I don’t tend to gravitate towards mysteries, but I do always have a good time when I read them. So when I saw Definitely Maybe Not a Detective, I had to hit the request button. A cozy mystery on a cold winter night sounds good, right? Today I want to tell you about this book and what I thought.

A big thank you to Netgalley and Bantam for providing me with an eARC to read and review. This doesn’t affect my opinion in any way.

In this delightfully charming rom-com mystery, a woman becomes accidentally entangled in a murder investigation (and with a handsome stranger) when her fake detective agency is enlisted to solve a real homicide—from the bestselling author of the Pancake House Mysteries.

Emersyn Gray is definitely not a detective.

Really, she’s an unemployed twenty-eight-year-old raising her beloved niece in the only place she can afford after her ex-boyfriend ran off with her life a run-down, seniors-only apartment complex that was desperate for tenants. But never fear—her wild best friend has the perfect plan to get Emersyn back on her feet and stick it to her thieving scare him into returning her money by hiring a private investigator to prove he stole it. Only, there won’t be an actual detective, just a fabricated business card from Wyatt Investigations. . .and a ridiculously hot stranger who steps in to play the part—a stranger whose name is, coincidentally, Wyatt.

Emersyn can’t help but notice the real-life Wyatt is capital H-O-T hot, even though she’s wary of his intentions. But her ex does seem flustered, and if she can get her money back and regain control of her life, maybe it’ll finally prove to her parents that she can be a responsible caregiver to her niece.

But the day after they set their plan in motion, the superintendent of Emersyn’s apartment building winds up dead, and her neighbors turn to her fake detective for help after finding one of the phony business cards. With so many eyes on them—or maybe just their eyes on each other—Emersyn and Wyatt agree to take on the case. Now the question Can they solve the murder without getting tangled up in their own fictions—or each other?

Review

Definitely Maybe Not a Detective is a rom-com mystery and it was the cozy type of story I really needed on a dark and cold day. I’m not sure if this is the start of a mystery series, but it did seem that way. There are definitely some things that we stumble upon that feel like they’re definitely a set up for future stories.

This book is easy to read and the writing makes it easy to fly through. Emersyn is definitely not a detective but her best friend thinks it’s just what she needs to get her life on track. Our main character is relatable in some ways. A lot of us have had moments when things just all seem to be going wrong and you just want things to go right for a change. Solving the murder of the superintendent in her building isn’t an easy task. Even more so when she ends up being marked as a suspect as well.

I will say I do feel like Definitely Maybe Not a Detective really wanted to do too much at once and tried fitting in too much humor. Besides the mystery we also have her trying to find a job, maybe falling in love, raising her niece, and some issues with her parents. This had us not really focusing on the murder the story was supposed to be about. I was also able to guess the twist early on in the story.

That being said, I still had a good time reading this story. Sometimes you need a lighter mystery instead of a darker one with everything going on in the world. I do hope Sarah Fox writes more mysteries and see what she does in the future.

I am curious to see if this turns into a series and how it will continue! What’s your favorite kind of book to curl up with on a cold/rainy evening? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear from you.