EXCERPT: May wasn't sure she would even have recognized Kelsey if she happened to pass her on the street. And then she realized that was exactly the point. Beautiful women turn heads, which means they get attention, which means they could be identified as the woman who may or may not have been involved in an estranged husband's murder.
What had brought May, Lauren and Kelsey together again was the shared anguish of becoming notorious. But not all notoriety is the same. As hard as May and Lauren had been tumbled around in the media cycle, the scrutiny to which Kelsey was exposed after Luke was killed dwarfed their experiences many times over. Kelsey wasn't accused by strangers of being "problematic" or "toxic." She was accused of hiring someone to murder her husband.

ABOUT 'THE NOTE': It was only meant to be a prank . . .

May has always been the good girl, the rule follower.

But even good girls have secrets.

When she reunites with her two best friends for a holiday in the Hamptons, a drunken joke lands the trio in the middle of a missing persons investigation.

As the case takes a deadly turn, and long buried secrets are uncovered, the three friends are suddenly unsure who they can trust, least of all each other.

MY THOUGHTS: The Note is the second book I have read by Alafair Burke, and I'm afraid it will be my last.

I loved the synopsis and had high hopes for this read. Instead, I quickly became disenchanted. There was far too much 'telling' rather than 'showing'. The writing style is quite dry, and I seriously considered dnfing this read several times. I skimmed and sighed and wandered off to do other things. In the end I decided to bite the bullet and just finish it.

There are a lot of twists and turns in the narrative, but the way they are presented kills any suspense. And hot damn, I just love a good serving of suspense!

There is a lot of repetition, far too much dialogue and too many social issues - race, #me t00, the covid pandemic, social media . . . the list just goes on.

Then there's the characters . . . just one character I could feel a little sympathy for, go in to bat for, would have been nice.

These three women are just awful! May wants to control everyone and has a tendency to jump to conclusions and lose her sh*t over things. Lauren is more laid back but is in a relationship with a married man, focuses on keeping the friendships alive (WHY???) and tends to 'baby' Kelsey. Kelsey comes from a wealthy family and is indebted to her father whom she works for. All three have secrets (*eye roll*), scandalous pasts and all manipulate one another in some way.

There was a lot of potential in this book, but unfortunately the execution let it down. I have now decided that Alafair Burke's writing is not for me. I did enjoy the author's notes at the end where she talks (in bullet points) about how this book came about.

⭐⭐

#TheNote #NetGalley

MEET THE AUTHOR: Alafair S. Burke is an American female author who specializes in writing crime novels. Apart from writing novels, she a legal commentator for radio shows and programs as well as a law professor teaching criminal law at the Hofstra school of law. She was born in October 1969 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Alafair Burke is the daughter of the famous author James Lee Burke who is known for writing various best-selling crime novels. James Burke used to be a professor of English while her mother was a librarian during her early years.

She has earned a powerful reputation of creating credible, strong and likeable characters like Samantha Kincaid and Ellie Hatcher in her books. She has plenty of experience in crime derived from working as a prosecutor in America’s police precincts and other criminal courtrooms that she has managed to work in.

Alafair has always been fascinated by the horrible things human beings are capable of doing, the type of strategies employed to solve such crimes and punish the offenders. Her novels are based on real-world crime cases and both her personal and professional experience making them not only credible but authentic.

Apart from reading, writing and solving crime, Alafair loves to listen to spaz music, watching lots of television series and programs, cooking, playing golf and drinking wine.

Alafair is married to Sean and they share a love for animals among other passions. (Source: bookseriesinorder.com - abridged)

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Faber and Faber Ltd via NetGalley for providing an e-ARC of The Note by Alafair Burke for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

I really enjoyed this twisty thriller. This book focuses on three friends - Kelsey, May and Lauren who meet up to holiday in the Hampton. . What starts as a drunken prank , ends up in a nightmare for them . There was lots of tension between the women which resulted in lies and buried secrets.. I really enjoyed the twists and turns and the fast paced drama. I can’t wait to read more by this author!

