This book was so real to me. I was invested from the start! Jane/Searcher had such a raw and complicated character arc, investing time both in the murders and her father's past.
This book was a really interesting look into the internet sleuth/ online true crime community. Things like this will always interest people, but the team in the book investigating in the way they do, with such composure had me re-evaluating their characters. I thought that this would be a look into the crime obsessed people who take things too far and remove the victims of their dignity. Of course, sometimes that was the case with this book, but the group had real intentions of solving the case.
It also took a look at the faults and failures of the police department. The contamination of evidence, the racism that occurs, preventing victims and families of victims justice by not taking the same quick action they would if it were a white person.
Such a complex take on crime investigations, and true crime communities, coming together but also clashing.
Of course, we need to talk about the outstanding plot, and character arc. This was my first read of anything by Ashley Winstead, but she has become a must read for me now. The pacing and the reveals and the energy this book held in its pages was something else. It reimagined the depth of with someone would go to to protect the ones they loved, to complete something they had become far too involved in to let go.
Jane was marvellous. From her finding the murder weapon in her very first case to the address she wrote in the very last chapter, she knew herself by the end. Knew in her bones the way she had impacted the lives of the people around her, and what her actions would mean. But she did it anyway, because what else was she supposed to do.
Citizen. Those Heathers references had me from the very first moment he called Jane Veronica. It was too much for me to look past it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My first ARC read and I’m so pleased it was this book.

Really enjoyed the true crime aspect of this book. Kept it interesting and made me like all the main characters. Didn’t expect the twist at all… was slightly sad as was hoping for a bit of romance amongst the murders!

This is the first Ashley Winstead book I’ve read. I have in my dreams I hold a knife on my TBR. I will definitely be reading that one next. Great book!!

Written as a fictitious true crime memoir, "This Book Will Bury Me" takes inspiration from real-life murder cases (which the author talks about in the foreword) and the ever-growing world of true crime – looking at it as an entertainment but also as an investigative tool. Is web sleuthing doing more harm or good? At which point does one outweigh the other?

While being fictitious, this novel also holds a mirror to our reality. As a person with a keen interest in true crime, I loved this insight into motivations and attitudes toward true crime and web sleuths. The author did a great job capturing the spirit of social media frenzy, the commodification of death and gore, and how amateur sleuthing could be a double-edged sword when bystanders’ accusations and speculations turn into actions.

True crime aficionados will recognize "easter eggs" related to the genre and inspiration taken from various real-life cases. I can see how said inspiration may be controversial. On one hand, it evokes our strong emotions that we felt looking into those cases, watching and listening to true crime videos and podcasts (especially related to Idaho 4). It gives an additional emotional layer to the story (one that a fictional murder case probably wouldn’t be able to elicit). We can relate to chosen characters’ feelings because we had them at some point, so during reading about a fictional case, we are reliving what we felt, observing the true case in real time. On the other hand, tackling (even as inspiration) an ongoing real case and creating a scenario that’s not real but eerily similar to it means that we could ask about the place for the books like This Book Will Bury Me in the true-crime-adjacent spaces. Is this kind of inspiration allowed according to readers/true crime community? Could those aforementioned emotions blur lines between fact and fiction, and in turn – could it affect how one or the other person will be perceived in real life? Can a case be too fresh and too painful to be used as an inspiration for a crime novel? There are elements taken from the Idaho 4 case that I’m still thinking about, and maybe, for the time being, it would be better to introduce more fictional elements when it comes to details, especially if their source is so hotly discussed, full of what-ifs and unsolved loose threads. But I have to confirm – it is thought-provoking.

Looking at "This Book Will Bury Me" only as a crime novel, I must admit that I flew through the story, becoming part of the investigating squad myself. Uncovering new clues was engaging, especially with the main character, Jane, foreshadowing that something sinister is coming our way. I was actively looking for the perpetrator, turning pages in anticipation if I was right. The more we venture into the story, the more it becomes clear that we are in the fully fictional territory, so it is clear that "This Book Will Bury Me" is not set to solve a real murder case, just – and I'm using those words NOT in relation to the inspiration itself – to give us entertainment and fun while observing the final showdown and conclusion.

