February Fever

Murder by Month Mystery #10

by Jess Lourey

Revised This edition of February Fever includes editorial revisions.

All aboard. It's murder on the Valentine Train in a heart-racing mystery from Amazon Charts bestselling and Edgar Award-nominated author Jess Lourey.

Mira James is heading to Oregon by rail with two of her best friends to attend a PI conference. Even better, she'll see Johnny, the love of her life, who's in Portland for an internship. It'll be scenic, swift, and safe. Until it isn't.

When a winter storm brings the train to a dead stop in the Rockies, Mira discovers that a woman in the next cabin has been murdered, and her husband and child have vanished. Rumors of an escaped convict do nothing to ease the passengers' frazzled nerves. To Mira, every one of them is a suspect.

Trapped in a snowbound train with only two people she can trust, Mira has to solve a baffling disappearance and track down a killer—if she isn't derailed herself. Permanently.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Cozy, Audiobook, Romance

264 pages, Paperback

First published February 8, 2015

About the author

My name is Jess Lourey, and I write about secrets.

The story of my first published novel is both devastating and transformative, something I speak about in my TEDx Talk (https://youtu.be/a5vSLh3oPXI). I've come a long way since then. I'm proud to call myself a bestselling, twice Edgar-nominated, and twice Goodreads Readers Choice Awards shortlisted author who has won the ITW Thriller, Minnesota Book, and Anthony Awards. I write crime fiction, young adult, nonfiction, children's books, and book club fiction.

I've reached over a million readers since 2020. I'm also a former writing and sociology professor who still loves to teach transformative creative writing workshops built around my Rewrite Your Life method.

I live in Minneapolis with a rotating batch of foster kittens (and occasional foster puppies, but man those goobers are a lot of work). Pop on over to Lourey's Literati, my VIP Reader group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/38538...) and/or sign up for my molasses newsletter (https://jessicalourey.com/newsletter) for the latest news, giveaways, and insider information.

p.s. You can find the Unspeakable Things epilogue here: https://jessicalourey.com/survey-two.

Reviews

[Wanda Pedersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was exceedingly grumpy today. I have a huge pile of library books, none of which appealed to me. Finally I headed to my own book shelves and grabbed this mystery. Mrs. Berns always amuses me and she did the trick again today. She decides that she and Mira should go to a private investigator conference in Oregon and they should travel on the Valentine train trip to get there. Mrs. Berns is all about booze and men. She dismisses a man her own age, stating that when you take an elderly man to the bedroom, it's like trying to put an oyster in a slot machine. She always makes me laugh!

Lourey has made a smart decision to take the Mira & Mrs. Berns team on the road. There's a limit to how many murders that can take place in a small Minnesota town. Mira gets to test her PI skills outside Battle River and she pays a price for it. I shed some tears at the end, absolutely gobsmacked by the turn of events in the final pages of the book. That was a brave move on the author's part, as somehow that doesn't mesh in my mind with the cozy mystery genre.

Tomorrow, as Scarlett O'Hara said, is another day. With any luck, I'll be in a better mood, ready to return to my normal reading plans without being twitchy about it. But I'm glad I had this mystery lurking in my collection, ready to jolly me out of a grumpy patch.

Cross posted at my blog:

https://wanda-thenextfifty.blogspot.c...

[Beth Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did you ever wait impatiently for a book to be published because you couldn't wait another minute to read what the author had to share? February Fever was that book for me . It has been on my "to read" list for so long and once I had my greedy and anxious hands on it (well- actually downloaded on my Kindle) I was hit with a flood of emotions. Anxious to read it but anticipating the sadness when I finished because it would be over. All those emotions were realized.
Jess Lourey has done it again and quite honestly I have to say this is my favorite Mira James book to date from her Month By Month series. The usual characters are present and accounted for with a few ones added to the mix for good measure. The setting is an unlikely train bound for Portland when a mysterious murder occurs. Fortunately there are plenty of PI's and professionals onboard to help assist in solving the murder.
Jess Lourey has a gift of storytelling that makes me laugh out loud (apologies to my plane seat mates) and holds me riveted to the pages just waiting for the next quote I want to highlight. How does she keep doing it? How does each book become my new favorite?
The ending leaves me wondering what is ahead for Mira...Please, tell me that there will be at least 2 more to finish the month by month series. I don't think I could take no for an answer.
Thanks to Jess Lourey for brightening up a gloomy winter with this bit of sunshine sandwiched between two covers (or whatever the equivalent in digital book is). You absolutely made my day!!!

