Hot Girl Murder Club

by Ashley Winstead

From national bestselling author Ashley Winstead comes a buzzy, bloody new thriller about success, sisterhood, and demanding justice…by any means necessary.

What’s a girl got to do to get some fame, a few million record sales, and justice for murder?

Ten years ago, aspiring singer-actress Scout Sage lost the only thing that mattered: her sister, Georgia. Ever since Georgia’s mysterious death at a Hollywood party, Scout’s done her best to honor her memory, clawing her way through the industry and collecting a network of climbers along the way, fellow hot girls in stilettos with cutthroat ambition, a new Hollywood order.

But when a slew of targeted murders makes headlines across LA, all pointing to Scout as the killer, she turns overnight from a mid-tier pop star into the world’s most famous (alleged) murderer. Now everything she’s worked to build—including the justice she wants for Georgia—will fall apart unless Scout can prove she’s not guilty.

Meanwhile, the young and unusual detective assigned to her case, herself no stranger to tragedy, begins to unearth secrets not even Scout knows, let alone her millions of new fans. Particularly about the ways Georgia’s death connects to an even older pattern of crimes long hushed over in Hollywood—an old reign of terror that, if brought to light, could be the fuel that ignites a reckoning the world over.

Genres: Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook, Adult, Suspense

336 pages, Hardcover

First published July 14, 2026

About the author

Ashley Winstead's bestselling, critically-acclaimed books have been translated into more than twenty languages, optioned for film and television, named Book of the Month, Indie Next, Library Read, Loan Star, and Amazon Editor picks, and covered everywhere from the New York Times to People magazine. She's a former academic who lives in Houston with her husband, three cats, and beloved wine fridge.

Reviews

[Liana Gold · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️ 3 ⭐️ Hollywood glamour, sisterhood, murders, revenge--What's a girl got to do to get some fame?

The idea of a detective/bottle service girl at an exclusive nightclub was enough to lure me in. From the opening chapter, I thought this idea of vigilantes in Hollywood going all out with a vengeance was so clever and interesting, I was hoping for a very twisted murder story. However, it didn't exactly go where I thought it would. What I thought would be a dark, revenge story lost its appeal when the story became too ambitious and chaotic for my liking.

A little summary first: The story follows two timelines, one in the present and one ten years earlier.
Scout Sage has lost a sister ten years earlier and has been searching for answers since her murder. In the past timeline, Scout was an aspiring actress, trying to climb the ranks and was invited to a luxurious Hollywood party, which she attended with her sister in hopes of making it big in Hollywood. In present, she's well known in the entertainment industry but becomes the target of attention when a string of murders puts her at the center of the investigation. Powerful men have been targeted in Los Angeles and each death has been marked with Scout Sages' lyrics. The detectives make a big break in the current murders and as Scout is trying to clear her name, new information comes to light, uncovering the real truth about her sisters' murder.

This book was a lot. A lot of characters, a lot of murders and an unsolved mystery going back 10 years ago to one event that changed many lives. Winstead takes a big swing at important social issues like exploitation, sexual harassment and assault in Hollywood. While I appreciated her take on the injustice that women still face to this day, I felt that the novel itself was chaotic and too ambitious for my taste. Told from multiple perspectives and time jumps, it took a long time to grab my attention or start making sense. Initially, I was only reading my eARC but started to realize that the execution was making me lose my interest, so I switched to the ALC, which honestly pulled me out of the slump. Brittany Pressley is an excellent narrator and probably the saving grace for me. There were many parts that had my attention and others that dragged or were insignificant. Overall I think this is less of a thriller than an unsolved mystery. Plus the eARC was super unclear in terms of whose chapters I was reading so it was a big guessing game which I did not like, while the ALC always stated whose chapter I was reading. Hopefully the final publication will have the appropriate marking/names for all the chapters.

Overall, I think less is better and I felt that so many characters was an overkill here. I’m not new to Ashley Winsteads writing, this is my fourth book by this author and I think it tried to tackle a lot but at the same time remained pretty ambiguous. I love a good vigilante book..but this was not it. It's a far cry from a thrilling story and left me overall not impressed.




Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books and the author, Ashley Winstead for an early ARC.


