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How to Kill a Kingpin: The Ex-Whisperer Files
Gina Malone, aka the Ex-Whisperer, is an expert on exes and bestselling relationship advice author, who meddles in people’s affairs for a living. She’s one part Stephanie Plum, one part Dear Sugar, and a newly divorced, empty nester who just turned 50. Our gal has pushed the fresh start button on a whole new life—Could be the world is her oyster, then again, pearls are known to bring bad luck.
It’s a not-so-happy Halloween weekend in Gina’s tiny tourist town on the Canadian shores of Lake Huron. Masses of Millennials, throngs of Gen Xers, and hordes of Boomers are converging for Sunset Beach High’s 150th-anniversary celebrations, plunging the Ex-Whisperer and her gal pals up to their necks in exes.
Some people go to reunions to relive their past, others, to exact revenge for it. One former student has a deadly chip on their shoulder, and they blame cool-kid Gina for their years as a loner. So many great reasons to skip your high school reunion, not the least of which, to avoid being murdered.
It’s a not-so-happy Halloween weekend in Gina’s tiny tourist town on the Canadian shores of Lake Huron. Masses of Millennials, throngs of Gen Xers, and hordes of Boomers are converging for Sunset Beach High’s 150th-anniversary celebrations, plunging the Ex-Whisperer and her gal pals up to their necks in exes.
Some people go to reunions to relive their past, others, to exact revenge for it. One former student has a deadly chip on their shoulder, and they blame cool-kid Gina for their years as a loner. So many great reasons to skip your high school reunion, not the least of which, to avoid being murdered.
290 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 25, 2022
3 people are currently reading
1203 people want to read
About the author
Gabrielle St. George
8 books27 followersGabrielle St. George is a Canadian screenwriter and story editor with credits on over 100 produced television shows, both in the USA and Canada. Her feature film scripts have been optioned in Hollywood. Ms. St. George writes humorous mysteries and domestic noir about subjects on which she is an expert—mostly failed relationships, hence her debut soft-boiled series, The Ex-Whisperer Files, which launched with HOW TO MURDER a MARRIAGE in 2021. Book #2 in the series, HOW TO KILL A KINGPIN, released in October, 2022. Book #3, HOW TO BURY A BILLIONAIRE, publishes in the fall of 2023.
How To Murder a Marriage was a Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award Finalist for Best Comedy novel of 2021 and won the PatZi Award for Best Novel of 2021 in the USA, from the NPR Radio show, Joy On Paper. It was also shortlisted for the Best Indie Crime Novel Award from Crime Fiction Lovers in the UK.
St. George is also the author of the non-fiction GAL GUIDE series: How to Say So Long to Mr. Wrong, How to Know if He’s Having an Affair, and How to Survive the Love You Hate to Love.
Her first short story, COLD ETHYL, was published in the Canadian Crime Writers 40th Anniversary Anthology, Cold Canadian Crime, in 2022.
She is a member of the Writer’s Guild of Canada, Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers.
How To Murder a Marriage was a Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award Finalist for Best Comedy novel of 2021 and won the PatZi Award for Best Novel of 2021 in the USA, from the NPR Radio show, Joy On Paper. It was also shortlisted for the Best Indie Crime Novel Award from Crime Fiction Lovers in the UK.
St. George is also the author of the non-fiction GAL GUIDE series: How to Say So Long to Mr. Wrong, How to Know if He’s Having an Affair, and How to Survive the Love You Hate to Love.
Her first short story, COLD ETHYL, was published in the Canadian Crime Writers 40th Anniversary Anthology, Cold Canadian Crime, in 2022.
She is a member of the Writer’s Guild of Canada, Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 2, 2022
You need this book if you like:
✔️a clean, cozy mystery with an edge
✔️a mature female lead in your mystery novel
✔️a protagonist to whom you can relate
✔️a plot where you don’t have to suspend disbelief
✔️a slightly darker tone
✔️humour and realism developed alongside suspense
✔️fantastic character development
✔️a novel to make you feel validated and empowered
✔️a single POV
✔️fast paced suspense
✔️a small town setting
✔️laughing at crazy family interactions
✔️a fun set of secondary characters
✔️the belief that time doesn’t heal everything, but sharing definitely helps
✔️the belief that it’s never too late to start over
✔️the belief that girlfriends are your lifeline
✔️the belief that middle age is a fabulous new beginning
Have you gone to any of your high school reunions? Was it worth it?
