The Sorority Murder: A Novel

Allison Brennan

Dec 2021 · Regan Merritt Series Book 1 · Sold by MIRA

About this ebook

“The 10 Best New Mystery and Thriller Books of December are Giving Us Literal Chills”—E! Online


“10 Books to Cozy Up With This December”—PopSugar


A popular sorority girl. An unsolved murder. A campus podcast with chilling repercussions.

Lucas Vega is obsessed with the death of Candace Swain, who left a sorority party one night and never came back. Her body was found after two weeks, but the case has grown cold. Three years later while interning at the medical examiner's, Lucas discovers new information, but the police are not interested.

Lucas knows he has several credible pieces of the puzzle. He just isn't sure how they fit together. So he creates a podcast to revisit Candace's last hours. Then he encourages listeners to crowdsource what they remember and invites guest lecturer Regan Merritt, a former US marshal, to come on and share her expertise.

New tips come in that convince Lucas and Regan they are onto something. Then shockingly one of the podcast callers turns up dead. Another hints at Candace's secret life, a much darker picture than Lucas imagined—and one that implicates other sorority sisters. Regan uses her own resources to bolster their theory and learns that Lucas is hiding his own secret. The pressure is on to solve the murder, but first Lucas must come clean about his real motives in pursuing this podcast—before the killer silences him forever.

"Fans of Jeff Abbott and Karin Slaughter will find this crime novel hard to put down." —Publishers Weekly on The Third to Die

"Downright spectacular… [A] riveting page turner as prescient as it is purposeful." —Providence Journal on Tell No Lies

Regan Merritt Series

Book 1: The Sorority Murder
Book 2: Don't Open the Door

Don’t miss SEVEN GIRLS GONE, the next page-turning thriller from New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan!

Ratings and reviews

A crime podcast that stirs up a hornets nest of trouble. This for me was a little slow on the start but after it gained momentum it took off like wildfire. I don’t know if this is gonna be a new series or just a standalone but I would definitely want to read more about this ex us marshal and her podcast buddy. “Everything in your life is a reflection of a choice you have made. If you want a different result, make a different choice.” Regan Merritt has a lot of past I would love to here more about. This just goes to show you how versatile a writer Ms. Brennon is. She always pulls you in and will not let go

I preface my review with the confessions that it has been decades since I stepped on a college campus, I have always had a negative opinion of Greek life, I have never listened to a podcast, and I had to Google what crowdsourcing and capstone projects were. This tense written and slowly developing tale has me convinced that I have become a complete and total goober! The writing was tensely emotive and highly evocative although I often felt frustrated with the pacing. The story seemed to be progressing at a turtles pace with the main characters going off in all directions while battling to gain ground by inches and thwarted from every side. Yet despite my impatience, I was invested, engaged, and incurably curious and hooked into Allison Brennan’s fiendishly confounding storylines. My cuticles became increasingly ragged as I worried for the determined and tenacious young podcaster and spun and discarded my own useless theories. The reveals exposed events that were realistic and relatable as well as clever with the final chapters being a maelstrom of peril. Allison Brennan took me down a rabbit hole. I may need to wear gloves for a while…

I love Allison Brennan's The Sorority Murder, it kept me on the edge of my seat and up many late nights reading. Allison Brennan as once again proven that she is an amazing storyteller. I loved all the new characters that she introduced. The Sorority Murder is about a college senior at Northern Arizona University, Lucas Vega, who is in search of clues into what happened to Candace Swain, after she left her sorority’s Spring Fling three years earlier and how she was associated with the disappearance of Adele Overton, the sister of his former high school girlfriend, Ashley For his senior capstone project Lucas creates a podcast, The Sorority Murder, retracing Candace’s final steps the last week of her life with the help of his friend, Lizzy Choi. I love how Allison Brennan incorporated the title of the book into the story. Lucas approaches alumnae and guest lecturer, Regan Merritt, a former US Marshall following a lecture that she gave for one of his classes. He asks Regan to be a guest on his next podcast. After listening to the first two podcasts Regan agrees to be a guest on his podcast. Regan has recently returned to Flagstaff after resigning from the US Marshalls following the murder of her ten-year-old son, Chase. Regan continues assists Lucas with the podcast and the cold case. Eventually, Lucas reveals to Regan how he is also looking into the disappearance of Adele and how Candace’s behavior changed once he brought up Adele, during one of their tutoring sessions. Neither Lucas nor Regan believes that Joseph Abernathy, a homeless man that Candace befriended at the local shelter was responsible for her death. A suspicious death by a drug overdose occurs to one of the last people seen talking to Candace. Another questionable medical emergency occurs to another member of the sorority who might have seen Candace the week between her disappearance and death. I love how they connect all the incidents together and hope to find the killer before he or she gets away and leaves Flagstaff. I love how Lucas and Regan are find the answers behind Candace’s death and how Lucas gets closure for the Overton family. I love how the missing pages of Candace’s journal are incorporated into the story, giving the reader insight into what was really happening in Candace’s life before her murder. Like all of Allison Brennan's, The Sorority Murder is filled with incredible characters, thrilling plot twists and unexpected turns of events. I really love everything about The Sorority Murder. Allison Brennan continues to amaze me with her writing and to deliver incredible thrillers.

About the author

ALLISON BRENNAN is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of over forty-five novels. She has been nominated for Best Paperback Original Thriller by International Thriller Writers and the Daphne du Maurier Award. A former consultant in the California State Legislature, Allison lives in Arizona with her husband, five kids and assorted pets.