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New Year's Grieve
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Expected 17 Nov 26Win a free print copy of this book!
15 days and 11:18:51
100 copies available
U.S. only
In this romp of a country house mystery for fans of Truly Devious and Knives Out, when Jojo’s grandad is found dead at a winter family gathering, Jojo is determined to uncover which of her horrible relatives is responsible—and to avoid her maddening ex-boyfriend who crashed the party.
Jojo had planned to spend her winter break healing her heart in the surf of the Pacific. Instead, she’s being forced to attend Grandad’s New Year’s birthday at his estate in the snowy North Carolina mountains—along with her whole horrible family, each one competing to be the most insufferable person at the dinner table.
But things are even worse than Jojo had feared. For some ungodly reason, Fritz is here—Fritz, the childhood friend who broke her heart last summer, whom she’s sworn to loathe for all eternity. And, worst of all, he looks great in winter wear.
The trip takes a turn for the tragic when Grandad is found dead. No one else in the snowed-in house suspects foul play, but Jojo knows the Someone here has committed a murder. Now, she just has to figure out who, and murder them back.
And, because the universe hates her, she might need Fritz’s help...
Jojo had planned to spend her winter break healing her heart in the surf of the Pacific. Instead, she’s being forced to attend Grandad’s New Year’s birthday at his estate in the snowy North Carolina mountains—along with her whole horrible family, each one competing to be the most insufferable person at the dinner table.
But things are even worse than Jojo had feared. For some ungodly reason, Fritz is here—Fritz, the childhood friend who broke her heart last summer, whom she’s sworn to loathe for all eternity. And, worst of all, he looks great in winter wear.
The trip takes a turn for the tragic when Grandad is found dead. No one else in the snowed-in house suspects foul play, but Jojo knows the Someone here has committed a murder. Now, she just has to figure out who, and murder them back.
And, because the universe hates her, she might need Fritz’s help...
Kindle Edition
Expected publication November 17, 2026
About the author
Elizabeth Foscue
3 books23 followersElizabeth Foscue grew up in a house on a Florida bay and on a boat in the Caribbean Sea. A hurricane got the house, but the boat has fared better. She earned a B.A. in Linguistics from the University of Florida then a J.D. and LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center, and in the midst of all that got married in a church on a hill in the British Virgin Islands. A hurricane got the church, but the marriage has fared better. Elizabeth lives in Santa Barbara, California with her husband and two awesome kiddos.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 24, 2026
The premise of this book really intrigued me. I like the “snowed in with a killer” trope and a YA Knives Out sounded interesting, especially the idea of being forced to team up with the guy who broke her heart to solve the mystery.
Unfortunately, I didn’t like this book much at all, and that is almost entirely due to the main character Jojo, who was obnoxious in the extreme. I absolutely loathed her, from the snotty way she talked to just about everyone, to her inner monologue, to the way she treated the love interest Fritz (WHY did he like her? She was horrible to him!), to her immature actions and risky behaviors.
First off, I was expecting the grandfather to die pretty early in the book. In actuality, the grandfather’s death doesn’t happen until around the 50 percent mark. The first half of the book was basically the family bickering to set up the suspects. However, I found it very difficult to keep track of everyone since they were all introduced at the same time. And since the blurb says the grandfather dies, I felt like I was waiting around for that to happen. I hate it when blurbs spoil plot details, though I guess in this case it’s solving a murder so you know someone will die. Anyway…
When the grandfather finally did die, Jojo is like, “I’m going to find the person who did this. And kill them.” Um, that’s a little extreme, especially for a teenager, but whatever. And Fritz basically said that to her and she went off on him and had a fit. She was perfectly willing to murder a family member which was really disturbing. Not to mention intentionally trying to give herself an anaphylactic reaction AND spiking Fritz’s plate with COCAINE?!? Um, what?!? Was she joking with him??? I certainly hope so! Now that I think about it more she had to be joking because where would she get cocaine? I don’t know; anyway, she was horrible and I didn’t like her at all.