Many thanks to Macmillan Audio for man early ALC!
Narrator: Brittany Pressley
Duration: 11 hours 16 minutes
Speed: 1.5x


Publication: July 14, 2026

[Ricarda · Rating 3 out of 5]

First rule of Hot Girl Murder Club is that we don't talk about Hot Girl Murder Club, and by that I mean that there just really isn't that much to say about it. I was super thrilled about the premise of a group of female Hollywood stars coming together to get revenge on all the disgusting people in the business, but it simply wasn't the positively unhinged story that I had hoped for. The actual story was all over the place, honestly. It starts out with detective Grey Holloway, who is frowned upon in her department because she is, well … hot. She's called to a crime scene where the murdered victim looks very similar to her, but you can forget that I said that because it literally doesn't play any role in the rest of the book. (I don't know what that was about, but I wanted to illustrate my frustration with this story.) We get a bit of the investigation that follows this murder case and learn how it might be connected to other deaths and the rumors of this murderous group of women led by a pop star. It could be such an iconic story. A bit trashy, really leaning into the silly title, entertaining and wild while also addressing serious issues. Just a book about girls supporting girls and if that support includes murder, so be it. But the book wasn't all that. Instead it's a kind of unexciting investigation of a death 10 years in the past, which may or may not be connected to the current day murders. I would hardly call it a thriller and it was so weird how I was introduced to the possibility of the Hot Girl Murder Club and then got something else entirely. But I'm also not sure what I got instead. Some POVs truly lacked purpose and I don't get why they were included at all and the plot was so random or convenient at times that the book just wasn't exciting to read. All the characters stayed flat and I only know about the bad things that happened to them and about nothing else. Sure, it's a story that addresses exploitation, injustice and sexual assault in Hollywood, but why portray characters who are affected by these issues in such a one-dimensional way? There's the rising star singer whose one thing is that her sister was murdered, and her assistant's one thing is that she wants to protect the singer at all costs, and the detective's one thing is also that her sister was murdered (unrelated to the singer). Why did I need to read from all these people? I don't know. I actually didn't hate reading this book, though. I was always hoping for cool reveals and some turned out to be unexpected. But also because they just involved random people who I never spent any moment thinking about beforehand.

This turned out to be one of these reviews where I sound like a complete hater. But my actual thoughts upon finishing this book were: eh, it was fine, whatever. So while I can't sing any praises here, I also think that it's a perfectly readable book. I think I just had the wrong expectations, but I also blame the marketing for that. You name a book Hot Girl Murder Club and then it's not a fun story whatsoever? Everyone involved in this process had this mediocre three-star review of mine coming.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press / Minotaur Books for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

[Maren’s Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ashley Winstead’s newest book, and her first with publisher Minotaur, was at the top of my most anticipated of 2026 list, so I was beyond thrilled to have had the chance to read it early. Although I did enjoy it overall, I do also have mixed feelings on this juicy, vigilante drama/thriller.

Let’s begin with the good. AW writes really badass characters, and HGMC is no different. In fact, it features an absolute slew of them. And beneath the thriller plot line lies deep and meaningful themes of feminist empowerment, sisterhood, and fighting the patriarchy that still undergirds most of society en masse.

As for what didn’t work as well— I struggled a bit more with this story than I had expected to, and I think that centers around the cast being very, very large. With every chapter a new perspective (even though they connect), my brain felt pulled in too many directions, and I felt as though I was losing the primary thread more than once. This then led to that feeling of being pulled out of the story every time I was back in it.

The ending also felt a little bit more contrived than Winstead’s previous novels, and although I like the way things were resolved, they really did feel over the top. All that said, there is a popcorn quality to it that makes it easy to binge and that I think there will be a large crowd for. I can also see it making for a fantastically fun movie adaptation down the road.

Read if you like:
▪️ensemble casts
▪️secret societies
▪️vigilante justice
▪️celebrity drama

Thank you Minotaur Books for the advanced copy and Ali and Ali for the buddy read!

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this book at least two hours ago and I’m still stunned into silence by it. Actually, silence is the wrong word. I’m outraged by the fact that this book of fiction is actually what our world is right now. I don’t want to spoil anything, but Ashley Winstead wrote an incredible ripped-from-the-headlines book. Literally headlines from this week. I admire women like Ashley who let their voices be heard to help other women. This book was horrible in the best way - you’ll understand when you read it.

