April 15, 2024
Poet Coryell’s impressive mystery debut chronicles a young woman’s budding obsession with an accused killer. After Hannah’s quest for a promotion at her Minneapolis nonprofit job stalls and her boyfriend ghosts her, she finds solace and kinship in an online true crime forum focused on identifying the culprit who murdered four women near Atlanta. When handsome young lawyer William Thompson is arrested and charged with the crimes, Hannah begins writing angry letters to him while he awaits trial behind bars. When William unexpectedly responds, their communication turns flirtatious. Before long, Hannah agrees to be his girlfriend, and becomes so consumed by their exchanges that she’s fired from her job. She decides to go to Atlanta to watch William’s trial, bonding with fellow “serial killer groupies” in the process. When another body is found during the trial in the same ravine where the other women were discovered, William is swiftly acquitted, and Hannah moves in with him, gradually growing accustomed to his moneyed lifestyle. All the while, however, she’s nagged by doubts about her new beau’s acquittal, and begins looking for incriminating clues. Coryell expertly renders her protagonist’s uneasy perch between love and suspicion, keeping readers as in the dark as Hannah is about William’s true nature until the very end. This is un-put-downable. Agent: Katie Greenstreet, Paper Literary.
September 13, 2024
When William Thompson, a handsome lawyer in Georgia, is accused of being a serial killer, Hannah goes from casual true crime consumer to obsessed. Avoiding her failing professional and personal life, she finds a sense of belonging in the true crime community. As her infatuation grows, Hannah begins writing letters to William, letters that he actually replies to. Believing they have a deep connection, Hannah leaves her life behind and travels to William's trial as a macabre groupie, mingling with the victims' families and friends. When he is acquitted, though, she's unable to stop searching for evidence of his guilt, and Hannah must decide if she was attracted to the man or just aroused by the possibility that he was a murderer. Coryell makes a delightfully disturbing debut with this grimly humorous psychological suspense. Narrator Andi Arndt gives an expressive performance of Hannah's deeply flawed first-person perspective. The combination of comedy and cliffhangers yields a compelling experience that will keep listeners rapt. VERDICT This audio will appeal to listeners seeking an intricate, unsettling psychological thriller about serial killers and the women who love them. Recommended for fans of Karen E. Olson and Ana Reyes.--Lauren Hackert
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