Breakaway Books

Authored by Alafair Burke; Published January 2025; Mystery

⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️

The Note is rooted in this very particular, very current, period of history: a post-pandemic setting, the heroine still struggling with the after-effects of COVID-19 along with the implications of being canceled. I’m not sure that its closeness to the present made it the most enjoyable novel to read, but it was difficult to put down.

The Note follows May, an attorney turned law professor, as she reunites with her old friends from summer camp, Kelsey and Lauren. All three women have had their share of negative media attention and find comfort in the bond they share. But their trip to the Hamptons turns risky when a prank played against a rude stranger turns into a murder investigation where they are the prime suspects. The three women’s friendship is tested as they come under scrutiny for crimes past and present.

I do love novels that feature female friendships, but this one undoubtedly made me uncomfortable in its realism. The bond between May, Kelsey and Lauren hid many lies told and uncomfortable truths omitted, and the fights that broke out when all of it came to light were difficult to read. It felt a little too close to home, particularly when Kelsey lashed out at May for disappearing when Kelsey needed her most. Who has not either stepped a way from a friend when they were needed, or been abandoned themselves? The three women can be difficult to love: in turns, privileged, stubborn, and haughty, and I did not exactly relish every page I spent with them. And while I understood the friends’ disapproval of Josh, May’s fiancé whom they did not know, I couldn’t help but feel that he was unnecessarily vilified for trying to protect his partner.

As a mystery, though, I found the novel difficult to put down. The author slowly, masterfully reveals more details about each woman’s past and how each one received their “canceled” status. The depth of their connection to the crime in the Hamptons is uncovered in slow drips, and I was always eager to know what disturbing revelation would come next. While I did guess the big bad relatively early in the novel, I really hadn’t the faintest idea of how the crimes were accomplished. Plus, it didn’t hurt to imagine myself luxuriating in an Airbnb in the Hamptons along the way.

The Note is a fun mystery, as long as you don’t mind reliving the drama that can come with some female friendships.