Mystery Review: Off the Air | Christina Estes

I was intrigued by Christina Estes’ debut novel Off the Air because it promises to be a mystery featuring a local news reporter as the lead character. I come from a family with several journalists so I’ve always loved people who do that work and hearing about the industry—their jobs are so hard! What I got with Off the Air surprised me. It delivered what I expected, but it also had several stand out characteristics that separate it from the herd in the world of cozy mysteries. More on those to follow!

About the Book | Off the Air

Jolene Garcia is a young TV reporter at a local news station in Phoenix, Arizona trying to catch a break to eventually advance in her career. Currently she splits her time between general assignments (is your dry cleaner really removing those spaghetti stains?) and special projects. The special projects are stories that Jolene wants to tell, pitches, and takes time to research and produce. This is the part of her career that she hopes to build up.

Jolene is out to lunch with her favorite camera crew member, Nate, when two things happen: she receives word that there has been a death at radio station, and she spills ketchup all down the front of her shirt. There’s no time to worry about the ketchup though! Jolene and Nate rush to the station to see what they can find out. Through some digging, they learn that popular, controversial talk show host Larry Lemmon has been poisoned.

It just so happens that Jolene got the last interview with Larry Lemmon, giving her an advantage over the other local, network, and cable reporters jostling for the story. Even more helpful, she has a source within the police force who slowly feeds her bits of information. Unfortunately neither of these matter in terms of getting the story first. Her police source—Commander Jim Miranda—may give her bits of information, but he won’t allow her to go on record with any of them. Meanwhile Jolene keeps finding herself scooped by other reporters, especially those from network and larger cable news programs. This story could make or break her career—if it doesn’t break Jolene first!

Review | Off the Air

This story took me by surprise. It delves deeply into the world of broadcast journalism, which hooked me in. There is a lot of drama in the industry, it turns out. Jolene made a mistake at a prior reporter job she had in Omaha, and she won’t make the same mistake twice. She double- and triple-checks her facts before moving forward. But over the course of the novel, Jolene begins to crack. It feels like she has setback after setback and the reader gets first-hand experience of the pressure she feels to get the story.

The other reporters all seem to have more experience, more money, and more resources from their networks. Jolene has the advantage multiple times only to see it snatched away—an exclusive she got with a key witness only for them to accept an offer from a much larger network to do theirs first, an interview she goes for but someone else gets there first. These experiences did make Jolene sympathetic to the reader.

Seeing the lead character in a cozy mystery face setbacks isn’t new or rare to the genre. However, I actually thought what Estes did with Jolene’s storyline felt very rare in other ways. Jolene falls apart more or less across the course of the investigation. She starts out with morals, ethics, tenacity, and a positive attitude. By the time the story crosses the halfway mark, she’s burnt out, sleep-deprived, frustrated, and making poor decisions. It was so refreshingly authentic that Estes chose to show Jolene going through this. Her friend and colleague Nate actually steps away from working with her at one point because of what she’s pushing to do. I love when an author is unafraid to show the less attractive qualities in their lead character.

Jolene also has an interesting backstory. She grew up in the foster system after her mother was arrested for drug use and child endangerment. When she was twelve, she was able to go live with her grandmother in Omaha for several years before she passed away. Jolene is on her own in terms of family support, and this was heartbreaking to read about. She has many fond memories of her grandmother and thinks of her often—if she would be proud of her and what she might say. She watches Wheel of Fortune religiously not out of any particular love of the program, but because her grandmother loved it and it keeps her memory alive.

In terms of balance, I would say that the book heavily favors both the drama of working in broadcast journalism as well as what is happening with the mystery. Jolene has very little personal life—most of her life is tied up in work. I appreciated this because the mystery stayed engaging. There were plenty of suspects and a lot going on muddying the waters. The way that Lemmon died meant that the murderer didn’t need to be present at the time of the murder, so this case rested quite a bit on motive, in addition to opportunity. Jolene is receiving cryptic notes about the case at work, adding another layer to the story.

The conclusion was satisfying and surprised me—I didn’t guess who did it and the way the reveal happened was interesting. Jolene also seems aware of her mistakes, which redeems her if the reader had any doubts about her behavior in the height of the case. The relationship between Jolene and Jim (the police commander) was another difference. Often cozy mysteries position the police source as either a love interest or a friend. Jim is neither—they have a professional relationship and Jolene has earned trust with him on prior investigations (trust that takes a pretty large hit during her actions in the current case).

This was a great mystery with a compelling lead and premise! The investigation stays at the forefront. Jolene is a flawed and sympathetic character in equal measure. The rich detail around broadcast journalism comes through, in large part due to the author’s long career in that industry. I think mystery fans will love this!

Audiobook Review

The audiobook for this story is narrated by Marcella Black, and she does a fantastic job capturing Jolene’s character and energy. Without knowing the narrator’s age, her voice sounds young which suits Jolene, who we know is pretty early in her career (nothing drives me crazier than when the age of the narration doesn’t suit the age of the character!). Her cadence is engaging and upbeat, while still capturing the tenacity and grit that makes Jolene’s character who she is.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio for my copy. Opinions are my own.

About the Author | Christina Estes

Christina Estes received the Tony Hillerman Prize for Best First Mystery Set in the Southwest for Off the Air. Her novel featuring a Phoenix TV reporter investigating the murder of a controversial talk show host was inspired by Christina’s award-winning reporting career. A discussion guide with suggested questions can be found at the end of this bio.

During 20-plus years in Phoenix, Christina has covered presidential campaigns, public policy, education and business. Her stories have ranged from the whimsical – like a fish visiting a dentist – to the weighty – such as witnessing a lethal injection. Having worked for several local TV stations, Christina now reports for the NPR member station in Phoenix.

Join the News Crew to get the inside scoop at www.christinaestes.com

Find Christina on X/Twitter, Threads and Instagram at @reporterestes