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Dirty Myrtle
A few days before Thanksgiving, Sailor Cassidy is running an amateur stakeout she has no business conducting. She’s nursing a bad breakup, following a plan that’s half-baked in more ways than one, and reckless enough not to care. What could go wrong?
Across town, Officer Tuscaloosa “Tusk” Knight is working an off-the-books job for his captain, tailing a drifter who, it turns out, once sat two rows over from him in high school English. It’s not exactly the glamorous step toward promotion he pictured, but it beats paperwork.
When Sailor’s disaster and Tusk’s assignment collide, the two stumble into a life-or-death mess involving kidnapping, half-wit criminals, and a tangle of small-town secrets longer than the Carolina coast. With the clock ticking, Sailor and Tusk are left trying to separate the truth from the lies, and the lies from the truly stupid decisions.
Across town, Officer Tuscaloosa “Tusk” Knight is working an off-the-books job for his captain, tailing a drifter who, it turns out, once sat two rows over from him in high school English. It’s not exactly the glamorous step toward promotion he pictured, but it beats paperwork.
When Sailor’s disaster and Tusk’s assignment collide, the two stumble into a life-or-death mess involving kidnapping, half-wit criminals, and a tangle of small-town secrets longer than the Carolina coast. With the clock ticking, Sailor and Tusk are left trying to separate the truth from the lies, and the lies from the truly stupid decisions.
310 pages, Hardcover
Published June 9, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
July 6, 2026
This might catch your interest if you like cop shows, but those that are slightly less serious.
This book was sort of a long shot for me, which I pretty much knew going into it.
I don’t read a ton of mystery/investigative type things, but, I was drawn in by the cover and the title (as someone who spent a lot of childhood summers in Myrtle Beach), so I thought I needed to give it a go. For nostalgia purposes!
Unfortunately for me, I didn’t get much of the nostalgia factor I was looking for. (Which isn’t a hit toward the book! Because it’s not written for that purpose anyway), but, I got a bit less excited when I realized it wasn’t what I was picturing.
Which that being said, I think it’s a fine story. It seems pretty standard for the genre (at least from my limited amount of experience).
I think it’s written quite well, and the plot is engaging without being too overly complicated.
Again, sort of like a cop show. Which is basically all I could think about while I was reading it.
Overall, it’s not necessarily for me. But I think if you really enjoy mystery and crime novels, you might like it more!
Thank you to Netgalley, Apprentice House Press and author Kennedy Weible for providing me with the eARC of “Dirty Myrtle”, in exchange for my honest review!
Publication date: June 09, 2026
This book was sort of a long shot for me, which I pretty much knew going into it.
I don’t read a ton of mystery/investigative type things, but, I was drawn in by the cover and the title (as someone who spent a lot of childhood summers in Myrtle Beach), so I thought I needed to give it a go. For nostalgia purposes!
Unfortunately for me, I didn’t get much of the nostalgia factor I was looking for. (Which isn’t a hit toward the book! Because it’s not written for that purpose anyway), but, I got a bit less excited when I realized it wasn’t what I was picturing.
Which that being said, I think it’s a fine story. It seems pretty standard for the genre (at least from my limited amount of experience).
I think it’s written quite well, and the plot is engaging without being too overly complicated.
Again, sort of like a cop show. Which is basically all I could think about while I was reading it.
Overall, it’s not necessarily for me. But I think if you really enjoy mystery and crime novels, you might like it more!
Thank you to Netgalley, Apprentice House Press and author Kennedy Weible for providing me with the eARC of “Dirty Myrtle”, in exchange for my honest review!
Publication date: June 09, 2026
June 6, 2026
I honestly could not tell you the last time I audibly laughed out loud at a book - frequently. To the point of waking up my dogs.
I love everything about this book: the “detectives” being Sailor, a chronically high underachiever trying to look out for her sister Carrie, and Tusk, a cop who is just trying to wrangle everything together. There are a lot of characters and the plot is complex but still - the antics of everyone involved are entertaining and hilarious.
I don’t have enough words for how much I enjoyed this book!
Thank you to NetGalley, Kennedy Weible, and Apprentice House Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
I love everything about this book: the “detectives” being Sailor, a chronically high underachiever trying to look out for her sister Carrie, and Tusk, a cop who is just trying to wrangle everything together. There are a lot of characters and the plot is complex but still - the antics of everyone involved are entertaining and hilarious.
I don’t have enough words for how much I enjoyed this book!
Thank you to NetGalley, Kennedy Weible, and Apprentice House Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
January 30, 2026
This book thrives on chaotic friendships, big feelings, and a heroine who makes questionable choices but is impossible to look away from. The dialogue is sharp and there’s more emotional depth under the drama than you’d expect.
Not quite 5 stars because the middle drags a bit and some conflict feels extra just for the sake of it, but overall, a fun, character-driven read with heart.
Not quite 5 stars because the middle drags a bit and some conflict feels extra just for the sake of it, but overall, a fun, character-driven read with heart.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Some novels announce themselves with a thunderclap. Others walk in barefoot, smelling faintly of beer, drop into a kitchen chair, and start talking before you've offered them coffee. Dirty Myrtle by Kennedy Weible is the second kind, and I mean that as the highest compliment I can pay a crime novel set on the Grand Strand of South Carolina.
I've read enough small-town crime fiction to know how easily the form can turn into a checklist (broken cop, missing woman, snitches in flannel), but this book sidesteps every cliché by the simple trick of treating its people as people first and plot pieces second. The result is a book that's funny on Tuesday, tense on Wednesday, and a little heartbroken by Sunday.
The Setup: A Long Weekend in a Town That Keeps Its Receipts
The story unfolds in the days leading up to Thanksgiving in Myrtle Beach, a town where Confederate flags hang in beachwear shop windows and Sailor Cassidy, an HVAC tech and part-time chaos agent, owns one towel and uses it for everything. Sailor has just brought home a volleyball coach named Lula whose team lost in the semis. Across town, Officer Tuscaloosa "Tusk" Knight is finishing a night shift cluttered with public urinators when his captain hands him an off-the-books favor that will mess up his life in nine creative ways before breakfast.
