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One Killer Problem
A darkly funny and thoroughly queer mystery thriller with a touch of camp, for fans of Kara Thomas and Kit Frick by way of Only Murders in the Building.
When Gianna “Gigi” Ricci lands in detention again, she doesn’t expect the glorified study hall to be her alibi.
But when she and her friends receive a mysterious email directing them to her favorite teacher, Mr. Ford’s room, they find him lying in a pool of blood. But calling the math teacher’s death an accident doesn’t add up, and Gigi needs all the help she can get to find the truth. Luckily, she’s friends with her high school’s “mystery club,” and so with her best friend, Sean, and longtime crush, Mari, Gigi sets out to solve a murder.
But it turns out, murderers are extremely unwilling to be caught, and the deeper Gigi gets in this mystery, the more dangerous things become. Between fending off a murderer, continual flare-ups of her IBS, and her archnemesis turning flirtatious . . . making it out of junior year is going to be one killer problem.
With a wry, hilarious voice and a main character who is the walking definition of a disaster bi, this book is an ode to cozy mysteries, queer found families, and fighting for the people you love, no matter what.
When Gianna “Gigi” Ricci lands in detention again, she doesn’t expect the glorified study hall to be her alibi.
But when she and her friends receive a mysterious email directing them to her favorite teacher, Mr. Ford’s room, they find him lying in a pool of blood. But calling the math teacher’s death an accident doesn’t add up, and Gigi needs all the help she can get to find the truth. Luckily, she’s friends with her high school’s “mystery club,” and so with her best friend, Sean, and longtime crush, Mari, Gigi sets out to solve a murder.
But it turns out, murderers are extremely unwilling to be caught, and the deeper Gigi gets in this mystery, the more dangerous things become. Between fending off a murderer, continual flare-ups of her IBS, and her archnemesis turning flirtatious . . . making it out of junior year is going to be one killer problem.
With a wry, hilarious voice and a main character who is the walking definition of a disaster bi, this book is an ode to cozy mysteries, queer found families, and fighting for the people you love, no matter what.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published June 4, 2024
24 people are currently reading
4453 people want to read
About the author
Justine Pucella Winans
8 books182 followersJustine Pucella Winans (they/she) is a critically acclaimed and award winning author of queer fiction. They have written a variety of funny and/or scary books across age ranges, receiving accolades such as a Stonewall Honor, Indies Introduce, Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selections, and multiple starred reviews. When not writing, she can be found taking too many photos of her cats, training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, actively avoiding real life scary situations, and working their true goal of becoming a Pokémon trainer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 142 reviews
August 8, 2024
I received a copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review as part of the book tour hosted by Pride Book Tours.
One Killer Problem is a YA murder mystery that keeps you on your toes.
Gigi isn't a fan of school, and when one of the only teachers she actually likes is found dead after a seemingly freak accident, she enlists the help of her 'murder club' friends to uncover what really happened, who killed him and why. As the group start to uncover clues, it puts them all in the crosshairs of a killer who will stop at nothing to keep their identity hidden.
As a fellow IBS sufferer, I really felt for Gigi and was glad this rep was included in this book. The story was fun and interesting and had a great plot and execution from start to finish. If you love a bit of camp in your stories, are a fan of found family or solving a mystery - you need to pick this book up.
One Killer Problem is a YA murder mystery that keeps you on your toes.
Gigi isn't a fan of school, and when one of the only teachers she actually likes is found dead after a seemingly freak accident, she enlists the help of her 'murder club' friends to uncover what really happened, who killed him and why. As the group start to uncover clues, it puts them all in the crosshairs of a killer who will stop at nothing to keep their identity hidden.
As a fellow IBS sufferer, I really felt for Gigi and was glad this rep was included in this book. The story was fun and interesting and had a great plot and execution from start to finish. If you love a bit of camp in your stories, are a fan of found family or solving a mystery - you need to pick this book up.
June 18, 2024
Many thanks to Harper360YA for the digital review copy!
Don't read this book if you hate fun, because this murder mystery will make you crack up no matter what. I loved this author's debut YA thriller, and this one is at least as much fun, with a witty writing style full of puns (and funny chapter headings!) and a main character who thinks she's unloveable but you will prove her wrong by loving her regardless. I loved the friendships and family in this book (the MC has a non-binary parent!), and the romance was adorable because of how oblivious the main character was for most of the book.
