As Psychological thrillers are by far my favourite genre I really hoped that The Murder List would be right up there with my favourites. However it far far outstripped a lot of them! What an absolute corker of a book. This is one that really gets your grey matter working into overdrive. A proper edge of your seat page turner. I know I know those old clichés, said so many times in reviews but honestly they just sum up this beautifully crafted thriller to a tea.

There are a few red herrings thrown in to this uncommon take on police procedure. A case that sounds utterly impossible for them to crack. Only having the first name only to go by this really is a challenging case for the police. The case is very cleverly structured and the characters are certainly worth investing your reading time too. Your thought processes will go haywire trying to keep up with the twists and turns. It is totally compelling and you will find it hard (well I did) to put this one down. I loved it and I will be looking out for the Jackie Kabler, how have I not read her before? Totally engrossing and superbly written.

This is my first book by the author and I am definitely going to pick up more.
The Murder List is an edge of the seat psychological thriller that had me guessing till the end.
When Mary receives the diary as a Christmas present and eventually comes across the victim names and places, things get twisty and Mary ends up a suspect. I felt the pace was good but not completely engrossing. The police investigation was like looking for a needle in a haystack amd I shared their frustration with dead ends. However, the ending was definitely a surprise.
Pick it up if you are looking for an edgy thriller to read.

Mary receives a diary in a secret Santa at work and its one of those presents that you kind of forget about, such is the case with Mary, it isn't until the new year when she is having a clear out that she opens the diary and discovers its not empty -in fact the first of each month has something written, 1st January MURDER LISA, OXFORD 1st February MURDER JANE, BIRMINGHAM 1st March MURDER DAVID, CARDIFF 1st April MURDER MARY, CHELTENHAM  - She initially thinks its some kind of sick joke until she hears on the news of a woman named Lisa who was found murdered. One down three to go and by all accounts Mary is last on the list. She dwells on what to to do for a days and after talking it over with her roommate she decides to finally go to the police.

This was one of those crime books that I couldn't wait to see how the police worked this kind of case. A person only known by their first name and from such high population cities would make the task of protecting said people rather like looking for a needle in a haystack! We only know that Mary is last so the Cheltenham police can at least protect her, but will that come at the expense of the others? How on earth can the police prevent the murders from happening? Short answer is they can't and as the months go by and April draws every closer, Mary does her own investigation into the people before her looking for a connection but there just doesn't seem to be one making it all the more harder to narrow down a suspect.

There were an few red herrings as to who the author wanted us to believe was the suspect and when it was finally revealed I was actually in shock - how did I not see that coming!? well done Ms Kabler, well done!

4 stars #blogtour

Freelance Crime writer Mary Ellis receives a diary although she has no idea who sent it to her. Mid January she flicked through it she saw that it was empty apart from four entries at the beginning of each month. They each say Murder a Christian name & a place. She reports this to the police & discovers that the first entry is correct. This leads to the police departments in each area working together to try & stop the next one on the list. A logistical nightmare as the names are quite common ones & Mary gets a note saying she is the Mary of the last entry!

This was an unusual take on a police procedural. As the story goes on we learn more about Mary, who is a lady with an interesting back story! I was totally captivated by this book. It was clever & unusual & right to the very end revelations were thrown at the reader. I have never read anything by this author before, but I will be looking out for her now. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this terrific book.

This is a great premise for thriller!

Mary Ellis receives a diary for a Christmas present. Assuming it is from a client, she doesn’t even check it until she is about to donate it to a charity. Then she notices that murders have been added.

The first has already taken place, and the second is imminent. Mary takes the diary to the police. They have only a couple of months to stop the killer before Mary herself is the target.

This is a very twisty investigation that will keep you guessing. The murders don’t at first seem to have any connection and even then the only links the police can find between the victims are tenuous.

Mary, herself a crime writer, starts her own investigation, hoping to uncover some clues. Buy is she unwittingly putting herself closer to the danger.

There are so many twisty red herrings to keep you guessing. Mary’s paranoia means that she is becoming suspicious of every one around her. I though I had sussed it but was proven completely wrong.

