Dying to Meet You by Sarina Bowen @sarina.bowen @sarinabowen.bsky.social @kathleenearly @caitlinkellyvo @caitlinkellyvo.bsky.social @sarahmollo @harperaudio #DyingToMeetYou

the setup…
Rowan Gallagher is an architect and single mother with a 16-year old daughter, Natalie. She lives in Portland, Maine and is working on a two-year contract to restore an historic mansion for the influential Wincott family. She loves the project but her personal life just hit the skids. The man she’s been dating suddenly and inexplicably dumped her. But! He’s forgotten to turn off his location tracker and Rowan can’t resist taking a peek every now and then. However…a few nights later, she sees he’s parked in front of the mansion, a spot they used to use. Rowan decides to takes her dog Lickie for a walk and perhaps stroll by that spot. Unfortunately, what she finds isn’t a new girlfriend but a dead ex-boyfriend.

the heart of the story…
Even though Rowan was traumatized and called the police, she still manages to stay on their suspect list. Things get even more complicated when her ex and daughter’s father shows back up in town and lands on that list, too. I really liked Rowan and even though she sometimes made some curious choices, she was smart, talented and did better investigating than the detectives. Then there’s a mystery involving the mansion that seemed to be connected.

the narration…
I’m a big fan of Kathleen Early and her storytelling skills and she was great here as Rowan. Caitlin Kelly was perfect as the sometime bratty teen Natalie and Sarah-Mollo Christensen was wonderful as the mysterious Wincott secretary. I enjoyed the performances individually and collectively.

the bottom line…
This is my first by the author, someone I’ve wanted to read for a while and I chose a good one. The characters were well developed and the mystery nicely designed and connected. And, there’s a romance element I wasn’t expecting. I’ll definitely be checking out Bowen’s backlist.

Book Info

• Release Date: May 13, 2025
• Narrators: Kathleen Early, Caitlin Kelly & Sarah Mollo-Christensen
• Audio Length: 12 hours, 33 minutes
• Publisher: HarperAudio

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