It’s murder most viral in this debut mystery by Olivia Blacke.Bayou transplant Odessa Dean has a lot to learn about life in Brooklyn. So far she’s scored a rent free apartment in one of the nicest neighborhoods around by cat-sitting, and has a new job working at Untapped Books & Café. Hand-selling books and craft beers is easy for Odessa, but making new friends and learning how to ride the … how to ride the subway? Well, that might take her a little extra time.
But things turn more sour than an IPA when the death of a fellow waitress goes viral, caught on camera in the background of a couple’s flash-mob proposal video. Nothing about Bethany’s death feels right to Odessa–neither her sudden departure mid-shift nor the clues that only Odessa seems to catch. As an up-and-coming YouTube star, Bethany had more than one viewer waiting for her to fall from grace.
Determined to prove there’s a killer on the loose, Odessa takes matters into her own hands. But can she pin down Bethany’s killer before they take Odessa offline for good?
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I legit would be the worst PI I had NO clue how dunnit!
I enjoyed this cozy mystery. It was different in a good way. It takes place in New York where the protagonist works in a bookstore/bar/cafe as a waitress. Most of the characters are young, and some of the lingo used I’d never heard before, but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the plot. This was a new author to me, and she did an excellent job of capturing my attention from the beginning and holding it until the last page. The murder mystery was good because it kept me wondering why someone killed the victim.
I enjoyed this fresh take on a cozy mystery. In addition to it’s eye-catching, unique cover and trade paperback presentation, it takes place in New York City and features a young protagonist, neither of which are common place in the world of cozies.
Odessa is apartment-sitting for her aunt in Brooklyn for three months, and has taken up a job waitressing in order to cover her expenses in one of the most expensive cities in the world. But when one of her new coworkers ends up dead, Odessa can’t help obsessing over what everyone else is calling an accident but Odessa is sure is a murder!
I really enjoyed this story and found the cast of characters to be entertaining and quirky without being over-the-top. I hope we see more of the handsome detective and am curious what will happen when the three months of house-sitting are up!
5 stars – 8/10
This is a fascinating first in a new cozy mystery series set in a place that would be exciting to visit. I enjoyed reading about the history of the cozy Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. The characters are primarily new adults who reflect self-confidence and high-tech savvy defined through their actions and conversations. There are laugh out loud scenes, including one very memorable one!
Odessa is taking care of her favorite aunt’s apartment and cat for three months while Melanie tours Europe. Coming from a very different world, Odessa is from a tiny town in Louisiana and has worked only at the Crawdad Shack for six years. That has qualified her to find work as a waitress at the Untapped Books and Café, with a less-than-desirable boss, Todd. She considers him “old” at forty- something; he tended to order people around and rarely had a kind word. One day when Odessa had a day off, he called her to come in and walk Huckleberry, the shop dog. For free, of course.
Shortly before lunch rush, Bethany, another waitress on duty, had to run out for a matter of life and death, promising to be back shortly. But she wasn’t. Todd brought his phone to Odessa to make a Twitter post of the business. After doing so, she noticed a video of a flash mob at a proposal at the nearby park where Bethany said she was going to meet someone. It showed a flash mob, a man proposing to a woman, and a body falling. A body that was wearing the very same neon green as the café employees’ polo shirts.
Odessa ran to where a crowd gathered to see that a sheet covered body. When an arm dropped out, she saw the turquoise owl tattooed on the wrist, just like Bethany had. She fell from the elevated walkway.
Odessa, a true crime podcast enthusiast, decides to find whodunit. The police think it was an accident, but a young, healthy person wouldn’t died from a 15’ drop. Izzy, the cashier Bethany used to hang out with sometimes, didn’t believe Odessa at first. When she learned it was true, she believed what the police said. Izzy could give her just enough information for Odessa to find roommates, boyfriend, and competing YouTube channel owner.
This is the first cozy mystery I’ve read for quite some time where the protagonist is not a relationship, and it was refreshing! While she might be returning home in in a couple months, she isn’t dating, either. Her growing friendship with Izzy is also refreshing, especially due to some of her circumstances. I began to feel like a relic as it was mentioned more than once that 40’s was old, especially since Odessa was in her early 20’s, past her teen years. I was put off by some of the slang used, partly as the words were not defined through my Kindle with easy-to-access Wikipedia and dictionary.