This was a really interesting, twisty thriller and I enjoyed the story a lot. I will say I found there to be some fluff in parts, and I found I predicted the killer before they were revealed, but it was a really interesting story that picked apart long-term female friendship.

Three friends reunite for the first time in years for a few days of fun, however a chance encounter leads to a prank that goes wrong. When they find themselves at the centre of a police investigation they begin to wonder what secrets are being kept from one another.

I liked the premise of friends going away and a prank going horribly wrong, while also finding the cover engaging, so was interested to read this. Even though this was an easy read, unfortunately it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. I found the story felt overly long and developed slowly, while also finding it hard at times to distinguish between characters. I found as the story went on it became more repetitive and predictable, while the overall story left me underwhelmed. Even though this specific story wasn’t for me, I can see potential in the authors writing style so wouldn’t be put off reading more by her in the future. 2.5 stars rounded down. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

Thanks netgalley for this interesting book, though I did find it at times over long and it got a little complicated at times.
May who had always. Been a good girl she was a lawyer
,May sent away to the Hamptons with her two friends Lauren and Kelsey for a catch up they had been friends since childhood but rarely saw each other.
The house they rented on the ocean was brilliant and they were determined to have fun.
Driving into town for dinner it was difficult to find a parking space and Eventually they did when a man pushed them out the way and took their space.
As a prank they left a note on the car which led to terrible events and a murder.

Well... wasn't this all things delightfully over the top and a bit on the bonkers side. In a good way, I hasten to add.
We start with three friends who met at camp many years ago. They are all completely different, backgrounds as well as what has happened to each in the time between meeting and the present day. Although there are some parallels but I'll leave you to find these out yourself. They really shouldn't be friends at all, but they are, and for reasons that we will eventually find out. That said, their friendship has been somewhat hit and miss over the years and, when we first catch up with them, they are getting together in person for the first time in absolutely ages. In a posh rented house in the Hamptons.
What follows will have you gasping, laughing, rolling your eyes, and everything inbetween as a "chance encounter" with a "stranger" involving a joke note left on a windscreen leads to a missing person. An event that subsequently leads to a criminal investigation which unearths so many secrets and lies, as well as uncovering a whole bunch of dysfunctional behaviour, all going back years. So much that it actually becomes a bit eye-rolly, over the top in places, so convoluted and interconnected it ended up being. But all that said, it was compelling reading and so fast paced that the words pretty much flew off the page.
And the ending, when it came, was only a shock to me as I had already guessed it and was totally shocked I was right, as it really could have gone anywhere given all of what was happening!
And the characters, well, where do I start. Flawed would be an understatement, and although they do have the occasional redeeming quality, I didn't find any of them to be very likeable. Not that that really matters, as long as I make some connection with them, positive or negative, and I did.
So yeah, if you like your stories and characters to be a little OTT and are willing to accept all the things that happen to and around these three women, then I think you'll have a blast with this book.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Alafair Burke is an author that I had heard of before but this was the first time I had read anything by her. And OUTLIER ALERT! I'm afraid to say that I really didn't like this book.
In fact, I disliked it right from the start and unfortunately that didn't improve the more I read.
To me this felt like it was the second book in a series, it did what felt like to me a cliff notes recap of what had happened to the characters before this story began, which felt really jarring and like I was missing out a big part of the backstory.
Now, onto the characters. None of them were likeable and they all blurred into one.
I also didn't like the writing. It felt very basic and surface level and I just couldn't get on with it.
Therefore this made it really hard for me to get into the plot and after about 10% I wanted to DNF but as I had an ARC copy I wanted to continue, but the only way I could was by skim reading the rest of the book.
The whole book lacked any tension, suspense or mystery and I found it boring and flat and I never once was interested in the story or characters.
This does have a lot of good reviews but it was a complete and total miss for me.

This was such an intense thriller, I loved its fast pace and it definitely had me gripped and not knowing who to trust.

