Book Review – It Happened One Murder

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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It Happened One Murder by Liz Lawson
Narrator: Joy Nash, Sean Patrick Hopkins
Published by Sourcebooks Landmark on May 26, 2026
Length: 9 hours 37 minutes
Genres: Mystery, Romance, Romantic Comedy
Pages: 414
Format: ALC, Audiobook
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads

Murder has a way of bringing people together…

Harriet Baker thought that when she left Logan Island, she was leaving for good. But after getting fired from her dream magazine job, she finds herself stuck back in the sleepy New Jersey beach town living with her eccentric mother and desperate to escape.

And her ticket out might be…murder?

When Harriet's extravagant birthday party ends with a dead body, all fingers point to Sara Allbright, the troublesome sister of none other than Nic, Harriet's short-lived fling from years ago that she's been eager to forget. And the feeling is entirely mutual. But murder makes for a good story, and when Harriet is told that she can get her old job back if she writes an article uncovering what really happened the night of her party, she readily agrees. To write her piece, Harriet will need Nic's full cooperation, and if Nic wants to clear his sister's name, he'll need Harriet's investigative skills. But working together? That's less than ideal.

As the two team up to find the real killer, they'll uncover the dark underbelly of their seemingly perfect hometown, uncover long buried feelings, and maybe, just maybe, realize that they might work well together after all.

Julie’s Review:

This is a murder mystery rom-com; a second-chance romance with sass. The murder happens pretty quickly in the story. And I just have to sing “he had it coming” and say case closed. Like, paint me a more deserving douche of a human. Okay okay, maybe people don’t really *deserve* to be murdered. Moving on.

The hilarity of the rom-com starts out when Harriet literally runs into Nic, that is, his big broad chest. Gotta love the running into a wall of a man trope. And she has no idea who he is, because she’s dealing with her quarter life crisis and is being a stuck up little brat of a 26 year old, who just lost her job and moved back in with her parentals. He, a sweet, soft, guy who’s always had a thing for her after their high school fling, and then had a growth spurt so he’s unrecognizable, had his little feelings hurt.

Then they team up to play amateur sleuths to try to solve this case, because she’s trying to get her journalist job back and he wants to clear his sister’s name. And the awkward tension is tensioning. But the pacing of their relationship felt kind of off to me. And they communicated like teenagers.

But Harriet showed a lot of growth by the end of the story, and she had a lot to figure out. Nic, he stayed pretty level because he was already sweet and doing the right things. The murder mystery got a lot more twisted and stakes got high FAST! We went from cozy sleuthing to are we going to have another murder in a hurry.

Harriet goes around accusing everyone with barely a clue, but eventually she figures out what really happened. And in everything must wrap up fashion, finds a way to protect everyone she cares about. That part was.. well gutsy but also a bit unbelievable.

But while their romance went quickly and escalated in that epilogue, it was sweet. And isn’t an HEA what we all want from a rom-com? I would have liked more banter, more teasing, but it was mostly case related or fighting over her motives.

The audio was well done. Both narrators did a great job, especially with the side character accents and voices. Funny aside though the voice style the narrator used for the FMC’s voice sounded too much like Summer from Rick and Morty (not the same voice actress though, I looked it up, just sounded similar). That kind of kept tripping me up picturing someone else. Otherwise, well done.

It’s a quick and enjoyable summer read when you’re looking for something lighter but still with a side of murder and mayhem.

Thanks to Netgalley and Terrace PR for the chance to enjoy this ARC/ALC. Solid 3.5 stars.

 

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Lynn’s Review:

Thanks to Netgalley and Terrace PR for the chance to enjoy this ARC/ALC. Julie was enjoying this book so I thought I should listen as well! This is also a solid listen for me.

Plot: I agree with Julie. The ‘victim’ in this novel was not great, and definitely deserved what he got. What I really enjoyed about this mystery was Harriet and Nic do not glamorize murder investigation. Their amateur detecting is bumbling, jumping to A LOT of wrong conclusions, and strong-arming people to answer their questions. I don’t recall a lot of murder mysteries where we see the nuts and bolts of solving a murder so clearly. The characters are well-developed. Harriet, especially, shows much growth throughout the novel. The small town setting lends itself to the story, with everyone knowing one another. My one main complaint about the plot is the end wraps up very quickly and very tidily. It does makes sense in context with the story, but was unsatisfactory as a reader. 

Romance: Second-chance romance between Harriet and Nic, after a two-week fling post high school. Nic has spent the last 8 years comparing every other person he dates to Harriet. And Harriet hasn’t spent a lot of time thinking about him at all. With their history, some of the scenes between Nic and Harriet are awkward and rather hilarious. This relationship could certainly use more communication between the two characters. But I appreciate how, by the end, Harriet figures out how to use her words and say what she should have said years ago. Steamy kissing, but behind the door intimacy. 

Narration: With the story told from both Nic’s and Harriet’s POV, having two narrators pays off here. Both narrators capture the voices of the main characters as well as the secondary characters. I especially enjoyed Sean Patrick Hopkins’s narration of Nic. Nic’s worry for his sister is at war with his feelings for Harriet, and Hopkins expresses all the emotional range easily.

Enjoyable and solid romance murder-mystery. 4 stars

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