This and That with Karen : On Borrowed Crime by Kate Young

Sep 13, 2020

On Borrowed Crime by Kate Young

Hello my cozy friends,

Today I am reviewing On Borrowed Crime by Kate Young this is the first instalment in the "A Jane Doe Book Club Mystery" series. I really enjoyed this story it was a little more gritty than a normal cozy but I loved it! I plan on buying when it comes out in paperback.

The Jane Doe book club enjoys guessing whodunit, but when murder happens in their midst, they discover solving crimes isn't fun and games...

Lyla Moody loves her sleepy little town of Sweet Mountain, Georgia. She likes her job as receptionist for her uncle's private investigative firm, her fellow true crime obsessed Jane Doe members are the friends she's always wanted, and her parents just celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. But recently, with her best friend Melanie on vacation, and her ex-boyfriend and horrible cousin becoming an item and moving in next door to her, her idyllic life is on the fritz. The cherry on top of it all is finding Carol, a member of the club, dead and shoved into a suitcase, left at Lyla's front door.

Unusual circumstances notwithstanding, with Carol's heart condition, the coroner rules Carol's death undetermined. But when they discover the suitcase belongs to Melanie, who had returned from her vacation the following morning, Sweet Mountain police begin to suspect Lyla's best friend. Determined that police are following the wrong trail, to clear her friend's name, and to not allow Carol become one of the club's studied cold cases, Lyla begins to seek out the real killer. That is, until she becomes the one sought after. Now, finding the truth could turn her into the killer's next plot twist, unless she wins the game of cat and mouse.

I found myself engrossed in the story and wanting to read in one sitting. It was suspenseful, and had me on the edge of my seat. It was still a cozy but had elements of a thriller/suspense novel that you don’t normally find in cozies, but with that said it had just the right mixture of everything.

I totally loved the Jane Doe Book Club and I wish I could have a club like that here at home. I liked how Lyla and Mel had each other’s backs throughout the story.

The mystery of the cold cases “Jane Does” was interesting, well plotted, and full of twists and turns as well as a few surprises. I must admit I did suspect the killer mid way through but there were so many red herrings that it wasn’t glaringly obvious.

I am so looking forward to seeing more in this series as well as in Kate’s other series the “Marygene Brown Mysteries”

I highly recommend this series to all my mystery loving friends.