Not Me

A Camille Grace Mystery #1

by Kate Bold

In this new series by #1 bestselling—and critically-acclaimed—mystery and suspense author Kate Bold, Camille Grace, a rising star in the FBI’s BAU unit, is dispatched to the one place she vowed to never return: the deep South. A string of murders by a suspected serial killer outside New Orleans forces Camille to face her Creole roots, her tortured past, estranged family—and her buried secrets.

Camille’s frustrations mount as she struggles to connect with her newly-assigned partner and as clues don’t add up. To make matters worse, Camille is haunted by memories of her sister’s disappearance years ago—and this new killer’s victims seem to fit the same description.

Could it be the same killer?

Camille knows she must enter this killer’s twisted mind if she has any hope of stopping him in time.

But will he take her down with him?

A riveting psychological crime thriller full of mystery and suspense, the CAMILLE GRACE mystery series will make you fall in love with a brilliant new female protagonist. Packed with twists and turns, her story will keep you flipping pages late into the night.

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

187 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 5, 2022

About the author

Bestselling author Kate Bold is author of the ALEXA CHASE SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising six books (and counting); of the ASHLEY HOPE SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising six books (and counting); of the CAMILLE GRACE SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising eight books (and counting); of the HARLEY COLE SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising ten books (and counting); of the KAYLIE BROOKS SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising five books (and counting); and of the EVE HOPE SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising five books (and counting). Kate loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.kateboldauthor.com to join the mailing list, receive free ebooks, hear the latest news, and stay in touch.

BOOKS BY KATE BOLD

EVE HOPE SUSPENSE THRILLER

IN HIS BLOOD (Book #1)

IN HIS SIGHTS (Book #2)

IN HIS REACH (Book #3)

IN HIS MIND (Book #4)

IN HIS WAY (Book #5)

(and counting)

KAYLIE BROOKS SUSPENSE THRILLER

LAST BREATH (Book #1)

LAST CHANCE (Book #2)

LAST WISH (Book #3)

LAST SHOT (Book #4)

LAST MISTAKE (Book #5)

(and counting)

HARLEY COLE SUSPENSE THRILLER

NOWHERE SAFE (Book #1)

NOWHERE LEFT (Book #2)

NOWHERE TO RUN (Book #3)

NOWHERE LIKE THIS (Book #4)

NOWHERE GIRL (Book #5)

NOWHERE TO HIDE (Book #6)

NOWHERE CERTAIN (Book #7)

NOWHERE PURE (Book #8)

NOWHERE SOUND (Book #9)

NOWHERE SANE (Book #10)

(and counting)

CAMILLE GRACE SUSPENSE THRILLER

NOT ME (Book #1)

NOT NOW (Book #2)

NOT WELL (Book #3)

NOT HER (Book #4)

NOT NORMAL (Book #5)

NOT AGAIN (Book #6)

NOT SAFE (Book #7)

NOT TODAY (Book #8)

(and counting)

ALEXA CHASE SUSPENSE THRILLER

THE KILLING GAME (Book #1)

THE KILLING TIDE (Book #2)

THE KILLING HOUR (Book #3)

THE KILLING POINT (Book #4)

THE KILLING FOG (Book #5)

THE KILLING PLACE (Book #6)

(and counting)

ASHLEY HOPE SUSPENSE THRILLER

LET ME GO (Book #1)

LET ME OUT (Book #2)

LET ME LIVE (Book #3)

LET ME BREATHE (Book #4)

LET ME FORGET (Book #5)

LET ME ESCAPE (Book #6)

(and counting)

Reviews

[Heather Adores Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐
Genre ~ crime thriller
Series ~ Camille Grace #1
Setting ~ Louisiana
Publication date ~ May 16, 2022
Est Page Count ~ 187 (p+ 36 chapters)
Audio length ~ 6 hours 24 minutes
Narrator ~ Katia Vannoy
POV ~ multiple 3rd
Featuring ~ FBI, serial killer, voodoo

Camille is off to her hometown in Louisiana to help catch a serial killer since she's familiar with the area and culture. She's not too thrilled about it. Agent Scott Palmer will be her partner while she's there.

