Laura’s Rating: 2/5 Stars This book is written by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, hosts of the popular podcast My Favorite Murder. I do not recommend reading this book if you are unfamiliar with the podcast. The Analysis: The long title of this book is Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered:The Definitive How-To Guide. What is strange is that other than a roughly numbered chapter system using popular quotes from the podcast, this book is not a how-to guide. I expected a funny but useful list of tips and lessons on staying safe and protecting yourself with some true crime stories and advice about confidence sprinkled in between. Instead, I got an unorganized menagerie of personal stories and jokes that came off as pretentious. Both Karen and Georgia constantly focus on stories from their rebellious youth, despite being in their late 30s and 40s at the time of publication. My biggest problem with this book is that it is very egocentric and feels like bragging. Karen and Georgia act like they invented being into true crime and seem less than gracious about their success. I want to highlight the fact that I really enjoy the My Favorite Murder podcast. It has been one of the only podcasts that has consistently kept me interested and I like the blend of true crime and humor. Disappointingly, the only true crime stories that are referenced in the book are stories that have already been covered on the podcast. It felt like reused content. The personal stories could have been interesting, but seemed very surface level (with a couple exceptions). There were some things I did enjoy about this book. In general, it was an entertaining read with good messages about empowerment and confidence. Karen’s point about having five close friends rather than airing your dirty laundry to whoever will listen is a great tip. The part about therapy written by Georgia was interesting and normalizes seeking help. The powerful chapter written by Karen about dealing with her mom’s battle with Alheimer’s was heartbreaking and I almost cried in the airport while reading it. However, it was deeper than I expected and actually felt out of place in contrast to the rest of the book. I think that a few parts of this book would have made a great blog post or magazine interview, but the content is not organized or strong enough to make a good book. Unfortunately, Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered was a big disappointment.
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