Gossip Can Be Murder

I’ll admit, I rolled my eyes at the ‘spa retreat murder’ premise—until Rebecca Cook’s narration sold me on Charlie’s mix of exasperation and reluctant curiosity. Cook’s performance is *masterclass* in pacing: she lets Shelton’s dialogue breathe, so the snarky exchanges between Charlie and her frenemy Dr. Linda Casper land like verbal jabs, while the more sinister moments (like the eerie nighttime pool scene) get a slow, creeping delivery that had me double-checking my locks. The production quality is polished, though I’d have loved a touch more ambient sound in the outdoor scenes to contrast the claustrophobic indoor gossip sessions. The story itself is a clever bait-and-switch. It starts as a satire of wellness culture—Charlie’s internal monologues about ‘cleansing’ her liver while her friends ‘cleanse’ their bank accounts are hilarious—but Shelton pivots deftly into a proper mystery with stakes that feel personal. My only critique? The middle act sags slightly under the weight of *too* many red herrings (do we really need three separate characters with alibis involving turmeric enemas?). And while Cook nails Charlie’s voice, her male characters occasionally blur together in pitch, making a few key confrontations harder to follow. Still, the payoff—a twist that hinges on a *brilliantly* mundane detail from the spa’s schedule—made me forgive the detours. If you love mysteries where the setting is practically a character (and where the victim might’ve been killed by kale), this is your next listen.