Bryce and Thea have been best friends for almost a decade and have a successful true-crime podcast together. Both have feelings for the other and fight them as “inappropriate”, scared to endanger their friendship.

The blurb is too revealing, the mystery really takes over in the second half, whereas the first half focuses on Thea’s and Bryce’s lives and relationship. It could have felt unbalanced yet it doesn’t. The first half sets the scene and allows the reader/listener to get to know the characters – main and secondary – pretty well. Both the MCs and the secondary characters, in particular Thea’s friend Mikey and Bryce’s sister Liv, are more developed than I would have expected from a novella. That’s what I liked best actually, that even though it’s a novella, the author takes the time to paint the characters, their surroundings, let the plot take root organically. The mystery’s resolution feels a teeny bit rushed but not in a bad way, more in an adrenaline-filled way.

It was my first narration by Courtney Bailey, and it was enjoyable. The voices aren’t distinct enough for my taste but the pacing is excellent. If you’re into cosy mysteries with a side of sapphic romance, this novella should do the trick.

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