Dare I say Hot Girl Murder Club is exactly what we’re missing at this point in time? I could feel Ashley’s seething rage. Then on the other side, it’s a story about sisterhood and how important that is. A beautiful nod to her own sister.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for this explosive arc!

[Bianca | bookd_by_bee 🐝 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for the #gifted ALC 💕

3 ⭐️

I usually LOVE a multi-POV situation in the book (especially if it’s in audiobook format 🎧), but DAMN GIRL, did EVERYONE IN L.A. need a POV in this story?! I think there were AT LEAST 10 different POV’s- each with their own meandering backstory that VAGUELY connected to the main plot (which I’m stilling trying to figure out) 🫠.

The GOOD: the overall message of women empowerment, sisterhood and standing up to the patriarchy. Hell, I like a little vigilante justice from time to time, so that was good. The narration 🎧- Brittany Pressley earned her COINS on this one since she had to voice half of LA county in this story. She had a heavy lift and did a good job.

The BAD: the 97 different storylines that could have been standalone books all by themselves! I had no idea where to focus my attention- in a bad way. I’m always tickled when I don’t guess “whodunnit” by the end of the book (it’s rare, I usually figure it out), but there was no way in hell I was gonna figure it out with 88 different suspects 👥👥👥!

The UGLY: HOLY POV OVERLOAD, BATMAN! Yikes! I literally had a whole page of notes in my ARC review journal dedicated to keeping track of the characters! I gave up about halfway through and just relied on “vibes” to help me figure out what was going on. Again, the characters were interesting, there were just TOO MANY, and couple that with all the different storylines it just bogged down the story and made it a chore to get through by the end 😫

I WANTED to love it. I really did. The premise is actually pretty dope - a whole network of “hot girls” going rogue and getting justice against misbehaved men (and the women who protect them)- YES! 38 storylines & POV’s? HARD PASS. The overall message was good, so I gave this 3 stars, but this COULD have been a 5 star read with a little more editing.

[Laura Lovesreading]

In my dreams I hold a knife is still one of my ultimate fave reads!
The blurb sounds soo juicy
Hurry up release day!!!!!!!

[Jonetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

the setup…
Scout Sage and Isabel Cruz are best friends and have been since they were eight years old. They left New Jersey for Hollywood eleven years ago with stars in their eyes and both landed roles in a television show. Scout’s sister Georgia joined them the next year and now she’s helped orchestrate invites to TV network president Easton Bank’s annual Christmas party. What started out as exciting ended in tragedy when they found Georgia dead later that evening. Fast forward to present day and Scout has gained fame as a singer and emerged as a leader of a network of stiletto wearing women who have taken on the male power structure. But it all goes sideways when a series of murders become connected to her and Scout is now viewed as the leader of female vigilantes.

the heart of the story…
Scout made it her mission to honor Georgia by empowering other women in the business (and others) who have been wronged by powerful men. It was never her intention to gain notoriety as a so called vigilante. I was on the fence about whether she and Isabel were connected and was fascinated as the story transitioned between the night of that party ten years ago and present day. Detective Grey Holloway certainly believes she’s guilty and brings her own linkage.

the narration…
Brittany Pressley, one of my top favorites, had her work cut out for her with a gazillion cast members. Her storytelling was outstanding and gave critical distinctions for the major characters.

the bottom line…
I loved the story of this collective of women feeling more like a Karma Club rather than a murder group. There are a ton of characters with side plots you know will later connect and it was tough keeping track. It might have helped to have multiple narrators to help make it easier to keep things straight (no shade on Pressley) but I was able to manage them. It’s a compelling story that illuminates the injustices perpetrated on women by powerful men who are enabled by the system. Loved the message and the wonderful female empowerment.

(Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.)

[Blaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

But this story, a group of women haunting the powerbrokers of Hollywood with the threat of vigilante justice. Now that was fresh. And unsettling, if she was being completely honest. It suggested there was a new generation of women who refused victimhood so profoundly they’d rather take the only other route available to them and become villains.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for sending me an ARC of Hot Girl Murder Club in exchange for an honest review.

The Goodreads description of this book tells you everything you need to know about the plot, so I’ll jump directly to my thoughts.