Sailor and Tusk haven't met yet. They will. And when they do, the collision sets off a chain reaction involving real estate fraud, a bottle of local rotgut whiskey called Dirty Myrtle, a livestream comedian, a missing bank employee, and a couple of men who do violence the way most people do laundry: badly, but often.
The Plot Mechanics: Twin Engines, One Coast
What I admire most about the plotting is how Weible runs two parallel storylines and lets the reader see the seam between them long before the characters do. Sailor's family is its own tangle: her sister Carrie is silently leaving a marriage, her brother JP is a moderately successful internet comic with a cat named Walnut and a few secrets in a cornfield, her younger brother Dex is home from college, and her parents are doing what families do, which is pretending the kitchen is louder than it really is.
Meanwhile, Tusk is chasing a guy named Jug who once sat two rows away from him in eleventh-grade English. Jug is, in the author's lovely phrasing, the kind of trouble that arrives "to sleep off a case of the stupids," and the book is generous enough to let him be more than a punchline. The kidnapping mentioned in the blurb arrives at chest level and travels downward from there, picking up speed.
The Voices: A Cast That Could Carry a Bar Conversation Alone
A few of the standouts:
• Sailor, whose perceptiveness sneaks up on you the way her hangovers sneak up on her, half-stoned but somehow always reading the room
• Tusk, a Black officer in a Confederate-flag-towel kind of town, decent and tired and trying to make detective without losing his soul
• Carrie, the older sister, all professional competence outside the house and quiet ruin inside it
• JP, the comedian brother whose livestream patter is so good I'd genuinely subscribe to his fictional fan club
• Mr. Papaioannou, a Greek widower with a FaceTime problem and a habit of pretend-spitting at things he disapproves of (no exaggeration, my favorite minor character of the year)
• Captain Lewis, who has known the Shaw family for thirty years and treats favors as a form of grief management
Even the bit players get a little oxygen. A waiter who used to be a cop. A divorce attorney named Chess. A bartender at Big Lock's. None of them feel like furniture.
The Prose: Talented Friend at 2 AM, Telling You a Story
Weible's sentences have a sneaky rhythm. He'll set up a banal moment and then drop a metaphor that knocks you sideways. A hangover is "a small miner ... chiseling away rhythmically at the inside of her skull." Sailor's neglected bangs become "visual impairments." Carrie's anger climbs the dial "past Stun, past Kill, directly to Eviscerate." This is comic writing of a high order: specific, kinetic, never showy.
What surprised me most about Dirty Myrtle by Kennedy Weible is how warm the book is underneath the wisecracks. Affairs are handled without judgment. A grandmother's grief over a wayward grandson lands with the unforced weight of someone who has actually known a grandmother. Even the lousy whiskey that gives the novel its title gets a small soliloquy of affection. The book likes its people, and that warmth is the engine that keeps the comedy from going sour and the crime from going lurid.
Strengths, Briefly Inventoried
For readers who like their highlights in list form:
1. Dialogue that earns laughs without strain, the kind you read aloud to whoever's nearby
2. A multi-POV structure that never gets confusing thanks to distinct voices
3. Setting work so sharp Myrtle Beach itself behaves like a character, all sugar drinks and stately old houses standing next to new builds that look "like they were built with fondant"
4. Crime mechanics that respect the reader's intelligence
5. An emotional undertow that earns the final pages without sentimentality
6. Female protagonists written with rare specificity (Sailor and Carrie do not feel like sisters of convenience; they feel like actual sisters)
Final Word
I picked up Dirty Myrtle by Kennedy Weible expecting beach noir. I finished it feeling like I'd spent a long weekend with a family I'd want to invite to my own holiday table, even if half of them would steal my towels. That's a rare trick for a crime novel, and a very rare one for any book to pull off in three hundred pages. Pour yourself a finger of whatever's nearest. Settle in.
I've read enough small-town crime fiction to know how easily the form can turn into a checklist (broken cop, missing woman, snitches in flannel), but this book sidesteps every cliché by the simple trick of treating its people as people first and plot pieces second. The result is a book that's funny on Tuesday, tense on Wednesday, and a little heartbroken by Sunday.
The Setup: A Long Weekend in a Town That Keeps Its Receipts
The story unfolds in the days leading up to Thanksgiving in Myrtle Beach, a town where Confederate flags hang in beachwear shop windows and Sailor Cassidy, an HVAC tech and part-time chaos agent, owns one towel and uses it for everything. Sailor has just brought home a volleyball coach named Lula whose team lost in the semis. Across town, Officer Tuscaloosa "Tusk" Knight is finishing a night shift cluttered with public urinators when his captain hands him an off-the-books favor that will mess up his life in nine creative ways before breakfast.
Sailor and Tusk haven't met yet. They will. And when they do, the collision sets off a chain reaction involving real estate fraud, a bottle of local rotgut whiskey called Dirty Myrtle, a livestream comedian, a missing bank employee, and a couple of men who do violence the way most people do laundry: badly, but often.
The Plot Mechanics: Twin Engines, One Coast
What I admire most about the plotting is how Weible runs two parallel storylines and lets the reader see the seam between them long before the characters do. Sailor's family is its own tangle: her sister Carrie is silently leaving a marriage, her brother JP is a moderately successful internet comic with a cat named Walnut and a few secrets in a cornfield, her younger brother Dex is home from college, and her parents are doing what families do, which is pretending the kitchen is louder than it really is.
Meanwhile, Tusk is chasing a guy named Jug who once sat two rows away from him in eleventh-grade English. Jug is, in the author's lovely phrasing, the kind of trouble that arrives "to sleep off a case of the stupids," and the book is generous enough to let him be more than a punchline. The kidnapping mentioned in the blurb arrives at chest level and travels downward from there, picking up speed.