Don't read this book if you hate fun, because this murder mystery will make you crack up no matter what. I loved this author's debut YA thriller, and this one is at least as much fun, with a witty writing style full of puns (and funny chapter headings!) and a main character who thinks she's unloveable but you will prove her wrong by loving her regardless. I loved the friendships and family in this book (the MC has a non-binary parent!), and the romance was adorable because of how oblivious the main character was for most of the book.
May 12, 2023
Will re-review when I read the final version but even the draft I read was everything Justine does spectacularly—incredible characters, tricky and messy situations, puns and humor, and a whole lot of heart. And gay. So gay.
Read
July 11, 2024So torn on this book. There was so much I loved. Great characters and a lot of fun plot elements. I also think it's the first book I've read with a non-binary parent, and it was great practice for me to get used to "mom" not necessarily being connected with she/her pronouns.
Unfortunately, some aspects of the mystery solving made me ragey. I think if you don't mind the kind of cozy mystery where some aspects of the mystery are super clear to the reader, but not to the MC, you'll like this. I get so so annoyed when I know way more than the oblivious MC of a mystery book. This MC was constantly jumping to ridiculous conclusions and some aspects of the mystery were just SO obvious and took so long for her to figure out. And the way some authority figures and adults acted was ridiculous. I know this is YA, but I feel like you have to trust your readers instead of being so heavy handed. I wish the mystery had been more cleverly revealed and that the MC had been less frustrating in her solving of it.
Unfortunately, some aspects of the mystery solving made me ragey. I think if you don't mind the kind of cozy mystery where some aspects of the mystery are super clear to the reader, but not to the MC, you'll like this. I get so so annoyed when I know way more than the oblivious MC of a mystery book. This MC was constantly jumping to ridiculous conclusions and some aspects of the mystery were just SO obvious and took so long for her to figure out. And the way some authority figures and adults acted was ridiculous. I know this is YA, but I feel like you have to trust your readers instead of being so heavy handed. I wish the mystery had been more cleverly revealed and that the MC had been less frustrating in her solving of it.
Read
June 8, 2024Dnf 11%
Too YA for my current mood
Too YA for my current mood
June 9, 2024
3/5 stars.
Unpopular opinion: this had so much potential, but came off as rather goofy. I liked the idea of a “mystery club,” at the main character’s school….this wasn’t fully for me. It also felt heavy handed with trying to fit into boxes of pop culture and diversity, but at the same time I do appreciate an LGBTQ character.
I felt like I didn’t know the main character Gigi very well, except that she was IBS (good representation for that), but she could’ve broken her leg jumping to conclusions. I also don’t fully like the mystery involved, it felt too much like One of Us is Lying.
Unpopular opinion: this had so much potential, but came off as rather goofy. I liked the idea of a “mystery club,” at the main character’s school….this wasn’t fully for me. It also felt heavy handed with trying to fit into boxes of pop culture and diversity, but at the same time I do appreciate an LGBTQ character.
I felt like I didn’t know the main character Gigi very well, except that she was IBS (good representation for that), but she could’ve broken her leg jumping to conclusions. I also don’t fully like the mystery involved, it felt too much like One of Us is Lying.
April 19, 2024
i got this as an arc because i was so intrigued by the possibilities (also the cover looked great!) (anyway thank you netgalley and publisher for this opportunity) let’s talk about gigi bec ??????? insane
also found family
and murder
and ibs
this was sooo much fun getting to think like baby detectives, thank you justine for this extraordinary piece of work
also found family
and murder
and ibs
this was sooo much fun getting to think like baby detectives, thank you justine for this extraordinary piece of work
March 1, 2025
would’ve been four if it had half the talk of shitting oneself
Want to read
May 11, 2023A PROTAGONIST WITH IBS I FEEL SEEN
October 22, 2025
This was a fun YA read that had teenagers behaving like they actually do in real life!
It reminded me a lot of the One of us is lying series which is one of my favourites.
Here, amidst the solving of a murder there are a lot of cute friendship and found family vibes and humour which I loved.
Gigi, the MC could be annoying at times but her attitude seemed authentic enough especially as she was also struggling with IBS flare ups. The mystery itself, which was about finding out who murdered a high school Maths teacher, definitely felt like it belonged in the cozy mystery genre. The investigating students called themselves the Mystery and Thriller Literary scholars and two of them kept gushing over their favourite cozy mystery series called The Perfect Meowder!
