Definitely Maybe Not a Detective Summary: A Cozy Whodunit
TL;DR: The Short Version
Emersyn Gray has lost her job, her savings, and almost her patience.
She is twenty-eight, living in a fading 1920s Art Deco apartment building in New York City, and raising her six-year-old niece Livy alone after her brother’s death.
Then her ex-boyfriend drains her bank account, her best friend prints fake business cards for a detective agency that does not exist, and a man who actually is named Wyatt walks through the door.
When the building’s superintendent turns up dead, the bluff has to become real.
Definitely Maybe Not a Detective by Sarah Fox is the first book in The Wyatt Investigations Mysteries, a cozy mystery with a romantic comedy pulse and a cast of nosy, loyal neighbors.
- The hook: a forged business card for “Wyatt Investigations” accidentally becomes a working agency.
- The crime: superintendent Freddie Hanover is found dead, and an innocent elderly neighbor is arrested.
- The team: Emersyn, a real security consultant named Wyatt, a hacker teenager named Theo, and a squad of retirees.
- The core themes: found family, second chances, and the gap between appearances and character.
- The result: a killer is caught, a family is kept together, and a partnership turns official.
Characters in This Book
| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| Emersyn Gray | Unemployed former server raising her six-year-old niece; becomes an amateur investigator. |
| Wyatt Quintal Alessi | Wealthy security consultant who steps into the role of the “fake” agency’s lead investigator. |
| Olivia “Livy” Gray | Emersyn’s six-year-old niece, cared for by Emersyn after her father’s death. |
| Jemma Ghosh | Hairstylist and Emersyn’s best friend; creator of the Wyatt Investigations ruse. |
| Theo Harris | Fourteen-year-old resident who handles hacking, research, and lock-picking for the agency. |
| Frederick “Freddie” Hanover | Superintendent of the Deco Mirage whose murder drives the plot. |
| Bodie | Thirty-year-old bartender in unit 505 who assists the investigation. |
| Zoltán and Zita Nagy | Elderly Hungarian residents of unit 503; Zoltán is arrested for Freddie’s murder. |
| Detective Thomas Callahan | NYPD homicide detective known as “Thor” who leads the official case. |
| Hoffman Fisher | Emersyn’s ex-boyfriend who steals her savings. |
| Agnes Gao | Owner of the Tasty Buns bakery and resident who spreads word of the agency. |
| Leona Lavish | Former soap opera actress in unit 412 who joins the “Senior Squad.” |
| Bitty Dover | Eighty-something resident who claims royal descent and misplaces her jewelry. |
| Carmen Álvarez | Elderly resident who assists in interrogations. |
| Rosario López | Resident known as the “Snake Lady” who argued with Freddie. |
| Minnie Yang and Yolanda Antonopoulos | Residents of unit 211; Minnie paints with gold leaf and Yolanda’s grandfather ran a 1920s speakeasy. |
| Vincent “Vinny” | Bitty’s godson who runs a pawnshop and fences goods for Freddie. |
Definitely Maybe Not a Detective Summary
Spoilers ahead. The section below covers the entire plot, including the ending and the identity of the killer.
Emersyn Gray loses her job as a restaurant server after nearly throwing a cocktail glass at a harassing customer. She lives in the Deco Mirage, a crumbling 1920s Art Deco building, and is the sole guardian of her six-year-old niece, Livy, after her brother Ethan’s death.
Her ex-boyfriend, Hoffman Fisher, then drains her life savings through her online bank accounts. Her best friend Jemma Ghosh responds with a plan she calls “Operation Make Hoffman Pay.”
Jemma prints fake business cards for “Wyatt Investigations,” named after Emersyn’s imaginary dream cowboy, and sets up a burner phone. Emersyn confronts Hoffman at an upscale country club and hands him a card.
Hoffman laughs at the story. Then a dark-haired stranger who really is named Wyatt steps forward, claims to lead Wyatt Investigations, and intimidates Hoffman into backing off.
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Back at the Deco Mirage, fourteen-year-old resident Theo Harris builds a convincing website for the agency. The fake business now looks entirely real.
Emersyn and her neighbor Agnes Gao then discover the body of Freddie Hanover, the building’s superintendent, in his office. He has a head wound and shattered liquor bottles lie nearby.
The NYPD, led by Detective Thomas Callahan, later recovers a bloody croquet mallet from the building’s dumpster. Because resident bartender Bodie mentioned a prior dispute between Freddie and Zoltán Nagy, police search the Nagys’ apartment.
They find flecks of gold leaf matching evidence on the victim and arrest Mr. Nagy. Emersyn promises his wife, Zita, that she will clear his name.
Wyatt returns and insists on joining the investigation. Theo appoints herself administrative head and installs a whiteboard “murder board” in Emersyn’s apartment.
Theo picks the lock to Freddie’s apartment, where she and Emersyn find a single false eyelash on a closet door and a stash of alcohol. At a cocktail party honoring Freddie, Emersyn notices resident Rosario López wears false eyelashes and often argued with him.
Emersyn and Wyatt break into Rosario’s apartment and find frozen mice in her freezer, food for a hidden pet snake. They escape onto the fire escape.