This is cracking read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Thanks to HarperCollins One More Chapter for this one!
This was fantastic! A real page turner, and full of twists to keep me guessing!
The Murder List has echoes of The Hit List by Holly Seddon, which has a very similar premise, but in my opinion, this one was better!
I feel that the short chapters with the timeline on each, coupled with the different POVs, really helped keep the reader engaged throughout.
There were plenty of clues, and I suspected everyone! My favourite type of thriller!
Kabler does a superb job of saying every thought the reader might have, and every clue dropped is analysed thoroughly.
And that ending too! Even as it happened, I didn't know who to trust!
Loved it.

Also shared to my Facebook page Curling up with a coffee and a kindle

👏BOOK REVIEW👏
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

“It says, in block capitals:
READ ME”

I’m delighted to take part in the book tour for THE MURDER LIST! Thank you to Rachels Random Resources for the invite 💕

An absolutely incredible thriller and my first 5-star read in a while! It hooked me from the first page. A must-read if you enjoy who-done-it thrillers!

The plot is original, fresh, and extremely enjoyable. And the best part is how unpredictable it is. I thought I’d carefully examined the suspects and narrowed down the killer. NOPE…what a shock.

Mary Ellis is a freelance crime writer. A likable character with a traumatic past. Her current life is simple and happy until she receives a diary for Christmas. She glances at the planner quickly, not intending to keep it. But quickly changes her mind when she notices that it includes a name and location at the beginning of each month through April. And the name in April is Mary. When she realizes the initial name is someone who was recently murdered, she takes it to the police.

Finding a new author with excellent writing skills is such a treat! My TBR list will be growing.

Thanks to Jackie Kabler, HarperCollins One More Chapter, and Rachels Random Resources for proving this incredible thriller through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

#themurderlist #jackiekabler #harpercollins #onemorechapter #netgalley #rachelsrandomresources #justfinishedreading #bookreview #inexchangeforreview #thrillerbookaddict #bookaholic #booknerd #lovebooks #compulsivereader #fortheloveofreading #ilovereading #coloradobookstagrammer #coloradoreader #readingintherockies #lovebooks #bookishlife #booksbooksandmorebooks #readabook #bookstagrammer

I had never read a book by Jackie Kabler before, but I was asked if I would like to review it by the publisher, One More Chapter, I had heard about it on one of their blogger vents, and it sounded fantastic! I was then invited to their read-along event last week, which I loved but got a little behind; life has a way of getting in the way at times!

The Murder List has a fantastic premise. We begin by meeting Mary in Cheltenham. She is a crime journalist and has received a random diary from someone just before Christmas. She isn't very interested in it as she prefers another format. However, while tidying up just after the new year, she decides to check if it has a note with who it was from before taking it to the charity shop and finds four entries. One for the first day of the first four months. Each note names a person's forename and the city they live in with a note saying to murder them. When she checks the papers, she sees that the note to Murder Lisa in Oxford on January 1st has already happened.

We follow as Mary takes the diary to the police, and they share their investigations into the links between each of the coming victims and try to prevent them. This is an excellent idea for a story, and I enjoyed following the investigation.

Mary was obviously shocked when she realised what was in the diary, especially that it included her on the murder list. I would be petrified but probably also think it was a friend playing a joke on me. Mary doesn't appear to have a lot of friends though, and it is a very sick joke. Nevertheless, I think I would be with her and take the diary t the police just in case something else does come real, and the co-incidence of the first murder is just that.

I really enjoyed seeing the story from the perspective of Mary and the police investigation, it enhanced the story, and you could see the struggles on both sides. For example, sometimes Jess, the Family Liaison Officer (FLO) working with Mary, could b a little cold and would tell her not to worry. She was obviously trying to reassure her, but I think it would have panicked me even more, as she seemed to brush it all off.

I liked the characters in the murder list and enjoyed learning more about them. Pete seems a bit shady and doesn't seem to be a very good friend to Mary. He appears to be using her for a cheap place to live rather than being a proper best friend. He would promise to stay with her overnight on each of the murder dates, so she had some support, but every time would disappear with his girlfriend, which was really annoying. When their relationship changed, I wondered if this was part of his manipulation and began to consider him more and more as a suspect. He was definitely an odd character and friend.

The twist in the middle of the book was fantastic. I had already guessed what it would be, but it was great to see that things weren't all as expected, and I felt that it changed the pace of the book a little and moved it along well when it could have become a little stale with no results on the investigation.