[Mystereity Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was ready to give this book a 3.5, maybe 4 at the most. Just ok, but wandered a little too much. Then I got to the end.

Oh. My. God.

Is this going to be the end of the series? Say it ain't so!

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining mystery listening 👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨👀

This kindle ebook novel is from my Kindle Unlimited account book ten of twelve

They are taking the train to the west coast. The trip starts out ok. Then things change with murder and escape convicts. Then a snow storm halts the trains progress. Her friend is murdered. But it all comes to a happy ending.

I would recommend this series and author to readers of family and friends relationship murder mystery novels 😮😁 2025 🎇🌃🎊

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Never considered this series to be much more than fun diversion, but the last several have left me wondering why I bother at all. This had none of the quirky charm of the first few and an ending that left me wondering if Lourey's evil twin hadn't altered the manuscript.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm still crying over the end of this excellent mystery that I just finished reading. I kept telling myself, "No! This didn't really happen at the end." But it did. I was all ready to write a review starting with...If you love Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express" you will love this book, Mira James-style Murder on the Valentine Train Express.

Mira feels that death follows her in Battle Lake, MN and it's February; time for a new murder? But maybe she can get away from it by going on a train trip to Seattle to a PI Convention and also to meet her beau Johnny Leeson there. Her elderly friend, Mrs. Berns, convinces her to board that train and her gentle pot-smoking friend Jed goes along too. But who would know that the train would get stuck in place on the tracks in the Rockies in a blizzard with a murderer onboard? And as is often the case, Mira trusts the wrong person.

I'm sad that there are only two more books in this Murder-by-Month series. The author has a real winner of a series. The books make me laugh and make me cry, but mostly laugh. They are always such a good read. The characters are very real and Mira, especially, grows in maturity book by book. Her inherent quality to protect children are in the forefront of this book, which appeared in full force in the previous book.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

JED?!? WHY JED?!

[Kendall Carroll · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was fine. I won it in a Goodreads Giveaway that I entered without thinking, so I did unfortunately jump into book 10 without any prior knowledge or context. I can acknowledge the disservice that this does to the book in general, but unfortunately nothing about this book in particular makes me interested in actually going back and giving it the attention it might otherwise deserve.

Luckily, this book is very short and quick, so I was able to burn through it pretty quickly. Given that and the fact that I had gotten it for free, I didn't feel like I was wasting my time. It's not the best book ever, and maybe not to my tastes, but it was fine. I liked it enough. Unfortunately, in the second chapter there's a moment with a stunning lack of gun safety and child endangerment that almost made me stop reading. Why are we firing a gun into the library ceiling? And when a two-year-old wanted to play with the loaded gun, why did Mira seemingly go to ask if the kid could do so? And why, when asked to put the gun away in front of the child, did the person say no? This scene added nothing to the story other than reader anxiety, and had the circumstances been different, I think I would've stopped reading because of it.

Honestly, all of the writing was very strange. That stood out the most to me, but there were a lot of other quirks. I think it was an attempt to be funny, but it really just came across as juvenile and, honestly, kind of annoying. For example, Mira talked about her poop. Repeatedly. You know, readers don't have to know everything about the main character. Mira also had a serious case of Quirky Girl Syndrome, and she wouldn't curse. Watching a 29-year-old say phrases like "What the curse?" just felt bizarre.