At the core of this 5-star story is a reluctant protagonist, Gina Malone, who is hesitant about attending her thirty year high school reunion. Hampering her decision is (1) the knowledge that a disturbed former classmate has it out for Gina and her friends and is threatening to rub them out, (2) the fear that her bestie’s mafioso ex will bring his “infantile arm candy” and wreak havoc, and (3) the horror she’d have to face in seeing her disturbed ex who’s moved back to town and is hiding from heinous henchmen. Can she put her rational fear concerning vindictive exes and shadowy stalkers aside for the reunion? Can she curb her curiosity?
Finally, an author who understands and represents the ‘Fabulous 50’ crowd! I felt so validated I became emotional. I, too, have a multitude of mental lists I carry around in my head, I take on too much, and I rely on my girlfriends to keep my sanity. I loved the references to songs such as ‘Barbie Girl,' 'Life Is A Highway,’ and ‘U Can’t Touch this,’ and will admit to seat dancing and singing into my air-mic. I loved the gastronomic decadence Gina surrounds herself with as much as I loved her commitment to friends and family. The page where Gina explains why she doesn’t want to go to the reunion echoed my thoughts exactly and it was as if the author knew the inner workings of my brain. The raining men scene captivated me and the ‘vasodilation’ scene had me snorting with laughter. I felt like I’d been to the Happily Napoli with Gina and her friends, enjoying her tias’ home-cooked Italian food, drinking wine and reminiscing about the good old days in a “nine-hour-long talk-a-thon.”
“Nobody in this cottage likes Dick. I bet he thinks Carly Simon’s song is about him.”
Gabrielle St. George has her finger on the pulse of this often neglected sub-genre, soft-boiled mysteries, aimed at the ‘fabulous and fifty’ women. It’s book two of a series, part humorous mystery, part domestic noir, but can be read as a stand-alone. I believe it’s a necessary antidote to the upcoming and inevitable seasonal stress disorder!
✔️a clean, cozy mystery with an edge
✔️a mature female lead in your mystery novel
✔️a protagonist to whom you can relate
✔️a plot where you don’t have to suspend disbelief
✔️a slightly darker tone
✔️humour and realism developed alongside suspense
✔️fantastic character development
✔️a novel to make you feel validated and empowered
✔️a single POV
✔️fast paced suspense
✔️a small town setting
✔️laughing at crazy family interactions
✔️a fun set of secondary characters
✔️the belief that time doesn’t heal everything, but sharing definitely helps
✔️the belief that it’s never too late to start over
✔️the belief that girlfriends are your lifeline
✔️the belief that middle age is a fabulous new beginning
Have you gone to any of your high school reunions? Was it worth it?
At the core of this 5-star story is a reluctant protagonist, Gina Malone, who is hesitant about attending her thirty year high school reunion. Hampering her decision is (1) the knowledge that a disturbed former classmate has it out for Gina and her friends and is threatening to rub them out, (2) the fear that her bestie’s mafioso ex will bring his “infantile arm candy” and wreak havoc, and (3) the horror she’d have to face in seeing her disturbed ex who’s moved back to town and is hiding from heinous henchmen. Can she put her rational fear concerning vindictive exes and shadowy stalkers aside for the reunion? Can she curb her curiosity?
