The Mortal Enemy Murder Club Review: Gloria Chao’s Sequel Is Even Better Than the First

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Read time: 4 minutes

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📱📖 Read on Kindle | 📃 352 pages
⏱ Duration: 5 hours
🏷️ Publisher: Park Row
📅 Release Date: July 28, 2026
🎁 ARC provided by NetGalley

Book Blurb:

Kathryn Hu thought her murder-solving days were over after she and her friends cracked the case of their cheating ex-boyfriend’s death. But when Mandy Thorne—the revenge podcaster who tried to frame them—shows up claiming someone’s trying to kill her, the girls are thrust back into detective mode. Can Kathryn, Olivia, and Elle put aside their contempt for Mandy long enough to prevent a murder? Welcome to the Mortal Enemy Murder Club, where grudges run deep but loyalty runs deeper.

Let’s talk … murder!!!

I had doubts. Real doubts. How do you top a first book that hits? Especially when one of your core characters is … in prison? I wasn’t sure Gloria Chao could pull off a sequel that didn’t feel like a rehash. But Chao didn’t just meet expectations, she flipped them on their head and said, “watch this.” The setup alone had me hooked: Mandy Thorne, chaos agent extraordinaire, now the one begging for help. Delicious.

Mandy Thorne is manipulative, sneaky, and maddeningly vague even when her life’s on the line. Yet somehow, she only trusts Kathryn and Olivia to save her. The audacity! What really works here is how seamlessly these characters evolve. Kathryn, Olivia, and Elle aren’t just strong individually. They are electric together. Even with Elle behind bars, the group dynamic doesn’t lose momentum. If anything, it sharpens it. The found family vibes between these three are so strong that you root for them even when they are helping someone who tried to destroy them. Their sisterhood, forged in chaos and tempered by trauma, is the emotional backbone of this book, and watching them choose each other over and over again is heartwarming.

And can we talk about the idioms? Gloria Chao continues her signature linguistic flair, weaving in idioms and their origins in a way that feels both quirky, smart, and oddly comforting. As a fellow language nerd, I felt seen. It’s a small detail, but it’s these touches that make Chao’s writing feel so distinctly hers. The mystery itself is twisty, the pacing is sharp, and the humor lands every single time. This series has officially become comfort reading with a body count, and I’m obsessed!

Would I recommend it?

This is one of those rare sequels that doesn’t just carry the magic forward but expands it. It delivers heart, humor, and a genuinely clever plot. If you loved the first book, this will remind you why. If you’re new to the series, start with book one. Gloria Chao is building something special here, and I can’t wait to see where she takes these characters next.

Rating: 5 out of 5.


Book Recommendations:


Frenemies, but make it murder

Would you trust someone who once tried to ruin your life… if they said they were about to be killed? And more importantly, would you help them anyway?

Book Links:

Want to purchase this or any of your favorite books while supporting a local bookstore? Consider:
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org
Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | OpenLibrary | Litsy
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