- Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller
- Published by: Berkley Books
- Publish date: June 25, 2024
- Number of pages: 320 pages
- Author’s website: https://www.tashacoryell.com/
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An aimless young woman starts writing to an accused serial killer while he awaits trial and then, once he’s acquitted, decides to move in with him and take the investigation into her own hands in this dark and irresistibly compelling debut thriller.
Recently ghosted and sick of watching her friends fade into the suburbs, thirty-something Hannah finds community in a true-crime forum that’s on a mission to solve the murders of four women in Atlanta. After William, a handsome lawyer, is arrested for the killings, Hannah begins writing him letters. It’s the perfect outlet for her pent-up frustration and rage. The exercise empowers her, and even feels healthy at first.
Until William writes back.
Hannah’s interest in the case goes from curiosity to obsession, leaving space for nothing else as her life implodes around her. After she loses her job, she heads to Georgia to attend the trial and befriends other true-crime junkies like herself. When a fifth woman is discovered murdered, the jury has no choice but to find William not guilty, and Hannah is the first person he calls upon his release. The two of them quickly fall into a routine of domestic bliss.
Well, as blissful as one can feel while secretly investigating their partner for serial murder…
Rating: 5/5
I’m an outlier–most of the reviews I’ve read so far didn’t really like this book and were annoyed by the characters. I can’t help it, I love a messy MC with a true crime-related plot.
I’m fascinated by people who crush on murderers. I try to sympathize with them the same way I do with cult members. What headspace are they in that causes them to desire a sense of belonging and acceptance that the person/cult gives them so much so that they are able to ignore the glaring red flags?
Tasha Coryell takes this idea and channels it into Hannah, a young woman who becomes obsessed with a case and consequentially the accused murderer. I read this like a parody. It’s absurd but so engaging as she writes letters and falls into a void of obsession. But then the accused murderer is acquitted and released… did he kill those women and wrongly get released and if he didn’t do it, who did?
I see what many of the Goodreads reviews are saying– Hannah is far from likable and she’s self-destructive. She makes choices that seem unrealistic yet we know from accounts of people in the prison that people like her do exist. The other characters we encounter aren’t much better. I also agree with reviews that said figuring out the mystery was easy, but I really didn’t go into this as a mystery that needed to be solved and focused more on the development of the character. Spoiler: the character remains unlikeable and self-destructive. I bumped this up from a 4-star to a 5-star read because I couldn’t put this book down. I finished it over two days but less than 24 hours.
Please enjoy some of the sections I highlighted and my Kindle notes. Please be aware that this is from an uncorrected proof and some of the wording may have changed with the published copy.
Have you read this book? What are your thoughts? I’d love to know!
I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book from Netgalley and Berkley Books. This has not impacted my rating and this review is voluntary.
Musings by Michelle 