The Voices: A Cast That Could Carry a Bar Conversation Alone
A few of the standouts:
• Sailor, whose perceptiveness sneaks up on you the way her hangovers sneak up on her, half-stoned but somehow always reading the room
• Tusk, a Black officer in a Confederate-flag-towel kind of town, decent and tired and trying to make detective without losing his soul
• Carrie, the older sister, all professional competence outside the house and quiet ruin inside it
• JP, the comedian brother whose livestream patter is so good I'd genuinely subscribe to his fictional fan club
• Mr. Papaioannou, a Greek widower with a FaceTime problem and a habit of pretend-spitting at things he disapproves of (no exaggeration, my favorite minor character of the year)
• Captain Lewis, who has known the Shaw family for thirty years and treats favors as a form of grief management
Even the bit players get a little oxygen. A waiter who used to be a cop. A divorce attorney named Chess. A bartender at Big Lock's. None of them feel like furniture.
The Prose: Talented Friend at 2 AM, Telling You a Story
Weible's sentences have a sneaky rhythm. He'll set up a banal moment and then drop a metaphor that knocks you sideways. A hangover is "a small miner ... chiseling away rhythmically at the inside of her skull." Sailor's neglected bangs become "visual impairments." Carrie's anger climbs the dial "past Stun, past Kill, directly to Eviscerate." This is comic writing of a high order: specific, kinetic, never showy.
What surprised me most about Dirty Myrtle by Kennedy Weible is how warm the book is underneath the wisecracks. Affairs are handled without judgment. A grandmother's grief over a wayward grandson lands with the unforced weight of someone who has actually known a grandmother. Even the lousy whiskey that gives the novel its title gets a small soliloquy of affection. The book likes its people, and that warmth is the engine that keeps the comedy from going sour and the crime from going lurid.
Strengths, Briefly Inventoried
For readers who like their highlights in list form:
1. Dialogue that earns laughs without strain, the kind you read aloud to whoever's nearby
2. A multi-POV structure that never gets confusing thanks to distinct voices
3. Setting work so sharp Myrtle Beach itself behaves like a character, all sugar drinks and stately old houses standing next to new builds that look "like they were built with fondant"
4. Crime mechanics that respect the reader's intelligence
5. An emotional undertow that earns the final pages without sentimentality
6. Female protagonists written with rare specificity (Sailor and Carrie do not feel like sisters of convenience; they feel like actual sisters)
Final Word
I picked up Dirty Myrtle by Kennedy Weible expecting beach noir. I finished it feeling like I'd spent a long weekend with a family I'd want to invite to my own holiday table, even if half of them would steal my towels. That's a rare trick for a crime novel, and a very rare one for any book to pull off in three hundred pages. Pour yourself a finger of whatever's nearest. Settle in.
Read
June 17, 2026If you were to blend together the books of Dave Barry, Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen,* the result wouldn’t look too dissimilar from Kennedy Weible’s very funny and hugely entertaining novel, Dirty Myrtle.
Instead of Florida, where a lot of these novels seem to take place,** Kennedy takes us to—the title is a bit of a giveaway—the South Carolina coastal city of Myrtle Beach. The first person we encounter on this journey of violence, drugs and a modicum of debauchery is Sailor Cassidy. She’s just waking up from a rough but clearly successful night at the local bar, given there’s a woman still sleeping in her bed. Picking up volleyball coaches (her name is Lula) and drunkenly bringing them back to her hovel of an apartment isn’t Sailor’s modus operandi, but she’s still feeling a bit lost and tender after breaking up with her girlfriend. While this opening isn’t integral to the plot, the subsequent conversation/shit talk between Sailor and Lula—“You only have one towel?” “My second one is in the shop. They don’t know what’s wrong with it. Maybe the hem?”—both establishes Sailor as an intriguing, spiky character you want to spend time with and the novel’s comedic and grimy tone.
Having awkwardly left her apartment, with Lula still struggling to find a clean towel and/or coffee mug, Sailor rings her sister. Carrie Cassidy has discovered that her douchebag husband, Morgan, is cheating on her, and Carrie’s lawyer says she needs evidence of infidelity before filing.*** Sailor offers to spy on Morgan and take pictures of him with his mistress, Nina. Carrie, who, unlike her sister, is sensible and measured, says, “Don’t do that.” Sailor does it anyway and, in the process, witnesses Nina’s kidnapping. When she tries to stop the men from bundling Nina into a van, she’s knocked unconscious.
In the meantime, other shit is going down. Sensible, measured Carrie is shagging the local cop, Tusk Knight.**** Unbeknownst to them, Sailor lets slip on her brother J.P.’s livestream—she doesn’t know he’s recording—that she suspects Carrie is having an affair, a speculation that butterfly-effects its way through the plot.
J.P.’s bestie and next-door neighbour, Jug, is back in town after a three-year absence. They both ran drugs for a local drug dealer, Jumper. The last time they saw each other, a staged robbery went horribly wrong, leading to the death of their mate Randy. Jug did a runner, and J.P. was left to face the music and a $10,000 debt.
And there’s more. Just when you think you’ve reached the bottom of the plot barrel, Kennedy finds another turn, another wrinkle, another antagonist.
Is there too much going on? The short answer is: no. Novels like Dirty Myrtle rely heavily on two things: a series of almost absurd coincidences that set the action in motion and layers and layers of story. In other words, it’s all part of the fun. And the fact that Kennedy juggles all these threads without dropping too many plates, balls or torches is a testament to his flow-charting skills. Not every character gets as much development as I would have liked (I’m thinking Nina here, who has a strong “Real Housewives” vibe), but that’s also not a dealbreaker, because the plot races along, driven by some cracking dialogue.***** I was never not entertained.
Dirty Myrtle is out this month.****** If you’re looking for a distraction from the endless parade of shit that defines our current moment, this will meet that need.
*I haven’t read Hiaasen (I have the other two); I’m going by reputation.
