She Doesn't Have a Clue by Jenny Elder Moke ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

She Doesn't Have a Clue is a cozy mystery rom-com mashup. Kate Valentine is invited to the wedding of her ex (who also happens to be her editor) which is taking place on an isolated island off the coast of Seattle. When there is an attempted murder of the bride, she is the prime suspect in the eyes of the guests (after all the scene is identical to the murder in one of her books). In the midst of trying to solve the mystery, she hooks up with the guy she has been in love with since she worked as a ghostwriter for his books. 

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

January 2025; Minotaur Books; 978-1250354983
audio, ebook, print (336 pages); romantic mystery

I love cozy mysteries and I don't mind a little romance in them - actually, most of the series I read have the main character either dating or married. So I thought a cozy rom-com mystery might be cute. What I don't read a lot of are romance novels because I don't care for the sex scenes. 

I loved the mystery in this book. It is a locked-door murder mystery but it involves family and coworkers which always offers a lot of motives and secrets. I also thought it was fun to have a cozy murder writer to be the sleuth in the story. 

I liked the characters. I had trouble remembering Jake was supposed to be Australian as his dialogue didn't have any Australian slang or speech patterns. I liked Jake and Kate together. It is sort of an enemies-to-lovers romance. They were friends when working on Jake's books but a misunderstanding drove them apart (the wedge between them may have been widened by Kate's editor who she dated for a while). 

As long as the book focused on the mystery, I loved it. However, I didn't like it when it veered into descriptive foreplay and eventual sex. It just isn't my cup of tea. However, if you want a steamy cozy mystery then you will love it. 

Because of these sexual detours, I grew bored with the story around the 75% mark and I just wanted to have the mystery solved. And when it did come to solving the mystery in the end it was just kind of rushed in the reveal but it did make sense.

It isn't often that all three of us review the same book, so if you want a different perspective on this book check out MK's review and Susan's review.

Buy She Doesn't Have a Clue at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.

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