There’s nothing new brought to the table with this one as far as a FBI agent trying to catch a serial killer, but I really like both Camille and Palmer as characters and partners. Hated Camille’s boyfriend back in Alabama and happy with how the book ended with that aspect. I liked how we have some chapters from the killer, too.

I didn’t like the content so much, but overall it was fine. There are some unanswered questions about Camille’s family, so maybe that’s supposed to make us want to read the rest of the series?

Side note ~ why does practically every fictional female FBI agent have a missing sister?

Narration notes:
No complaints, except no male narrator, of course.

*Thanks to Hoopla for the bonus borrow, so I didn’t have to use a credit.

Connect with me ➡ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

[Grace DiChristina · Rating 2 out of 5]

2nd day of quarantine, 2nd shitty thriller read

[Aparna J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome, Brilliant

This is one of the most gripping suspense thrillers that I have ever read. It's too good, hard to put down, edge of the seat thriller that keeps you glued to your seat and have you chewing your nails over the fear of what's going to happen next. Brilliant, outstanding, and fabulous.

[Jen Gomes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this and it kept me hooked! Was distracted by the many typos (not sure if it was just the Apple Books version, but there were at least 5+ obvious ones).

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are so many typos and errors in grammar in this book. Also, I wish the author would have done simply the briefest of research on New Orleans. The French Quarter, where a girl is murdered in an alley and taken to the nearby woods? There are no alleys in all of New Orleans and definitely no woods. For the main character to have deep and tortured roots to the area, but for the setting of the book to be inaccurate, made for a hard read. Disappointing because the plot and story was quite good.

[myreadingescapism · Rating 4 out of 5]

No complaints really. Cat/mouse + serial killer/detective = my bread and butter.

It's short, so that's a plus, but it was just missing something.

Maybe gore? Who knows.

[January · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not Me by Kate Bold
Camille Grace #1
6h 25m narrated by Katia Vannoy, 187 pages

Genre:Mystery, Thriller > Mystery Thriller, Crime; Adult Fiction, Suspense

Featuring: New Orleans, Louisiana; FBI Agents, Serial Killers, Birmingham, Alabama; Voodoo, Abductions, French Quarter, The Serpent, and the Rainbow, Inaccuracies, Lose Ends

Rating as a movie: R for violence and adult content

My rating: ⭐️⭐️

My thoughts: 📱34% 2:12:10 Ch. 14 - The suspense is too much for me. This story is frustrating; it's not the best-written book out there, but the way it's structured has me on edge. It's short, so I thought it would be quick. I got the other books after a few chapters, so hopefully, it's not traumatic. I'm going to find something happy to read and come back later.
📱57% 3:39:14 Ch. 22 - Forget the suspense! The writing was already a bit iffy, but the plot was good; what I can't ignore is the lack of research. New Orleans and Creole culture are a huge part of the plot of this book, but the author has dropped the ball on both. She clearly didn't write this on location; I'm not sure if she even used Google Maps. Is City Park the "forest" near the French Quarter? If she is using a book about Haiti as her foundation for Louisiana Creole culture, she's barking up the wrong tree, and it's downhill from here. I'll finish tomorrow. I guessing it's 'return the rest of the series' bad.
📱83% 5:18:10 Ch. Ch. 31 - I have to take a break, it's bad enough she doesn't know the difference between White Creoles and Black Creoles, Louisiana Creoles, and Haitian Creoles, but now she thinks the 7th Ward is far from the French Quarter and full of low-income apartments? No Creole would refer to Creole as a bastardized version of French. I would quit now but after 3 hours of this nonsense, I'm getting credit for this one. The entire series is based in NOLA so I won't be able to continue. This climax is wack too.

