e-ALC, 08:45:23
Narrated by: Ulka Simone Mohanty
Release Date: January 13, 2026
Published by: Books on Tape
Read from: January 13-16, 2026
Stand-alone
Source: PRH Audio App (I received this ALC free from the publisher and their app. This did nothing to influence my review!)
Content Warning: Murder, Gore, Gun Violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual Assault
For Readers Interested In: 2sLGBTQ, Adult, Audio, Mystery, Realistic Fiction, Thriller, Multiple POVIn this captivating cat-and-mouse thriller, a struggling actress is only just beginning to enjoy the life she’s always wanted after inadvertently killing her rival—but now she must contend with the woman who threatens to take it all away.
Struggling actress Dimple Kapoor wouldn’t call herself a murderer, per se—she’d prefer the term “opportunist.” Years ago, she did what had to be done to get herself out of a bad situation. And now, after accidentally killing her Hollywood rival, Irene Singh, at a party, she’s simply seizing the chance to nab her dream leading role and resuscitate her career in the process. There’s only one someone else at the event witnessed the crime…and caught it all on camera.
With everything she’s ever wanted within reach, Dimple will stop at nothing to keep stardom in her grasp. But Irene’s parents have hired Saffi Mirai Iyer, one of the best private investigators in the business. Living up to her reputation, Saffi immediately zeroes in on Dimple, who feels she has no choice but to raise the stakes. Playing along with Dimple’s façade, Saffi invites her onto the case, suggesting she act as bait to draw out the killer—and as the two women’s cat-and-mouse game intensifies, Saffi starts to wonder if she may have finally met her match.
With their careers at risk, both women must fight the potent chemistry drawing them closer together. Dimple needs Saffi dead and for her theories to die with her. And Saffi needs Dimple behind bars, but catching her elusive prey won’t be so easy—especially as emotions begin to cloud her judgement. When ambition and desire collide, only the most cunning will survive.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I was so excited for this one, but unfortunately it just did not work for me. I don’t really remember a thing that happened in this book despite me writing notes and everything. I just couldn’t get into it.
Ok so the main thing I wanted to talk about was the writing style. It started out SO GOOD! Things start happening from the very beginning and the person who did it sounds unhinged. Unfortunately, after that things start going downhill. I don’t really remember a single scene standing out after that. In my opinion it was boring and I just couldn’t stay engaged with it. By the ending I was just listening to it to finish it.
The writing style was ok. I don’t think there was anything wrong with it. I think if it had been any other genre I wouln’t have had a problem. But for this to be called a thriller and to get one of the POVs from the killer, it just didn’t get thrilling enough for me. I know I might be alone with this, but this felt more like a cozy mystery more than anything else. And labeling mysteries as thrillers is one of my pet peeves. Pair that with everything else going on and I was already annoyed. So when I got to the end of the book, I was over it.
The romance was a big reason this was missing the heavier mystery in my opinion. But it was weird because they were on opposite sides and one of them wanted the other dead. Idk I was already annoyed by then and the romance just didn’t make sense to me and it felt really weird and forced, so I just couldn’t get into it. I was annoyed and I just didn’t care to figure it out more by then.
This wasn’t what I was expecting, but I can still see others who love it. Though it didn’t work for me, there’s always the chance you (or someone you know!) could give it more stars!
Overall, I give this
