The Agathas meets Thursday Murder Club in Amanda Sellet’s latest YA novel, a cozy mystery with a splash of romance.
Some people visit Florida for theme parks and beaches. High school junior Virginia Tillis is there for murder. Accidents, electrocution, tainted hand every victim meets a different end at her grandmother Lainey’s rococo pink condo. Such is life (and death) when you roll with a crew of theater retirees who roleplay murder mysteries from the comfort of their own home in a game they fondly call Killing Me Softly.
But this summer, fictional murder has given way to the very real death of the building's beloved owner and his dramatic last testament has the vultures circling, from estranged relatives to sleazy property developers, dead set on getting the most from his will.
Adding to the tension for Virginia is the appearance of Felix, the cute guy she met at the airport who turns out to be the grandson of one of the condo’s residents. With his charm and musical theater chops, he’s the person Virginia most wants to beat at Killing Me Softly. That is, until the day they discover an actual dead body while playing the game, forcing them to work together to figure out whodunit.
In this comedic mystery about finding the Watson to your Holmes, Virginia and Felix must banter their way from rivals to co-detectives in time to save their eccentric grandparents from a shocking disruption to the community they've always loved.
Some people visit Florida for theme parks and beaches. High school junior Virginia Tillis is there for murder. Accidents, electrocution, tainted hand every victim meets a different end at her grandmother Lainey’s rococo pink condo. Such is life (and death) when you roll with a crew of theater retirees who roleplay murder mysteries from the comfort of their own home in a game they fondly call Killing Me Softly.
But this summer, fictional murder has given way to the very real death of the building's beloved owner and his dramatic last testament has the vultures circling, from estranged relatives to sleazy property developers, dead set on getting the most from his will.
Adding to the tension for Virginia is the appearance of Felix, the cute guy she met at the airport who turns out to be the grandson of one of the condo’s residents. With his charm and musical theater chops, he’s the person Virginia most wants to beat at Killing Me Softly. That is, until the day they discover an actual dead body while playing the game, forcing them to work together to figure out whodunit.
In this comedic mystery about finding the Watson to your Holmes, Virginia and Felix must banter their way from rivals to co-detectives in time to save their eccentric grandparents from a shocking disruption to the community they've always loved.
Title: Flirting With Murder
Author: Amanda Sellet
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Expected Publication Date: April 21, 2026
Review:
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions exprseed here are my own.
I loved the idea of this book. A cute little cozy mystery where YA sluths helping to solve a mystery. It just sounded like fun. And it was fun, enough. But nothing spectacular.
Virginia and Felix were cute enough. Their romance was just ok for me, nothing special. Nothing full of chemistry. It was YA romance appropriate throughout the entire book but I just didn't feel their connection.
I loved the older characters in the book. They were quirky and fun. The building and the residents were the most interesting part of this story, I do wish there was more exploration and development for them.
The mystery was just ok. I didn't feel like it kept on track. There were so many times it wandered off. I just didn't see it as the main theme of the book, which is what it should have been.
The pacing was quite slow for me. I kept waiting for things to happen an they just didn't. I wanted fun, suspense, mystery. This would be what pushed the story forward. But it just wasn't really there.
There was so much potential with how the blurb laid out the plot, but that just didn't come to fruition. The story is cute enough and I can see how it might appeal to the YA audience, but definitely the younger end of that crowd.
Author:
AMANDA SELLET is a former journalist and the author of romcoms for teens and adults, including By the Book, which Booklist described in a starred review as, “impossible to read without laughing out loud.” She loves old movies, baked goods, and embarrassing her teen daughter. Hate to Fake It to You is her adult debut.
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