The Story That Wouldn't Die by Christina Estes Narrator: Devon Sorvari
Series: Jolene Garcia Mysteries #2
Published by Dreamscape Media on August 19, 2025
Source: NetGalley
Genres: Mystery
Length: 10 hs 3 mins
Pages: 320
Format: Audiobook
Purchase at Bookshop.org or Libro.fm
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Emmy Award-winning reporter Christina Estes uses her twenty-year career for inspiration for her mysteries. In The Story That Wouldn’t Die, Jolene Garcia refuses to stop investigating, but someone is determined to kill the story—and maybe her—for good.
Phoenix, Arizona TV reporter Jolene Garcia is fresh off winning her first Emmy and committed to covering stories that matter to her community. But Jolene’s managers want stories that grab immediate attention and generate clicks, not ones that take time to develop.
When a beloved small business owner dies in a car crash, Jolene isn’t convinced it was an accident. He’d been raising questions about who keeps getting lucrative deals at city hall—questions that powerful people don’t want answered. The deeper Jolene digs, the more suspicious things she uncovers.
Exposing greed, ambition, and deception could become the biggest story of Jolene’s career. Her bosses tell her to drop it. But there’s a story here, and Jolene’s going to find it.
I read the first in this series starring reporter Jolene Garcia, but this one definitely works as a stand alone. Jolene is looking for the next big story, since the murder she solved in book 1 hasn’t really seemed to give her career much of a bounce. However, her bosses have her running all over town to cover cupcakes and stuck elevators, so when a small business owner with ties to the city council is killed, Jolene feels like she’s the only one who wants to investigate.
Jolene is an interesting character. She’s caring, smart, and tenacious. She’s also a bit of a bulldozer and is not above hurting her friends’ feelings or pawning assignments off on the intern in order to do what she thinks she needs to. She’s ambitious, but maybe not entirely likeable. I liked the peek into a news station and Jolene was a competent investigator.
The mystery itself was well done. It moved along at a good pace and kept me guessing. The conclusion made sense and wrapped up the loose ends.
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a good job bringing Jolene to life. She managed to keep the characters distinct – and there were a lot of them. I’ll probably listen to the next one on audio when it when it comes out.
About Christina Estes
Christina Estes received the Tony Hillerman Prize for Best First Mystery Set in the Southwest. Off the Air features a TV reporter investigating the suspicious death of a controversial radio talk show host and was inspired by Christina’s career. Currently a journalist for the NPR member station in Phoenix, Christina’s reporting has appeared nationally on NPR and CBS, and in the Arizona Republic, Arizona Business Gazette and Phoenix Business Journal.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Characters that aren’t quite likeable are some of my favorites.