Book: THE MORTAL ENEMY MURDER CLUB
Character: Mandy Thorne
Mandy Thorne bursts into the café like a wrecking ball, fifteen minutes late for our meeting. “Someone’s trying to kill me!” she exclaims as soon as she spots me. And just like that, our interview has begun.
What do you mean, someone is trying to kill you?
Mandy: Do I need to spell it out for you? M is for murder, as in the thing someone is trying to do to me. K is for the very real, very large knife that someone has left inside my home. T is for the threatening texts I’ve been receiving from an anonymous number. My god, it’s effing Sesame Street in here!
Have you gone to the police?
Mandy: Of course not! They - especially that annoying and also annoyingly handsome Detective McBroody - have it out for me. They’re mad that my podcast - the award-winning Dish Served Hot podcast all about revenge stories - has been doing their job for them and putting away criminals.
Didn’t you get it wrong last time? And weren’t you shown to have made up information?
Mandy: It’s called journalism. Not that I’d expect you to understand.
Um, right. Weren’t you also the one who everyone saw taking a dump in the corner on the reality TV show Love Hut, yet you’ve been staunchly denying it for years?
Mandy: I Did. Not. Sh-t. In. That. Hut! They can edit things to make you look like you’re doing anything nowadays! And besides, why would I have done that? Especially when I’m uber famous and popular? Do not print this part!
(Note to reader: You can find out the real story behind the Love Hut debacle in THE MORTAL ENEMY MURDER CLUB, where Mandy finally spills all.)
Who do you suspect?
Mandy: It could be anyone from my podcast! Yes, I’ve changed many lives for the better, but it came at a price! Doling out revenge to the cheaters and scumbags of the world doesn’t make you many friends. So the suspect list is long, but I have a gut feeling who it could be. And I have a great sense about these things!
Didn’t you also go on Traitors, hook up with every member of the boy band Boystown Boys, and -
Mandy: I was using my best weapon to figure out who the Traitors were!
Didn’t you accuse every brother except for the one who actually was the Traitor?
Mandy: He was the one who was the best in bed! Of course I didn’t accuse him!
Of course. So what’s your next step?
Mandy: I need to get Kathryn Hu to help me. Maybe the whole Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club, but Kat’s the key. They solved a murder once, so maybe they can prevent this one. They’re the only ones who can save me, but they’re not taking my calls.
Didn’t you accuse them all of murder in your most recent season?
Mandy: I gave them the best publicity of their lives! They should be thanking me!
We certainly wish Mandy the best of luck both in figuring out this mystery as well as keeping her mouth shut long enough to get the Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club to help her. We can only imagine the comedy that would ensue if they do end up working together. To find out if Mandy and the girls can put their history and hatred aside long enough to prevent a murder, check out THE MORTAL ENEMY MURDER CLUB, book #2 in the Hu Done It mystery series - out July 28, 2026!
Thank you, Fresh Fiction, for featuring this interview of infamous basket-case reality-TV-personality Mandy Thorne. You can check out the previous interview with Kathryn Hu, protagonist of the Hu Done It series, in the post here.
Hu Done It #2
A Novel
The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club is back with a twist in this smart, hilarious mystery by USA TODAY bestselling author Gloria Chao.
Kathryn Hu is not getting into the business of solving murders. Yes, she and her friends Olivia and Elle figured out who killed their cheating ex-boyfriend. But now Kat can get back to her usual, murder-free existence.
Then she gets an unexpected plea for help. Mandy Thorne has ruined countless lives through her revenge podcast. She also did her best to frame the girls. Now, she claims, someone is trying to kill her. And the girls are the only ones who can save her.
But can the trio and Mandy put aside their mutual contempt long enough to prevent a murder and solve this case? Can they become…the Mortal Enemy Murder Club?
Thriller Crime [ Park Row, On Sale: July 28, 2026, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781335001900 / eISBN: 9780369775313 ]
Gloria Chao is a screenwriter and the award-winning author of The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club (sequel to follow June 2026), Ex Marks the Spot, When You Wish Upon a Lantern, Rent a Boyfriend, Our Wayward Fate, and American Panda. She graduated from MIT and became a dentist before realizing she’d rather spend her days in fictional characters’ heads instead of real people’s mouths. When she’s not writing, you can find her on the curling ice, where she and her husband are world-ranked in mixed doubles.
Her books have received starred trade reviews; were Epic Reads x Target, Junior Library Guild, Indie Next List, YALSA Teens’ Top 10, Amelia Bloomer List, YALSA Amazing Audiobook, and Common Sense Media selections; and were featured on the “Best of” lists of Seventeen, Bustle, Barnes & Nobles, PopSugar, Paste Magazine, Booklist, Chicago Public Library, Bank Street, and more.
Visit her tea-and-book filled world on her website and find her on Instagram and Twitter.
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