This weird sense of humor also created a weird contrast between the narration and the events happening in the story. This book discussed a lot of dark things, but it all felt so unserious. Admittedly, I'm not the most familiar with "cozy mysteries" as a concept, so maybe this is just a matter of me not connecting to the genre. But it was very jarring to read about a child kidnapping on one page and then details about Mira's poop on the next. I think the book would've benefitted from a more intentional tone.

I also found the mystery itself to be pretty weak. The whole concept of this series is that Mira has found a new dead body every month for the last (now) 10 months, and it's become so recurrent that she is seeking her PI license. But she didn't really ... do anything. Outside of being in the right/wrong place at the right time, she never felt like an active participant in the investigation. Clues sort of just fell into her lap, and there was no opportunity for audience participation (which I always think makes a mystery better).

The ending was also very weak. The mystery itself had an unsatisfying conclusion, and there were many things that didn't get wrapped up. Whole characters got forgotten about, and the whole thing wrapped up way too quickly. The book wasn't very long, so I wish we could've spent some time building out the story a little more so that the ending could stand a little stronger. Honestly, it felt like the gags were more important than the story.

Mira herself was never very endearing. I'm curious how she is characterized throughout the rest of the series, because I found her very inconsistent. Sometimes she is awkward to a point of incompetence — seriously, as someone who is awkward and fails a lot of social interactions, I don't believe that any real people act like this — but then other times I'm meant to see her as this clever and thoughtful PI. Her personality was whatever the book required, and I never got a strong sense of who she was.

This book was just a little odd. While there are some things that I believe the book did get wrong, I am also willing to acknowledge that, at the end of the day, it's just not my cup of tea. Maybe other people would enjoy this style more, and if they do, that's great. But I think I'm okay moving on from this book.

[scl.ashx · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jess Lourey’s February Fever is a cozy mystery that throws romance, humor, and murder onto a snowbound train, making it sound like a dream getaway—until people start dropping dead.

The premise? A murder on a train, a missing family, and a protagonist who really just wanted to attend a PI conference and meet up with her boyfriend.

Classic case of “plans gone horribly wrong.”

Mira James finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery when a woman turns up dead on her train, her husband and child vanish, and rumors of an escaped convict spread.

With the train stranded in the Rockies, Mira has to unravel the mystery before she becomes the next casualty.

Lourey blends humor with mystery, but the comedic tone sometimes undercuts the suspense. Mira is witty and likable, but some side characters feel underdeveloped.

The pacing is uneven—strong start, sluggish middle, decent ending. The "Murder on the Orient Express" vibes are fun, but don’t expect groundbreaking twists.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5) – A light, entertaining read—more cozy than thrilling.
Great for casual mystery fans!

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer publishing house for this book, the latest installment in the Mira James mystery series.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was supposed to be a romantic and cozy getaway but it turned into a pulse pounding murder mayhem. The story follows Mira who along with her two best friends is going to Oregon for a PI conference and also meet the love of her life.

Now, a murder has transpired and it's someone next to mira's room. Furthermore to add to the list of unexpected trials, the train is now snow bound and everyone is trapped in Rockies. Mira will have gather her wits and use her intelligence to solve this mystery before the killer strikes again. Bit how far will she succeed? A train filled people with different personalities and behaviours. Tracking a killer before another bites the dirt, Mira is sure it would be one of ride.

February fever was a rollercoaster ride of mystery, deception and anticipation. A train journey that has suspense and murder mystery, well, count me in. A fantastic fast-paced storyline and unbridled curiosity, this book will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat while the hilarious dialogues and certain comic scenes will have lol. The narrator was superbly talented. The storyline is punctuated with elements of surprises and shocks. You should definitely check this out.

[Kaileigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great Valentine themed murder mystery 💗
Pretty much everything takes place on a snowed-in train so it’s a super cozy read! A ton of funny parts! Mrs. Berns is hilarious 😅

Can’t wait to continue this month to month series 🫶🏻

[KylieAtkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I wish I'd read the previous books in the series before this one as it's Book 10, however it still all made perfect sense.

