Book Review: Off the Air by Christina Estes

 

When Jolene Garcia hears there's been a death at a local radio station, she and her cameraman rush to the location. As she attempts to ascertain who has died, the competition arrives. Jolene does her best to try and get an exclusive, but it just isn't happening. Soon the police reveal that the dead man is indeed controversial talk show host Larry Lemmon. It also comes out that he died under somewhat suspicious circumstances. And while Jolene was the last person to interview him, she still wants and needs an exclusive, preferrably with information on who the killer might be. She works her way through a suspect list she got from one of her sources. Will she be able to find out who the killer is before her recklessness brings her too much danger?

This is Christina Estes debut novel that won the Tony Hillerman Prize. I give it 4 out of 5 stars. 

Jolene is the most well developed character in the book. There were definitely times where I didn't like her or her choices. Overall, she is okay and very ambitious. I wanted to know what would happen with her.

There is a lot of information given as to how a television news program is put together. I skipped over bits of it, but it's interesting in general. It shows how much pressure Jolene was under to produce newsworthy material that would be unique to their station.

The plot moves forward at a decent rate. The end had a nice twist to it. One of the subplots wasn't resolved, unless I missed something. I can see it continuing in another novel about Jolene.

If you enjoy mysteries with an amateur sleuth that also give background into a profession, this could be the book for you. It's generally well written and interesting.

Off the Air  by Christina Estes was released March 26th, 2024 from Minotaur Books.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. This did not affect my review.