Finally, an author who understands and represents the ‘Fabulous 50’ crowd! I felt so validated I became emotional. I, too, have a multitude of mental lists I carry around in my head, I take on too much, and I rely on my girlfriends to keep my sanity. I loved the references to songs such as ‘Barbie Girl,' 'Life Is A Highway,’ and ‘U Can’t Touch this,’ and will admit to seat dancing and singing into my air-mic. I loved the gastronomic decadence Gina surrounds herself with as much as I loved her commitment to friends and family. The page where Gina explains why she doesn’t want to go to the reunion echoed my thoughts exactly and it was as if the author knew the inner workings of my brain. The raining men scene captivated me and the ‘vasodilation’ scene had me snorting with laughter. I felt like I’d been to the Happily Napoli with Gina and her friends, enjoying her tias’ home-cooked Italian food, drinking wine and reminiscing about the good old days in a “nine-hour-long talk-a-thon.”
“Nobody in this cottage likes Dick. I bet he thinks Carly Simon’s song is about him.”
Gabrielle St. George has her finger on the pulse of this often neglected sub-genre, soft-boiled mysteries, aimed at the ‘fabulous and fifty’ women. It’s book two of a series, part humorous mystery, part domestic noir, but can be read as a stand-alone. I believe it’s a necessary antidote to the upcoming and inevitable seasonal stress disorder!
November 17, 2022
I'd love to hang out with the heroine of How to Kill a Kingpin, relationship columnist and expert on ex-es Gina Malone. So what if she's got a stalker after her. Doesn't everyone have a little stress in their lives? But seriously, I loved this fast-paced mystery with its twisty plot, wonderful characters (especially Gina), and, most of all, its humor and heart. Highly recommend.
December 8, 2022
How to Kill a Kingpin by @gabriellestgeorge is a delightful second book read in The Ex-Whisperer Files. Everybody is coming home this Halloween season for Sunset Beach High’s 150th anniversary celebrations. This means Gina Malone is falling down the rabbit hole to solve a mystery after receiving a threat from “Team Outcast” on her platform.
The reading process was pleasant. It was a quick read definitely. I liked the humor the author has put into in the middle of the mystery happening in this small town of Sunset Beach. The scenes were engaging, especially when the characters were in the events in Sunset Beach. I was glad to know that the MC, Gina Malone, enjoyed a kind of a Filipino food. I felt hungry in the middle of the night as I read the first chapter of the book. The choice of playlist in the scenes helped a lot to make it more entertaining. There were scenes that I can vividly imagine the characters as if I was actually there in the background.
There was balance of suspense, mystery, romance and comedy element in the storyline. It was definitely another cozy murder mystery I read this year. It was not too horrifying, and for sure the ending of the story was surely fine.
The reading process was pleasant. It was a quick read definitely. I liked the humor the author has put into in the middle of the mystery happening in this small town of Sunset Beach. The scenes were engaging, especially when the characters were in the events in Sunset Beach. I was glad to know that the MC, Gina Malone, enjoyed a kind of a Filipino food. I felt hungry in the middle of the night as I read the first chapter of the book. The choice of playlist in the scenes helped a lot to make it more entertaining. There were scenes that I can vividly imagine the characters as if I was actually there in the background.
There was balance of suspense, mystery, romance and comedy element in the storyline. It was definitely another cozy murder mystery I read this year. It was not too horrifying, and for sure the ending of the story was surely fine.
April 29, 2023
Coming into this story blind might not have been the best idea. It is considered the second book, and I was a little lost about some of the characters. Gina Malone, our Ex-Whisperer blogger slash relationship advice columnist, has moved back to her hometown. After sending her children back to college, we jump into the shenanigans of a High School Reunion. She’s just turned 50, she doesn’t want to go, and if she hadn’t already promised her aunts to help them with their booth at the event, she might not even have raised her head outside her tiny cottage. With a whole lot of descriptions of this tiny tourist town (so many descriptions!), the hunk that she has an on and off again romance with, and the person set on revenge writing into her column, this story is all over the place. I found myself setting the book aside, starting others, and just not wanting to go back. It’s not a terrible story, it just was not holding my attention. I think a little more editing or less words-for-words-sake this story would have flowed much better, and I would have stuck with it. Not every story is for every person, and this one didn’t hit it out of the ballpark for me.
Thanks to Goodreads, and the publisher for this giveaway copy.