That’s another thing - I couldn’t tell if this book was supposed to be a farce or an absurdist take on a murder mystery or if I was supposed to take it seriously. Even at the end, Jojo says that she and Fritz went off and had sex (I guess) and then I turned the page and she basically said she was kidding and THIS is what really happened and then the story continued. It felt like a less funny version of the movie Clue.
Sadly, this ended up being a miss for me.
Thank you to HarperCollins Children’s Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Unfortunately, I didn’t like this book much at all, and that is almost entirely due to the main character Jojo, who was obnoxious in the extreme. I absolutely loathed her, from the snotty way she talked to just about everyone, to her inner monologue, to the way she treated the love interest Fritz (WHY did he like her? She was horrible to him!), to her immature actions and risky behaviors.
First off, I was expecting the grandfather to die pretty early in the book. In actuality, the grandfather’s death doesn’t happen until around the 50 percent mark. The first half of the book was basically the family bickering to set up the suspects. However, I found it very difficult to keep track of everyone since they were all introduced at the same time. And since the blurb says the grandfather dies, I felt like I was waiting around for that to happen. I hate it when blurbs spoil plot details, though I guess in this case it’s solving a murder so you know someone will die. Anyway…
When the grandfather finally did die, Jojo is like, “I’m going to find the person who did this. And kill them.” Um, that’s a little extreme, especially for a teenager, but whatever. And Fritz basically said that to her and she went off on him and had a fit. She was perfectly willing to murder a family member which was really disturbing. Not to mention intentionally trying to give herself an anaphylactic reaction AND spiking Fritz’s plate with COCAINE?!? Um, what?!? Was she joking with him??? I certainly hope so! Now that I think about it more she had to be joking because where would she get cocaine? I don’t know; anyway, she was horrible and I didn’t like her at all.
That’s another thing - I couldn’t tell if this book was supposed to be a farce or an absurdist take on a murder mystery or if I was supposed to take it seriously. Even at the end, Jojo says that she and Fritz went off and had sex (I guess) and then I turned the page and she basically said she was kidding and THIS is what really happened and then the story continued. It felt like a less funny version of the movie Clue.
Sadly, this ended up being a miss for me.
Thank you to HarperCollins Children’s Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Want to Read
July 3, 2026❄️🔪 New Year's Grieve 🔪❄️
📖 Bookish Thoughts
My full review will be shared closer to the publication date.
🕵️ What to Expect
• YA Mystery
• Locked Room Mystery
• Snowed In
• Family Drama
• Exes to Allies
• Murder Investigation
_ _ _ _
📅 Pub Date: November 17, 2026
Thank you to HarperCollins Children's Books, HarperCollins, and NetGalley for the advanced copy.
📖 Bookish Thoughts
My full review will be shared closer to the publication date.
🕵️ What to Expect
• YA Mystery
• Locked Room Mystery
• Snowed In
• Family Drama
• Exes to Allies
• Murder Investigation
_ _ _ _
📅 Pub Date: November 17, 2026
Thank you to HarperCollins Children's Books, HarperCollins, and NetGalley for the advanced copy.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
If you love Knives Out-style family drama where literally everyone is awful, then “New Year's Grieve” by Elizabeth Foscue is probably going to be your kind of chaos.
Jojo is forced to spend New Year's at her wealthy grandfather's 90th birthday party instead of surfing in California and getting over her breakup with her childhood best friend (and secret boyfriend), Fritz. Unfortunately for her, the guest list is packed with the most insufferable relatives imaginable. They're greedy, petty, constantly insulting each other, and all seem far more interested in Grandad's money than celebrating his birthday. Then a winter storm traps everyone inside and Grandad turns up dead.
Jojo immediately knows it wasn't an accident and decides she's going to solve the murder herself, even if it means reluctantly teaming up with Fritz, who she would very much prefer to keep avoiding.
