Published By: Orion
Pages: 336
Released On: 04/07/2024
When Hannah Wilson first hears about the dead women in the news, her interest in the murder case is healthy. Enough. Like the other women trawling the true crime forums, she’s convinced that she could be the one to put the pieces of the puzzle together online. Solve the murders. Somehow. Maybe solving the case would make her feel okay about getting fired. Maybe it would make her sort-of-boyfriend love her. Maybe.
And then handsome lawyer William Thompson is arrested. And Hannah is so full of female rage about everything he’s done and everything she’s going through, that she decides to write him a series of angry letters. She just doesn’t count on him writing back…
Her new pen pal feels like an exciting adventure at first. But when William is released, when she finds herself engaged to him and living in his home, she must wonder if her obsession has gone too far. Because how blissfully happy can you really be if you’re worried you might be your fiancé’s next victim? And what if William’s innocent – just an ordinary man who loves her? Will she still want him if he is?
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Orion for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I’ve read so many thrillers over the years, and many that are influenced by the protagonists’ love of crime podcasts, shows, forums etc. and so I thought this would be like that. And it is like that to a certain extent, but only at the basic level. The plot itself is unlike any I’ve read before. And it must be difficult finding a topic that’s new amongst all the other murder mystery, serial killer thriller crime novels about, but Tasha has managed that. It’s got everything you expect but it’s different enough to stand out.
I mean, I’m not promoting the falling in love with a suspected serial killer, there’s a whole lot of issues there. But it’s true that there are many people – men and women – who are attracted to that kind of danger, that extreme bad boy, and so it was refreshing to read a book from that viewpoint.
A large quantity of the book, at least the first 2/3, is written in the format of these letters which Hannah and William send each other. Which I thought was a good way of writing it, as it allowed us to get to know the two of them seamlessly without going back and forth in flashbacks and whatnot.
It is mostly set in the time of the murders and immediate aftermath, but there are a few bits from an undisclosed time involving undisclosed people, which ramps up the excitement – is it before, during, or after, or is it completely unrelated?
This was another book that went against my “no reading the kindle in bed” rule. To be honest, it’s becoming less of a rule and more of a suggestion nowadays, but that’s what happens when people keep writing great books.
Hannah is a sad character. She’s lonely, naïve, obsessive, and more than a little odd. And yet she is vulnerable and alone, and for me, had a good heart. She had been so deprived of long-term affection and friendship that she’d begun to rely heavily on intense but short-lived love, which in turn made her more obsessive and more alone, so no wonder she grabs any chance of affection, even if it’s from the wrong kind of people.
I love that it makes you think about your own relationship with your family and friends. Whether you truly know if someone is capable of such a heinous crime or not. How you want to trust someone, believe someone, even if all the evidence points otherwise.
I loved Tasha’s way of depicting the crime and trial and aftermath, it’s like you’re part of the jury, desperately trying to come to a decision. You think he can’t possibly be innocent, but then she throws a curve ball and you think he can’t possibly be guilty. And back and forth it goes. I was never certain on how it would end.
I did forget at times I was reading a book, and kept going to ask people “did you hear about that serial killer”, like he was real, which is always a good sign of a book if it stays with me. It’s a promising debut for a new exciting writer.
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