It was a great mix of coming of age, teenage crushes and angst and mystery solving.
It reminded me a lot of the One of us is lying series which is one of my favourites.
Here, amidst the solving of a murder there are a lot of cute friendship and found family vibes and humour which I loved.
Gigi, the MC could be annoying at times but her attitude seemed authentic enough especially as she was also struggling with IBS flare ups. The mystery itself, which was about finding out who murdered a high school Maths teacher, definitely felt like it belonged in the cozy mystery genre. The investigating students called themselves the Mystery and Thriller Literary scholars and two of them kept gushing over their favourite cozy mystery series called The Perfect Meowder!
It was a great mix of coming of age, teenage crushes and angst and mystery solving.
December 9, 2024
4.5/5
September 15, 2024
3.5⭐️
Gigi was in detention when her favorite teach died. The police write it off as an accident, but Gigi's friends in the Mystery Club received an email directing them to find Mr. Ford and that's a coincidence that Gigi can't let go. Working with her best friend Sam, crush Mari and archnemesis Cedar, she soon learns that solving a mystery is much more dangerous than expected.
I absolutely loved Gigi's realness through this. She was an authentic, awkward teenager struggling to figure herself out while also tackling regular IBS flares. She had that one trusted teacher that pulled for her and you could feel the grief over his death intertwine perfectly with her baseline anger and it really drove the story along. Gigi's temper also felt almost like it's own character since it got brought into almost every scenario she had. There was so much great queer reputation in this, including Gigi's family being 75% queer and another character coming out as aroace.
It felt odd to me that none of the adults throughout this story really did anything to help Gigi with her over the top anger. Gigi was prone to getting in fights often at school and would fly off the handle at the drop of a hat and beside the principal constantly calling in her parents, nothing was done about it? Her mom was a retired fighter (jiu jitsu? I think) and Gigi was enrolled in her mom's classes as well but nothing was ever really done about her anger other than telling her to work it off on the mat. Gigi was also extremely impulsive, but the conclusions she jumped to were very odd with no evidence to back them a lot of the time.
I'm not the target age range for this book, but I still mostly enjoyed it.
Gigi was in detention when her favorite teach died. The police write it off as an accident, but Gigi's friends in the Mystery Club received an email directing them to find Mr. Ford and that's a coincidence that Gigi can't let go. Working with her best friend Sam, crush Mari and archnemesis Cedar, she soon learns that solving a mystery is much more dangerous than expected.
I absolutely loved Gigi's realness through this. She was an authentic, awkward teenager struggling to figure herself out while also tackling regular IBS flares. She had that one trusted teacher that pulled for her and you could feel the grief over his death intertwine perfectly with her baseline anger and it really drove the story along. Gigi's temper also felt almost like it's own character since it got brought into almost every scenario she had. There was so much great queer reputation in this, including Gigi's family being 75% queer and another character coming out as aroace.
It felt odd to me that none of the adults throughout this story really did anything to help Gigi with her over the top anger. Gigi was prone to getting in fights often at school and would fly off the handle at the drop of a hat and beside the principal constantly calling in her parents, nothing was done about it? Her mom was a retired fighter (jiu jitsu? I think) and Gigi was enrolled in her mom's classes as well but nothing was ever really done about her anger other than telling her to work it off on the mat. Gigi was also extremely impulsive, but the conclusions she jumped to were very odd with no evidence to back them a lot of the time.
I'm not the target age range for this book, but I still mostly enjoyed it.
July 28, 2024
I kept getting an ick from the main character, Gigi, from probably the first 20 pages. Even though I loved the masc- presenting female gay representation, it was too much sometimes. She made being gay her ENTIRE PERSONALITY. And her constant catchphrase was “thank bisexual jesus”. Like what? Also, I really did love the IBS representation, because man that is relatable to my family member, but almost every page was her talking about her need to go blow up a toilet with her gigantic poops. ALSO, she was SO FRUSTRATING. I hated how she was so impulsive, and the second she got a lead on the murder case, she would go and beat up the person she thought committed the murder of her teacher. I digress, also, I did assume that the person selling the test papers was Luca. Anyway; the plot twist of the actual murderers: that was good. So I guess the book gets an average of 3/5 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 14, 2024
This rating feels mean, but I guessed who the killer was at 23% (with no uncertainty) and couldn't muster much enthusiasm for the remaining mysteries afterwards.
