Girl, 11

 

Author: Amy Suiter Clarke

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 

Year: 2021

A podcaster investigates a cold case of a notorious serial killer who confounded authorities for decades. 

The latest season of Elle’s podcast investigates the The Countdown Killer (TCK). Two decades before, he abducted & murdered girls according to a strict pattern. But he suddenly stopped killing & was never caught. When a listener with a tip about the case is murdered right before Elle can interview him, it begins a chain of events that pulls Elle deep into the investigation and into danger. 

This is a solid debut thriller from Amy Suiter Clarke. I thought incorporating Elle’s podcast worked really well in keeping the plot moving. The book’s timeline does move from present to past to give the backstory of how TCK came to be. TCK kidnapped & killed in a series-three girls over the course of seven days. Each murdered girl was a year younger than the previous victim. The killer’s ritual was so elaborate & rigid that I kept wondering how he found & stalked his age appropriate victims in pre-Internet/pre-social media days. I sometimes have a problem with the super smart, all knowing serial killer troupe. Elle’s isn’t the most likeable main character. I thought she was too selfish & her too demanding know it all attitude, especially when she was dealing with the police, was annoying. Maybe if her motivation for solving the case was revealed earlier, I might have been more sympathetic. The twists are obvious and the ending was built on a series of coincidences and was predictable. This was an okay read for me. I liked the premise but I think the execution of the story could have be better. This could be a good choice for readers who enjoy true crime podcasts and anyone who likes stories featuring serial killers. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Yesterday was a good news/bad news day. The good news was that I found flooring for your remodeling project. Bad news is my mom’s facility is on Covid lockdown for two weeks. Hoping it opens & we can take her home for Thanksgiving. So, tell me some good news you have. Big news or small doesn’t matter- just something good. 

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