The biggest highlight of this book is definitely the family. They are an absolute train wreck in the most entertaining way possible. Every conversation feels like someone is about to start a fight, and Jojo's sarcastic inner monologue had me laughing more than once. She's sharp, brutally honest, and has zero patience for anyone's nonsense. She's definitely not the easiest protagonist to love, but her snark makes her a lot of fun to follow.
The mystery itself has all the ingredients of a classic locked-room whodunit: a snowed-in mansion, a long list of suspects, family secrets, and plenty of motives. It felt like a YA version of a cozy country house mystery with a healthy dose of dysfunctional-family comedy mixed in.
That said, the murder takes a little while to happen since the first part spends a lot of time introducing the massive cast of relatives. There are also a lot of names to keep straight at first, which was quite overwhelming and made the mystery aspect a bit confusing. Once the investigation begins, the pacing picks up, although I found the mystery itself a bit less satisfying than all the family drama surrounding it. The romance between Jojo and Fritz also didn't completely work for me; they spend much of the book pushing each other away, so their chemistry never felt quite as strong as I'd hoped.
Even with those minor complaints, I still had a great time reading this. The humor, the outrageous relatives, the snowy setting, and the classic "everyone's a suspect" mystery made this a really entertaining read. If you're looking for a murder mystery packed with messy family dynamics and enough rich people behaving badly to make you roll your eyes every few pages, “New Year's Grieve” is definitely worth adding to your TBR.
If you love Knives Out-style family drama where literally everyone is awful, then “New Year's Grieve” by Elizabeth Foscue is probably going to be your kind of chaos.
Jojo is forced to spend New Year's at her wealthy grandfather's 90th birthday party instead of surfing in California and getting over her breakup with her childhood best friend (and secret boyfriend), Fritz. Unfortunately for her, the guest list is packed with the most insufferable relatives imaginable. They're greedy, petty, constantly insulting each other, and all seem far more interested in Grandad's money than celebrating his birthday. Then a winter storm traps everyone inside and Grandad turns up dead.
Jojo immediately knows it wasn't an accident and decides she's going to solve the murder herself, even if it means reluctantly teaming up with Fritz, who she would very much prefer to keep avoiding.
The biggest highlight of this book is definitely the family. They are an absolute train wreck in the most entertaining way possible. Every conversation feels like someone is about to start a fight, and Jojo's sarcastic inner monologue had me laughing more than once. She's sharp, brutally honest, and has zero patience for anyone's nonsense. She's definitely not the easiest protagonist to love, but her snark makes her a lot of fun to follow.
The mystery itself has all the ingredients of a classic locked-room whodunit: a snowed-in mansion, a long list of suspects, family secrets, and plenty of motives. It felt like a YA version of a cozy country house mystery with a healthy dose of dysfunctional-family comedy mixed in.
That said, the murder takes a little while to happen since the first part spends a lot of time introducing the massive cast of relatives. There are also a lot of names to keep straight at first, which was quite overwhelming and made the mystery aspect a bit confusing. Once the investigation begins, the pacing picks up, although I found the mystery itself a bit less satisfying than all the family drama surrounding it. The romance between Jojo and Fritz also didn't completely work for me; they spend much of the book pushing each other away, so their chemistry never felt quite as strong as I'd hoped.
Even with those minor complaints, I still had a great time reading this. The humor, the outrageous relatives, the snowy setting, and the classic "everyone's a suspect" mystery made this a really entertaining read. If you're looking for a murder mystery packed with messy family dynamics and enough rich people behaving badly to make you roll your eyes every few pages, “New Year's Grieve” is definitely worth adding to your TBR.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
JoJo is forced to attend her grandfather's 90th birthday party over New Years Eve at one of the family's homes in North Carolina. Her grandfather is the only member of her family she actually likes, but she would rather be surfing in California and trying to get over her ex boyfriend Fritz, not be trapped by a winter storm with her insufferable family and that same ex. Then her grandfather is murdered and JoJo has no choice but to team up with Fritz to unmask the murderer.