Hot Girl Murder Club, first and foremost, is an engrossing mystery. It constantly shifts between time periods and character perspectives—some in the past, some in the present, and one a future historical perspective from a PhD thesis about the Hot Girl Murder Club. Interestingly, the narrators are always people in Scout’s orbit, but never Scout herself, making her just one more mysterious element in the story. There are multiple twists throughout the story, and several were unexpected. It builds to both great reveals and a satisfying ending. And if you begin to think as you’re reading that the actions of the Hot Girl Murder Club sound like Taylor Swift’s song Vigilante Shit, you’re right; Ms. Winstead confirmed that song was one of the inspirations for the story.

But more than that, Hot Girl Murder Club incorporates some really timely and interesting ideas into that mystery. This book is all about violence against women, often perpetrated by man, of course, but also often committed directly by—or enabled by—other women. The story explores the intersection between that violence and politics, entertainment, women’s rights, and social change. Never by name, but Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein lurk in the shadows of the book. The story asks who decides whether we consider someone who breaks the law to be a criminal or an outlaw, an unsympathetic killer or a Robin Hood. And, more importantly, it begs the question of what happens in our current post-#metoo moment.

I loved Hot Girl Murder Club. Ms. Winstead is a gifted writer, capable of hitting it out of the park in multiple genres (have you read The Future Saints?) And the narrator for the audiobook was great. 4.5 stars out of 5. Highly recommended.

[Christine M in Texas (stamperlady50) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hot Girl Murder Club
By: Ashley Winstead
Pub Date: July 14, 2026
Publisher: Minotaur Books

I always win the book lottery when I get accepted for books by Ashley. Her books in any genre she writes are ones I can’t wait to devour. Isn’t this cover TO DIE for!

For ten years, Scott Sage has been mourning her sister’s death. Georgia death at a party in Hollywood has put the light on the “not so hot part of an industry”.

Scout is now working her way in Hollywood trying to honor her memory. It’s a “cutthroat” business and lots of people will step over others to get to the top.

When murders start happening again, it is looking like Scout might be involved. How can she clear her name? She quickly learns who believes her and who turns on her.

Another FABULOUS book by Winstead. Get ready to add HOT GIRL MURDER CLUB to your shelf and devour once the book arrives.

[_blondebooknerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 - 4.25 ⭐
I am LOVING the ambition of this Hollywood thriller! 🎤🔪

I was so excited to get my hands on an eARC of Hot Girl Murder Club ! Huge thank you to NetGalley, Ashley Winstead, St. Martin’s Press, and Minotaur Books for the early access in exchange for my honest review. 💖✨

Ashley Winstead is easily one of my favorite authors and her writing is always TOP-TIER. She is extremely intelligent and it really shows in the way she constructs a story! 🧠✍️

This book follows Scout Sage, a pop star whose world is turned upside down when she’s framed for a string of murders that might actually link back to her sister’s death years ago. It’s a cutthroat look at Hollywood, fame, and a sister’s quest for justice. 🎬💄

What I Loved:
The multiple POV was handled so well! I loved how the chapters weren't just names but focused on their careers and how the story affected each one differently. It kept me on my toes! And even though there was A LOT going on, Ashley tied it all up in a PERFECT, NEAT BOW by the end. 🎀👏

My Thoughts:
I really liked it, but there was definitely a lot to keep track of! It was a bit more political than I usually want for a thriller. 🏛️📈 Thrillers are usually my "brain break" from heavy fantasy world-building, and this one had almost TOO MUCH substance for a quick palette cleanser. It’s deep and complex, which is great, but it required some heavy lifting to follow all the threads! 🤯🔍

Final Verdict:
I enjoyed this book and will definitely be recommending it to my audience! 📣✨ I think it will hit especially hard for readers who focus SOLELY on the thriller genre as their main choice. It’s a smart, ambitious story about what it takes to get justice in a world of stilettos and secrets. 👠💄🚨

[megan ◡̈ · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up to 3, i think?

i honestly dont really know where to start with this, mostly because im kind of at a loss wondering what on earth i just read lol. this book wasnt bad but it also wasnt good either? there was just TOO much going on at all times and too many point of views that a lot of the times it took me until midway or the end of the chapter to even know who the heck was talking at that point.

i picked this one up on a whim thinking a fun thriller would fix my semi romance slump im finding myself in but my brain honestly feels like its slush and numb. i dont really have a lot of opinions on anything in this book tbh..

i guess my thoughts are that it isnt a bad book but its not a memorable one with good twists and turns either.

