[Review] This Book Will Bury Me - Ashley Winstead

Summary: After the unexpected death of her father, college student Jane Sharp longs for a distraction from her grief. She becomes obsessed with true crime, befriending armchair detectives who teach her how to hunt killers from afar. In this morbid internet underground, Jane finds friendship, purpose, and even glory...

So when news of the shocking deaths of three college girls in Delphine, Idaho takes the world by storm, and sleuths everywhere race to solve the crimes, Jane and her friends are determined to beat them. But the case turns out to be stranger than anyone expected. Details don't add up, the police are cagey, and there seems to be more media hype and internet theorizing than actual evidence. When Jane and her sleuths take a step closer, they find that every answer only begs more questions. Something's not adding up, and they begin to suspect their killer may be smarter and more prolific than any they've faced before. Placing themselves in the center of the story starts to feel more and more like walking into a trap...

Told one year after the astounding events that concluded the case and left the world reeling, when Jane has finally decided to break her silence about what really happened, she tells the true story of the Delphine Massacres. And what she has to confess will shock even the most seasoned true crime fans...

(Pub Date: Mar 25 2025)

 

3+

Grieving her hero of a father, unable to understand what led him to risk his life when choosing not to follow medical advice, Jane joins a group of dedicated online sleuths and gains notoriety in solving murders. But the pride that comes with the fame becomes their downfall when the groups starts competing with the police in a high profile case.

The book is narrated in first person by Jane, who seems to be writing a tell-all book after something went gruesomely wrong. It's an interesting choice, complete with references and everything that will convince you to be reading a true-crime. Also, it gives the author a good excuse to just hand us the bare minimum and keep us curious, as the fictional readers would already know how it happened but we need to content ourselves with Jane's quick mentions of future events. It's great bait.

At the same time it was a lot of expectation. The conclusion is okay, but it was underwhelming. Even before that, it reaches a point you know it won't be all that. A lot of things bothering me about how the group came to be, I was sure it would be explained but then it wasn't. Not really.

This is a good read. You'll certainly enjoy it because there's little in there for anyone not to. But the promise that it would be more was its worst enemy. Maybe I would have felt it was a 4-star had I known it.

I did like the author and her style. I'd been considering getting one of her works for a while, and this didn't make me regret it. On the contrary, I'm looking forward to more.

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Rating: 3 out of 5.