**He says with zero expertise on the subject. This isn’t really my genre.
***Not going to lie, I didn’t know this was still a thing.
****Tusk is short for Tuscaloosa. I love that name.
*****The title is the name of a new whisky/bourbon. The running gag is that it’s popular despite how foul it tastes. “It’s like they distill it into used cigarette butts. That’s the flavor profile.”
******Yes! I’m publishing a review in the same month the novel is released. I’m as shocked as you are!
Instead of Florida, where a lot of these novels seem to take place,** Kennedy takes us to—the title is a bit of a giveaway—the South Carolina coastal city of Myrtle Beach. The first person we encounter on this journey of violence, drugs and a modicum of debauchery is Sailor Cassidy. She’s just waking up from a rough but clearly successful night at the local bar, given there’s a woman still sleeping in her bed. Picking up volleyball coaches (her name is Lula) and drunkenly bringing them back to her hovel of an apartment isn’t Sailor’s modus operandi, but she’s still feeling a bit lost and tender after breaking up with her girlfriend. While this opening isn’t integral to the plot, the subsequent conversation/shit talk between Sailor and Lula—“You only have one towel?” “My second one is in the shop. They don’t know what’s wrong with it. Maybe the hem?”—both establishes Sailor as an intriguing, spiky character you want to spend time with and the novel’s comedic and grimy tone.
Having awkwardly left her apartment, with Lula still struggling to find a clean towel and/or coffee mug, Sailor rings her sister. Carrie Cassidy has discovered that her douchebag husband, Morgan, is cheating on her, and Carrie’s lawyer says she needs evidence of infidelity before filing.*** Sailor offers to spy on Morgan and take pictures of him with his mistress, Nina. Carrie, who, unlike her sister, is sensible and measured, says, “Don’t do that.” Sailor does it anyway and, in the process, witnesses Nina’s kidnapping. When she tries to stop the men from bundling Nina into a van, she’s knocked unconscious.
In the meantime, other shit is going down. Sensible, measured Carrie is shagging the local cop, Tusk Knight.**** Unbeknownst to them, Sailor lets slip on her brother J.P.’s livestream—she doesn’t know he’s recording—that she suspects Carrie is having an affair, a speculation that butterfly-effects its way through the plot.
J.P.’s bestie and next-door neighbour, Jug, is back in town after a three-year absence. They both ran drugs for a local drug dealer, Jumper. The last time they saw each other, a staged robbery went horribly wrong, leading to the death of their mate Randy. Jug did a runner, and J.P. was left to face the music and a $10,000 debt.
And there’s more. Just when you think you’ve reached the bottom of the plot barrel, Kennedy finds another turn, another wrinkle, another antagonist.
Is there too much going on? The short answer is: no. Novels like Dirty Myrtle rely heavily on two things: a series of almost absurd coincidences that set the action in motion and layers and layers of story. In other words, it’s all part of the fun. And the fact that Kennedy juggles all these threads without dropping too many plates, balls or torches is a testament to his flow-charting skills. Not every character gets as much development as I would have liked (I’m thinking Nina here, who has a strong “Real Housewives” vibe), but that’s also not a dealbreaker, because the plot races along, driven by some cracking dialogue.***** I was never not entertained.
Dirty Myrtle is out this month.****** If you’re looking for a distraction from the endless parade of shit that defines our current moment, this will meet that need.
*I haven’t read Hiaasen (I have the other two); I’m going by reputation.
**He says with zero expertise on the subject. This isn’t really my genre.
***Not going to lie, I didn’t know this was still a thing.
****Tusk is short for Tuscaloosa. I love that name.
*****The title is the name of a new whisky/bourbon. The running gag is that it’s popular despite how foul it tastes. “It’s like they distill it into used cigarette butts. That’s the flavor profile.”
******Yes! I’m publishing a review in the same month the novel is released. I’m as shocked as you are!
June 22, 2026
Thank you to Apprentice House Press and @netgalley for an eARC of Dirty Myrtle by Kennedy Wieble. Apprentice House Press out of Loyola University Maryland is the first entirely student-run publisher in the United States. Having worked at University Presses and seeing all the moving parts firsthand, I’m impressed that students do the work, and professors are there to keep a throughline as classes change each semester.
For this book, I might have chosen it for the cover which I just love. Maybe it reminds me of the road trips I took with my grandparents when I was a kid (though we never did go to South Carolina). I’m glad I did! Salior Cassidy, mostly a pothead, but also an HVAC technician for her father’s company, is enraged when she learns her brother-in-law, Morgan, is having an affair. She decides to help her sister by conducting surveillance to get proof of his misdeeds. Her snooping collides with Officer Tuck Knight’s offbook investigation into “Jug” Shaw and a network of financial criminals, inept kidnappers, unstoppable meth heads, and savvy underworld characters.
The book has some very funny moments, but don’t think it is a cozy mystery—there’s also significant violence with deadly consequences. It reminds me a bit of GET SHORTY by Elmore Leonard or the movie FARGO where idiots sometimes stumble into success and the most careful masterminds are undone by farcical coincidences.
The author, male, surprised me with his adeptness at writing the female characters. Perhaps I would have liked more focus on Sailor, though. The point-of-views shifted pretty frequently, and at times the transitions were not as smooth as they could have been. I also thought some of the writing was a little confusing in terms of where characters were in space. However, I did read an advance copy so those issues may have been addressed before publication.
The final pages open the possibility of a sequel, and I would certainly read a second book in the series!
For this book, I might have chosen it for the cover which I just love. Maybe it reminds me of the road trips I took with my grandparents when I was a kid (though we never did go to South Carolina). I’m glad I did! Salior Cassidy, mostly a pothead, but also an HVAC technician for her father’s company, is enraged when she learns her brother-in-law, Morgan, is having an affair. She decides to help her sister by conducting surveillance to get proof of his misdeeds. Her snooping collides with Officer Tuck Knight’s offbook investigation into “Jug” Shaw and a network of financial criminals, inept kidnappers, unstoppable meth heads, and savvy underworld characters.
