Note: This copy of Gabby Greene Knows Whodunit was provided by NetGalley.

I’ve come to realise that despite my love for fantasy and sci-fi, I always find myself coming back to mysteries on occasion as a palette cleanser. This book caught my eye and felt like it would be the ideal cosy break from what was seeming like a monotonous reading routine thus far. Gabby Greene Knows Whodunit by San Tschida is a cosy mystery that is also a romcom. This book is a good example of the state of most stories published today where it always feels like there is too much happening, which takes away from what would have been a neat story otherwise.

The story follows Gabby Greene (surprise surprise), a divorced mother who is also a spy, obviously unbeknownst to her family; except her gay best friend (umm okay). The story takes a dive into what a single working mother has to deal with in terms of taking care of family, the fear of falling in love again, and dealing with your ex; all with the added spy twist to it.

The story for the most part was pretty chill and fun to read. The thing about books like this is to just not think too much about the practicalities of things. For example, how could someone who works as a spy be so mediocre at it? How exactly did she even get recruited being so un-spylike? It also doesn’t help when the organisation she works for also seems to be pretty crappy at what they’re supposed to be excellent at. The story has a decent pace to it. There are twists aplenty, with some that feel wholly unnecessary but are needed to keep the stakes up. The characters were diverse and actually quite fun to read about, and the overall romance works even if it was a bit tedious at times. If we don’t think too much, this book reads like a funny spy comedy nobody asked for that we’d see pop up on netflix as a random valentine’s week release.

It’s decent, but that’s about it. It’s not really something that would be at the top of my recommendations for cosy mysteries, but maybe if I have a subcategory of cosy-mystery-romcoms, it may make the list. Maybe.

Links:

• Goodreads: Gabby Greene Knows Whodunit – Sam Tschida