Thanks to Goodreads, and the publisher for this giveaway copy.
April 5, 2023
I received "How to Kill a Kingpin" through the Goodreads Giveaway, but the below thoughts and opinions are all my own.
When Gina's high school reunion/ 150th Anniversary of the schools founding occurs in her small town it brings in friends, enemies, and exes that are currently an ex for a good reason. Between fun, flirting and lots of girls talk her blog starts receiving scary emails from someone that calls themselves "Team Outcast" claiming that retribution for past bullying will be had. As more serious things occur that has this group of 50-year-olds fearing for their lives.
This is book 2 in the series which I have not read the first, but I had no problem jumping into the storyline at all. Gina and her gal pals are fun, flirty, and fifty! I enjoyed the mystery, the budding romances, and the fun Zia's of Gina's. And omg the food descriptions..... had me craving food from the Zia's or Florries, so if you could drop some recipes in the back of the future books that would be awesome!!!
When Gina's high school reunion/ 150th Anniversary of the schools founding occurs in her small town it brings in friends, enemies, and exes that are currently an ex for a good reason. Between fun, flirting and lots of girls talk her blog starts receiving scary emails from someone that calls themselves "Team Outcast" claiming that retribution for past bullying will be had. As more serious things occur that has this group of 50-year-olds fearing for their lives.
This is book 2 in the series which I have not read the first, but I had no problem jumping into the storyline at all. Gina and her gal pals are fun, flirty, and fifty! I enjoyed the mystery, the budding romances, and the fun Zia's of Gina's. And omg the food descriptions..... had me craving food from the Zia's or Florries, so if you could drop some recipes in the back of the future books that would be awesome!!!
November 26, 2022
The second book in the Ex-Whisperer Files series, How to Kill a Kingpin returns with Gina as the ex-whisperer trying to solve a mystery after receiving a threatening message on her platform. It is the weekend of the 150th anniversary of Sunset High and past alumni are here to celebrate in the reunion to end all reunions. Halloween falls on the last night of the festivities and ‘Team Outcast’ as they signed their threat will be their to exact their revenge.
Many of the characters from the first book are back including Hugh, the hot contractor, friends of Gina and the two Italian aunties and their crazy chihuahuas. Between drinks-many, many drinks, Gina and her friends will try to piece together why someone from their high school thinks they were bullies more than 30 years ago and try to prevent their own demise. Floyd and Lloyd, the co-chiefs of police are on the case but also trying to manage the extra flock of people in town for the reunion.
St. George writes capers with comedy and a little romance thrown in for fun. While the plot moved at a good pace, I was there for the characters. Nothing is too deep, or too scary and I couldn’t help but picture James Gandolfini as Sal, the mob boss. A perfect book to enjoy with a your favourite beverage and some snacks that you won’t choke on when you chuckle.
Thank you to the author @gabriellestgeorge and @levelbestbooks for providing me with an ARC of How to Kill a Kingpin. This book is out now!
Many of the characters from the first book are back including Hugh, the hot contractor, friends of Gina and the two Italian aunties and their crazy chihuahuas. Between drinks-many, many drinks, Gina and her friends will try to piece together why someone from their high school thinks they were bullies more than 30 years ago and try to prevent their own demise. Floyd and Lloyd, the co-chiefs of police are on the case but also trying to manage the extra flock of people in town for the reunion.
St. George writes capers with comedy and a little romance thrown in for fun. While the plot moved at a good pace, I was there for the characters. Nothing is too deep, or too scary and I couldn’t help but picture James Gandolfini as Sal, the mob boss. A perfect book to enjoy with a your favourite beverage and some snacks that you won’t choke on when you chuckle.
Thank you to the author @gabriellestgeorge and @levelbestbooks for providing me with an ARC of How to Kill a Kingpin. This book is out now!
December 18, 2022
Gina is back! If you thought things got crazy in the first book, then you need to watch out for more craziness in this book. Gina has gotten herself a stalker. It seems that back in high school, she and some other girls were the "mean girls". The outcast wants revenge. Luckily, Gina is not alone as her friends, aunts, and love interest, Hugh are back as well. When it came to the case, I didn't really have it solved until almost close to the reveal. Which was kind of an "ah ha' moment. A good ending.