The mystery itself is great; the author has a talent for using plot twists to increase suspense or change who the most likely suspect could be. Whodunit was somewhat of a surprise. I do hope to read in the future that Odessa finds a way to stay in this community that she loves more than she thought possible! I recommend this debut novel to those who appreciate well-plotted cozy mysteries with new adults, cats and dogs, and the backdrop of a renovated historic Brooklyn neighborhood.
From a thankful heart: I received a complimentary copy of this novel, and this is my honest review.
Killer Content by Olivia Blacke is the first A Brooklyn Murder Mystery. Odessa Dean is from Piney Island, Louisiana who finds Brooklyn amazing and overwhelming. She is cat and apartment sitting for her Aunt Melanie who is traveling through Europe. Killer Content is written in the first person allowing us to see things from Odessa’s point-of-view. We learn what she thinks about Brooklyn, the food, the microbrews, the people, etc. Izzy Wilson is a co-worker and Odessa’s friend who ends up living with Odessa when the schoolhouse where she squats is being fumigated. Izzy has a larger personality than Odessa and she could overshadow her. Odessa is an okay character. I just felt she faded into the background at times. She let people take advantage of her (from her boss to Izzy). The contradiction comes with Bethany’s death. Odessa is positive that Bethany was murdered, and she will not stop until she proves it. I felt that the whodunit was not the focus of the story. More time seems devoted to Untapped Books & Café (the people, the food, the brews served). There are a limited number of suspects. Odessa questioned people and dug through trash looking for clues. One piece of information is all that is needed to solve the case. If you are like me and read cozies for the mystery, then you will be disappointed. This is a character driven cozy mystery with the focus on Odessa. I felt there were details that we did not need to know such what Odessa ate for each meal, the weather (it is hot as we are told a few times), the mess Izzy left in the bedroom, the amount of luggage Izzy brought with her). I just felt that some of this minute details were not needed, and they slowed down the progress of the story. There was a repetition of information as well. I believe Killer Content will appeal to those readers in their twenties and thirties (obtain a sample to see if this story suits you). The author did take the time to give needed background information on Odessa as well as the neighborhood (where Odessa lives and works). I liked Rufus Talliwhacker (Aunt Melanie’s cat) plus the bookstore dog. Killer Content is a lighthearted cozy mystery with distasteful trash, flash mob fiasco, nasty neon green, a disobliging detective, a capricious roommate, and mouthwatering microbrews.
Odessa Dean is in Brooklyn, NY, apartment- and cat-sitting for her aunt. As a lifelong resident of Louisiana, New York is a culture shock. The pace is faster, the patience is thinner, and her southern manners don’t mean a thing. To keep her busy, and with some spending money, she finds employment as a waitress at a local café. When one of the other waitresses races out of Untapped Books & Café and asks Odessa to cover for her, Odessa chalks it up to an urgent appointment. Unfortunately, as Odessa is watching a flash-mob proposal on social media, she sees the unmistakable shirt of the Café’s uniform on a body in the background. Ruled an accident by police, Odessa knows Bethany’s death is anything but.
Odessa takes it upon herself to investigate the mysterious demise of Bethany since no one at the police station will listen to her. As Odessa dives further into her own investigation, she ends up with a list of suspects but no real proof. She resorts to hiding evidence from the police, dumpster diving, and porch-surfing in the middle of the night. Not a good way to convince the police they are wrong, and you are right, Odessa!
Killer Content was an interesting and fast read. The cozy concept of a craft being at the forefront of the book didn’t really occur in this story and it was refreshing. Sure, Odessa liked to sew but her hobby wasn’t front and center. We were able to learn more about Odessa than her favorite patterns and sewing machine settings. Don’t get me wrong, I love the themes of cozy mysteries, but the lack of a concrete hobby/craft/artistic lifestyle was a nice change.
Let’s talk a little bit about Odessa. She’s new to New York and is southern to the bone. She was born of manners and kindness. Those she meets in New York, and who appear in this story, not so much. She gives into rude people, lets people talk down to her, and doesn’t defend herself. I found those traits very off-putting about her character. You can be nice, polite, and have manners, and still not let people take advantage of you. As much as I liked Odessa’s fierceness with finding out the truth about Bethany, I didn’t like her meek and mousiness. I hope her character gets a little stronger in the next book. I liked her despite all that, though.
The author created some strong secondary characters. Izzy, Odessa’s friend, is fun and I found her interesting. Parker is a likeable co-worker. Huckleberry, the Untapped Books & Café doggy mascot, is entertaining in his own right. Todd, Odessa’s boss, is a strong character but in a very unlikable way. I didn’t like him and that’s exactly how the author created him. The character development was done well, and I enjoyed the setting for Killer Content. I look forward to the next book.
