An e book bargain-The Carpool Detectives

A True Story of Four Moms, Two Bodies, and One Mysterious Cold Case

by Chuck Hogan

#TheCarpoolDetectives #NetGalley

I confess that I do not really read true crime although I would list crime and mystery fiction as a great love. I find the world way too full of bad things already so choose fictional murders for my pleasure reading. Still, I felt a prickle of curiosity when I received an invitation to read this one. It certainly turned out to be interesting.

The Publisher’s Description:

A lot of us like to think we could solve a mystery. Can these four moms actually do it?

In 2020, Marissa, Jeannie, Samira, and Nicole find themselves at a familiar crossroads: when motherhood takes charge of their lives, they begin grappling with their own identities. Their thriving careers seem like a lifetime ago, and as their children become more independent, they struggle to find purpose. But when they meet at a bowling night fundraiser for their kids’ school, they discover a shared interest in true crime that crystalizes around a mysterious double homicide that took place in their hometown a decade earlier: A couple in their 60s vanished overnight from their home and mysteriously shuttered their family business, leaving millions of dollars unaccounted for. Initially believed to have absconded with the money, they went from suspects to victims when their bodies were discovered in their car at the bottom of a steep ravine. And then the case turned cold.

But what if the moms could solve it? What if they could bring a killer to justice and give closure to a grieving family?

The four women have no connection to the case and no law-enforcement background, but the determined group find themselves in incredible and often dangerous situations–digging for evidence in prohibited ravines, scouring potential crime scenes for blood splatter, and sifting through pages and pages of dense police files. As they get more and more entangled in this complex investigation, they also find themselves in real danger—and with information that could blow the case wide open.

An emotional and often terrifying odyssey through a DIY criminal investigation, The Carpool Detectives is the ultimate wish fulfillment for any true crime fanatic, an absolutely thrilling read for armchair sleuths and mystery fans alike.

My thoughts:

This book read quite a bit like fiction. The four women did something remarkable in investigating this case, beginning with a somewhat naive Marissa (not her real name) wanting to explore the events and drawing in some other moms as well. I don’t think that I want to be a real investigator but this book will, I think, appeal to many who long for exactly this.

Kirkus Reviews describes this book as a “Riveting read about real-life Nancy Drews that seems destined for the big or small screen.”

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 29 July 2025

352 pages

True Crime

From the Publisher