I Did It For You offers a compelling blend of mystery and character-driven drama. The author's exploration of the lasting impact of a tragic murder on both the victim's family and the killer's family is both thought-provoking and emotionally resonant.

Greer's return to her hometown and her determination to uncover the truth about her sister's murder made this book extra appealing to me as a reader - I love it when a character has to return home for "reasons." I really appreciate how the author skillfully built suspense and kept me guessing! The twists and turns in the plot are well-executed, and the characters are richly developed. I think that fans of psychological thrillers and character-driven mysteries will really enjoy this one.

Man, do Iove her books! Definitely loved the characters, the unreliability of them, the well executed plot. Amy Engel is definitely an auto buy author!

ARC review | I did it for you | 4 ⭐️

Greer Dunning makes a long awaited return to her hometown in the wake of a brutal double homicide. Coincidentally it was the exact way that her sister, Eliza, and her boyfriend, Travis, was murdered years prior. What is ironic is that her sister’s killer was already identified and sentenced to death. While they know who, Greer is desperate to identify the why. What Greer believes to be a solo mission quickly terms into a partnership than no other than the brother of her sister’s killer. Greed and Dean have two unique viewpoints they are hoping can lead them to the answers they seek.

This was a short read, but so good! Who doesn’t love a small town mystery?! I love the stories where more and more mysteries unfold that require more and more answers. This fast paced read is perfect for those who aim to seek answers through pages of a book! I highly recommend 🫶🏼 now… if you’re intrigued please put that twisty thriller kind to work and let’s talk about that ending!! 🫣

Thank you @amyengelauthor and NetGalley for the opportunity to review!

Really enjoyed the writing—Amy Engel truly has a way with words. Really enjoyed the ride, and found the twists and turns to be both exciting and warranted. Will definitely recommend this to friends!

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review*

Twisty thriller that entertains from beginning to end - loved it.

A great novel that was enjoyable to read. I enjoyed this one from beginning to end and I recommend this one. I look forward to more novels by this author.

Eliza was murd3red 14 years ago, and a man is arrested, found guilty, and  executed for his crime. However, another murd3r was committed. Is it a copycat, or did they have the wrong man for the first crime?

review

This was a slower paced book, but it was still a wonderful read. I feel like this wasn’t just a murd3r mystery. It was dealing/processing/healing/etc. from the death of a sibling. It was a well-rounded book. It wasn't just one angle of the story. I really liked it.

For the most part, I liked all the characters in the book.

There were a few twists, and the ending was pretty predictable. Y'all know I don't predict the ending, and in this book, I was able to figure it out pretty easily. I know not everyone wants a book that has so many twists and turns that will give you whiplash. This was equal parts character and plot development.

I read and listened to this and enjoyed both versions!

Read This Book If:

You want a book with an ending where the bad guy “gets what he deserves”.

You want a book where there won't be a sequel (I don't think so anyway)

You want a pretty tame thriller. I know not everyone likes a crazy wild ride.

Beautiful writing in a twisty story with touches of romance.

This is my first book by this author but holy wow, she is a fantastic writer! While I didn’t exactly love the ending on this one (not that it was bad! Just that it wasn’t as satisfying as I’d hoped?) I still enjoyed the experience.

I see she has a YA duo logy out and I’m for sure going to read that!!!

I would say people who enjoy a slower, methodical thriller with well penned descriptions and who can stand a bit of a slow burn on the thrilling side will enjoy this.

My rating: 3.8*

—
Thanks to Netgalley for this advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

I was kinda let down by this one. While I enjoyed it I just thought it was going to be so much more from this Authors previous books.

Greer Dunning's older sister Eliza and her boyfriend were murdered 14 years ago. Greer escaped her small Kansas town after graduating high school, and is now a middle school guidance counselor. Eliza's murderer was caught, and put to death by the state, but Greer still struggles. Now a similar murder has occurred back in Ludlow, and Greer is convinced its not just a copycat killer. She returns home to her alcoholic father, cleaning obsessed mother, and a town with secrets. I loved this book, and definitely recommend it for anyone who loves cold cases, murder investigations, and small towns. Thanks to Netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. My first by the author, and definitely won’t be the last!

I love books with a strong female protagonist who’s looking for answers, despite the tragedy she’s been through. This was exactly that.

The characters were reliable in their actions, and while I suspected the real villain early, it wasn’t because of anything they specifically did or said. When the villainy came to light, I was surprised along the way.

Overall, enough intrigue and mystery to keep me hooked! Not easy to do!

“I Did It For You” by Amy Engel checked all of my boxes for a crime novel 🖤💖❤️

Thanks @duttonbooks for a gifted advance copy of “I Did It For You.” It’s available now — it came out 7/25. How gorgeous is this cover?! It would grab my eye immediately on a bookstore shelf.

