Alex Marks, a quiet, seemingly reserved young woman, has recently moved to New York and is a copywriter for a pharmaceutical company, a job she finds extremely boring. She is a fan of the Dr Constance advice column written by Francis Keen which she claims has gotten her through some very tough times. When Keen is murdered, and the paper advertises for a replacement for her, Alex, impetuously, decides to apply and, to her surprise, she is hired. Although a bit intimidated by her new job, she is excited for the opportunity. But, almost immediately, she senses something is off in the office and with her new boss. Alex decides to do her own investigation into Francis’ death. And then she starts receiving letters threatening that, if she’s not careful, she will end up just like Francis.

For the most part. I really enjoyed I Need You to Read This by Jessa Maxwell. It is well-written and, despite taking some time to set up Alex’s story, Maxwell keeps the story moving by interspersing the narrative with letters to Dear Constance. My major problem, however, is with the character of Alex. Although she clearly has something or someone in her past that she is hiding from, she seems rather naive regarding her own safety and makes some very questionable choices. She trusts some people and believes terrible rumours about others, in both cases, with little to no evidence given how little time she has known them. She also stays alone at night in the newspaper office despite her concerns, then walks home alone and, later, visits Keen’s isolated murder site without capable backup.

Still, overall, there was a lot to like about the novel. It is well-written and kept my attention throughout. Despite my reservations about Alex’s choices, she is a very likeable protagonist. The mystery was interesting and, if some of it was fairly predictable, much of it still kept me guessing and I definitely did not see the end coming. Overall, a fun, entertaining read, perfect for a lazy afternoon with no distractions because, despite my reservations, it's a hard book to put down.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review ( )

This was a fairly good mystery - there were some surprising twists. It was definitely darker than Jessa Maxwell's last book. I feel like Alex should have been smarter about a lot of things given her situation - it would have taken a quick google search to find out more about Tom or Lucy. But I did like the book and will continue to read any more book the author writes. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC. ( )

I thought this was overly predictable but I enjoyed reading it, sometimes you just feel things coming and it is what it is.

I thought the story itself was good. Even though the first half seemed to drag it still had a lot of important pieces of information trickled into it.

It reminded me a lot of Jeneva Rose’s writing, especially Home Is Where The Bodies Are. In the sense that you’re reading it and everything is laid out for you waiting for you to put it together. Not so much that anything is really held back waiting for a big bomb to drop. ( )

In the beginning of Jessa Maxwell’s I Need You to Read This we are introduced to Francis Keen, long time writer of the Dear Constance column in the New York Herald newspaper, only to witness her last moments, as she is stabbed to death in her beach home.

Some months later the story picks up with Alex Marks, a seemingly shy woman with few friends who moved, some time ago, to the Big Apple to start life over again. She works from home writing promotional copy for a pharmaceutical firm. One morning she learns from one of the regulars at the diner where she usually has breakfast that the Herald is recruiting to replace Francis Keen as writer of the Dear Constance column. At home that evening, over a lonely bottle of wine, she impulsively goes online and completes the application for the job, which requires her to write a response to a sample letter to Dear Constance.

Despite the long odds, Alex gets the job. She was an avid reader of Dear Constance, so she finds it comes easy to her to find the right responses to letters - ones that Francis would have written - and she is, it turns out, a pretty perceptive individual able to read people quite quickly.

But she is troubled that what happened at the beach house is still a mystery that’s not been solved. No one has been charged with Francis’ murder. As she begins her new career at the Herald she learns more about Francis, the details of her life, and the people who were closest to her. She finds herself compelled to try to uncover who murdered Francis.

As Alex begins to gather clues, she starts to receive cryptic and threatening letters as details of her own past begin to emerge, a past that she’s been running away from since moving to New York. There is danger for Alex coming not just from her sleuthing into Francis’ murder but from her own secrets.

Jessa Maxwell has written a tight thriller/mystery that moves quickly and carries you along. I read the book in two sittings and found it entertaining and well done. Still, there were a few quibbles I had with the book.

One was that the scenes at the Herald all seemed off somehow. Some of that was purposefully done to add drama (and some red herrings) and keep you on your toes as a reader, and I respect most of that. What I found less than convincing at the Herald was the character of Alex’s boss, the editor. He’s of a type - a throwback to an older generation of newspeople who I don’t think you find in newsrooms these days. He seemed to me to be too much of a stock character.

The other quibble had to do with Alex’s back story and why she was running away and hiding from her past. I just felt that the difficulties she got into in that back story didn’t really fit with the Alex of the Herald - an instant success as an advice columnist due to her ability to size up people and to display an innate perceptiveness into human behavior. I don’t want to give too much away so I’ll just say that I found that disconnect to really detract from the believability of the book.

But, that’s probably too heavy an analysis for what is meant to be a fun summer thriller - and despite those quibbles of mine I did enjoy the book. ( )

Jessa Maxwell's debut novel - The Golden Spoon - was wonderful. But, her newest - I Need You to Read This - is stellar!

Alex Marks is bored with her copyright job. She lives a small life. Reading the Dear Constance advice column is something she does faithfully - until the writer is murdered. On a whim, Alex applies for the job and then...

Wow, I don't want to give any more! The plotting is fresh and fantastic.

I enjoyed listening to the letters and the questions - and what solutions are offered. The other staff in the office are a bit off, but she can deal with that. However, someone is now sent her a warning - in a letter of course. And about 3/4 of the way done, I stopped and rewound to make sure I was hearing right. I was, but I was completely caught off guard. I love being unable to predict what is coming.

I chose to listen to I Need You to Read This. I've said it many times before, but I sometimes find myself more immersed in a tale that's in audio format. This was the case with this book. The reader was Carlotta Brentan and she did a wonderful job of presenting Jessa Maxwell's work. Brentan has created a different voice for each character, female, male and all ages. She speaks clearly and enunciates well. She captures the plot, the action and the dialogue very well with her voice.

An excellent book and a great performance. I'll be watching for Maxwell's next book! ( )