Charlotte Illes is Not a Detective

Charlotte Illes Is Not a Detective by Katie Siegel 352 pages

“Nancy Drew” was the first book series I read as a child, and, if memory serves, I did read all fifty-six of them.  Maybe it was because the back cover copy tells us that it is nostalgic (albeit a much younger nostalgia than mine) that Nancy resurfaced in my memories. Still, it was fun to relive those wonderful days of lying on the couch consumed with the latest un-putdownable episode that evoked such warm feelings for Charlotte.

When Charlotte “Lottie” Iles was ten years old, she solved a small mystery at her elementary school.  She became an overnight sensation and was soon helping lots of people solve little mysteries at school and in the community.

But now Charlotte is twenty-five years old. She is unemployed, lives with her mom, had no love life and a small social life. She is worried that she has “peaked.” But the universe is giving her one more chance to get her act together.

It seems that the company where her brother’s girlfriend, Olivia. works is trying to organize. Seems outdated in 2023 that unions are still considered a threat and that companies will do anything to stop it. But once I started reading this book, I saw it everywhere on the news. And so a dead body of one of the other employees turns up.  But that’s not the thing that captures Charlotte’s attention. It’s the murder and the disappearance of Brian, one of Olivia’s co-workers that lures Charlotte back into detecting. Joined by her two best friends, Lucy and Gabe, the trio pits their heads together and gets to work.

A cozy mystery disguising itself as a mystery, this mixture of past and present amateur sleuthing gives “Charlotte Illes is Not a Detective,” a wonderfully innocent, yet amusing, aura that last until all the mysterious elements are resolved.

Therefore, “Charlotte Illes is Not a Detective,” received 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Release date is June 27, 2023.