[Aisvarya [back ig]]

✨Pre-read -
Omggg, it's finally here!!! Ever since I read and loved This Book Will Bury Me by the author, I've been waiting for this one.

Celebrity vigilantes and revenge?! Sounds like a wonderful time, right?😌

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ashley Winstead has a voice that is impossible to ignore. Her writing is razor sharp, sophisticated, and unapologetically bold. She has a way of taking complicated conversations about women, power, ambition, and injustice and wrapping them inside a twisty, addictive thriller that refuses to play it safe.

Hot Girl Murder Club is a story about sisterhood, revenge, justice, and what happens when women stop accepting the rules they were handed. There’s a definite “burn it all down” energy here, but Winstead balances that anger with depth, emotional complexity, and a bigger conversation about the systems that protect the powerful.

This is a thriller you have to pay attention to. The plot is layered, the twists keep coming, and there are plenty of moments where you need to zoom in and really consider what’s happening beneath the surface. It has that popcorn thriller energy—the kind that makes you want to keep turning pages—but it also has substance behind the chaos.

Scout is a fascinating character to follow because she’s ambitious, messy, determined, and constantly questioning how much of herself she’s willing to sacrifice for justice. The sisterhood at the center of this story is one of its strongest elements, and the themes of karma, revenge, and reclaiming power are woven throughout.

Ashley Winstead always brings an air of intelligence and sophistication to her thrillers, and this one is no exception. It’s flashy Hollywood chaos on the surface, but underneath it’s a much deeper story about women demanding to be heard.

Perfect for Readers Who Love

* Hollywood secrets, scandals, and dark power dynamics
* Smart thrillers that require you to pay attention
* Sisterhood stories with a revenge twist
* Complex female characters who refuse to play nice
* Twisty plots with something bigger to say

[Mehva · Rating 4 out of 5]

i have read a lot of her books and they have been 4.5 or 5 stars for me, two of them very powerful. So I came in with high expectations, which is usually a problem. It took me a long time to get involved with the book I wanted more depth, more emotional connection. I felt satisfied at the end but it was hard at points pushing through. 3.5

[Jen W · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a wild tale of murder, cover-ups and women stepping in and stepping up to help other women.

Scout Sage and her best friend Izabel are looking for fame and fortune in Hollywood. A party leads to the death of Scout's baby sister, Georgia. Ten years later, the Hollywood rumor is that Scout and a group of women, known as the Hot Girl Murder Club, may be responsible for several murders.

Grey Holloway is a police officer trying to unravel her own sister's disappearance while also working on Scout's case.

This story is about supporting women's rights as well as their wrongs. It is a fun thriller where everyone has something to hide.

The book is told in multiple timelines and from multiple POVs. There are quite a few POVs, so you have to really focus on the chapter heading. I think this all came together really well. Even though you know some things going on are not on the legal side, you still feel it is right. Some of these very topics can be heard on the news every day.

Thank you to St. Martins Press for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Dallas Strawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ashley Winstead is at her best writing frothy soapy suspense and this summer she invites fans to join the HOT GIRL MURDER CLUB, in one of her most delicious novels yet- readers will be clamoring to join the club! More of a slow burn than Winstead may be know for, but HOT GIRL boils to a satisfying conclusion... I didn't want to put it down!

An up and coming pop star begins to be accused of murders in Los Angeles while grieving the death of her sister from a decade ago, while a journalist is trying to track down not only the truth about the pop star but a personal issue in her own past... It's a fabulous premise; juicy as can be, and left in the expert hands of a writer like Winstead it spills into a juicy tale of murder, revenge, lies, and deception.

[Trisha]

this author does GREAT mysteries! July release, can't wait to read it!

[Dozelina 666 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really fun and engaging read.

The premise alone pulled me in. A celebrity turning into a vigilante and going after powerful men in Hollywood? Yeah… that had my attention immediately.

The story follows Scout Sage, a rising star whose sister died under mysterious circumstances years ago. When a series of murders starts happening and somehow points back to her, things spiral quickly.

I’ll be honest, at the beginning I struggled a bit. The multiple POVs made it a little confusing at first, and it took me a few chapters to fully get into the story and figure out who’s who.

But once it clicked… I was in.

