Riley Thorn and the Dead Guy Next Door Series: Riley Thorn #1 Published by Sourcebooks on September 30, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Private Investigators, Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy
Pages: 538
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Reading Challenges: 2026 Audiobook Challenge, All booksFrom the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Things We Never Got Over
A nice, normal life. Is that too much to ask? For Riley Thorn it is.
Divorced. Broke. Living with a pack of elderly roommates. And those hallucinations she's diligently ignoring? Her tarot card-dealing mom is convinced they're clairvoyant visions.
Just when things can't get worse, a so-hot-it-should-be-illegal private investigator shows up on her doorstep looking for a neighbor...who turns up murdered.
Nick Santiago doesn't play well with others. Unless the "others" are of the female persuasion. Wink. He's a rebel, a black sheep, a man who prefers a buffet of options to being stuck with the same entrée every night, if you catch his drift.
When the pretty, possibly psychic Riley lands at the top of the list of suspects, Nick volunteers to find out whodunit. Only because he likes solving mysteries not because he wants to flex his heroic muscles for the damsel in distress.
All they have to do is figure out who pulled the trigger, keep the by-the-book detective with a grudge at bay, and deal with a stranger claiming he was sent to help Riley hone her psychic gifts. All before the killer discovers she's a loose end that requires snipping.
Murder, Mayhem, and a Hot PI
If chaos, murder, psychic visions, and an aggressively hot private investigator walked into a bar together, you’d get The Dead Guy Next Door by Lucy Score. And honestly? This book felt like being trapped inside the world’s most unhinged rom-com fever dream in the best possible way.
Riley Thorn is divorced, broke, accidentally psychic, and living with a group of senior citizen roommates who somehow become one of the greatest side casts I’ve read in a while. Then a man ends up dead, Riley becomes tangled in the investigation, and in walks Nick Santiago — a private investigator who is equal parts cocky, chaotic, and annoyingly attractive. The chemistry between these two was immediate. Not sweet little butterflies chemistry. I mean, “they are one inconvenience away from making out or committing a felony together” chemistry.
This book does not care about genre rules. It’s mystery, paranormal chaos, romantic comedy, murder investigation, found family nonsense, and complete mayhem, all blended into something that shouldn’t work as well as it does. Yet somehow it absolutely does. The dialogue is fast, ridiculous, and genuinely funny. I was laughing one minute and, suddenly, fully invested in solving the murder the next.
The real star of this book, though? The vibes. Riley’s life is a disaster in the most entertaining way possible. She’s dodging visions, dead people, danger, and her own attraction to Nick while the entire cast around her acts as if they escaped from a sitcom. It felt chaotic without being messy, which honestly takes skill.
Also, Nick Santiago? Peak “I’m grumpy but secretly obsessed with her” energy. He spends half the book pretending Riley is a problem while following her around like an emotionally constipated guard dog—incredible behavior. No notes.
I will say this book is LONG, and if you don’t vibe with quirky humor or large casts, it might feel like a lot. But for me, the absurdity was exactly what made it fun. It reads like a cozy mystery got drunk with a paranormal romance and woke up deciding to become a comedy.
And the audiobook? Absolute chaos in audio form. The humor lands so well when narrated, and the larger-than-life personalities somehow become even more ridiculous in the best way.
If you love:
- psychic heroines
- murder mystery chaos
- grumpy/sunshine energy
- found family weirdos
- romantic tension with constant bickering
…then this series is probably about to consume your life.
About Lucy Score
Lucy Score is an instant #1 New York Times bestselling author. She grew up in a literary family who insisted that the dinner table was for reading and earned a degree in journalism.
She writes full-time from the Pennsylvania home she shares with Mr. Lucy. When not spending hours crafting heartbreaker heroes and kick-ass heroines, Lucy can be found on the couch, in the kitchen, or at the gym.
She hopes to someday write from a sailboat, oceanfront condo, or tropical island with reliable Wi-Fi.
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