I was provided a copy of this book read.
Blacke pens a delightful main character in boots-wearing Odessa Dean, a rural Louisiana transplant to Brooklyn. I loved this immersive whodunnit with its diverse cast and unique social media theme.
Odessa is such a charming protagonist. I love how she’s a transplant to the Brooklyn area, which gives her both insight into and appreciation of the New York area. The Untapped Books & Cafe serves as a great work backdrop, and her assessments about waitressing are spot-on. Blacke weaves in the social media aspects in a fun fashion and populates her book with diverse and wonderful characters.
A great mystery that kept me turning the pages to both solve the plot and to enjoy the fictional world. #killermystery
This modern take on the cozy mystery genre is a hit! Odessa Dean is a Southern girl living in NYC working at a cafe in a bookstore while taking care of her aunt’s cat. What’s not to love about that? I loved getting to know her and her friends as she tries to figure out what happened to her co-worker. The mystery kept me guessing until the end. The tweets at the beginning of each chapter were fun. I recommend Killer Content to everyone who wants to travel but is still stuck at home.
Odessa Dean is housesitting for her Aunt in Brooklyn. She comes from a very small town in Louisiana so there is culture shock with her new environment. She is lucky enough that her Aunt lives in an awesome apartment. And she finds a job as a waitress in a cafe/book shop. It sounds like she has a charmed life.
The mystery begins when her coworker, Bethany, dies in a near by park. The cops rule it an accident, but Odessa believes there is something suspicious about her death. She begins digging into Bethany’s life.
I like that Odessa was not as irritating a sleuth as some cozy mystery protagonists. She asks a lot of questions, but goes about it in a nice way. The reveal of the murderer is believable and makes sense. I like it when the murderer doesn’t come entirely out of left field. My only complaint of Odessa as a character is that she seems too nice and lets too many people take advantage of her. I felt annoyed on her behalf.
This is a fun book and Odessa is a great character. I enjoyed reading it and I’m looking forward to reading more in this series.
I received an ARC fron NetGalley and the publisher.
Brooklyn, law-enforcement, family, friendship, cozy-mystery, situational-humor, verbal-humor, amateur-sleuth*****
I’ve just found my new favorite character, Odessa Dean! It doesn’t hurt that she’s from the Bayou and the story takes place in Brooklyn, either. In this story she hasn’t been in NYC very long, is cat sitting for her aunt in a posh apartment, works in a bookshop/cafe (with the manager from Hades), and firmly believes that one of her new work friends was murdered (in spite of what the police and the coroner say). Now the sleuthing begins complete with plot twists and red herrings! The imagery is terrific, the characters are marvelous, and the humor is just my style.
I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley. Thank you!
This book definitely took me back to my waitressing days (though I never witnessed any murders on my break). Odessa Dean has temporarily moved from Louisiana to Williamsburg, Brooklyn to cat-sit for her aunt, and becomes an amateur detective after a coworker at the bookstore/pub where she works is killed in what police are convinced is an accident. Along the way, she’s forced to deal with vegans, bad drivers, unrequited crushes, creepy customers, and literal garbage.
KILLER CONTENT is grounded in online life—Odessa, along with thousands of other people, witnesses the story’s central death in a flash mob video—but what makes it come alive are the face-to-face relationships between its characters. Odessa’s new coworkers, friends, and antagonists are quirky but real and always entertaining, and Odessa herself is a delight: snarky yet good-hearted. My favorite parts about this read are the humorous tidbits such as Odessa’s asides about her annoying Gen X manager, Todd, who thinks he’s still “with it” because he listens to Nine Inch Nails (I feel personally attacked, btw). I’m super excited to read about Odessa’s future adventures in Blacke’s next book, NO MEMES OF ESCAPE! (I love a puntastic title.)
What a fun read! You can’t help but love the main character, Odessa, a spunky waitress from Piney Island Louisiana who is cat-sitting in Brooklyn for a summer. She gets a job at a bookshop/cafe and after barely a week in the big city, is solving a murder! The secondary characters were wonderful, Odessa is sweet without being syrupy, and there was plenty of plot. Ms. Blacke has a clear and humorous voice and a gift for snappy dialogue. I hope we get to see more of Odessa and her friends very soon!