Even when you take away the scared woods surrounding the city this story is subpar. I wouldn't have been as mad if it wasn't for the sloppy research on geography and culture. Without that the plot falls flat anyway, it was a good idea but poorly executed, and the lack of authenticity just set it on fire. There is a reason they say to write what you know. I also would like to know how you can look at a Caucasian woman and tell if she is of Creole descent. None of these people had French names, and since when are people classified in a database as Creole when it is not a race? She should have also looked up Voodoo-Catholicism since she seems to think people who practice voodoo have issues with Christianity. This book is full of stereotypes that aren't even real. The story has a few moments but is choppy. The boyfriend situation was ridiculous! I'm returning the other books. I looked and couldn't find anything on this author.

Recommend to others?: Nope. This is going on my never again list.

[Bevany · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy to read binge-able thriller. I read this book in a few short hours

[Michele bookloverforever · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heavy in both narrative, emotion and subject matter.

[lex · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an alright murder mystery book. Kinda like watching a law & order episode except those still have twist and turns & this was just a linear story. It literally is exactly what the bio says “omg girls are getting murdered it looks like it’s related to Vudu” & it literally is. There also the pick me girl mc Camille who’s “so traumatized by her childhood she can’t speak about it but she’s a tough fbi agent but will still have her moments of trauma responses and when her fbi partner asks what’s wrong she gets angry and says it’s none of his business her past is her past” so fucking dramatic it irks my soul. I get it’s book 1 of the series but I can’t keep going this is more for middle school ages maybe idk middle school me would prob say wtf is this boring shit. It’s a quick read which was nice but I will never recommend this.

[jills.bookish.bizco · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️

I was under the assumption that the plot had to do with an FBI agent having to return to her home town to solve a case, where her dark and twisty past would come back to haunt her. There was little to no mention about her sisters disappearance, and I still have no idea what her father did that was so horrible. Am I supposed to read the next book in the series? The plot was okay, I think the execution just wasn’t there. A string of murder in the French Quarter, all seemingly related. I just feel like the dots were connected by very odd and convenient ways. It really just didn’t grip me, and there were too many different factors / characters / story lines added to make it all connect in a way that wasn’t confusing or rushed. The grammatical errors really bothered me as well.

[Claudete Takahashi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Camille Grace was brought up in the south in a small town near New Orleans, she has bad memories from that period in her life and the last thing she expects is to have to work for the FBI in that city. She will have to dwell on her past at the same time she looks for a killer. Not Me has a good plot, is well written with good descriptions of places and NO/Southern way of life is fast-paced, and provides good entertainment for a few hours.
As a member of the author's ARC team, I received a free copy of this book and this is my honest opinion.

[Janet Cardillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learned a lot

I likethis story because it took me to new orleans, a place I hope to visit in the near future. Learning about different types of voodoo, dark and protective was an added bonus. I also liked the slow buildup of the relationship between palmer and grace. And that we still don't know what daddy dearest has done or what happened to nannette, yet this was a complete story...a standalone story.

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

First: there were a lot of typos.
Second: Every woman was described by her body/appearence in such a shallow and nasty way.
Third: why did they not ask the cops that saw the murderer how he looked like??????
Fourth: what is up with those latex gloves?

[Aly · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's time to catch a killer in this thriller. I enjoyed meeting Camille Grace in this book as a new FBI agent with the BAU team. This book had me wondering why the killer was killing. It had me guessing at where the killer would strike next. I wanted a bit more action but I enjoyed the story. Camille heads back to the deep south where she wished to never go again to catch this New Orleans killer. I look forward to learning more about Camille and getting to know her better in the books to come. Kate Bold is a new author for me. I think I will read more of her books.

[Anne - Books of My Heart · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart
 



I chose to do a theme for this month's meme of books with an FBI agent as a main character.  Books in this category are mainly mystery police procedural or romantic suspense.

