The Mortal Enemy Murder Club, Gloria Chao (Review by Aura Johnson)

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

The Mortal Enemy Murder Club picks up after Kathryn “Kat” Hu and her friends survive one murder investigation and are determined to leave amateur sleuthing behind. Kat is ready to focus on her future instead of another crime, but those plans fall apart when Mandy Thorne—the revenge podcaster who made their lives miserable and nearly got them blamed for murder—shows up asking for help. Someone is targeting Mandy, or maybe framing her for murder, and despite everything that happened between them, she believes Kat and her friends are the only people who can figure out who’s behind it.

Working with someone they can barely stand is easier said than done. The group has to put aside old grudges while sorting through suspicious clues, questionable motives, and plenty of chaos. As they get pulled deeper into the case, they realize that almost everyone involved has something to hide, making it hard to know who to trust. Filled with witty dialogue, awkward teamwork, and plenty of unexpected twists, the story blends humor with mystery while showing that even your biggest enemy might end up becoming an unlikely ally when the stakes are high.

I admit, I was a big fan of the first book – it kept me guessing until the very end, however, I am not sure I liked the second book as much. Sure, Mandy’s antics and constant pleas for innocence were entertaining but the book felt a little more scattered than the first one. There were a lot of characters, lots of action, so I had a little bit of a hard time keeping everything straight (but maybe that was the point? Investigations can be chaotic and have a lot of loose ends, right?).

Overall, I enjoyed the book, the murder club adventures, but it might not be a re-read for me. One part of the book that I was VERY much looking forward to was the packages that Mama Hu sent Kat, and I have to say – she did not disappoint!