August 12, 2025
2,5/5 ⭐️ vielleicht werde ich auch einfach zu alt für diese art bücher
August 27, 2025
A very queer and witty mystery revolving around the Mystery and Thriller Literary Scholars (yes, I will use the OFFICIAL name) trying to solve the murder of a teacher and getting targeted by the killer, this book is SO up my alley!
The cover first peaked my interest. It's incredibly stylish and I love the bold colors, plus it helped me envision the main character. When I started reading, I was not disappointed.
The main character is extremely likeable to me, she's passionate, relatable, funny and is constantly growing despite her flaws. I love that she has a rough exterior but also secretly harbors this soft part of her which is full of anxiety and self doubt, and I love that she learns to embrace all of this throughout the course of the book.
The other characters are also all very interesting. I have my favorites, but almost all of them peaked my interest in one way or another. I'm sad one of my favorite characters had to die first (it's not a spoiler if it's on the back of the book) but the way the death was handled was well done to me, especially for this setting.
I was constantly on the edge of my seat, wondering what would happen next and just soaking in all the interesting characters and conversations. This book is really good at holding your attention, and revealing just enough information to keep you feeling like you MIGHT know what's going on but not enough to make it obvious. There are some red herrings, some more obvious than others, but when you read the ending and see the whole picture it makes sense, not like a rug being pulled from underneath you or some "bet you didn't see the person we never even mentioned until the end of the book/show coming" gotcha moment (i've been burned one too many times)
Another thing I really enjoyed was the author's sense of humor. From the inner monologue of our protagonist , to the conversations and the ample references to things I happened to also enjoy, I found myself chuckling to the pages constantly.
One final thing I wanted to mention is the representation in this book. I love the bi-rep, I think all the queer characters are very well done. Maybe some people would say that there are too many queer characters, but to that I say queer people often stick together so it makes sense that a book revolving around a queer girl and her friends is filled with other queer characters. I would also ask what they expected of a book that says "Be gay. Solve crime." on the cover. It's nice to see so much of myself and the people I know in the characters in this book.
Big thumbs up to Justine! They did an amazing job. Also, the acknowledgements didn't make me tear up, the room I'm in is just incredibly dusty and my allergies are acting up.
5/5 stars! Definitely recommend if you enjoy murder mysteries with a queer narrative. Or IBS related shit jokes. Or both. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The cover first peaked my interest. It's incredibly stylish and I love the bold colors, plus it helped me envision the main character. When I started reading, I was not disappointed.
The main character is extremely likeable to me, she's passionate, relatable, funny and is constantly growing despite her flaws. I love that she has a rough exterior but also secretly harbors this soft part of her which is full of anxiety and self doubt, and I love that she learns to embrace all of this throughout the course of the book.
The other characters are also all very interesting. I have my favorites, but almost all of them peaked my interest in one way or another. I'm sad one of my favorite characters had to die first (it's not a spoiler if it's on the back of the book) but the way the death was handled was well done to me, especially for this setting.
I was constantly on the edge of my seat, wondering what would happen next and just soaking in all the interesting characters and conversations. This book is really good at holding your attention, and revealing just enough information to keep you feeling like you MIGHT know what's going on but not enough to make it obvious. There are some red herrings, some more obvious than others, but when you read the ending and see the whole picture it makes sense, not like a rug being pulled from underneath you or some "bet you didn't see the person we never even mentioned until the end of the book/show coming" gotcha moment (i've been burned one too many times)
Another thing I really enjoyed was the author's sense of humor. From the inner monologue of our protagonist , to the conversations and the ample references to things I happened to also enjoy, I found myself chuckling to the pages constantly.
One final thing I wanted to mention is the representation in this book. I love the bi-rep, I think all the queer characters are very well done. Maybe some people would say that there are too many queer characters, but to that I say queer people often stick together so it makes sense that a book revolving around a queer girl and her friends is filled with other queer characters. I would also ask what they expected of a book that says "Be gay. Solve crime." on the cover. It's nice to see so much of myself and the people I know in the characters in this book.
Big thumbs up to Justine! They did an amazing job. Also, the acknowledgements didn't make me tear up, the room I'm in is just incredibly dusty and my allergies are acting up.
5/5 stars! Definitely recommend if you enjoy murder mysteries with a queer narrative. Or IBS related shit jokes. Or both. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
October 19, 2024
A delightful read. Full review to come.
