"The diary Killer, I think, and shudder. Who the hell are you, and why are you doing this?"
"But how on earth can I be expected not to worry, when I can see that, despite their outwardly calm exteriors and reassuring words, even the police are more on edge every day?"]
Mary Ellis is in no hurry to open one of her Christmas gifts. After all, a blank diary isn't the most inspiring of presenst, unless you asked for it specifically. Intent on giving it away to the charity shop, she decides to look through the diary in case there's a personal note from the person who gifted it to her.
What she doesn't expect is the sinister entries for four days, with murder annoucements of four people.
1 January, Murder Lisa, Oxford
1 February, Murder Jane, Birmingham
1 March, Murder David, Cardiff
1 April, Murder Mary, Chelthenham
Is the fourth victim supposed to be her? Is this someone's idea of a sick joke? The alarming message might be true, as a woman named Lisa was murdered in Oxford on 1 January.
Mary is a crime journalist, who's worked hard over the past ten years and has built a reputation for getting to the heart of a story.
Mary runs to the police with the diary. They do take her seriously, but with so little information on the possible murder victims, there is not much to be done, except wait...
Mary is the daughter of "the famous American writer Gregor Ellis, who has died in a massive house fire in the Cotswolds, perishing along with his teenage daughter's best friend". She managed to escape, but is bearing scars on her face and arm.
"I shiver again, the memories coming back with vengeance now: the shouts in the dark, shrill with terror; my panic, my heart thumping, my lungs burning, my hair on fire..."
Mary's childhood was a rootless, lonely one. The father was never been able to settle anywhere after the death of his wife, dragging Mary around the world. He was a cold, angry man.
All this backstory is known to the police team. They trust her enough to share their investigation and provide her with information on the victims from The Murder List. It is clear that the killer sent Mary the diary for a reason, because of her job and because he wants the notoriety. But as she is on the list, she must have a proper connection with the other victims.
The police are trying to establish any possible links between the victims in order to prevent the next murder(s).
"I'm certain that there has to be a link between our victims. If we can find that, we can find the why. Why they were killed. And if we find the why, we might just find the who."
The pool of suspects is wide, Mary doesn't trust her colleagues, and even her best friend Pete with whom she shares her house, is not off the hook. Pete is supportive, but doesn't like to be questioned about his whereabouts.
"We're the very best of friends, but it's always been a purely platonic relationship, and we're both really happy with that".
As each murder is committed, Mary is getting more anxious. Is it her turn next?
If Mary and the police team don't uncover the truth in time, the murderer might tick off the last box in their list successfully.
It's hard to relate to Mary. As for her love interest, he is certainly not a wonderful chap she portrays him to be. He has a girlfriend, and still has sex with his bestie. He cannot break up with his girlfriend because she is too fragile and vulnerable, and won't take it well. Now that's a lousy excuse, if you see one.
The premise of the story is solid, and the plotline with the twists and turns and red herrings aplenty is developing satisfactorily, until the last chapters.
The killer's identity didn't quite work for me, once it was revealed. Their reasoning to commit a series of murders is strenuous and hard to believe.
As for the last chapter, that has thrown away any flicker of sympathy to the main character that I might have had.
The Murder List is an engrossing and intriguing story of secrets, lies and misunderstandings, tense and twisty.
The plotting is enthralling, the villain is nasty, and the pace and suspense are handled expertly.
This post is part of the blog tour for The Murder List.
Many thanks to Jackie Kabler and Rachel's Random Resources for my e-copy of the book!
Purchase Link
UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Murder-List-incredible-psychological-bestselling-ebook/dp/B09KZ9FR2T
US - https://www.amazon.com/Murder-List-incredible-psychological-bestselling-ebook/dp/B09KZ9FR2T
Author Bio – Jackie Kabler is an internationally bestselling author of psychological thrillers including The Perfect Couple, Am I Guilty? and The Happy Family. She worked as a newspaper reporter and then in television news for twenty years, including nearly a decade on GMTV. She later appeared on BBC and ITV news, presented a property show for Sky, hosted sports shows on Setanta Sports News and worked as a media trainer for the Armed Forces. She now combines her crime writing with her job as a presenter on shopping channel QVC. Jackie lives in Gloucestershire with her husband.
Social Media Links –
Twitter @jackiekabler
Instagram @officialjackiekabler
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