Goodreads

Release date: June 25, 2024

Publisher: Berkley

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Synopsis:

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…

Review:

This one won’t be for everyone, but damn I really liked it. I’ve always been fascinated by those women who write letters to convicted criminals so the premise sounded so interesting to me. What interests me the most is what type of person could actually fall in love with a killer? Getting to know Hannah in this book provided some insight into here and while I could never claim to understand her motivations, this did provide a unique look into exactly how it could happen. She’s not relatable, and she’s not all that likable either but I could not stop reading about. She’s an unhinged train wreck and I couldn’t wait to see what she would do next. This has three parts and the middle section did drag a little for me but part three truly sucked me back in. Things really start to go off the rails and while parts of the conclusion were a little predictable, I was pretty satisfied by how it all ended. Try this if you want something different, or something character driven or even if you’re like me and want to know what kind of women writes love letters to a man facing a murder trial.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.