I actually LOL'D several times (80+ yr old, Mrs Barnes is a raunchy old gal) but the poop jokes did get a bit too much.

The mystery was good, especially setting it on a train. There were plenty of suspects and red herrings to keep you guessing. Her traumatic childhood memory added an extra mystery to the mix, as well as rounding her out as a person. But it's the ending that gripped me. I was not expecting that and it made me want to go back and read all the others. A great cozy murder mystery.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the best one of the series (yet).

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

liked the train setting; disliked the death at the end. series not light-hearted as in beginning.

[Pattie Fore · Rating 3 out of 5]

First and foremost, I’d like to thank NetGalley, Jess Lourey, and Thomas & Mercer Publishing for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book number 10 in this series did not disappoint! I loved that Mira, Mrs. Berns, and Jed embarked on an adventure that low-key turns into The Murder on the Orient Express. While this installment felt more serious in tone compared to its predecessors, it was still a gripping read. I did miss the lighter humor present in the first nine books, but don’t get me wrong—there are still plenty of funny moments. That said, this one also had me shedding tears by the end.

Mira and her crew’s hijinks never fail to entertain, and this book was no exception. I wholeheartedly recommend February Fever and the entire series to anyone looking for a fun, thrilling romcom mystery series. Jess Lourey has done it again!

[Jill e. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I adore these mystery cozies. I was in a bit of a reading rut. Current events have me stressed and sad, unable to focus even more than usual. But I felt the lack of reading in my life as my mind grew ever more tired and restless, like a toddler with a wiggling, squirmy brain who's missed their nap, and now can't fall asleep.

Re-enter Mira and her Minnesotan compatriots.

Now that this one is over, I can't wait to pick up the next, but I'm keenly aware the series is running out of sequels for me to devour. I wish more cozies featured less Mary Sue-type MCs and (just) a little sexy time! (Too much and we're into romance territory, which isn't what I'm here for.) Mira's strange quirks and bad habits are like that of an old friend to me now. Plus, she's working on the judginess, okay?! 😜

[Sagexox · Rating 3 out of 5]

This. Was. Hilarious! The characters were Fantastic! (for a while)
After cringing thru the bit of spice right off the bat it really picked up and made me LOL so many times; but then all the talk about poop, spicy jokes/blatant innuendos, and pot was just Way too much for me.
I literally became so annoyed with and detached from the characters and just felt depressed after reading this book. Im giving it 3 stars for all of the actual LOL moments though, to be fair.
Thank you to Thomas & Mercer at NetGalley for this ARC. xox

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely my least favorite of the series so far. I didn’t like that the setting was mostly on a train and I disliked the ending events. With that being said, still a fun book with a few of the same Battle Lake residents. Lots of fun quips and situations.

[Karine · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 ⭐️Popsugar Reading Challenge 2023: A Book you think your best friend will like.

This series just keeps getting better and better. I will be reading this series all over again soon and will most likely buy it. 💗

[Tonya Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series continues to be good, with a sad part. Mrs. Berns is always a treat!!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun one in this series as they travel by train across the top of the US. Lots of action and adventure in this one. 3.5 stars

[Chelsea Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one broke me!! I've really enjoyed this series and I'll be gutted when it ends!

[Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

NetGalley provided an ARC of the audiobook for honest review.

Jess Lourey’s *February Fever*, was my introduction to the *Murder-by-Month* series. The narrator brought to life this cozy mystery chock-full of clever red herrings and amusing side characters who kept me engaged and entertained. The setting of a train full of private investigators and passengers looking for love allowed for a locked door mystery which I can only assume is a welcome switch to the small-town mysteries. While *February Fever* can be enjoyed as a standalone, it has piqued my interest to continue with the series throughout the year. Overall, *February Fever* is perfect for readers who love humorous mysteries with a touch of romance.