Fans of cozy, suspense thriller mysteries will want to check out these books. What I love the most about these books is the engaging characters. They are people that I would want to be friends with. Gina may be older than some of the typical protagonists, but she brings her wisdom. This is what helps make her good at solving cases.
Fans of cozy, suspense thriller mysteries will want to check out these books. What I love the most about these books is the engaging characters. They are people that I would want to be friends with. Gina may be older than some of the typical protagonists, but she brings her wisdom. This is what helps make her good at solving cases.
April 24, 2023
I won this book on Goodreads. I hadn't heard of the book or author but it looked interesting. I was happy to win and read the book. It was nice that the book was based on 50+ year old woman.
The book had lots of turns and twists. The main characters were very likable. At times I was so interested in the outcome of the book. At other times, the book dragged a little bit.
The writing about the food was amazing. I don't think I have ever read a book that made me hungry or want to eat what the author was writing about.
It was a fun book. It did make me want to go to my high school reunion. Thank you for the opportunity to read the book.
The book had lots of turns and twists. The main characters were very likable. At times I was so interested in the outcome of the book. At other times, the book dragged a little bit.
The writing about the food was amazing. I don't think I have ever read a book that made me hungry or want to eat what the author was writing about.
It was a fun book. It did make me want to go to my high school reunion. Thank you for the opportunity to read the book.
October 11, 2023
Gina Malone has become one of my favorite people! Okay. I know she’s fictional, but she is so cool! We should all have a best friend like Gina. In HOW TO KILL A KINGPIN, book 2 of the Ex-Whisperer Series, the Canadian advice columnist takes us back to the picturesque shores of Lake Huron, where she contends with a stalker ex-husband, a dreaded high school reunion, and deadly grudges. The plot unfolds with a well-crafted blend of comedy, mystery, and a touch of romance. If you like mysteries with unforgettable characters, witty banter, and lots of twists and turns, this book is most certainly for you. I highly recommend it.
November 20, 2022
I love these characters so much and was thrilled to spend more time with them! The protagonist is simply the best—the author has created such a vivid voice for her that I feel like I'm one of her "gal pals." The premise of a high school reunion is certainly not a new one, but this book gives it a unique spin, with Halloween serving as a backdrop. I'm enjoying the steamy-but-clean romance, too. And if all that wasn't enough, the cute pups and snarky cat and the gorgeous setting add even more. I'm anxiously awaiting book three in the series—it can't come soon enough!
April 15, 2023
Great continuation of the Ex-Whisperer Files series! I received an electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I love that the protagonist is a middle-aged woman with flaws and a sense of humor. It is the perfect combination of mystery, humor, romance, and female friendships. The plot moves along at a good clip, and Gina kept me laughing. I am looking forward to the next installment!
I love that the protagonist is a middle-aged woman with flaws and a sense of humor. It is the perfect combination of mystery, humor, romance, and female friendships. The plot moves along at a good clip, and Gina kept me laughing. I am looking forward to the next installment!
June 9, 2023
I actually won this book through Goodreads and boy am I glad I did. This was a very good story with a good ending. I liked the characters in this book. It was funny, scary, sad and believable as well. I will read more books by this author. I think what I liked most was it was about friendship and relationships and ladies in their 50’s. Thank You for a fun summer read.
January 18, 2023
What a fun easy read. Full review soon!
March 27, 2023
Very fun book! Gina has returned for her high school reunion. Lots of drama between classmates and some murders. Gina and company are trying to find out why weird things keep happening in their town.
April 11, 2023
The book definitely kept me guessing throughout but then wrapped up in a chapter. Liked the characters just wish there was more development.
May 15, 2023
Another great book I won on goodreads. Enjoy it!
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June 2, 2023This is a nice light mystery/romance book. I love the great girl group the main character has and her supportive boyfriend. I would definitely read another book from this series.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews