A review by crystalisreading
All The Pretty Girls by J.T. Ellison

2.0

I assume this is one of the author's early works. My introduction to her was through her first book featuring Sam, obviously written much later, and in my mind, more enjoyable. I struggled to get through this book, despite an unhealthy enjoyment of serial killer murder mysteries. Perhaps that was partly because this book was also about a serial rapist, police internal issues, relationship issues, FBI burnout, news reporting, Nashville high society, and anything else the author could think of to jam in. Not only did we have chapters from Taylor's perspective, but seemingly every other character too, including multiple victims, the killer, and several other people in the story. I lost all interest in Taylor after she did something, based on the idea that something was going to happen, that, based on her assumption at that moment, I found unforgivable. Whether that was really the truth or not, she acted on it, and I lost a lot of respect for her as a person. Same with punching a criminal already in custody and restrained, and questioning a suspect after he'd already asked for a lawyer multiple times. I'm tired of the glorification of police abuse in American culture.
So, overall, not a win for me. I didn't hate it. I figured out who the killer was about halfway through the book(it wasn't very subtle.), which always makes me feel smart. there were even a few parts that kept me wanting to turn the pages. For the most part, though, the book failed to truly engage me, and leaves me with no interest in following up with these characters in further novels. I'll stick with Sam's series, instead.