What I really liked was how the story balances different angles. On one side, you have that vigilante-style justice. On another, the official investigation. And then there’s the whole Hollywood layer, which felt very “glamorous on the outside, rotten underneath.”

All the main characters have their own motivations and reasons for what they’re doing, which made things more interesting. Scout is trying to uncover the truth about her sister, while the detective has her own personal drive as well.

Overall, this was a fast, entertaining thriller with an interesting concept and a lot going on beneath the surface.

⭐ 4 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Aria & Aries for the ARC.

https://turnthepagewithana.blogspot.c...

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m in awe of how Ashley wrote the exact book we all need right now. The rage, the friendships, the frustration, and the need to do something to change it. This was heavy, real, and absolutely brilliant.

Scout and Izzy are best friends that are fueled by tragedy but with bodies stacking up and Scout’s song lyrics at each crime scene how far have they gone to get justice?

I loved this book - the sisterhood and the we are better together mentality. Also, the ending gave it that extra star for me. It was a deeply satisfying conclusion to this emotionally charged story.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

[Nenia Campbell]

Please god, all I want is an ARC of this book

[Liza (LitLifewithLiza) Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ashley doesn't sugarcoat her thrillers, honest and raw, Hot Girl Murder Club holds up a mirror to the horrors that we're living in and says: what if we did something about it. The monsters aren't under your bed; they're leading your country, smiling on TV, and signing your paycheck.

I'm not going to lie, reading this book was difficult at times. I had to step away, consume some light-hearted content, and return because the truths that Ashley brings to the surface in this book are ugly, but they need to be heard and not silenced.

Common themes in Ashley's books that I love: giving a voice to the voiceless and the power of female friendship and family. HGMC is no different and stays true to the roots that add an emotional layer and depth to the story as we progress through and form bonds with these women.

A few of the strong women we meet:

Grey, our independent and headstrong detective who will go the ends of the earth for her sister and rediscovers what justice can look like.

Scout, the fearless leader who knows no bounds when it comes to protecting her found family.

And sprinkled in you'll meet other women, lifted up and empowered by our fmcs.

I will admit that I was confused at times with the back and forth between POVs and timelines. I would have loved more time spent with Grey vs the side characters who's stories I could've seen through Scouts pov.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC. Pub day: 7/14/26

[Aggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Hot Girl Murder Club is a messy, unhinged web of Hollywood exploitation and resistance.

What worked: Keeping pop star Scout voiceless was an incredibly clever narrative trick. Experiencing her entire mythos through the chaotic circle around her added a great layer of mystery. Plus, the ending completely sticks the landing with a deeply satisfying, "burn-it-all-down" payoff.

What didn't: I ultimately couldn't get past the ridiculous, bloated headcount. Shifting between what felt like eleven million different names and timelines made the pacing drag and left me feeling detached for most of the ride.

The Verdict: A fantastic concept wrapped in a slightly too crowded package.

Brittany Pressley’s narration was phenomenal! Queen!! 🤴🙌🫶🏻

[Christina C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hot Girl Murder Club is a powerful and engaging read that blends revenge, justice, and female empowerment in a compelling way. I loved how the story brings together women who have been taken advantage of by men and by the expectations placed on them in society, creating a strong message about taking back power and supporting one another.

The main character is especially relatable, with a bold personality and a determination that makes her easy to root for throughout the book. Her strength and resilience help drive the story and make the emotional moments feel authentic.

One of my favorite aspects of the novel is its focus on strong female characters. It's refreshing to see women portrayed as complex, capable, and unapologetically powerful. While some parts of the story felt a little over the top at times, the overall message and character development made it an enjoyable and memorable read.

If you enjoy stories about women standing up for themselves, seeking justice, and challenging societal expectations, Hot Girl Murder Club is definitely worth picking up.

[Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany)]

Hollywood glitz and wronged women enforcing vigilante justice.

Hot Girl Murder Club follows Scout, a rising pop star whose sister died at a Hollywood party ten years earlier who has since made a name for herself. Now a string of murders seem to point to Scout as the killer, but are they just framing her? A young detective digs to find the truth and encounters the seedy underbelly of fame, power, and misogyny. It's a multi-timeline, multi-pov narrative with a slow burn plot. The audio narration is pretty good. I received a copy of this audiobook for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

[Holden Wunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hot Girl Murder Club is a Good For Her radical feminist anthem that we all deserve in the year 2026.

