A review by ridgewaygirl
Kill You Twice by Chelsea Cain

4.0

I've enjoyed the Chelsea Cain series about serial killer Gretchen Lowell and the detective in charge of catching her and who was tortured by her, Archie Sheridan, so far. Usually, I dislike books where the serial killer comes across as a super-human, Hannibal Lechter-type creature (ordinary serial killers are fine, of course), but Cain takes that tired set-up and makes it work. For one thing, she writes with a lightly humorous touch that keeps the inevitable angst and suffering from drowning the story. Her characters, even the powerful serial killer, are so well described, as to make each one familiar. And she does so with that old chestnut of showing, not telling, so the physical appearances are less important than the personalities and those personalities are never one note, even for the secondary and tertiary characters. But the series is not at all character driven. No, each book is an adrenaline rushed race to the finish line, packed with action that all shouldn't work but somehow does. I mean, none of it should work. Cain stretches believability with unlikely escapes and odd murder methods, but she's able to drag the reader along with no apparent effort on her part.

The fifth book in the series opens with a gruesome murder and from the first chapter leaves very little breathing room. Gretchen wants to talk to Archie about the new series of murders, but he's trying for mental health and is staying well away. So Gretchen gets Susan, a now unemployed journalist, to visit her instead, suggesting that she knows who the murderer is and providing clues and red herrings to string Archie and his task force along. It was an altogether satisfying read, although it must be noted that Cain doesn't pull any punches and her books are not for the squeamish.