The purpose of Thrifty Thursday is to read a book which was free (at some point).
Kindle freebie on May 22, 2022  (currently free at Amazon and Barnes & Noble as of writing this post)

I enjoyed Not Me as a more traditional police procedural with a strong female lead.  Camille gets a new case which takes her to home area around New Orleans.  She gets paired with a local male agent, Palmer.  They work well together.

The case is a serial killer case with young women of similar looks and an odd ritual.  They aren't sure if there is a connection to voodoo or something else.  At one point, two beat cops see a man with a young girl and are convinced he is fine.  Within two hours that girl is dead.  Camille and Palmer know about this and yet they make no effort to track down the car or get the two cops to do a sketch of the killer.  Otherwise their investigative efforts make sense.

There are small layers of their personal lives both about their careers and relationships. But this book is not a romance.   I liked this balance and as the series goes along the professional and personal aspects may both expand for the character development, but I appreciated the focus on the case to start.

[Vfields Don't touch my happy! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh yes. This is the beginning of a new series and I like this protagonist. She’s tough but not perfect and not altogether flawed. She’s got a kind of partner who’s really interesting and I hope to see a lot of him in more installments. Mystery was spot on with a rock solid chase to the conclusion. Kate Bold described settings I could feel. The family drama was done just right.Next…

[Ashish · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can't really call it a mystery. You're glued to the book until one chapter destroys it all.

[Mary O'shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Combine New Orleans, Voo Doo, FBI agents, a mysterious past, a serial killer and you have yourself quite a thriller.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not Me

I liked the fast pace of FBI agents, Camille Grace and Palmer, and how they solved a case of young women being murdered in New Orleans. I recommend this book for those who enjoy the suspense of a murder mystery that isn't solved until the end and the case has a clean closure. This is my first book by Kate Bold and it won't be my last. The characters were interesting especially Camille Grace.

[Caroline Galvin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am a completionist at heart, so it is rare that I don’t make it through a book, even if I don’t like it. I was willing to make an exception for this book. It is the poster child for “show don’t tell”. The writing was so contrived that I rolled my eyes for most of the first half of the book until I couldn’t do it any more.

Honestly, I have only read one other book in this genre and felt the same way, but was able to finish. Maybe the genre isn’t for me? I really want to like this genre but it’s like these books should be first drafts rather than a finished product. This author (and the other I read) seems to be well-liked, but it feels like this book was written on a 3rd grade reading level and just happens to have a serial killer in it.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Camille’s boss Director Milton has informed her about a case in New Orleans that might have some dark element to it. Special Agent Camille is familiar with the workings of voodoo which is why she’s been assigned the case. Moreover she’d be working alongside Special Agent Scott Palmer with the New Orleans field office.

Two women in their twenties were discovered in the woods in a manner that suggested occult ritual involved.

When a third girl goes missing from a bar where she was having drinks with her friends, Special Agents Camille and Palmer race against time to find the killer as even more bodies pile up.

[Antigone Walsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Big Easy Killer

A talented FBI agent returns to Louisiana to investigate some bizarre murders. While the trip frees her from her unsatisfactory domestic situation it forces her to confront her past.

The mystery is pretty good and the voodoo elements are nicely integrated. Not much atmosphere for New Orleans. The past traumas are never addressed or explained. Still an engaging read.

[Helena Valencia · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all I will not go too much into the story line, but I will say that I enjoy reading thrillers which take place in Louisiana. It has something mysterious about it. The story is really interesting and I didn’t know until the end who the perpetrator is. Usually I find out quite quick. I wish there was a bit more clarity about Camille grace’s backstory and why she doesn’t want to be in New Orleans and is avoiding her parents. Reading the next story in the series now to find out more.

[Divad Soro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silence of the Lambs with some voodoo. Story is fine and the suspense and investigation kept me intrigued.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story had promise, but the typos and poor grammar were distracting. It felt like an unedited first draft of a paper from an entry level creative writing class.

[Jon]

Good

[Gavin Englert · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book deserves 1 star, only slightly saved by the narrator on Audible.