Taking part in my first read-along was a great experience. I didn't do all of the challenges due to lack of time, but it gave a slightly different reading experience with everyone sharing bits of information and their thoughts as we went along. Although, writing my prediction on day two (after chapter 19) was excellent. I usually predict what's going to happen but never write it down, so when it does happen, I don't always remember when I made the prediction or how close I was. I might even start doing that more often!

The big twist at the end, I didn't see coming at all, which makes a great book!

This was a twisty thriller. I was hooked right from the start with this one.

There were lots of different characters and it made it really difficult knowing who you could trust.

I liked Mary and I felt for her, I’d be completely terrified in her position!

As always I loved the multiple POV’s. It really helps the story flow and I enjoy reading from other characters perspectives.

This was my first read by Jackie Kabler and it won’t be my last.

If you like a tense, fast paced thriller I recommend giving this a try.

Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources for having me on the tour and for my gifted ebook.

Wow. What a rollercoaster of a read. So many twists and turns to try and uncover. This is definitely a story to get involved in - each character has such a story to tell and a huge part to play in the overall tale. Such a clever piece of writing, it keeps you guessing til the very end. Mary is a brilliant main character - you feel her anguish as the date gets closer. What would you do if you received The Murder List?

When Mary receives a blank diary as a present, she thinks nothing of it. Until she opens the diary, and sees it’s not blank after all…
1st January MURDER LISA, OXFORD
1st February MURDER JANE, BIRMINGHAM
1st March MURDER DAVID, CARDIFF
1st April MURDER MARY, CHELTENHAM
Is this some kind of sick joke? But…it’s the end of January now. And a woman named Lisa was murdered in Oxford on 1st January.
Does that mean there really is a killer out there, planning to commit a new murder on the first of each month? And is the Mary due to be killed on 1st April her?
The clock is ticking for Mary to uncover the truth, before she becomes the next victim on the killer’s list…

This is a brilliant read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and found myself second guessing every thought I had continuously.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. This is my own honest voluntary review.

This thriller will certainly keep you on the edge of your seat and takes you on a winding path through some rather dark places. There are some genuine surprises in store and right at the very end yet another shocking twist. You feel Mary's tension throughout in this story which is full of characters who you are not sure about- whose word can be trusted?

The structure of the story is dictated by the list which is found in a diary which was given to Mary, anonymously. There is a relentless feel to the plot as time ticks on and deaths start to pile up. There are several police investigations to follow and several interesting characters who you look at through Mary's suspicious eyes. Well paced and snappy, you fear for the outcome.

In short: a clever crime thriller full of twists and turns
Thanks to the author for a copy of the book

The Murder List by Jackie Kabler is a gripping psychological thriller that had me flipping the pages quickly because I was invested from the start. Twists and turns galore and some very surprising moments, this is a fantastic read!

I liked the characters a lot in this story. They were relatable and well-written, feeling very real. This is important to me as a reader and this author nailed it. Mary is a great lead. She is a bit calmer than I would have anticipated for someone who’s a target of a killer, but we all react differently. I liked reading her point of view.

There is so much suspense, this is a very difficult novel to set down once you start reading. This is my first read from this author and it certainly won’t be my last. Don’t miss out on this one if you enjoy psychological thrillers!

Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources for the free review copy. All opinions are my own and unbiased.

This one pulled me in straight away - as you follow main character Mary who stumbles across a diary that has the names and locations of 4 people, and it’s clear they’re murder victims. Her main cause for concern is her name is last on the list. Talk about a plot!

This one is fast paced, with so many characters and red herrings that leave you questioning EVERYTHING and EVERYONE. There’s so many reveals in this one - there’s one that I didn’t see coming, but the big reveal was a little far fetched for me. This was my first book of Kabler’s, but it won’t be my last.

Thanks to NetGalley, the One More Chapter team, and the author for the opportunity to read this review copy.

A phenomenal thriller that had me pulled in from the beginning. Truly remarkable and amazingly unpredictable, this is an easy five-star read. With a fast-paced storyline, breath-taking plot twists and an utterly unforeseen and brilliant conclusion, this is a definite must-read for all thriller fans!

Admittingly, I have read books by this author before, so knew of her writing style. This was the main reason I wanted to read this, and ‘The Murder List’ is now my favourite piece of work by her. Jackie Kabler’s ability to create a suspenseful and intense atmosphere is up there with the very best.

