Book Review: Assume Nothing

In 1985, Kat McCann was six years old when renowned Austrian detective Alik Lisser solved her mother’s murder. And unfortunately proved Kat’s father as the culprit. Ten years later Kat is still obsessed with the heroic criminologist. She’s also addicted to the bestselling novels inspired by Alik’s ingenious deductions—penned by the grande dame of whodunits, who’s a bit of a mystery herself. Kat has devoured them all. Even the one based on her father’s crime.

When Kat and Alik fatefully cross paths again, a friendship evolves, and Alik is delighted to share the secrets of his success with such an eager and clever girl by inviting Kat to solve a murder of her very own. One that challenges everything Kat believes about the detective, an elusive author, and Kat’s notorious past. Now, as fact and fiction and truth and deception collide, it’s all Kat can do to survive the shocking twist ending to her own life story.

Assume Nothing by Joshua Corin will be published December 10, 2024. Thomas & Mercer provided an early galley for review.

I was not familiar with Corin's earlier work in young adult novels and Marvel Comics, but this sounded like an interesting mystery set in a familiar decade. That tone is set right out of the gate when the characters are interacting via an AOL chat room. That certainly takes me back.

However, there were several minuses for me as well. First, there is no real "chapter" structure; the book instead relies on pause breaks throughout which makes it difficult for highly organized folks like me to keep track easily of where they are. Second, I did not connect with the narrative voice; Kat is a high school teen and therefore tells her story in a similar fashion. While this style would most definitely appeal to young adult readers, as an elderly reader I found it a bit unappealing at times. Lastly, it felt unnatural for Kat's friend Dev to say f'ing all the time rather than just swear with the actual word. A college student in the 90's most certainly would have sworn. This seems like the author trying to give the character an edge but avoid offending the reader with constant use of a word that would give a film an R-rating very quickly.

About a third of the way in, the plot takes a huge turn. I can see it being concerning for some readers (I certainly found it to be). To see a path forward from that point, I had to suspend belief and rely on the fact that the narrator is still an inexperienced child. My concern, though, was that Kat would end up being much more than her sixteen years would imply impossible in order to get past these circumstances. Again, it had that YA book feel where characters like this are often found. Despite all the things I did not like about it, I still finished the novel anyway with my concern being very much validated in the end.