Book Review — Ladykiller by Katherine Wood

Genre: Psychological Thriller,
Published by: Bantam, Random House Publishing
Publish date: July 9, 2024
Number of pages: 368 pages
Author’s website: https://www.katherinewoodauthor.com/
Support local! Buy the book on BookShop!

Everyone has a story. But not everyone’s story is true.

When a young woman vanishes from her remote Greek island estate, her best friend races to find her, using clues found in the explosive manuscript she left behind.

Gia and Abby have been friends since childhood, forever bonded by the tragedy that unfolded in Greece when they were eighteen. Now thirty, heiress Gia is back in Greece with her shiny new husband, entertaining glamorous guests with champagne under the hot Mediterranean sun, while bookish Abby is working fourteen-hour days as an attorney. When Gia invites Abby on an all-expenses-paid trip to Sweden to celebrate her birthday, Abby’s thrilled to reconnect.

But on the day of her flight, Abby receives an ominous email that threatens to unearth the skeletons of her past, and when she and Gia’s brother, Benny, arrive in Sweden, Gia isn’t there. Worried, Abby and Benny fly to Greece, where they find Gia’s beachfront estate eerily deserted, the sole clue to her whereabouts the manuscript she penned, detailing the events leading up to her disappearance. Gia’s narrative reveals the dark truth about her provocative new marriage and the dirty secrets of their seductive guests, a story almost too scandalous to be believed. But the pages end abruptly, leaving more questions than answers.

How much of Gia’s story is true? Where is she now? And will Abby find her before it’s too late?

Rating: 4/5

In this novel we meet, Abby who grew up with and is in gratitude of her friend Gia’s family who her mom worked for as a chef. Due to this upbringing, Abby, Gia, and Gia’s younger brother Benny grew up together including vacationing in Greece. Years ago when Abby and Gia were young adults, they suffered a tragedy that resulted in the death of a young man. Years later, the three are getting back together. What unfolds is a story from two viewpoints. Abby’s as she prepares to see Gia again and has guilt over what transpired years ago and Gia’s as she currently experiences issues with her husband told through her new book’s manuscript.

What sucked me in the most about this novel was the setting– the majority of this novel is told in flashbacks as we read Gia’s manuscript describing her marriage at her house in Greece and the new couple they are hanging out with. Gia leads a salacious life that is intriguing to read. But is she telling the truth or a version of it? There are many gasp-worthy moments and there are so many shady characters that it made this read a fun mystery because I was suspicious of everyone. This book has a lot: an unreliable narrator, murder, kidnapping, best friend’s brother romance, and surprising commentary on privilege.

A great summer thriller!

Have you read this book? What are your thoughts? I’d love to know!