Started off with a prank note, this story shows how quickly things can unravel and fester. It jumps between the current day and an earlier time with three friends and their lives. All with different backgrounds, the book highlights their tenuous friendship at times and how they pull together when necessary. Plenty of twists and turns and a great ending too.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC to review

Three friends, who haven’t seen much of one another lately, decide to have a “girls’ holiday”. They all have had unpleasant incidents in their past and are hoping to get away from it all. When someone takes their parking place they make up a note accusing the male of infidelity to relieve their feelings but one of them puts it under the windscreen of the car. Then the male involved gives missing, which gives them the dilemma of whether or not to own up

An interesting and quite unusual storyline, plus I liked the differing characteristics of the three main characters

Growing up, May Hanover was a good girl, always. Well-behaved, top of her class, a compulsive rule-follower. Raised by a first generation Chinese single mother with high expectations. May didn't have room to slip up, let alone fall. Her friends didn't call her the little sheriff for nothing. But even good girls have secrets. And regrets. When it comes to her friendship with Lauren and Kelsey, she's had her fair share of both. Their bond - forged when May was just twelve-years-old - has withstood a tragic accident, individual scandals, heartbreak and loss. Now the three friends have reunited for the first time in years for a few days of sun and fun in the Hamptons. But a chance encounter with a pair of strangers leads to a drunken prank that goes horribly wrong.

May, Lauren and Kelsey have been friends since childhood. They decide to go to Hamptons for a few days. But a harmless prank reveals secrets and lies, and the friends realise they don't know each other as well as they thought they did. What was supposed to be a fun break, ends with them being investigated by the police.

I neither liked nor disliked the characters in this book, but they were all well-developed. There were reveals and twists to hold our attention. The pace was steady in this well-written book.

Published 24th April 2025

I would like to thank #NetGalley #FaberandFaber and the author #AlafairBurke for my ARC of #TheNote in exchange for an honest review.

A fairly classic premise for a story, three women who have been friends since childhood go away for a weekend and their drunken antics and past secrets come back to haunt them. All three of them have fairly complicated backstories which interlink and cross over so there is a level of interest and intrigue when a man goes missing then found dead and it turns out he also interlinks into their pasts. I think the main reason I’m only lukewarm on this book is because I really didn’t warm to the main characters, they’re all quite entitled, woe is me, selfish and not actually that likeable, I didn’t really relate to the shallow American themes of weekends away in the Hamptons or summer camp so it went over my head quite a bit and didn’t really interest or engage me in that respect. That aside it was a reasonable enough plot and I didn’t entirely guess the ending, so points there.

Friends May, Kelsey and Lauren have known each other for years, first meeting at a summer camp for musical prodigies – but they’ve found a new level of closeness as adults because all three have had their names dragged through the press in separate incidents of public shaming. The “Cancelled Crew” haven’t spent time together in real life since their childhood – so a post-pandemic trip to the Hamptons and a stay in a luxury AirBnb is a real chance to reconnect in person. Despite May’s anxiousness about the trip, upon arrival it just seems like a regular girls’ weekend away: the trio drink, laugh and talk about old times, sharing stories, relaxing into each other’s company – until a boozy lunch leads to the note making an appearance, and their entire world begins to shift on its axis. May, Kelsey and Lauren might say they share everything, but it transpires that they’ve all been keeping their own secrets, and the myriad threads holding the trio together begin to unravel fast: how well do they really know their supposed BFFs? The Note is a thought-provoking slow-burn suspense novel that gradually pieces its puzzle together almost in plain sight, yet it’s still an extremely satisfying read. Burke’s rich characterisation and the trio’s detail-laden backstories means the novel feels as though you’re hearing a story about friends one-step-removed, with all the complexities and messy nuance involved in real people: a good reminder that everyone contains multitudes.