🔮 Pick this up if you’re looking for a quick crime read in a small-town setting with family drama in the background

Greer Dunning’s older sister, Eliza, was murdered 14 years ago — and now there’s been a similar killing that seems like a textbook copycat crime. But Greer never felt like she had the full story of Eliza’s murder, so she returns to her Kansas hometown to see what she can learn.

Amy Engel’s voice grabbed me from page 1. This is the first book of hers I’ve read, and I’m excited to read her backlist. I love the combination of a crime story/family drama, and some of the twists in this one left me floored.

When I read a crime novel, I want a robust plot in addition to crime and police procedural elements. “I Did It For You” delivered the kind of juicy plot I need.

When Greer returns home to her small Kansas hometown, a copycat murderer leads her to believe that the person who killed her sister 14 years ago didn't work alone. This story had me hooked from the beginning and surprised me with its twists and captivating storyline.

This was just okay. It didn't blow me away, but there wasn't anything wrong with it either. Maybe I've been reading too many small town murder mystery books lately.

Amy Engel's The Roanoke Girls whisked me away from the comfort of the familiar, venturing into uncharted territory. The Familiar Dark, however, thrilled my dark side, which held no familiarity. Now, while something a little different felt familiar, I Did It For You failed to spark the fire that crackled within the other two.

Engel navigates uncommonly explored tropes, offering a unique perspective from the eyes of the families surrounding the murders rather than the conventional perpetrators. We know little about the killer. It's this distinct choice that propels I Did It For You beyond the realm of typical hometown mysteries. The narrative unfolds as a tense and swift-paced story that immerses me in a small, close-knit town where the light and darkness of life coexist. Engel peels back the layers, revealing how unresolved anger, shame and secrets can destroy the truth.

But

The conclusion felt somewhat familiar, leaving me with a sense of dissatisfaction regarding the payoff. I had hoped for a more thrilling and satisfying ending.

But

It's still a great read, just not as sharp and hard-hitting as Amy Engel's other books.

Amy Engel is the author of The Roanoke Girls and The Familiar Dark, both of which were unrelentingly creepy, and I loved them. When I saw that she had written another, I had to read it. My thanks go to Net Galley and Random House Dutton for the review copy of I Did It for You. This book is for sale now.

Greer Dunning’s sister, Eliza and her boyfriend, Travis, were murdered when they were teenagers. One minute they were making out in his car, and the next, boom. Someone shot them dead, right through the window. The guilty party was eventually caught and charged, and eventually admitted what he’d done, but it never made sense, especially not to Greer. She had a hunch that the killer, an intellectually disabled fellow with little imagination, had not acted alone. But he has said nothing about it, refused to provide a motive, and what he knew, he took with him to the electric chair.

Greer moved on. She finished school, moved from her hometown of Ludlow, Kansas to Chicago, where she works as a middle school counselor. But now a similar crime has occurred back in Ludlow, and Greer feels the pull, the urge to turn toward home and find out for real just what is going on.

This is a solid mystery, though not one with the sort of page turning urgency as the other two. It’s deeply atmospheric, and there’s a melancholy, brooding mood that’s thick and rich, and this is becoming Engel’s signature quality. The internal monologue is an absorbing one.

The choices that she makes while she is home make sense in a strange way, and parallels form in the most unexpected of places.

The solution itself doesn’t work for me. What? No. But the journey we take to get there makes this novel worth reading.

The only problem with writing a big-deal debut novel is that you’ve set the bar high, and readers develop stratospheric expectations for each subsequent book. So it is here. I Did It for You is a decent read, but it isn’t The Roanoke Girls, and it isn’t The Familiar Dark. Instead, it is simply a good book.

For mystery lovers that have never read anything by this author, this book is recommended. For those that have, you may want to get this one free or cheap, rather than paying full cover price.

My biggest issue with this one was the pace; it took a while before I could get into the story, and even then, something was missing.

Does this mean it is a horrible book? Not at all. I genuinely believe I am the issue as I am not a big fan of thrillers/mysteries.

Thank you to Netgally and the publisher for this ARC. This is a slow burn for sure. Took me some time to get into it but it was worth it. Overall a good read full of suspense and build up.

Entertaining and immersive. A recommended purchase for collections where crime and thrillers are popular.

I am a lover of crime, especially when there are still secrets hiding below the surface. And that's what we get from this book. Greer was such a fun character to follow, but she never fully showed her hand, which is what kept this story moving along.

Living in a small town myself, I think Engel did a great job of portraying what small town life is really like, and how people can easily get up in your business.

For about the first half of the book, I had no idea where things were going. Towards the end I started to puzzle it together, but being able to figure out what was going on before the twist happened didn't change my viewpoint on how much I enjoyed this novel.

If you like murder and true crime, this is a book for you.