I Didn’t Do It
I Didn’t Do It
By: Jaime Lynn Hendricks
“I’m not a stupid character in a stupid book who turns into a murderer for no reason.”
This was a fun murder mystery told from the perspective of thriller authors. It is also a personal attack on Twitter which I am totally here for.
I say fun not because it’s a ‘cozy’ mystery or because it’s meant to be funny, but because it’s a great concept and format for a thriller novel:
A convention for mystery/thriller authors called Murderpalooza. A nominee for the big award is murdered at the hotel. Several other authors in attendance have a connection to the victim and all have a secret. Except someone else knows their secrets and is exposing them on Twitter.
They work together, even as they’re suspicious of each other and willing to throw each other under the bus, to solve the murder mystery story they are living, clear their names, and survive another day.
“If anyone can solve Kristin’s murder, it’s going to be thriller writers, especially once everyone finds out she had secrets. This is what we do for a living. We take something horrible happening to someone normal and create a dense backstory rife with mystery. As readers, we pick apart every breadcrumb left by the author, and nine times out of ten, we figure out the ending.”
It’s one of those stories where you feel like any of them— or none of them— could be the killer and it’s hard to feel too confident that you have it figured out!
I really liked the ending and thought this was a well-written book!
The story is told through multiple POVs by this cast of characters/suspects:
Kristin: nominee and writer from Iowa (woop woop… unfortunately Heimer, Iowa is fiction) who is stabbed at the convention; she was the secret co-author to Mike, secret lover to Vicky’s boyfriend, stalked by Suzanne, and was part of Davis’ former Midwest writing group of which another member died in a car accident
Her chapters are labeled ‘night before’ or ‘morning of the murder’ to give us more clues as to what was going on around that time.
Davis: the most talked about and sought after writer at the convention with his new bestselling, money-making book that’s sure to win the award the next year
"All I can think about are the promises Kristin and I made to each other. Does this mean I don’t have to deliver anymore?”
"Narcissism is a disease, I swear. I’m the poster boy. Although is it really narcissism if I know I have it?”Mike: old-news author who is hoping to revamp his career with his new book he’s writing with a secret co-author (Kristin)
"The manuscript… I’m totally screwed once someone else reads it. The storyline is a little close to home… This isn’t just career suicide. This can be evidence, and evidence that does not paint me in a flattering light.”
"No one has hit on me for half a decade. That comes with being a has-been. There was that one…”Vicky: nominee and author trying to get her agent to do more for her instead of focusing only on Davis; also has a penchant for ‘deleting’ crutch words from her thought narrative
"Now, my boyfriend’s girlfriend— also my competition— is dead, and it doesn’t look good for me.”
“Thank goodness her cell phone rings and stops the absolute rage I’m about to expel out of my wine hole.”Suzanne: new author trying to make a name for herself and is looking forward to using her ‘friendship’ (aka obsession) with Kristin to get it
"Please don’t let this be about me and what happened this morning.”
"It’s a bad habit of mine, talking to strangers. I’m the one who becomes Instagram friends with my Uber drivers.”
The “Twitter Murder Stalker Person” (which is an amazing name for the nameless person) has all the dirt on all of them and one by one feeds the Twitter mob their confidential information turning the spotlight on them. Not to mention TMSP is threatening that one of them might be next!
How will they survive the next few days— physically and professionally?!
It was a fun and interesting world to be part of for awhile! We read all the thrillers, but who are these writers behind the books? I’m not sure how accurate it all is, but it’s interesting to get a taste of the author-world and what it might take to get a bestseller!
I was entertained by these comments, most of which are author/writing-related:
“writers have a commonly used phrase that only translates on paper: he smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. No one thinks that or says it out loud. Ever.”
“Everyone likes the splishy-splashy friend-with-a-past-secret-wrecking-everyone’s-life novel.”
“Ah. Romance. Self-publishing. The death knell in Thriller World, according to me— it’s like assuming you’re going to win an Oscar when you’re a soap opera star.”
I don’t know if this is a real sentiment of the author or not. I hope to publish a memoir someday but self-publishing may be my only option unless a publisher gives me a chance so hopefully I won’t be despised by the author community…
“His audience—older readers who like slow-burn political detective stories— is being replaced with the fast-paced beach read with a hundred twists and turns.”
Which one am I?!
“Authors ran on caffeine and self-doubt.”
“Only authors and avid readers would be able to recognize an author by face.”
I can’t recognize everyone’s face, but I could recognize James Patterson because his face looks the exact same on the back of every single one of his books. It cracks me up and I will never forget it.
The not-so-subtle jabs at Twitter were some of my favorite parts of this book! Personally, I’m not on Twitter, but I’m aware of its dangers and its mob. And this book was a good reminder of how Twitter— and social media in general— can ruin people’s lives pretty easily even, or especially, with comments that are not true. Do the work and stop believing everything you read and hear without fact-checking it first!
“Twitter. The bane of every author’s existence.”
“You know the Twitter mob, their narrative is the gold standard until enough of them jump on something else. Short memories.”
“I don’t read Book Twitter; it’s ridiculous. It’s a bunch of people puffed up on their own opinions who literally bully people into thinking like them and cancel everyone who doesn’t, instantly. They complain about people bullying others, yet don’t see the hypocrisy.”
“These people think admitting they were wrong about what they vehemently retweeted is worse than actually being wrong. So they leave it up. And they repeat it. And then it’s reality.”
“where Twitter itself proves it’s the cesspool of life. The worse of the worst go and hide behind their avatars, or whatever they’re called, and just gang up on people.”
A couple other random quotes I felt compelled to share:
Vicky has “a short-sleeved black dress— with pockets. The female holy grail.”—I couldn’t agree more with this description.
“Illinois winters are no joke, and for the first decade of my life, horrific clanking noises came from the basement whenever it snowed or the wind got out of control… everything made creepy sounds… and I was always terrified to investigate.” —- If this isn’t paying homage to Home Alone, I don’t know what is.
Recommendation
I really want to recommend this book to everyone, but my big qualm with it is that it had a lot of swearing and some crude language by a couple of the characters. If it weren’t for that, it would for sure be a must-read!
If you can get past the language, I think you’ll find you really enjoy this one!
It’s not a hard-hitting thriller, but it’s got a lot of good components: creative concept, diverse characters, red herrings, mystery, suspense, twists, some humor, a Twitter-trashing, and a good ending. It’s not going to keep you up at night but I think you’ll come away thinking- ‘That was fun to read!’
[Content Advisory: 61 f-words, 81 s-words; no sexual content but some innuendo and crude talk by a couple characters]
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
This book released May, 2023. You can order a copy of this book using my affiliate link below.
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