulars) then I recommend snagging this one!

I loved this book!!!! You wouldn't really think there's a way to make murder hilarious but somehow Sydney Leigh does just that in Instagoner! It's fun to read a book when the main character has the slightly unhinged same thoughts as I do!

InstaGoner is a classic cozy mystery, full of murder, mystery, small-town gossip, and all the coffee you can handle! If you like cozies with lovable BFF’s and canine companions, with a little romance-seeking in the side, then this books is for you!

Thank you @sydneyleighauthor & @levelbestbooks @netgalley for my complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

After enjoying Sydney Leigh’s debut novel, 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙋𝙞𝙣𝙠, I knew I had to read her next book, which is the first installment in a charming new cozy mystery series.

With well-developed characters and an intricate plot that includes rivalries, boyfriend-stealing, backstabbing, and jealousies, this one has everything I love in a good mystery! Add to that a lovable dog, good friends, and a few cupcakes and I’m all in. I highly recommend this enjoyable read!

4.5 stars rounded up!

This book was such a blast from start to finish! I started it on a whim and couldn't put it down! It was so easy to read and get enthralled in!

I loved all the characters and the different dimensions of all of their relationships!

It was nice to read a mystery that wasn't super heavy and dark, but one that also kept me turning pages! This is a hard combination to find lately, so I'm so glad I found this book. It was such a perfect palate cleanser for me after many heavy reads.

Fans of Finlay Donovan, Arsenic and Adobo, and Thursday Murder Club should definitely check out this addicting cozy mystery.

I am excited to go back and read her debut and am eager to see what she releases next!