Theo hacks the building’s cloud surveillance footage from the time of the murder. It shows a figure in a black hoodie carrying roses, wearing an orange Apple Watch strap and walking with a distinctive loping stride.
Emersyn identifies the visitor as Hoffman. She searches his Bronx apartment with a spare key and finds a torn liquor bottle label with glass stuck to the back.
Theo then hacks the South Paws Veterinary Clinic’s security system, which gives Rosario a solid alibi. During a game of hide-and-seek with Livy, Emersyn and Wyatt squeeze into an old dumbwaiter shaft and kiss.
Minutes later, Livy finds a vintage art deco cuff link in a lobby telephone booth. Investigating the booth reveals a secret door leading to an intact Prohibition-era speakeasy beneath the building.
The hidden bar holds dusty antique liquor bottles. Six circular dust outlines show where bottles were recently removed, and Emersyn concludes that valuable vintage alcohol is the motive.
Emersyn brings her findings about Hoffman to Detective Callahan, but the meeting turns against her. Callahan reveals a witness heard Emersyn tell Freddie to “drop dead, sleazebag” after he tried to harass and blackmail her over a leaky sink.
Callahan also notes a twenty-minute gap in Emersyn’s grocery trip on the morning of the murder. Mr. Nagy is released on bail because a stroke left his right hand weak, and Emersyn becomes a primary suspect.
Emersyn pursues other leads. Bodie points her to Mike, owner of Shanahan’s Suds, who provides surveillance photos of a mystery man meeting with Freddie before his death.
Emersyn recognizes the man as Vinny, the godson of resident Bitty Dover. Accompanied by the “Senior Squad”—Agnes, Leona Lavish with a prop pistol, and Carmen Álvarez—she confronts Vinny at his pawnshop on East Fordham Road.
They recover Bitty’s stolen jewelry, and Vinny admits Freddie brought him a sample bottle of antique whiskey to find a high-end buyer. Emersyn and Wyatt then stake out Hoffman’s apartment and follow him to an industrial warehouse.
Hoffman explains he was only taking acting lessons and had picked up a Grub Tubz flyer from Minnie. Soon after, Emersyn finds Hoffman unconscious in the alley behind the Deco Mirage with a head wound like Freddie’s.
At Minnie’s gallery art show, Emersyn notices the gold leaf in Minnie’s paintings matches the gold leaf found on Freddie’s body. Emersyn, Wyatt, Jemma, and Theo confront Minnie.
Minnie’s partner, Yolanda Antonopoulos, intervenes and angrily confesses to the murder. She says she killed Freddie because he desecrated her grandfather’s 1920s speakeasy by stealing the trophy and the liquor.
Later, at the after-party, Emersyn speaks with a distraught Minnie and realizes Yolanda’s confession is false. Yolanda confessed only because she believed Minnie was guilty.
Emersyn connects the remaining clues and identifies the real killer: Bodie, the charming bartender. As a bartender, Bodie understood the value of the speakeasy’s vintage liquor.
He used gold leaf in his work, overheard Freddie harassing Emersyn, and fabricated an alibi with an assistant manager who had a crush on him. Before Emersyn can call the police, Bodie corners her and drags her toward the roof.
Wyatt and Detective Callahan arrive in time to tackle Bodie and save her. Bodie is charged with murder, attempted murder, and assault.
Yolanda, Mr. Nagy, and Emersyn are cleared of all charges. Emersyn’s mother agrees to let Emersyn keep guardianship of Livy, and Theo reveals that a real, high-paying client has contacted Wyatt Investigations.
Emersyn and Wyatt officially partner up as private detectives.
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Books Like Definitely Maybe Not a Detective
- Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano — A stressed single mother stumbles into a chaotic world of crime and amateur sleuthing, with sharp humor, a loyal female sidekick, and a romantic subplot.
- Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala — A young woman investigates a local murder to clear her family’s name, aided by quirky community elders and friends.
- The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman — A cozy mystery with witty dialogue and an eccentric group of senior citizens who actively work a local murder case.
- Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto — Romantic comedy beats paired with chaotic crime-solving, strong female bonds, and over-the-top family dynamics.
- Wine and Punishment by Sarah Fox — Another cozy mystery from Fox, from her Literary Pub Mysteries series, with charming settings, quirky suspects, and romantic sparks.
Book Details at a Glance
- Genre & Subgenre: Cozy Mystery / Romantic Comedy Mystery
- Core Narrative Tropes: Fake agency and accidental sleuth; grumpy-and-sunshine pairing; eccentric senior squad; hidden speakeasy treasure hunt; whodunit
- Tone & Atmosphere: Humorous, witty, cozy, lighthearted, romantic, and slightly chaotic
- Primary Conflict: Emersyn must catch Freddie Hanover’s real killer to clear her neighbor and herself, while managing financial hardship, raising her niece, and sorting out her feelings for Wyatt
- Pacing Style: Fast-paced and episodic, built on comedic misadventures, lock-picking, pawnshop confrontations, and stakeouts
- ISBN: 978-0593984260 (ISBN-10: 0593984250)
- Pages: 352
- Book Structure: 57 chapters, plus a dedication, acknowledgments, and an about-the-author section
- Publisher: Bantam (January 6, 2026)
- Series: Book 1 of 2, The Wyatt Investigations Mysteries
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