The book has some very funny moments, but don’t think it is a cozy mystery—there’s also significant violence with deadly consequences. It reminds me a bit of GET SHORTY by Elmore Leonard or the movie FARGO where idiots sometimes stumble into success and the most careful masterminds are undone by farcical coincidences.
The author, male, surprised me with his adeptness at writing the female characters. Perhaps I would have liked more focus on Sailor, though. The point-of-views shifted pretty frequently, and at times the transitions were not as smooth as they could have been. I also thought some of the writing was a little confusing in terms of where characters were in space. However, I did read an advance copy so those issues may have been addressed before publication.
The final pages open the possibility of a sequel, and I would certainly read a second book in the series!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Dirty Myrtle is salty, sweaty beach noir full of townies, bad decisions, and crime that festers in the heat. The beginning takes its time, but once the crime thread locks in, the story grabs you and doesn’t let go.
Sailor is loyal, messy, impulsive, and softer than she pretends to be. Tusk is an honest cop trying to make detective, which is how he ends up taking an off‑the‑books detail that drags him straight into the chaos. Their chemistry comes from the fact that they aren’t partners at all, but they’re chasing the same truth for the same woman. They move in parallel, collide when they have to, and risk their own safety because neither of them can walk away from what matters.
The setting nails the swampy, dive‑bar vibe of the town. It’s seedy, dangerous, and weirdly magnetic in a way that makes the whole place feel alive. Some of my favorite moments were Sailor wielding her stun gun with ruthless precision.
The criminals are everywhere: cheating husbands, drug‑running bar owners, kitchen enforcers, and tweakers with names you couldn’t invent. The world feels grimy and lived‑in, and that’s part of the fun.
Overall, this book feels like Dirty Myrtle, the rough local whiskey, that’s cheap, harsh, and absolutely guaranteed to give you a hangover. The book left me a little hungover myself, a bit sunburned, and already wanting more time with the Cassidy family. Fans of Carl Hiaasen, Elmore Leonard, or Kristen Arnett will feel right at home. Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.
Sailor is loyal, messy, impulsive, and softer than she pretends to be. Tusk is an honest cop trying to make detective, which is how he ends up taking an off‑the‑books detail that drags him straight into the chaos. Their chemistry comes from the fact that they aren’t partners at all, but they’re chasing the same truth for the same woman. They move in parallel, collide when they have to, and risk their own safety because neither of them can walk away from what matters.
The setting nails the swampy, dive‑bar vibe of the town. It’s seedy, dangerous, and weirdly magnetic in a way that makes the whole place feel alive. Some of my favorite moments were Sailor wielding her stun gun with ruthless precision.
The criminals are everywhere: cheating husbands, drug‑running bar owners, kitchen enforcers, and tweakers with names you couldn’t invent. The world feels grimy and lived‑in, and that’s part of the fun.
Overall, this book feels like Dirty Myrtle, the rough local whiskey, that’s cheap, harsh, and absolutely guaranteed to give you a hangover. The book left me a little hungover myself, a bit sunburned, and already wanting more time with the Cassidy family. Fans of Carl Hiaasen, Elmore Leonard, or Kristen Arnett will feel right at home. Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Overall Rating = 4.17
Storyline & Concept = 4
Writing and Delivery = 4
Editorial = 4.5
In this engaging novel, Sailor Cassidy, part of a close-knit yet slightly dysfunctional family, takes it upon herself to help her sister with an amateur stakeout. At the same time, Officer Tusk Knight of the local police, vying for a promotion, takes on a secretive surveillance task for his boss. When the paths of these two characters intersect, things go spectacularly wrong.
This novel’s style was set from the first page. Although the stakes are high and the crimes are serious, the tone is witty and the incidents are often slapstick. I don’t say this in a derogatory sense. I love wit and banter and knew immediately I’d be entertained by this novel. And if entertainment was the author’s prime objective, it was achieved in a page-turning manner. However, set in a small town along the Carolina coast where the roots and history of the inhabitants run deep, I struggled to keep track of the long line-up of characters, their nicknames, and their ties to each other. That being said, this novel will appeal to anyone who enjoys a fast-paced, character-driven read laced with laugh-out-loud moments and a light, but entertaining plot.
Sublime Line: “A brisk-paced and humorous thriller that delivers, chaos, chemistry, and a cascade of bad decisions.”
Storyline & Concept = 4
Writing and Delivery = 4
Editorial = 4.5
In this engaging novel, Sailor Cassidy, part of a close-knit yet slightly dysfunctional family, takes it upon herself to help her sister with an amateur stakeout. At the same time, Officer Tusk Knight of the local police, vying for a promotion, takes on a secretive surveillance task for his boss. When the paths of these two characters intersect, things go spectacularly wrong.
This novel’s style was set from the first page. Although the stakes are high and the crimes are serious, the tone is witty and the incidents are often slapstick. I don’t say this in a derogatory sense. I love wit and banter and knew immediately I’d be entertained by this novel. And if entertainment was the author’s prime objective, it was achieved in a page-turning manner. However, set in a small town along the Carolina coast where the roots and history of the inhabitants run deep, I struggled to keep track of the long line-up of characters, their nicknames, and their ties to each other. That being said, this novel will appeal to anyone who enjoys a fast-paced, character-driven read laced with laugh-out-loud moments and a light, but entertaining plot.
Sublime Line: “A brisk-paced and humorous thriller that delivers, chaos, chemistry, and a cascade of bad decisions.”
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Gritty but big-hearted dark comedic thriller set in Myrtle Beach with complicated but realistic characters.
Sailor Cassidy, a HVAC tech, is messy, generally stoned, but when she sees her sister, Carrie, is down over the possibility her husband, Morgan, cheating, Sailor decides to investigate - “no license, no plan, just a big heart and a camera” (BookBelow). What Sailor soon learns is that Morgan is in deep trouble with some very bad types. This leads her by accident to Detective Tuscaloosa “Tusk” Knight who’s following a drifter on an “off the books” assignment. Before you know it , they find themselves meshed into a “life-or-death” mess which includes kidnapping, half-wit criminals and small town secrets bigger than you can imagine.