There is also a subplot that deserves an honorable mention; Jane is not only a web sleuth but also a young woman grieving her father’s death. Her thoughts and reflections were heart-wrenching, and I found myself mulling over many of her words.

2.5 rounded down for goodreads and netgalley.
Unfortunately, I have a few issues with this book. But I did appreciate the inventiveness of the plot, and it was easy to read.
However, it was too long. Some moments could have been easily cut. Also, it was quite slow-paced. But it would have been way worse without the short chapters.
The characters are quite well-developed. Of the main group, my favorite was Mistress. She is a quick-thinker and I liked her open mind. Searcher and Lightly were okay, even though I didn’t like them very much. But Citizen and Goku were despicable. From the start, I had a bad feeling with them. They are such sexist and misogynistic characters — for instance, they are extremely quick to think that because the victims were stabbed, the perpetrator was a man. I absolutely hated that, it infuriated me. They were so closed-minded.
As I said, the plot itself was inventive. But in a way, it also lacked originality… Why were all the victims female? It was truly annoying to get a different idea in a thriller but to end up reading about the same goddamn plot again. Maybe it is more realistic this way, but this is a fiction book. It could be… I don’t know, a bit different from the reality maybe?
And I did not like the conclusion at all. I thought it was too easy and it purely is a matter of preference here, I just hate this king of ending in any thriller or mystery book.

Thank you to Netgalley for an e-ARC in exchange for a honest review.

💻 This Book Will Bury Me • Ashley Winsted 💻
★★★.𝟱

Read if you enjoy:
💻 Thriller
💻 True crime
💻 Amateur sleuthing
💻 Don’t F*ck With Cats

After losing her father, Jane Sharp falls into a rabbit hole of grief. Replacing an empty hole in her heart with a true crime obsession. As she seeks answers for victims of crime, she also seeks answers to the question, did she really know her father?

I sincerely enjoy the concept of amateur sleuthing, armchair detecting and crime forum lurkers to catch a killer. I found this book really well written and genuinely unputdownable. If it wasn’t for the intensely raw subject matter, this would have been a five star thriller for me. But I found basing this book on a crime which is still at trial is shady at best and tasteless at worst, hence the lowered rating.

My sincere thanks to NetGalley, Ashley Winstead, Aria&Aries and Head of Zeus for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

4,5/5
Everything starts with Jane and a phone call from her mother. A phone call that will divide Jane's world in two parts – the carefree life of a student before and the grief of a daughter who lost her beloved dad after.
Jane returns home and soon she starts feeling lost and anxious. That's when she finds a true crime forum with amateur sleuths trying to solve various cases. She gets hooked almost instantly. Some of the fellow sleuths quickly become a second family to her. And then there's a triple murder in a sleepy college town in Idaho. Everybody is talking about it. Everyone wants to solve it – Jane and her virtual family included.
The book is loosely inspired by the death of four college students murdered in 2022 in Moscow, Idaho, allegedly by a criminology doctoral student named Bryan Kohberger (his trial is set for summer 2025).
It's a beautiful letter to the true crime community, but I would not call it a “love” letter per se, it's much too detailed, raw and sincere to be one. While acknowledging fully the advantages, virtues and accomplishments of said community, Ashley Winstead does not refrain from portaying the uglier, controversial aspects of internet sleuthing, like invasion of privacy, witch hunting, blurring the lines of the law, ego competitions.
The internet has power – the community is equally able to save a life and make it a living hell. And this kind of power may be intoxicating, not to mention dangerous.
In a nutshell, it's an absolute must-read for every true crime fan out there. I loved “In My Dreams I Hold A Knife”, but this book is at least a level higher in terms of maturity and character building; it's also much more grounded and has a much more stronger spine than “Midnight Is the Darkest Hour”. I loved it.

#ThisBookWillBuryMe #NetGalley

This Book Will Bury Me is a true pageturner of a book that kept me at the edge of my seat all day (and all night)! The plot was twisty and wonderful, and in addition to the true crime storyline I really liked the idea of how a found family can give a new purpose in life and help you heal.

