Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Liar's Girl by Catherine Ryan Howard

9 reviews

brandie_abbie19's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

nessreadsalot's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Will is 10 years into his life sentence for his crimes as "The Canal Killer" when Gardaí suspect that a young girl found in the canal is the work of a copycat.
Alison has spent 10 years building a life for herself in the Netherlands and trying desperately to forget about the life she left behind when she receives a request to return home to help with the investigation.

Catherine Ryan Howard did an excellent job with this psychological thriller. Told from different points of view over dual timelines everyone's a suspect as the story unfolds. 
The tension builds and builds throughout the book making it unputdownable as you near the end and it all starts to fall into place. 
I really enjoyed this book, it ticked all the boxes for me! 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jessicadoom's review against another edition

Go to review page

This book was this month's book club pick. I cannot get into it - I seem to be in one of those moods. But I don't want to slog through a slow-paced book I'm not enjoying. So...guess I'll just quit the book club?
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ghesscaple's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

alyssatuininga's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

hesticht's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kaylamoran's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is my third book by Catherine Ryan Howard.  I want to read them all.

One thing she's incredible at is plotting her stories in such a way that the reader knows things the characters don't.  Even when that means sometimes you've solved the case before the book is finished, it just adds to the suspense because you know something bad is about to happen but no one else knows.  She's also very good at writing the POV of very twisted people.

And yet there's still always a reveal in the last chapter, one last thing that you didn't know.

If you like mystery or thriller novels, you have to pick one of her books up.  I think she's behind only Stuart Turton as my favourite in the genre.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 Ten years ago Allison’s then boyfriend Will was convicted of murdering five young women (including her best friend Liz), drowning them in the Grand Canal. He is still incarcerated when another young woman’s body is found in the canal. Will won’t talk to the police; he’ll only talk to Allison. Having Allison as the main character worked really well. So much interesting food for thought about how you’d feel if your boyfriend was a murderer; but also how you’d feel if he’d possibly been wrongly convicted. I liked that we heard directly from Will, allowing us to decide whether or not he was a reliable narrator. Plenty of twists, some of which I saw coming, and tension. This story highlighted issues around the potential for false guilty pleas. The actions of some of the Garda had me rolling my eyes. I loved the note of moral ambiguity on which this story ended.
 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

b_lownds127's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
More...