The back of the book promises a sprawling narrative covering a haunting past, a missing sister, and being brought back to face those demons. None of that happened. Instead, we are greeted with an uninspired mesh of Silence of The Lambs and True Detective. Both of which are better uses of time either reading or watching. The book opens with Camille Grace, our heroine, anxiously confronting a serial killer who is very smart and well-spoken. This meeting is spent with him taunting her through the bars and offering a "quid-pro-quo" style interrogation. Ringing any bells? I had to check multiple times to make sure I wasn't listening to a bad Silence of The Lambs parody, I think that would have been more enjoyable.

The rest of this book takes place in New Orleans and the surrounding area. This is an interesting backdrop for a story until it becomes a full ripoff of the first season of True Detective, as I mentioned earlier. Women are being kidnapped and stripped naked before being posed over tree stumps in a ritualistic fashion. Again, here come the bells of familiarity. But familiarity is not a word I would use to describe the author's knowledge of New Orleans. Specifically the French Quarter. There are a couple of times in which an alley is mentioned, however, as pointed out by another review, there aren't any alleys in the French Quarter. There are also no woods easily accessible from this portion of New Orleans.

All of that without mentioning the writing style. It feels very simplistic and uninspired. Nothing is given more than a quick few words of description. People are not characterized beyond the way they keep their apartment or their facial hair, and settings are rarely described in more than one word. According to other reviews I have read, this book is littered with grammar and punctuation errors, as is this review I would imagine. The only difference is I paid for this book which felt like it took almost as much time to come up with as it is taking to fully type out these paragraphs.

I feel fully confident in saying that Kate Bold is the Colleen Hoover of Crime Thrillers.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was one of those ones I found for free on Amazon, there is about 4 or 5 authors whos books always kind of follow the same format and although I do always read and enjoy them they aren't every something special.

However, this book was absolutely brilliant in my opinion and exceeded my expectations. Although this one also followed the same formula as the others something about this one really set it apart from all the others and from the first page to the last I was hooked.

The story follows three points of view.
1. The murderer, we hear his thoughts before, through and after each kill.
2. Camille Grace an Fbi agent working for the BAU unit who has a troubled relationship with her lazy, jobless boyfriend. She is dispatched to work in New Orleans on a murder case that has heavy links to voodoo, she grew up near the area and although we don't find out in this book what happened to her as a child we do know she lost her sister a long time ago and once she left she left everything behind including her mother, father and a non-related aunt and never returned until now.
3. Agent Scott Palmer, an agent working in the area who finds out last minute that hes being assigned an agent from another state and although he doesn't seem happy about that at first once they get the first awkward interaction out of the way and he realises she isn't the arrogant known it all who came to take over his case and push him out they get on really well and seem to learn to work as partners.

I loved everything about this book and it heavily reminded me of a really good episode of Criminal minds or something similar. We see inside the mind of the murderer and why hes doing what he is. We see the boring and exiting parts of the investigation, even the suspects they bring in before they find the real one all have interesting stories and bring a lot to the story and some even link together to the final reveal.

Would highly recommend this book, it is well written, fast paced, exciting and once you read it you want to read every other story in the series

5* well deserved

[Samuel Mooney · Rating 3 out of 5]

not sure why this novel, series or author has such high reviews. Slightly better than decent. Easily found a number of typos in the first 30 pages and several throughout the novel so to say I was happy this novel was only 178 pages is an understatement. I had to take an entire star off my review because I haven’t found so many grammatical errors in a book. Was this even edited or read before being printed? It was laughable in an incredibly annoying, amateur way. Now for the plot, the same type of story so many thrillers have - “strong female police with a dark past and daddy issues. Doesn’t get enough respect because of being female, also alone due to being so strong and dedicated to her work and previous dating history of losers or jerks while having to return to her old town and face her past/demons”. The story line was somewhat interesting, incredibly short chapters and quick pace so easy to get through but don’t think I’m continue with the Camille Grace series even though the first book left a lot of breadcrumbs and questions in the readers mind. It’s just not worth it. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3