Out of Loop by Katie Siegel: A Time Loop Mystery That Never Quite Clicks

Read time: 4 minutes

🎧 Listened in audio
📢 Narrated by Krysta Gonzales
⏱ Duration: 12 hours
🏷️ Publisher: Crooked Lane Books / Spotify Audiobooks

Book blurb:

Amie Teller has spent two years trapped in a time loop, reliving September 17th on repeat—until the day she wakes up to September 18th and freedom. But before she can settle into her new life, she learns her neighbor was murdered on the very day she’d relived hundreds of times. Determined to help, Amie dives into the investigation with an ex-girlfriend hoping to rebuild their friendship and a grumpy neighbor obsessed with Rube Goldberg machines by her side. Out of Loop blends amateur sleuth mystery with a genre-bending time loop twist, promising a wholly original take on the cozy mystery formula.

Let’s talk about the book:

I was expecting a genre mashup that would blow up my mind. Cozy mystery meets time loop sci-fi. What’s not to love? Katie Siegel’s premise is genuinely original. A woman stuck reliving September 17th for two years, finally freed just in time to investigate her neighbor’s murder. On paper, it’s the kind of high-concept cozy mystery that should have had me obsessed.

Instead, I got stuck in a loop. The book never explains how Amie got stuck in the loop in the first place. But, I could roll with that, if the mystery had leaned into it. But another disconnect happened, and it was that every clue in the murder investigation exists entirely outside of the loop. Amie solves this case the same way any amateur sleuth would, loop or no loop. The central hook of the book, the thing that should have set it apart from every other small-town whodunit, ends up being narrative decoration instead of a plot engine.

Would I recommend it?

This one is a tough pass for me. The premise promised so much and the execution just didn’t connect dots. Pick it or leave it, but for me, it was a case of high expectations meeting a disappointing payoff.

Other similar books that you’ll enjoy:

• The Seven-Year Slip by Ashley Poston — For readers who want the time-bending romance/mystery blend done with more emotional payoff and cohesive world-building.
  Indiebookstores | Bookshop | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
• Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto — If you want the cozy amateur sleuth charm without the sci-fi promises that don’t deliver.
  Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
• The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley — For a time-travel concept that’s actually woven into the plot’s DNA, not just window dressing.
  Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
• Recursion by Blake Crouch — If the loop mechanics are what hooked you, this thriller actually explains and exploits the “why” behind the reset.
  Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy

What Do You Say: When a Killer Concept Forgets to Show Up

Have you ever picked up a book because the premise alone had you sold, only to feel let down when the execution didn’t match the hype? Drop your “high expectations, low payoff” reads in the comments. I need to know I’m not alone on this one.

Book Links:

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📍 Indiebookstores.ca | 📍 Bookshop.org
📍 Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | Litsy
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