Movie Review: The Book Club Murders (2024)

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Synopsis: Ever since high school student Lauren McClain went missing, Natalie Johnston has been plagued by rumors her now-deceased husband had something to do with it. With her 15-year-old daughter, Gwen, choosing to return to school, Natalie attempts to get her life back on track and joins a book club. Soon after, a mysterious writer begins sending out letters exposing people's darkest secrets then later seemingly takes things a step further by murdering members of the book club.

Natalie becomes especially concerned when Gwen receives a letter accusing her of helping her father murder Lauren. 

Who's in it? The movie stars Brittany Underwood, Eva Igo, Nicole Weber, Julia Zook and Mike Bredon.


Review: I've had The Book Club Murders on my watch list for several weeks and, after seeing it is about to leave Netflix, I decided to finally watch it. It ended up being an entertaining watch.

The thing I liked most about this movie is, while I (correctly) had my suspicions about who was behind the letters and the murders, the information in the letters is personal enough to create doubt about any suspect because there were times when they would need to be in the same room without being recognized.

The letters targeting Gwen (Igo) were especially intriguing because while Natalie (Underwood) was a good mom who believed in her daughter's innocence, none of the other letters had false information in them. I didn't think for a second Gwen was guilty but did wonder if maybe there was information she was choosing to withhold.

I also thought the murders themselves were puzzling. There was one murder that made sense because the victim figured out who the killer was, but the others seemed unnecessary since the letters were more than enough to destroy the victims' lives and get whatever revenge they were seeking. It made me wonder if there were two culprits, one who wrote the letters and one who was committing the murders figuring the first one would be blamed.

As I mentioned, I was able to correctly figure out who the killer was, mostly from years of watching and reading murder mysteries. However, I thought the film did a good job both with misdirection and subtle clues, keeping me from knowing for sure until the very end. Plus, once the killer was revealed, there was a halfway decent and suspenseful final climax that kept me on the edge of my seat while also providing answers to the unanswered questions. It kept the film interesting throughout as a result.

Final Opinion: It is a solid and entertaining murder mystery that lived up to my expectations. I would recommend it as a result.

My Grade: A

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Here are some reviews of other murder mysteries:

Move Review: The Penguin Pool Murder (1932)

Movie Review: Murder on a Honeymoon (1935)

Movie Review: Fly Away Baby (1937)

Movie Review: The Girl in Black Stockings (1957)

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