As a Finnish person living thousands of miles away from Indiana I remember hearing about the case that this book is based on but didn't know everything that had happened, so this was a fictional read for me - but don't know what it would have been like had I been more familiar with the real-life events.

All in all, This Book Will Bury Me is a fantastically suspenseful rollercoaster ride and I loved the way it was told from the young 'Searcher's' point of view. If crime thrillers is your jam then you need to check this one out!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7338317886

Thankyou so much for the ARC of “this book will bury me”

"If you're reading this, chances are last year you flipped on the news and saw me getting shoved to my knees in the dirt, hands wrestled behind my back, gun-toting FBI agents swarming like ants around me into that three-story house. God only knows what the headline below my face must've read."

I can’t lie — I’ve had a strange curiosity about true crime, why it happens, how it happens, how people get caught and get away. But I’m also curious about whether it’s possible to ethically consume this kind of content whether for education or entertainment. For some, it feels like preparing, learning, maybe even finding community - and to others, it’s just an amusing, disconnected pastime, stories told over the newest contour technique. And this book goes for the jugular with an incisive commentary on the commercialisation and fanatical consumption of true crime today both by the consumers and the reporters, including certain real-life crime cases that made it all feel so very real.

Our narrator Janeway starts us talking right to the reader, inviting us into her mind to explore how she got involved with true crime fans with a personal, direct tone and plenty of thoughts trailing off. Her voice was almost professional, polite - but we get to know her as the pace picks up and more of her personality starts to creep in. But do we know her? Or create that strange para-social relationship based on what we think we know, what she tells us?

It moves slowly, snippets of grieving, investigation, talking with fellow sleuths, scouring the internet for clues and dealing with the intricacies of armchair detective work. It felt longer than it was. And unfortunately it felt so, so stretched out that I struggled a lot to keep interest. Not enough happened for so many words despite the first third of the book building up tension that for me just lost momentum in the space between.

Now, there’s a lot of discussion in the bookish community about the similarities between the actual book and a current case that hasn’t even been tried yet. And whilst at first I respected the authors note saying she referenced other true crimes, using such a recent tragedy as the basis of your own story when you comment on the immortality of that in said story is not the meta punchline it may seem but is actually quite careless but I’m hoping Winstead will address this and explain before I jump on the witch hunt.

Some people will very much love this and parts of it were fascinating with a brilliant concept but the execution and length just didn’t match the clearly creative ideas for me.

This floored me. It was poignant and heart-breaking, looking at the individual tragedies caught up in this case and the way characters were drawn in by their own traumas to this investigation. It is a searing indictment of the true-crime industry and how internet sleuths can both help and hinder a case.

First off, I am a big fan of Ashley Winstead so I was over the moon when I was approved for this arc! Unfortunately though, I had to DNF this one. In the authors note, she does say that she pulled inspiration from a real case (I'm not familiar with it, as I stay away from true crime) but it just made me feel very uncomfortable knowing where she got the inspiration. I'm not really sure what the objective was, with using a real case in a novel about the obsession with true crime? Unless I'm totally missing the point!

Giving this a 3 star, since not finishing was 100% a me issue!

This is my first read from Ashley Winstead. I had high expectations for this book but the book couldn't match it. It started with a bang after some chapters I felt some drag and again it picked up the pace towards the end. The characters are well written, for some reason I couldn't connect much to the main character Janeway . The premise was intriguing but it didn’t end up working for me. I thank netgalley for the eARC copy.

Loved the premise and the title, but felt both undelivered unfortunately. The story started slow for me and didn’t hook me, though I am glad I continued reading as I began to enjoy it halfway through and felt it picked up pace and suspense. Given the times we live in, I think the questions raised about true crime obsession and the ethics surrounding it were really interesting and timely. I didn’t guess the ending which I was pleased about. Overall I enjoyed, but didn’t find it the page turner I was expecting it to be. I also felt it could have been edited to be shorter.

Grieving can affect a person in both good and bad ways, but here our FMC, Jane Sharp, struggles with the death of her dad and discovers her obsession with true crime—not just true crime, but solving it. Here, she finds solace in an online community of amateur sleuths and becomes deeply involved in solving a high-profile case involving the deaths of three college girls in Delphine, Idaho.