[Cela Esqueda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the idea that someone is unlucky because death appears to follow her is an interesting concept. In February Fever, Mira is known for bringing bad luck to her town because death seems to follow her. A murder arises and she feels compelled to help solve them. Yet, she hopes this next adventure is murder free. Her boyfriend gets an internship across country and Mira is ambushed into traveling by train to see him. Instead of having a relaxing cross country train ride, she boards a Valentine's day train with singles seeking a love connection. Little does she know that this love train will become the scene of a murder.

In this funny but semi-serious mystery, there is a moment of sadness when I want to believe that a certain character did not meet their death. Although the character is a sidekick, I think Jess Lourey writing makes you love them and wish they did not die. I think she does an excellent job of balancing serious aspects with humorous and mysterious characters. I mean it cannot be all serious and dark on a love-train and I think she does a good job of recognizing that while writing an engaging mystery.

[Susan Cabaniss · Rating 1 out of 5]

No. Just, no. You cannot write cozy mysteries and end it by killing off the innocent, sweet man by throwing him out a train door; a horrible end for a character who’s been with us since the beginning. That was ridiculously unnecessary. And tossing in the dark abduction memory this late in the series seems out of left field. We’re to believe Mira mentions her dad killing someone in a drunk driving incident every book, but never brings up the time she “allowed” her best friend to be taken? You can have a ridiculous “running from the mafia boss” storyline, along with the “stuck on a train in a blizzard with a murderer onboard” storyline, and the “hilarity” of face-planting in someone’s crotch and bizarre makeovers, but you cannot mix that with trauma and the out of nowhere death of a kind character. And in the middle of it, a red herring escaped convict whose backstory is as a rapist who also killed the woman’s boyfriend who came to save her? No.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun story. Fans of the Stephanie Plum novels written by Janet Evanovich will love this series. Wacky characters, lots of humor and an amateur sleuth named Mira make this a delightful read. This was the tenth in the series that uses all 12 months in the titles, but it was easily a good standalone. Now I need to go back and read the rest. Good work, Jess Lourey.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as many of the earlier books. Part of the appeal for me was the small town Minnesota setting in the library which gets left behind in this book, perhaps for good? I am sure I will still read the next one just to see where it goes from here.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should have left this book on the shelf at the library. I missed the previous two books in the series, normally I would have looked for them first. Instead, I picked it up on impulse. This book just left me sad and unsatisfied, and wishing I had never read it.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mira, Mrs Burns and Jed take a "Valentines Train" trip to Oregon to visit Johnny. Train gets stuck in a snowstorm in the Rockies. Kidnapping, murder, missing persons, mafia. Such a s-t-r-e-a-c-h. Pretty close to terrible.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.February Fever by Jess Lourey is a well played spin on the locked room mystery.

Will Mira find the murderer before a little girl is taken out?

Mira James
Our sleuth is Mira James, a Librarian from a small town in Minnesota. She and her friend are off to Oregon for a Private Investigator conference. They are taking the Valentine Train through the mountains to Portland.  However, as the last few months have started, Mira comes across another dead body. So, now she knows it isn't the small town where she lives but her. She is attracting dead bodies. At least, that is what Mira now thinks. Yet, even with all the guilt and confusion, Mira sets out to find the culprit.

I like Mira. She is a good detective, and I like hanging out with her friends. Mrs. Berns is a hoot. These two create some hilarious scenarios. But seriously, Mira should have skipped the fish while on the train.

The Mystery
Ms. Loury planned out the scenes well and kept me guessing. Mira and her friends are running around a train stuck in a snowstorm, looking for a killer. Ms. Lourey had me guessing on whodunit until Mira found out. I did suspect that person before but then dismissed it as there just didn't seem to be a connection.

Four Stars for February Fever
My rating for February Fever by Jess Lourey is four stars. I enjoyed the mystery and the humourous situations the ladies got themselves into. I also like that the crew tried to keep everyone occupied and out of the investigators' way. I recommend this book to all mystery fans. I guess I will be adding the rest of the series to my TBR list.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of February Fever by Jess Lourey.

Until the next time,

This review was originally posted on Baroness' Book Trove