i dont understand these friendships. they seem toxic as. but this book centers around 3 friends who all come together at a time of need. or get together at a time of scandal in their own lives. they dont trust each other. they dont seem to like each other much. but they all find themselves needing anyone to salve their heads or ease some of their current life choices. but they dont seem to want to tell or talk to each other about any of these things!
anyway on this get together a prank goes wrong. which leads to a missing persons case in which they all become involved.
but did they do something,one or all?
i was kept guessing throughout all of this. i couldnt quite figure out the woman nor the plot. it seemed really toxic and a little like current themes wanted to be included just because they were a tick list not because they were the telling of a good plot. but maybe thats me. because with this type of plot maybe all those themes were actually relevant.
it wasnt my best read this month. but it wasnt without its good thriller vibes so i can definitely see this being enjoyed by many.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for sending me an ARC of The Note.

This was a decent read. Easy enough to follow, with secrets abound from the past resurfacing at the worst possible times for 3 long standing friends who get drunk and leave a note on a car windscreen, ultimately for a joke revenge prank. Sometimes these things don’t turn out well….

A decent read, my first by this author, and won’t be my last.

May, Kelsey and Lauren get together for a reunion in the Hamptons with lots of drunken fun. A parking row turns serious when the man goes missing, and is hound murdered. The women all have secrets and they are getting revealed as the investigation is carried out and they are potential suspects. The.three friends don't trust each other and are constantly testing each other to see if their friendship is strong enough. The ending came as a surprise, a good plot twist.
A fast paced and good read.

I requested this modern novel by Alafair Burke as an ARC because of its iconic setting of the Hamptons. It is here, in this enclave of the wealthy and the rich, that three friends meet to revive their former friendship, should this be possible, and to lie low for a while. May Hanover is a Chinese-American district attorney whose subway altercation with a stranger has gone public, Lauren Berry is an acclaimed classical musician who has been ostracised after she engaged in adultery, and Kelsey Ellis is the surviving wife of a rising chef whose murder remains unsolved. None of the women appeared particularly likeable to me, but the mystery that developed after the women play a drunken trick on an unsuspecting tourist couple that involves the 'note' referred to in the novel's title, had me reading on till the end. Definitely a novel for fans of contemporary, dark domestic noir – and my thanks go to NetGalley and to the publishers for letting me read it, resulting in this unbiased and honest book review.

Lauren, Kelly and Kelsey meet up at a summer camp for the musically gifted who soon become fast friends. Despite vowing to remain fast friends, life intervenes and over the years they grow apart.
Each has their own struggles to contend with. Lauren has an affair with a prominent married man leading to issues with her career. Kelsey's husband is murdered and May is captured on camera having a meltdown in a subway over mask wearing regulations with the footage subsequently going viral

After each trying to face up to their life -changing experiences, they decide to meet up for a grand reunion in The Hamptons.

Early on in their trip, a chance encounter with a stranger leads to a row breaking out over their parking space being taken. A note left on the strangers car windscreen soon turns into something darker, turning their lives upside down yet again.

Just what is in the note, who left it and what are the toxic repercussions? Juicy story with lots of twists to keep you guessing

Kelsey, May and Lauren are three friends who first met when they were young at a camp for the musically gifted. Each of them has been involved in a scandal that led to them being cancelled on social media so they call themselves the Cancelled Crew. They are on a trip together to the Hamptons, when a thoughtless note written as a drunk prank leads them into big trouble.

While these three women might think of each other as friends, they are all hiding secrets from each other and it’s the untangling of these secrets and relationships which is really the focus of the book. And it’s a very toxic and tangled web indeed. There’s plenty of suspense and surprise twists as it all unfurls. Although I am a fan of Alafair Burke, and this is an entertaining, fast paced read, it didn’t quite hit the mark for me, perhaps because it was hard to empathise with any of the women and the situation they had got themselves into.

Lauren, May and Kelsey - friends who catch up in the Hamptons waiting for a parking space when someone steals it.

After quite a few drinks leave a note behind the windscreen

This book just didn't do it for me the characters got lost with each other and just took to long to get going