Mary, the main character, is relatable and incredibly likeable with her intelligent yet personal aspects of this mystery. I was sorry when this book came to an end.

I highly recommend this, if you couldn’t already tell, and am looking forward to reading more by this author in the future.

I’ve read a few books by this author, which I have enjoyed. This book is about a crime journalist, Mary Ellis, who receives diary with four names (one of them being hers) and four places written in on four separate dates. The first name matches the name of a woman who was found murdered on the date listed in the diary, and from then on, it’s a race against time to identify the other names and stop their murders!

I liked the idea of this book – the thought of knowing when a murder will be committed is just freaky! I also liked the mystery and suspense in the book throughout. How on earth are they meant to track down the next few victims by just a first name and place – surely that must be impossible!? I loved the build up to working all this out and enjoyed following the different police forces in their investigations! I liked Mary, the crime writer/journalist, initially and had every sympathy in the world with her - it must have been terrifying to wait for the date in the diary when she may be killed. But as her story moved on, I found there was something about her that I struggled to like and found myself waiting with anticipation as to whether I was right or wrong!

The book twists and turns throughout however, I must admit that I did find it slowing up in parts. There were plenty of red herrings and dead ends which kept me wondering who was involved in the killings. The big reveal was unexpected and worked well, although I didn’t quite understand the need for the last part of Mary’s story! It was an enjoyable read, but there were a few parts which made a plausible storyline into one which was less so.

An intriguing thriller, full of suspense. Mary, a freelance crime writer receives a diary for Christmas and later realises that it contains the murder list beginning with 1st January - murder Lisa, Oxford and finishing with 1st April - murder Mary, Cheltenham. When Mary realises that a woman called Lisa was murdered in Oxford on January 1st it becomes a race against time to prevent the February and March murders, and ultimately her own murder (as she assumes the April one will be) from taking place.
It is a fast-paced read, full of twists and turns. The final section of the book particularly has so many that I kept reading much longer than I intended just to find out what happened.
One small thing that bothered me about the book is that it is set in 2021 but has people travelling around the country and meeting in ways that would have been impossible due to the lockdown at the time. It's a very small point but I did find it off-putting and I think the book could very easily have been set in 2019 without any of the content being altered.

This was just OK for me, I worked out a lot of the plot so I think I lost a lot of interest after this. The writing style was good and I found the characters interesting too. Not a bad book but but a fave either.

This is a real page-turner of a thriller, with lots of twists and turns. There are only a small number of suspects throughout, and yet I pretty much suspected all of them at some point or another, including the rather secretive main character and narrator, Mary.

I was captivated from the start by the fiery trauma in Mary’s past and by the very clever hook of the diary ‘murder list’ and the author kept the pace up as the story unfolded, giving us perspectives from the various police investigators in Oxford, Birmingham, Cardiff and Cheltenham, as well as Mary’s viewpoint.

I was a little less keen, however, on the romance side-plot, mainly because of the ‘overlap’ aspect of it. Up until then, I had bought fully into the chemistry we were shown, but then I found it hard to reconcile the behaviour of a true friend with what ensued thereafter.

Overall though, this was a really clever, twisty thriller which kept me guessing right up to the very end and was very difficult to put down until that last page turned. This might have been my first Jackie Kabler thriller, but I would definitely read more in future!

Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

The story starts on Christmas Eve. Mary Ellis is in her early thirties and works as a freelance crime writer in Cheltenham. She receives a desk diary for Christmas, but doesn’t know who it’s from. When she gets round to looking at it, it contains a list of apparent murders to take place in the first four months of the year – the dates, names of the victims and locations. One stands out – “1st April - Murder Mary, Cheltenham.”
I mean, what an EXCELLENT idea for a novel! Who doesn’t want to read that to find out what happens? And it’s a page turner. You immediately feel for Mary and wonder what she is going to do and if she is going to survive the book! You also start suspecting all the people she knows.
I loved the way the different police forces interacted, and you got to know the main players in each one. It was really interesting to follow the investigation this way. I enjoyed the scenes with the police on Zoom calls discussing where they were at.
This is a really good psychological thriller. It’s perfectly paced, there’s never a boring bit and there are lots of twists and turns. As with all the best books in this genre, you end up thinking you’ve got it all worked out, only for things to tip completely on their head and another theory comes to the forefront. It’s very well written and I really enjoyed it.