Book Review - Mean Sisters by Lindsay Emory

Amazon UK

Title: Mean Sisters

Author: Lindsay Emory

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Avon

Publication Date: 17th March 2016

Rating: 4 Stars

A sassy, hilariously funny murder mystery where the closest bonds of friendship might just kill you…!

Margot Blythe is a twenty-something year old who can’t seem to let her college glory days go. After all, everyone deserves a family of ‘sisters’ like she had. When she’s invited to speak at her alma mater, her homecoming reception isn’t exactly what she expected. Tragedy strikes and Margot has to step up, especially when foul play is suspected.

She’s going to save her fifty frazzled ‘sisters’, keep the suspicious (but dangerously cute) police officer at bay and find out the truth – could a sister have committed such an unimaginable sin as murder?

Margot is going to learn the real bond of sisterhood and maybe, just maybe, discover where she truly belongs.

Mean Sisters is a murder mystery, but without the gore and grit of many books in this genre, and is quite light hearted, with a great sense of humor to it. It is set right in the heart of the American sorority system, and it was refreshing as someone who has been reading a large amount of British based books recently, to read something clearly all-American. 

There is a note at the start of the book, to let the reader know there is a glossary as the back of the book. Although its easy to navigate an ebook, I would have preferred the glossary at the front to have read it up front, to give me a better idea of exactly what some of the terminology was. 

Margot Blythe was in the greek system, and didn't leave it after graduating, taking a job for six years with the chapter at a more national level. Her job means she travels all over The States, advising and mentoring at the local chapters of her sorority, and then she is asked back to her alma mater, the college where she graduated. 

During that evenings chapter meeting, a sister drops dead, and sparks a police investigation, and internal investigations. Just why is the death suspicious, and who did it, are two of the things Margot is determined to find out, while upholding the principles of the sisterhood, even if it gets her in trouble with the police. 

There are many revelations that keep on coming, some shocking, others not so much, but all quite entertaining. As someone who;s entire knowledge of fraternities and sororities comes from other novels, and movies, I found Margot's refusal to see anything bad about her sisters, or about the traditions a bit frustrating, as it was blindingly obvious things weren't quite as they seemed. 

Mean Sisters is a reasonably fast and easy story, that will certainly hold your interest as you read it. 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story, which I believe is the start of a series, and with a mix of potentially exaggerated stereotypes, a cute cop, some hilarious pranks courtesy of the frats (which I would love to know how they carried out), and a mystery to solve, Mean Sisters is a fabulous story that I didn't really want to put down. 

Thank you to Avon and Netgalley for this review copy. This was my honest opinion.