Scan barcode
A review by kellyvandamme
The Killer in Me by Olivia Kiernan
5.0
More than a little shamefaced I admit that this was my first Olivia Kiernan read… She and her first novel in the Frankie Sheehan series, Too Close To Breathe, were somewhere on my radar, but somehow I never got around to actually reading it. Well let me tell you, it is very high on my TBR list now! So you needn’t worry if you haven’t read book 1 in the series, I didn’t feel like I missed anything in terms of Frankie’s past or anything, but since chances are that you, like me, will want to read Too Close To Breathe when you’ve read The Killer In Me, you might as well read them in the correct order! So go ahead and treat yourself to an atmospheric thriller or two!!
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Frankie is an awesome main character. She’s a profiler, a kick-ass detective, a woman who is passionate about her job.
The story kicks off with a gruesome dual murder that Frankie and her team need to solve, and in the meantime Frankie is asked by her sister-in-law to look into a murder case from 17 years ago. While the present-day case is an interesting one, it was the old case that absolutely fascinated me. It made me think of the Netflix documentary Making a Murderer, because I felt the same things reading about Seán Hennessey as I did when watching the Steven Avery / Brendan Dassey case in Making a Murderer: what is the truth, will we ever know if he did do it, was an innocent teenager sent to prison for crimes he didn’t commit? Because 17 years ago, Seán was convicted for murdering his parents and for causing grievous bodily harm to his little sister. And now he’s out and working on a documentary that’s supposed to prove his innocence. Cue Frankie, who doesn’t know what to believe. Though loyal to her colleagues, she has an innate sense of justice and I felt so much admiration for her drive to get to the bottom of what happened that day 17 years ago, while also trying to figure out who’s responsible for all the current murder and mayhem.
This was such an atmospheric read that drew me in right from the start and didn’t let me go until the final page. I feel that the Irish novels that I’ve read have this in common: they are often a bit dark, a bit raw, and this one was no different. I got some of the same vibes I tend to get from Tana French, but delivered in another style, one that (dare I say it) suits me better. A very entertaining read, not all that twisty, but rather steadily building up to a finale that came as quite a shock! Kudos to whomever figures it out, ’cause this humble blogger sure didn’t!
Highly recommended.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Frankie is an awesome main character. She’s a profiler, a kick-ass detective, a woman who is passionate about her job.
The story kicks off with a gruesome dual murder that Frankie and her team need to solve, and in the meantime Frankie is asked by her sister-in-law to look into a murder case from 17 years ago. While the present-day case is an interesting one, it was the old case that absolutely fascinated me. It made me think of the Netflix documentary Making a Murderer, because I felt the same things reading about Seán Hennessey as I did when watching the Steven Avery / Brendan Dassey case in Making a Murderer: what is the truth, will we ever know if he did do it, was an innocent teenager sent to prison for crimes he didn’t commit? Because 17 years ago, Seán was convicted for murdering his parents and for causing grievous bodily harm to his little sister. And now he’s out and working on a documentary that’s supposed to prove his innocence. Cue Frankie, who doesn’t know what to believe. Though loyal to her colleagues, she has an innate sense of justice and I felt so much admiration for her drive to get to the bottom of what happened that day 17 years ago, while also trying to figure out who’s responsible for all the current murder and mayhem.
This was such an atmospheric read that drew me in right from the start and didn’t let me go until the final page. I feel that the Irish novels that I’ve read have this in common: they are often a bit dark, a bit raw, and this one was no different. I got some of the same vibes I tend to get from Tana French, but delivered in another style, one that (dare I say it) suits me better. A very entertaining read, not all that twisty, but rather steadily building up to a finale that came as quite a shock! Kudos to whomever figures it out, ’cause this humble blogger sure didn’t!
Highly recommended.