Sailor is a fabulous character. She’s very funny. A lot of the story is about her and her complicated family. Carrie, her sister, has grit and a backbone; Tusk is such a decent guy. The author has done a good job creating realistic characters. The book though bogs down in the middle so hang in there to the end. It will be worth it.
I’d like to thank NetGalley and Apprentice House Press for allowing me access to this fun ARC.
Sailor Cassidy, a HVAC tech, is messy, generally stoned, but when she sees her sister, Carrie, is down over the possibility her husband, Morgan, cheating, Sailor decides to investigate - “no license, no plan, just a big heart and a camera” (BookBelow). What Sailor soon learns is that Morgan is in deep trouble with some very bad types. This leads her by accident to Detective Tuscaloosa “Tusk” Knight who’s following a drifter on an “off the books” assignment. Before you know it , they find themselves meshed into a “life-or-death” mess which includes kidnapping, half-wit criminals and small town secrets bigger than you can imagine.
Sailor is a fabulous character. She’s very funny. A lot of the story is about her and her complicated family. Carrie, her sister, has grit and a backbone; Tusk is such a decent guy. The author has done a good job creating realistic characters. The book though bogs down in the middle so hang in there to the end. It will be worth it.
I’d like to thank NetGalley and Apprentice House Press for allowing me access to this fun ARC.
June 29, 2026
I admit I was not too sure about this book at the beginning. I like quirky characters but these took me to the edge and almost over. But once the story started to come together and the various colourful people, most of which belong.to one family, took hold, I enjoyed the ride. It strives to be part of the pantheon of southern mysteries with wild plots and wilder eccentrics. It skims close at times to the high standards of a Hiaissen but does not quite cross the threshold.
Still following Sailor and her sister and brothers as they inadvertently take on some very bad guys and almost come to an unfortunate end is fun. Luck and the assistance of a friendly local policeman helps them wiggle out of some very tight corners. Along the way there are some giggles and a few guffaws. I am glad that I stuck with the book until I got “with the program”. It ended up being a satisfying read. Four purrs and two paws up.
Still following Sailor and her sister and brothers as they inadvertently take on some very bad guys and almost come to an unfortunate end is fun. Luck and the assistance of a friendly local policeman helps them wiggle out of some very tight corners. Along the way there are some giggles and a few guffaws. I am glad that I stuck with the book until I got “with the program”. It ended up being a satisfying read. Four purrs and two paws up.
February 8, 2026
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.
Dirty Myrtle offers an interesting premise and a compelling central mystery that kept me curious about how everything would unfold. The plot itself was engaging, and I appreciated the layered secrets and gradual reveals that built tension throughout the story.
That said, the narration felt somewhat confusing at times. The novel leans toward a third-person omniscient perspective, but the rapid switches between characters’ viewpoints, combined with long chapters and a timeline that frequently moves back and forth, occasionally made it difficult to stay fully oriented in the story.
Even with those challenges, I still enjoyed the overall mystery and the direction the plot took. Readers who enjoy character-driven suspense with multiple intersecting perspectives may find this one especially intriguing.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.
Dirty Myrtle offers an interesting premise and a compelling central mystery that kept me curious about how everything would unfold. The plot itself was engaging, and I appreciated the layered secrets and gradual reveals that built tension throughout the story.
That said, the narration felt somewhat confusing at times. The novel leans toward a third-person omniscient perspective, but the rapid switches between characters’ viewpoints, combined with long chapters and a timeline that frequently moves back and forth, occasionally made it difficult to stay fully oriented in the story.
Even with those challenges, I still enjoyed the overall mystery and the direction the plot took. Readers who enjoy character-driven suspense with multiple intersecting perspectives may find this one especially intriguing.
June 29, 2026
Dirty Myrtle by Kennedy Weible is very different from what I usually read. The main female character is not the first choice as a lead in normal circumstances due to her way of life and her bad choices. But she has parts to her that make her good. Sailor is kind of like the MFC's in cozy mystery novels in that she just happens to be deeply involved in a situation or stumbles head into them. Then, it's in total chaos from there. Emotionally charged, full of mischief, bad choices, and unpredictable characters this novel is definitely interesting. I would recommend this read for more mature readers as there are adult scenarios and themes I believe that are better suited for those 18 and over. Overall, Dirty Myrtle is perfectly suited for crime noir fans.
I received this copy from the publisher. This is my voluntary review.
I received this copy from the publisher. This is my voluntary review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Dirty Myrtle was a complex, and at times mind-boggling crime read with a long list of complicated characters. Every character had their own quirks and struggles that end up all being connected. The plot line builds quickly, evolving from drug deals to kidnappings to murders. You get deeper looks into the story and relationships between characters from the always changing perspective.
The story was overall pretty engaging, but I did find certain parts of the story to drag a little. The book was written well. The dialogue was fun and witty, and the characters had you rooting for them even with their (at times) questionable decisions.
I would recommend this book if you like a darker crime novel with multiple perspectives.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
The story was overall pretty engaging, but I did find certain parts of the story to drag a little. The book was written well. The dialogue was fun and witty, and the characters had you rooting for them even with their (at times) questionable decisions.
I would recommend this book if you like a darker crime novel with multiple perspectives.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Myrtle Beach is trashy, chaotic and comfortable with bad decisions.
Sailor Cassidy runs an amateur stakeout with no plan and no business doing it. Officer Tusk Knight tails a drifter on an off-the-books assignment. Both of them end up neck-deep in kidnapping, drug trouble and small-town secrets that stretch the length of the Carolina coast.
The cast is enormous, and keeping everyone straight takes effort. Th alley conversations and backroom deals really put you in the scene.
This is the mystery caper version of f*** around and find out — one bad decision after another, by every person involved.
Frenetic in a way that suits the setting, and often laugh-out-loud funny.
