I Didn't Do It by Jaime Lynn Hendricks Review

 

* This review is spoiler-free *

4/5 ⭐

Tropes

➮ Thriller

➮ General fiction

➮ Book about books

➮ Multiple povs

➮ Suspense

Synopsis

This book is set at a thriller writer convention, Murderpalooza. At this convention, thriller writers come together for book signings. panels, and a final award ceremony at the end of the convention. On the first day of the convention, Kristin Bailey, one of the famous authors at the convention, is reported dead. This story follows the various perspectives of people who all have the motive to be her killer. Each of these people is being threatened by an anonymous Twitter account determined to make them all spill their secrets. An unlikely quartet is formed in the process.

Best Quote From the Book

“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."

My Thoughts

A murder at a thriller author convention, there truly cannot be a more perfect setting. With so many tantalizing suspects, there are many backstories to uncover. Getting to see the perspectives of each of these suspects provides a lot to chew on as a reader. All of the characters have their dirty laundry at risk of becoming part of the limelight. Four different forms of desperation and deception keep the story engaging.

I am personally always a fan of books where writers become the subject of the story. There are often a lot of interesting perspectives on the writing process and insights about how being an author is more than just typing out a story and helping choose a good-looking cover. Going in-depth on the perspectives and lives of four very different authors who all have connections to thriller writing and Kristin provided that behind-the-scenes look I appreciate.

I listened to the audiobook of this story which I think was both a benefit and a deficit. In audiobook format, there is a nice flowing narrative and the ability to hear the emotions of the characters as they happen. The problem is that not all of the characters had separate narrators. At the beginning that made it quite challenging to differentiate between the characters and who had what connection to Kristin. With so many moving parts to keep track of, different voices for all of the main four would've helped a lot in my initial understanding. It was to the point I almost felt the need to take notes to be able to keep up with who was who. 

The other thing that kept this from being rated higher was that all of the twists were isolated to the last 10% of the book. Generally, as a reader, I like to at least have a few twists throughout the story to help keep me on my toes. Instead, Hendricks keeps most of the story a flowing narrative where we find out more but none of it is much of a shock. At the last part of the book, it is like a Scooby Doo all-is-revealed ending. Suddenly many twists come to light, some making more sense than others. 

Overall, I would recommend this book to those who are fans of thrillers and like to see a bit of the behind-the-scenes of being an author. Just maybe keep a notepad by your side when you read or listen to help you not get confused like I did.