Once again Ashley Winstead is here to give us just desserts, feminine icons, and a thrilling rollercoaster of good times. I absolutely love her switches from literary fiction to thrillers and she never misses a beat.

HGMC explores the patriarchy and includes that women who have yet to decanter men while directly opposing that with the women who have had to when faced with strife and trauma. There are issues of class, power ranks, and what it truly means to have a tribe of women by your side. The only thing I didnt love was the labeling of the POV switches, it got confusing at times and wasn’t always clear who we were with until you started delving into their POV. But when it comes down to it that’s an incredibly nitpicky issue that wasn’t detrimental to the reading at all.

This is for anyone who wants a thrill, some actual justice in their life and those yearning for female friendships.

[Keagan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was not what I was expecting at all. I was very excited for a new Ashley Winstead book but this was just not it, unfortunately. It took me almost a month to finish and I was tempted to DNF multiple times. I could not get into this at all, as it was very confusing with multiple POV’s and having to figure out who each person was. The more people that came in towards the end, the more confusing it became and there was no opportunity to connect with any of the characters. It doesn’t feel as if anything got truly resolved. We have answers on the big topics in the book, like who killed Georgia and Alice but it all feels unfinished. The ending left me incredibly confused - Grey sounds like she needs help, not taking justice into her own hands and killing Knox and taking Alice’s bones with her.

This is very political heavy, especially with what has been going on with the world and I can see what she was trying to do with women supporting women, but it was difficult to understand.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the eARC.

[The Bookish Elf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some thrillers open with a shrug and a corpse. This one opens with a mirror. Detective Grey Holloway walks into a Bel Air mansion and finds a dead woman who could pass for her twin, right down to the ballet-pink nail polish. Above the body, smeared in blood, sits a lyric lifted from a Scout Sage song. It is a strange, jarring way to begin, and it tells you almost everything about the kind of book you are holding. Winstead is not chasing a tidy puzzle. She wants to talk about the way young women get looked at, alive and dead, and who ends up believed once the looking is done.

From there the story splits open like a locket. On one side sits Scout Sage, a mid-tier pop star whose face gets plastered across every screen in the country after a run of Los Angeles killings all seem to point at her. On the other sits her younger sister, Georgia, whose death at a Hollywood party a decade earlier was quietly filed away and never solved. The distance between those two events is where the whole novel lives, and the author keeps pulling it tighter until something has to give.

The Machinery Under the Glitter

The most ambitious thing about Hot Girl Murder Club by Ashley Winstead is its architecture. Rather than lock us inside one head, Winstead rotates through a wide cast, each chapter tagged with a name and a role: the Detective, the Assistant, the Model, the Journalist, the Nepo Baby, and more. She braids two timelines, present-day investigation against the ten-year-old party that started everything. Then she threads in a third layer entirely, brief excerpts from a future academic study of a movement called Our Ladies of the Dark, which reframes the murders as the opening shots of something far bigger than one dead girl in Bel Air.

When this works, it really works. A few standout threads carry the book:

Grey, the detective, who moonlights at a nightclub and gets sneered at as "Detective Barbie" while quietly holding a flawless clearance rate. Her chapters have the cleanest engine.
Isabel, the best friend and assistant, whose loyalty to Scout curdles into something knottier and more painful as the pages turn. She is the emotional spine.
The doubling motif, the detective who resembles the victim, which pays off in ways that reward a careful reader.

The academic interludes give the book a mythic, slightly speculative reach, as if you are reading a legend already being fought over by historians. It is a clever trick, and it lets the story widen from a whodunit into something closer to a manifesto.

A Voice Sharp Enough to Draw Blood

Style is where Winstead earns her reputation. Her prose is quick, satirical, and merciless about the machinery of fame. Bodies get appraised the way real estate gets appraised. Grief and ambition sit at the same table and pass the whiskey. The book is dense with brand names, Alo sets and La Mer tans and Chanel No. 5, and while some of that reads as set dressing, most of it works as sly commentary on a town that prices everything, girls included.

There is real feeling under the gloss. The sisterly love among Scout, Isabel, and Georgia is drawn with enough tenderness that the darker turns actually hurt. Winstead adjusts her register for each narrator, so a nepo baby haunting her childhood mansion sounds nothing like a young cop rehearsing a calming ritual over a fresh corpse. That flexibility is a genuine skill, and it keeps the pages turning even when the plot slows.