Slow to start (some of that was me — I’m a mood reader), but worth coming back to.
Sailor Cassidy runs an amateur stakeout with no plan and no business doing it. Officer Tusk Knight tails a drifter on an off-the-books assignment. Both of them end up neck-deep in kidnapping, drug trouble and small-town secrets that stretch the length of the Carolina coast.
The cast is enormous, and keeping everyone straight takes effort. Th alley conversations and backroom deals really put you in the scene.
This is the mystery caper version of f*** around and find out — one bad decision after another, by every person involved.
Frenetic in a way that suits the setting, and often laugh-out-loud funny.
Slow to start (some of that was me — I’m a mood reader), but worth coming back to.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Dirty Myrtle is a fast-paced mystery thriller that completely hooked me! Honestly, the cover and title caught my eye first, and the description doesn't do this book justice. Think Bad Monkey vibe with its quirky chaos, secrets and reveals, captivating witty smart characters, unlikely heroes.
It’s the perfect blend of chaotic energy, small-town secrets, and a lighthearted yet suspenseful atmosphere. The story centers on a relentless struggle to uncover the truth, driven by a cast of captivating, beautifully reckless characters. I absolutely loved the shifting points of view—it works brilliantly here, constantly raising new questions and delivering answers just as fast. I enjoyed every single side of this wild ride!
Thank you NetGalley and Apprentice House Press for the arc
It’s the perfect blend of chaotic energy, small-town secrets, and a lighthearted yet suspenseful atmosphere. The story centers on a relentless struggle to uncover the truth, driven by a cast of captivating, beautifully reckless characters. I absolutely loved the shifting points of view—it works brilliantly here, constantly raising new questions and delivering answers just as fast. I enjoyed every single side of this wild ride!
Thank you NetGalley and Apprentice House Press for the arc
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This book wasn't great - it was just too boring for me. In fact, I was barely absorbing what I was reading so I often found myself rereading paragraphs and still, I was unable to invest any interest into the characters or the plot. The book had a really intriguing synopsis and the dialogue was decent but in terms of execution, the book was lacking structure and organization. The sudden POV changes also made things more confusing. Overall, I was not a huge fan of this but it could be a book that others enjoy - 2 stars.
Thank you to Kennedy Weible, Apprentice House Press, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!
#DirtyMyrtle #NetGalley
Thank you to Kennedy Weible, Apprentice House Press, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!
#DirtyMyrtle #NetGalley
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
#DirtyMyrtle
Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book.
This gritty, no-holds-barred crime thriller plunges the reader into the dark underbelly of Myrtle. The narrative pulls no punches, providing a stark and unflinching look at the "dirty things that goes down there," as the protagonist navigates a treacherous landscape of organized crime and moral ambiguity.
For fans of raw, visceral crime fiction, #DirtyMyrtle delivers a fast-paced and uncompromising read. It's a book for those seeking a "bad a** crime book" with high stakes, authentic dialogue, and a plot that keeps the tension coiled tight from the first page to the last.
Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book.
This gritty, no-holds-barred crime thriller plunges the reader into the dark underbelly of Myrtle. The narrative pulls no punches, providing a stark and unflinching look at the "dirty things that goes down there," as the protagonist navigates a treacherous landscape of organized crime and moral ambiguity.
For fans of raw, visceral crime fiction, #DirtyMyrtle delivers a fast-paced and uncompromising read. It's a book for those seeking a "bad a** crime book" with high stakes, authentic dialogue, and a plot that keeps the tension coiled tight from the first page to the last.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This was a solid and yet chaotic mystery story with so many layers and POVs that was like a train wreck -- I just had to keep reading to figure out the answers, but also cringed at some of the gruff and bumpy writing.
This gritty tale starts with the main character, Sailor, nursing a hangover and catching up with her sister who believes her husband is cheating on her. Despite being explicitly told not to, Sailor decides to investigate her brother in law and get incriminating photos to expedite the divorce. She finds much more than she bargained for when she witnesses a kidnapping.
Across town, officer Tusk is keeping tabs on a recently returned "Jug" when he witnesses a different kidnapping. Tracking down leads, he and Sailor end up as unlikely allies to solve their cases which increasingly seem like one.
This was an entertaining read that reminded me a lot of an adult version of the TV show Outer Banks. While there was no treasure in the story, there's property and wealth, issues of haves and have nots, underground crime, and found (and real) family tracking down answers.
Thanks to NetGalley in exchange for this early review copy. The opinions are my own.
This gritty tale starts with the main character, Sailor, nursing a hangover and catching up with her sister who believes her husband is cheating on her. Despite being explicitly told not to, Sailor decides to investigate her brother in law and get incriminating photos to expedite the divorce. She finds much more than she bargained for when she witnesses a kidnapping.
Across town, officer Tusk is keeping tabs on a recently returned "Jug" when he witnesses a different kidnapping. Tracking down leads, he and Sailor end up as unlikely allies to solve their cases which increasingly seem like one.
This was an entertaining read that reminded me a lot of an adult version of the TV show Outer Banks. While there was no treasure in the story, there's property and wealth, issues of haves and have nots, underground crime, and found (and real) family tracking down answers.
Thanks to NetGalley in exchange for this early review copy. The opinions are my own.
June 21, 2026
It’s nice to have a book set in my hometown of Myrtle Beach, SC. There were many nostalgic memories brought up such as my HS Alma mater…MBHS, the Grand Strand, Broadway at the Beach, etc.
The story did drag on for a bit in the middle with information that could have been left out. Rookie sleuth siblings along with their friend Jug try to find out what happened to their sister Carrie. Who kidnapped her? Or had her kidnapped? There were some humorous parts that added some light in this semi-dark story.
Thank uou NetGalley for the ARC.
The story did drag on for a bit in the middle with information that could have been left out. Rookie sleuth siblings along with their friend Jug try to find out what happened to their sister Carrie. Who kidnapped her? Or had her kidnapped? There were some humorous parts that added some light in this semi-dark story.