This book keeps me on edge; it’s gripping and chilling. The author’s writing is sharp and engaging, which is why, even though it’s so long, I still keep on reading it. It has 92 chapters, which makes it intimidating, but personally, it’s worth reading! Also, this shows how technology or social media can help to solve crimes. But what I realized is that being active on social media can be a gift or a curse.

Overall, if you’re a fan of true crime, suspense, and gripping stories with psychological depth, then you should read this one!

Sadly, this was underwhelming. I absolutely loved In My Dreams I Hold A Knife and Midnight is the Darkest Hour but this one just didn’t tick the right boxes for me.

From the sound of it I really thought it would be the type of thriller I’d enjoy - true crime narrative, found family, female protagonist at the forefront - but there were quite a few elements that let it down.
Firstly, I love a long novel but this one felt bloated and slow. It usually wouldn’t take me too long to get through a 500 page book but this one took me forever because I was never itching to pick it back up. Secondly, the main character ended up a bit flat, and finally, I became uncomfortable finding out the inspiration for the book half way through - a slew of relatively recent real life murders that remain unsolved and are still under investigation. It ended up feeling distasteful.

Thank you to Head of Zeus for allowing me to read this early copy in exchange for my thoughts.

I really enjoy crime thrillers, and really wanted to enjoy This Book Will Bury Me.

I used to lurk around on Internet message boards and fully got the fact that here is a gaggle of people from different backgrounds that have the same interest. So the amateur sleuth aspect really interested me.

Also the Star Trek references were interesting.

However, I found this novel was to in depth and went in directions I just couldn’t fathom. The crime goul aspect of going to the town where a multiple murder occurred; ingratiating yourself with victims family’s. I just found this mind boggling and I just found that I wasn’t particularly interested in getting to the end of the novel.

A pity as I had high hopes.

I read this book and then went on to google the idaho murders that inspired it. It really felt a bit too close to home for me since the murders, a massacre on the idaho university campus only happened in 2022. A bit too close for comfort for my liking,

Upon reflection, not for me as a reader. Thank you to the publisher for my copy. I don't think Ashley Winstead is an author for me. I found this to be quite a bland thriller.

Thank you to Head of Zeus publishers and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After Jane’s dad dies, she finds comfort in TheRealCrimeNetwork.com where she makes friends with amateur sleuths. When three college students are stabbed to death, her and her friends meet up in real life to try and solve the case.

This book was inspired by real-life crimes, including the Idaho State murders. I’m not going to comment on that, but I know that it’s ruffled some feathers.

The book itself, I found incredibly dull. The first 20% and the last 10% were okay even though the last 10% was rushed. This is one I probably should have DNF’d.

I struggled to connect with the characters and I found the story was written in a confusing and clunky manner. I could see that it was done intentionally to try and give you that shocking twist moment, yet it just didn’t have that impact. It was all very predictable

I had high hopes for this one as I love true crime vibes but it unfortunately was not for me.

ARC Review

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and the publisher (Head of Zeus) for an eARC of “This Book Will Bury Me” in exchange for an honest review.

As a consumer of true crime content, the premise of this book is what caught my eye. The story pulls you in Winstead builds tension while drip feeding the story from the POV of the narrator. Her world is rather tragic and so it’s easy to see how the FMC’s descent into obsession could happen. But as I got deeper into the book, I noted the eerie similarities to a current, ongoing case in Idaho, USA made me deeply uncomfortable. At times, it felt too close to reality, almost exploitative, and I seriously considered putting the book down.

The story does make the reader question not just how we consume true crime, but also where the line is between storytelling and profiting off real tragedy. With so many available platforms, we can easily fall into consuming these stories without thought for the people behind them.
The novel does attempt to critique this culture, but I’m not sure it fully did that for me.

While I appreciated themes the narrative dragged at times, and the ending left me a little flat. I would’ve loved a sharper critique to bring it all together.

If you love true crime but are ready to question your own fascination with it, give it a try.