Gianna “Gigi” Ricci finds herself in detention when a gruesome discovery—a teacher's murder—pulls her and her friends into a dangerous investigation. As they delve deeper into the mystery, Gigi must navigate threats from the murderer, her health issues, and unexpected romantic tensions.
This book was DELIGHTFUL. I enjoyed the entire thing and went back and forth on who I suspected. The reveals were awesome. The cat puns were hilarious. Getting to read this was a treat and the audio is absolutely wonderful. I was cracking up out loud quite a bit.
Gigi was just SO much fun. I love teens who are flawed and messy and PITAs. Her relationship with her parents and brother was fantastic. I loved how open her parents were. I also really enjoyed the friendship group as a whole.
The mystery was great and I loved how the teens worked together to solve it. Definitely picked this one up. It was my first book by Justine, but won’t be my last. I got to meet them this past summer and they are amazing!!
Gianna “Gigi” Ricci finds herself in detention when a gruesome discovery—a teacher's murder—pulls her and her friends into a dangerous investigation. As they delve deeper into the mystery, Gigi must navigate threats from the murderer, her health issues, and unexpected romantic tensions.
This book was DELIGHTFUL. I enjoyed the entire thing and went back and forth on who I suspected. The reveals were awesome. The cat puns were hilarious. Getting to read this was a treat and the audio is absolutely wonderful. I was cracking up out loud quite a bit.
Gigi was just SO much fun. I love teens who are flawed and messy and PITAs. Her relationship with her parents and brother was fantastic. I loved how open her parents were. I also really enjoyed the friendship group as a whole.
The mystery was great and I loved how the teens worked together to solve it. Definitely picked this one up. It was my first book by Justine, but won’t be my last. I got to meet them this past summer and they are amazing!!
May 31, 2024
A funny, YA murder mystery that sees a queer teen helping to solve their teacher's sudden death at school with the help of their fellow murder club friends. I loved the great #ownvoices IBS rep in this book, the humor and the relatable main character. Looking forward to reading more from this author! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early synthesized audio copy in exchange for my honest review!
June 11, 2024
well this was fucking hilarious. so funny, so quirky and most importantly so GAY. but seriously add murder mystery, distinctive and well fleshed out characters, seemingly endless cutesy cat references and fresh (as in never been done before) lol-worthy IBS rep to the mix and what else could you possibly need?
on the side note, the twist was pretty predictable from early on, but it didn't take out much of the experience overall
on the side note, the twist was pretty predictable from early on, but it didn't take out much of the experience overall
July 6, 2025
My least favorite of Justine Pucella Winans's books that I've read (although I still liked it). I had a hard time with Gigi, unfortunately, and the side characters weren't enough to get past that. Certain plot elements felt too unrealistic in terms of how they developed in the story. But the romance was cute and I always enjoy the representation in Winans's books.
September 7, 2024
It was a pretty solid YA mystery/thriller-lite, and I *loved* the non-binary mom character and overall representation, but something just didn't work for me.
The MC was grating - if she wasn't roughing someone up, she was talking incessantly about her IBS - like girl, I am a fellow sufferer of Tummy Troubles™ and it was just too much. Your bowels do not need to be your personality.
Also, maybe just me, I had trouble remembering all of the supporting characters.
I did like the writing style and would read this author again with a different MC.
The MC was grating - if she wasn't roughing someone up, she was talking incessantly about her IBS - like girl, I am a fellow sufferer of Tummy Troubles™ and it was just too much. Your bowels do not need to be your personality.
Also, maybe just me, I had trouble remembering all of the supporting characters.
I did like the writing style and would read this author again with a different MC.
February 11, 2024
fun little mystery with a nicely written plot and a great idea. i loved our protags so much! tyssm for the arc, would rec
May 8, 2024
This was such a great read, loved these characters and the mystery was so good!
June 5, 2024
The cool, chaotic, campy, quirky and extremely queer murder mystery my heart desired.
August 6, 2024
A solid YA mystery.
August 14, 2024
1.5
i skimmed the last half of this bc i literally wasn’t interested at all.
i skimmed the last half of this bc i literally wasn’t interested at all.
September 13, 2024
Listened to the audiobook 3.5
July 22, 2024
had some good laugh out loud moments but i just wasn't feeling the rest of it :(
July 4, 2024
You had me at IBS and queer rep! This book is laugh out loud funny and I mean that. Do yourself a favor and pick it up!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 142 reviews