Thank uou NetGalley for the ARC.
July 12, 2026
Sailor's sister Carrie, is dealing with a jerk of a husband. In order to for her to divorce him cleanly and neatly, she needs proof of his indiscretions. Sailor is on it - but as she is staking out her sister's idiot husband, she sees witnesses assault and kidnapping which draws her into a mafia-type cat and mouse game. Carrie's husband is in deeper than they originally feared, and both Carrie and Sailor's lives are in jeopardy.
I liked this far better than I anticipated I would. Excellent suspense and mystery with plenty of humor. I would recommend this title to Carl Hiaasen fans.
I liked this far better than I anticipated I would. Excellent suspense and mystery with plenty of humor. I would recommend this title to Carl Hiaasen fans.
June 20, 2026
Such a fun romp! Kennedy Weible has such a wonderful knack for crafting tense and larger-than-life situations, and his characters are all complex and funny. I don't laugh out loud often while reading, but I did multiple times during this book. And Sailor is such a wonderful character--one of the best I've read in quite some time. If you're looking for a fun, exciting beach read, this is your book!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you netgalley and publishers for the advanced copy!
DRAMA!!
It had a slow start but I'm so glad I stuck with it! I feel like the description of the book is just gonna sound like a joke......a Healthcare worker, cop, real estate developer, banker, and comedian walk into a bar........ chaos ensues. Lots of laughs with some tension and crime thrown in.
DRAMA!!
It had a slow start but I'm so glad I stuck with it! I feel like the description of the book is just gonna sound like a joke......a Healthcare worker, cop, real estate developer, banker, and comedian walk into a bar........ chaos ensues. Lots of laughs with some tension and crime thrown in.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Dirty Myrtle is a pretty good mystery thriller.
To be honest, the book cover and title caught my eye first.
It is full of small-town secrets and suspense. The story is tension filled… at times it did seem to slow down too much.
There were far too many characters to keep track of which wasn’t liked by me.
To be honest, the book cover and title caught my eye first.
It is full of small-town secrets and suspense. The story is tension filled… at times it did seem to slow down too much.
There were far too many characters to keep track of which wasn’t liked by me.
June 25, 2026
This book was crazy. Sailor decides to help her sister out with a stakeout. As her "investigation" turns south, it also opens up a whole other can of worms. She ends up working with a local police officer once they realize they're chasing down the same lead. It took me a minute to get into the story, but once I did, I found it wildly chaotic and comical.
March 5, 2026
Thank you Kennedy Weible and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. While the characters were interesting, I wasn’t able to connect to this story and found that it dragged on and wasn’t for me.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Read my review on NovelsAlive.com by clicking the link below. It is also posted in full.
https://novelsalive.com/2026/05/13/4-...
Myrtle Beach is the setting for Dirty Myrtle by Kennedy Weible. It’s a mystery with family dysfunction, inept bad guys, and too many crazy crimes to count!
Sailor does surveillance on her sister’s cheating husband, and she has no idea where it will lead. There’s a lot of tension, injuries, crimes, and criminal intent that always seem to be just on the surface without any depth or details revealed. But once the meat of the story is reached, we are taken on a merry ride.
Sailor’s entire family, along with some friends, are in deep. Will they survive and help take down the bad guys? At times, I felt like I was in an Abbott and Costello episode. There were even some laugh-out-loud moments along with the cringeworthy ones as they tried to stay out of the line of fire. With most criminals getting what they deserved, the story ended abruptly, leaving a few loose ends. I could see another book showing us what the supposed good guys are up to, along with the changes Sailor hopes to make in her life.
Dirty Myrtle could have several meanings as multiple crimes are committed and Sailor and her family assists the police in bringing the bad guys down.
https://novelsalive.com/2026/05/13/4-...
Myrtle Beach is the setting for Dirty Myrtle by Kennedy Weible. It’s a mystery with family dysfunction, inept bad guys, and too many crazy crimes to count!
Sailor does surveillance on her sister’s cheating husband, and she has no idea where it will lead. There’s a lot of tension, injuries, crimes, and criminal intent that always seem to be just on the surface without any depth or details revealed. But once the meat of the story is reached, we are taken on a merry ride.
Sailor’s entire family, along with some friends, are in deep. Will they survive and help take down the bad guys? At times, I felt like I was in an Abbott and Costello episode. There were even some laugh-out-loud moments along with the cringeworthy ones as they tried to stay out of the line of fire. With most criminals getting what they deserved, the story ended abruptly, leaving a few loose ends. I could see another book showing us what the supposed good guys are up to, along with the changes Sailor hopes to make in her life.
Dirty Myrtle could have several meanings as multiple crimes are committed and Sailor and her family assists the police in bringing the bad guys down.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was a gritty, character-driven crime read with a strong sense of place and a cast of deeply flawed, complex characters. The story leans heavily into messy relationships and moral gray areas, which made it feel raw and realistic.
I really appreciated how immersive the atmosphere was—it pulls you into the setting quickly and keeps you there. The tension builds well, and there were definitely moments that kept me engaged and wanting to know what would happen next.
For me, the pacing felt slightly uneven at times, especially in the middle, and the multiple perspectives occasionally made it a bit harder to stay fully grounded. That said, the overall experience was still compelling.
If you enjoy darker, character-focused crime stories with layered dynamics and emotional intensity, this is one worth picking up.
This was a gritty, character-driven crime read with a strong sense of place and a cast of deeply flawed, complex characters. The story leans heavily into messy relationships and moral gray areas, which made it feel raw and realistic.
I really appreciated how immersive the atmosphere was—it pulls you into the setting quickly and keeps you there. The tension builds well, and there were definitely moments that kept me engaged and wanting to know what would happen next.
For me, the pacing felt slightly uneven at times, especially in the middle, and the multiple perspectives occasionally made it a bit harder to stay fully grounded. That said, the overall experience was still compelling.
If you enjoy darker, character-focused crime stories with layered dynamics and emotional intensity, this is one worth picking up.
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