There were many times I laughed out loud at the commentary from JoJo. She could be very funny in a caustic sort of way. Her entire extended family was just ridiculous. Definitely the stereotypical rich all their lives jerks all after the family money. I appreciated that each family member had a distinct personality, although none of them were likeable. I think that was the point though, this entire family was made up of horrible people.
Overall I did enjoy this book, but I gave it 3 stars for a few reasons. JoJo was not a very likable character in the end, as she really wasn't very nice and she didn't seem to care about anyone but herself. I did not like the method she used to bring down the killer. I also didn't like how she treated Fritz and really their whole dynamic. I didn't get the impression she actually cared about him at all aside from physical attraction. I also didn't like that certain family members didn't face consequences for their actions, although I guess that's unfortunately realistic for rich people.
Spice Level: 0.5/5 🌶️ - there is kissing and a fade to black scene where clothes are shed.
I received a free ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
There were many times I laughed out loud at the commentary from JoJo. She could be very funny in a caustic sort of way. Her entire extended family was just ridiculous. Definitely the stereotypical rich all their lives jerks all after the family money. I appreciated that each family member had a distinct personality, although none of them were likeable. I think that was the point though, this entire family was made up of horrible people.
Overall I did enjoy this book, but I gave it 3 stars for a few reasons. JoJo was not a very likable character in the end, as she really wasn't very nice and she didn't seem to care about anyone but herself. I did not like the method she used to bring down the killer. I also didn't like how she treated Fritz and really their whole dynamic. I didn't get the impression she actually cared about him at all aside from physical attraction. I also didn't like that certain family members didn't face consequences for their actions, although I guess that's unfortunately realistic for rich people.
Spice Level: 0.5/5 🌶️ - there is kissing and a fade to black scene where clothes are shed.
I received a free ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
(Finished May 25th, 2026)
I am OBSSESED with a good messy family. And this delivered on that count, this family is so dysfunctional and everyone was just unlikeable. So there for, I loved it. It was such a similar vibe to Holly Jackson's "The Reaperance of Rachel Price" when it came to the messy family dynamic. And they didnt hold back in this one, the come backs were so hilarious when it came to our main girl Jojo. The family was racist, homophobic, and bad republicans. Nothing was spared.
But aside from that aspect, I will say I was a bit let down by the book itself. The first half of the book I was HOOKED!!! But once the grandfather dies, it kind of just went a bit stale. The mystery solving itself was okay but a bit flimsy. I dont feel like I really discovered anything.
And the side plot romance was okay and a bit weird? We dont see Fritz with jojo often after the murder, and when he is near her jojo keeps pushing him away. I was hoping for a more sidekick personality from him but alas that wasn't happening. So when they do reconcile it was a bit....weird, especially the timing. I wasn't really connected to their love.
The ending didnt really leave me feeling satisfied, I kind of felt like I didnt solve anything nor did I feel the love story, which was disheartening.
Overall it was a decent book and I enjoyed it well enough. I just wish there was more.
I am OBSSESED with a good messy family. And this delivered on that count, this family is so dysfunctional and everyone was just unlikeable. So there for, I loved it. It was such a similar vibe to Holly Jackson's "The Reaperance of Rachel Price" when it came to the messy family dynamic. And they didnt hold back in this one, the come backs were so hilarious when it came to our main girl Jojo. The family was racist, homophobic, and bad republicans. Nothing was spared.
But aside from that aspect, I will say I was a bit let down by the book itself. The first half of the book I was HOOKED!!! But once the grandfather dies, it kind of just went a bit stale. The mystery solving itself was okay but a bit flimsy. I dont feel like I really discovered anything.
