Swiped is a new novel by L. M. Chilton that combines serial killers and dating apps in a wildly entertaining mystery. As her online profile reads, our protagonist is “Gwen, 29, Barista, Eastbourne,” a slightly lost young woman who runs a coffee shop out of her van (even though she hates coffee), avoids thinking about the future (particularly the fact that her best friend and roommate Sarah is getting married and moving out in a week), and swipes right on every vaguely promising prospect she sees on Connector (desperately trying to forget her ex-boyfriend). So far, the dates have been lackluster at best, humiliating at worst, and even though she knows it’s time to delete the app, she just can’t bring herself to quit. However, on the night of Sarah’s hen do, Gwen reads an article that gives her major pause—one of the men she met through Connector has been murdered. Although spooked, it was only one date (and a regrettable one, at that), so she brushes it off as a coincidence. That is, until the police come knocking on her door with more news: a second murder has occurred, and the victim was—you guessed it—another one of Gwen’s Connector dates. Now, Gwen finds herself running all over East London trying to unmask the murderer before her entire bad dating history winds up dead… or before the murderer decides to make her their final target.

Fast-paced, suspenseful, and lighthearted (well, as lighthearted as a book about a serial killer can be), Swiped checks all the boxes for a perfect beach read. I loved the mash-up of fun, British women’s lit with dark, twisty thriller, and the premise itself—woman confronts deadly underbelly of the dating app world—is smart and current. At various points, Chilton breaks up the flow of the plot with flashbacks to Gwen’s bad dates, and these were some of my favorite chapters; Chilton captures the stereotypes of dating fails in cringeworthy detail, from the guy who forgets to ask you a single question to the one who talks about his ex all night. Gwen handles it all with her delightfully dry wit to hilarious effect. And, along with the humor, short chapters (with cliff-hanger endings!) make this novel fly by—it’s a short and snappy read that can easily be read in a couple sittings. Swiped is a definite yes for me.

I’d recommend this book to…

• Anyone who loves when murder plots fall into the hands of unlikely heroines… it’s similar in theme to Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano
• Anyone looking for something smart and sharp that sneakily makes you think… it’s similar in style to The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
• Anyone hoping for humor with a dash of darkness… it’s similar in tone to The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell