A review by stephsbooktalk
Swiped by L.M. Chilton

4.5

4.5 - Thank you so much to Gallery Books for the gifted copy of the book (physical and ebook)!
Thank you so much to Simon Audio & Libro FM for the complimentary audiobook!

"Do you ever think all this joking around is just a defence mechanism?"
"Could be. Or it could just be that I'm naturally hilarious."

I am kicking myself for not reading this sooner. I had such a great time with reading this one. I had no idea what to expect but this book is a mix of a cozy mystery, romance (very minimal), humor all balled up under 300 pages.

We all have gone on bad dates but what if suddenly your bad dates all end up dying? That is the predicament that Gwen finds herself in. When I thought I knew where the story was going, it changed and new theories floated through my brain. I can't say too much about what happens but I do love that we get to see what happened on each of the dates to make them "bad". I also had to chuckle about how Gwen had to explain to the police how bad dating is out there (which I do not miss those days but the quote below still rang true in my early 20s).

"Honestly, you have no idea what it's like on the dating scene. It's bloody hard work. You have to put the hours in, talking nonsense to hundreds of bell-ends in the vain hope that one of them turns out to have a vaguely more personality than a baked potato."

I felt bad for Gwen in a sense because as a reader we didn't know if she was an unreliable narrator or if she was really put in this horrible position. We see her wheels turning and trying to figure out what is happening and who would do this. Now was some of it far fetched, yes but not as much as you would think but when you are trying to figure out who is ruining your life and murdering people, you have a right to be a little unhinged.

I paired my reading with the audiobook and thought Georgia Maguire did a fabulous job! Sometimes I struggle with British narrators but I had no issues with this (also could be because of story itself). I thought her tone with the humor and snark was great.

Check this book out if you are looking for a cozy mystery with fun dialogue and a whirlwind ending!