Where It Stumbles

An honest look at Hot Girl Murder Club by Ashley Winstead has to name the tradeoffs, because the same choices that make it bold also make it uneven.

The cast is too big to serve everyone. With so many narrators, a few voices feel thin next to Grey and Isabel. Some perspectives arrive, do a job, and slip away before you have reason to care about them.
The middle sags. All that timeline-hopping builds a rich picture, but it also stalls momentum. Readers who want a lean, ticking-clock mystery may get restless around the halfway mark.
The message occasionally outmuscles the mystery. The book's fury about predatory men and a justice system that shrugs is righteous and often well-aimed, yet the final stretch tips from crime novel into political revenge fantasy. When the ambitions swell to a near-future, society-wide scale, restraint takes a back seat, and the whodunit machinery gets a little lost in the roar.

None of this sinks the book. It does mean your experience will hinge on what you came for. If you want a contained puzzle box, the sprawl may frustrate you. If you want a thriller that swings for something bigger than a single killer, the swing is thrilling to watch.

Themes Worth Sitting With

Underneath the noir sheen, this is a novel about the price of vengeance and whether sacrifice buys anything that anger cannot. It asks what a woman is supposed to do with rage that has nowhere legitimate to go, and it refuses to hand over a clean answer. The strongest passages stay in that discomfort rather than resolving it, which is where the book feels most alive and most grown-up.

The Verdict

Hot Girl Murder Club by Ashley Winstead is messy, loud, and unafraid, a thriller that would rather overreach than play safe. It will not satisfy the reader who wants nothing but a clean chain of clues, and its politics arrive with the volume turned high. But the voice is electric, the sisterhood aches, and the central mystery is built with real craft before it detonates into something stranger. Winstead set out to write a book people would argue about, and she did. That the arguments are worth having is the surest sign she pulled it off.

Content note: the novel deals with sexual violence, murder, suicide, and predatory abuse of power. Sensitive readers may want to go in aware.

[Katie’s Bookshelf · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐️
This was a really fun concept- a pop star-vigilante, murdering men who have wronged woman? And it's what originally drew me in. But it was just too confusing to read? Multiple POVs in multiple timelines that aren't well labeled, so it takes a minute to even realize who's pov you're reading. It was just all over the place and hard to follow

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishing team for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Catherine (catisbookedup) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok I've had to dwell on this book before writing the review because of my mixed feelings. I really really wanted to love this book. It has 5 star potential. That premise spoke to my soul, revenge + Hollywood!
Unfortunately the book got pulled in too many different directions and so lost it in the execution.
POSITIVES:
The premise and main mystery were enough to keep me hooked. The writing is easy to read. It is female empower heavy and most of all the social commentary this book makes is very important and relevant. When (one of) the bad guys is a mix of Donald Trump & Elon Musk and another is a Harvey Weinstein type, I mean need i say more. Slay girls slay.
NEGATIVES:
There were too many characters and too many POVs. Usually this isn't a problem for me but this was too much, I couldn't keep track of who was who and what each of them was doing. This also caused most of the characters to feel underdeveloped for me. We also have a dual timeline to add to the confusion.
The vigilante justice I was seeking just wasn't there, it seemed as though Winstead was afraid to 'go there' with these characters, which just left a bit of disappointed feeling. I get the feeling Winstead was on to something special here and there were so many beginning that had the promise of something special and then it didn't go anywhere.
I'd describe this book as having a bit of ADHD: too much, all at once, things get started but not finished, moves onto the next thing. Sometimes less is more.

Having said that, I was never bored. The book kept me hooked wanting to know more and who was behind the different mysteries.

Many thanks to Aria&Aries for providing me with a copy of the book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[Lloyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite being an Ashley Winstead fan, nothing about the title, cover, or synopsis appealed to me. I was offered an advanced listening copy and liked the narrator, Brittney Presley, so decided why the hell not. It appears my initial instinct was spot on because this really did nothing for me. Who knew murder could be so boring? Too many POVs and just far too much suspension of belief. I’m sure this will find its audience but it unfortunately was not for me. I liked the overall message but would have preferred a tighter plot.