And the side plot romance was okay and a bit weird? We dont see Fritz with jojo often after the murder, and when he is near her jojo keeps pushing him away. I was hoping for a more sidekick personality from him but alas that wasn't happening. So when they do reconcile it was a bit....weird, especially the timing. I wasn't really connected to their love.
The ending didnt really leave me feeling satisfied, I kind of felt like I didnt solve anything nor did I feel the love story, which was disheartening.
Overall it was a decent book and I enjoyed it well enough. I just wish there was more.
May 14, 2026
Read a free ARC on NetGalley.
Jojo is forced to go with her mother to her Grandpa’s 90th birthday, which is occurring around New Year’s Eve. She really doesn’t want to go- her relatives are all horrible people and she is getting over a breakup with her childhood best friend/first love Fritz. They had kept their relationship secret so no one knows about it. She arrives at her Grandpa’s North Carolina estate and Fritz is there unexpectedly. He really want to talk to her and clear the air between them (and maybe get back together) but Jojo isn’t interested. Her family is as horrible as she expected, but at least she’s with her Grandpa. They have very similar personalities, they both can’t stand their relatives and they both are allergic to nuts, which becomes important to the story. When her Grandpa turns up dead, Jojo is convinced he has been murdered and she’s going to find out who did it- and make them pay.
The story is entertaining, even though the ending is a little over the top. I really liked the character of Jojo and the “closed circle of suspects” type of murder mystery story.
Jojo is forced to go with her mother to her Grandpa’s 90th birthday, which is occurring around New Year’s Eve. She really doesn’t want to go- her relatives are all horrible people and she is getting over a breakup with her childhood best friend/first love Fritz. They had kept their relationship secret so no one knows about it. She arrives at her Grandpa’s North Carolina estate and Fritz is there unexpectedly. He really want to talk to her and clear the air between them (and maybe get back together) but Jojo isn’t interested. Her family is as horrible as she expected, but at least she’s with her Grandpa. They have very similar personalities, they both can’t stand their relatives and they both are allergic to nuts, which becomes important to the story. When her Grandpa turns up dead, Jojo is convinced he has been murdered and she’s going to find out who did it- and make them pay.
The story is entertaining, even though the ending is a little over the top. I really liked the character of Jojo and the “closed circle of suspects” type of murder mystery story.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I had a lot of fun with this book. The pace was popping, the voice was funny, the family members absurd in every archetypal way. And a few Google-able vocab words just to keep me on my
toes. I often compare this author’s writing to reading the screenplay of a Veronica Mars episode. I love Foscue’s quirky heroines. She captures the voice as a believable caricature of a teen girl (this coming from a 25 year middle school teacher and mom of a sharp tongued 17 year old). A fun read, perfect for the holiday break. My early copy meant I was out of season finishing it on Memorial Day Weekend, but I was at a house party, so it made the setting and set up even more fun!
toes. I often compare this author’s writing to reading the screenplay of a Veronica Mars episode. I love Foscue’s quirky heroines. She captures the voice as a believable caricature of a teen girl (this coming from a 25 year middle school teacher and mom of a sharp tongued 17 year old). A fun read, perfect for the holiday break. My early copy meant I was out of season finishing it on Memorial Day Weekend, but I was at a house party, so it made the setting and set up even more fun!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
For a murder mystery, it took a while for things to really start happening. It’s definitely more character-focused than plot-focused. The main character is a brat, and her personality is so well written, but there are WAYYY too many characters to keep track of. Still good though.
Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the AR
Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the AR
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
New Year’s Grieve was ok for me. I really enjoyed the realistic and often messy characters. It was a bit of slow burn , at least in the beginning for me, but I really ended up liking it. The setting was really cool and it really helped bring the story to life for me. The ending fell flat, I’m not sure what I expected but it wasn’t that.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I saw a review on NetGalley comparing this to Deadlock so I had to request and I was NOT disappointed. This was wildly unhinged in all the best ways. 5/5 Stars.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
This is the funniest book I've ever written!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews