Unable to fully review this book as it was archived before I could. Thank you to RB Media for the opportunity.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with an audio arc.

The premise of this is excellent; in 1897 a college girl walks into the woods and disappears… it’s set at a college in Massachusetts and opens in November. And the best bit, it’s based on a real, unsolved case with few known facts.

I think that’s why I could sum up my review by saying “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed.” For something that, in it’s synopsis, sounds so incredibly mysterious and tense and even, perhaps, a bit gothic — I felt this was extremely lacking in tension and atmosphere. While I appreciated that it was based on a real case, that it was queer and provided great insight into the lives of women at the time, and felt compelled to finish the novel (thanks to a well-narrated audiobook) I just never got “hooked” or invested in the way that I usually do with fiction and non-fiction like this. I can’t quite put my finger on it, I think, perhaps it just wasn’t for me, though it is — objectively — an important read and did get me curious to look up the real case.

If you are looking for dark academia to pick up this autumn, that is rooted in history — might be a great one! But I do feel like it’s worth noting that you should look up trigger warnings, if you are sensitive to certain topics. AND there is one specific scene that, while not bloody, it involves the killing of a cat for a science class. However historically accurate I did NOT see the point in including such a long scene of it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

This story is a gothic campus mystery a fictional account that is based on an unsolved murder in the late 1800s.

Chronicles the murder of someone who is different in a time period where being unlike others was not only undesired, it was dangerous.

Trigger warning that spoiled it for me, and added nothing to the story: animal abuse.

Agnes and Bertha are trying to be modern women and attending Mount Holyoke College in pursuit of higher education, which in 1897 is not an easy task for young women. The college is famed for its students being beautiful and virtuous - that is where Agnes and Bertha don’t fit in. The two have become fast friends and their odd personalities and close friendship are gossiped about amongst their fellow students. When Bertha is reported missing everyone on campus, and even those outside the college are potential suspects. Agnes and Bertha’s older sister are both desperately invested in the whereabouts of Bertha, along with a private investigator and Bertha’s family doctor. As the investigation progresses, many secrets come to light - but which secret is the reason behind Bertha’s disappearance?

This was an interesting historical crime mystery. Told in multiple POVs, we get an insight into the mystery as it begins to unravel. I liked the gothic vibes of this one and also the academic drama and gossiping within the cliques of the college. There were lots of secrets and layers to the characters in this one, and I didn’t guess most of the twists. This was a slower paced thriller and I think that was my downfall, as I think of it was paced better I would have been more invested. It wasn’t a bad book, but overall not that memorable. The concept was intriguing but I think the execution and writing style were not for me.

This was a really interesting idea, building on a mysterious disappearance that’s still unsolved. I do feel like it definitely dragged for a long while in the middle of the book where nothing really happened, and the reveal happened with still a good chunk of the book left to go. All in all it was decent, but the pacing really took me out of it.

dnf @20%

I thought I would be transported like The Secret History, but sadly, the pacing and the writing style weren't to my taste.

Thank you for this ARC.

This should have been totally my bag but ended up not being for me at all. I'm fine with a slow burn start but nothing really seemed to go anywhere. The characters don't seem to be very distinct from each other - I was frequently confusing two or three of them for each other. And the promised mystery and queer subtext doesn't really come to anything. It's kind of offensive to put this in the same bracket as Sarah Waters to be honest and doesn't reflect well on this book either. So not terrible but distinctly not for me.

3 / 5 ⭐️'ˢ

“Killingly” by Katharine Beutner

📕 Edition: ARC Audiobook via @netgalley

This story takes you to the hallowed halls of Mount Holyoke College in the late 19th century, where the disappearance of Bertha Mellish, a peculiar and enigmatic student, sets the stage for an enthralling literary crime mystery. Beutner masterfully weaves together a tapestry of secrets, suspicions, and desires, leaving readers constantly questioning the truth.

Bertha's best friend, Agnes, emerges as a central figure, her reticence stoking the intrigue. As the search for Bertha unfolds, Beutner delves deep into the lives and motivations of those involved, shedding light on the competing agendas that drive them.

Not just a mystery; it's a beautifully rendered historical portrait of queerness, family trauma, and the daring women who challenged societal norms. Beutner's storytelling skill shines as she navigates the complexities of 19th-century academia and the risks faced by women who dared to defy convention.

Haunting, unique, and interesting.

There were points in which this novel was a bit slow, but overall I enjoyed the unique concept the book pursued.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Killingly" by Beutner was a struggle to engage with. The narrative's potential was overshadowed by convoluted prose and a lackluster plot. Beutner's attempts at crafting a unique atmosphere fall flat, resulting in a book that fails to leave any lasting impression. The title seems fitting, as the reading experience was undeniably a bit of a "killjoy."

I found this book to be really engaging and I loved that it is based on a real life cold case. I'm a sucker for dark academia and who-done-its so this story was right up my alley. I am looking forward to reading other books by the author.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not sure about this. The story in itself was interesting. I liked that it was based on a real story. But, it just seemed to drag in a lot of places. I feel like it could have been have as long and still told a good story. There were just so many parts that seemed very odd too. Like they alluded quite a bit to the girls having feelings for each other but never really said it. But one of the characters made it seem commonplace for the younger girls to have “crushes” on the older girls.

Not my cup of tea, but I’m sure others will find it really intriguing:

I got about halfway through this book hoping for the action to pick up and expecting a lot more of the insularly queer-coded friendship that was hinted at in the summary. However, the story moved too slowly to keep me engaged, and by the halfway mark I didn't feel like I had learned much more about the characters than I had right at the beginning. Unfortunately, I just had very different expectations for this one, and the actual execution wasn't for me. The writing style is very beautiful and I feel like it would be more enjoyable read physically rather than through audio.

I tend to struggle with thrillers; once I figure out the twist, it’s challenging to keep reading! While I think the mystery of the “killer” is somewhat easy to solve, the rest of the novel unfolds in a way I didn’t expect.

Set in the 19th century at a women’s college, the book utilizes an actual unsolved disappearance of a student and imagines what might have happened. So well written that I forgot it was a piece of historical fiction, Killingly kept me wondering what was going to happen from start to finish.

Unrequited love, a mysterious Frenchman, a dark family history, a friendship filled with secrets: Killingly has everything you want to thrill you and transport you back in time.

Thanks to NetGalley, Soho Crime and RB Media/Recorded Books for the ALC!

I love gothic fiction, and I love when an author tackles a true crime case that is so elusive, I'm not even sure it actually took place. There is so little information about it online, can I even be sure? But think of Killingly as a mix between The Beguiled and The Silent Companions minus the paranormal elements, and you get a pretty good picture of the novel's overall mood.

Above all it's super slow-paced examination of the relationships formed by each of the two POVs: Florence, who is investigating her sister Bertha's disappearance from an all-female campus, and Agnes, the peculiar loner and Bertha's best friend in college, who seems to hold back information on the missing student's whereabouts. There is no corpse, no goodbye letter, and no trace of her left except the broken hearts of the women she has left behind. Sister, mother, daughter, friend, scholar, lover, victim - these are the facets of their lives explored. Believe me when I say there is not a single redeemable man in this book.

Hands down, Killingly might be a hard book to read for some due to its sensitive subject matters (hmu for trigger warnings), but I am naturally drawn to anything even slightly messed up and medicine-adjacent. I wish there was more of the twist after all, but the audiobook got me cozily through late March regardless. Get your daily dose of rightful misandry here.

I was definitely unprepared for the intentional killing of animals for dissection in this book. I even went back and reread the synopsis and there’s nothing in it that would lead me to think this would be part of this book. Even after this, I continued the book because it was an audiobook that I received through NetGalley and I wanted to give it a fair shot.

The premise behind this was solid. It’s set in the 1800’s and definitely reads as historical fiction/mystery. It was really interesting to dive into the investigation during this timeframe, but overall I can’t get over the killing the cats thing.

So the story was pretty good, the narrator was amazing but some of the content itself just wasn’t for me.

If you like historical fiction, this book is great. I wanted to read this book because it takes place in New England and that’s where I’m from. It’s written well and the narration is perfect for the story. It was a little slow paced for me but that seems to fit with the story, setting and time period. Bertha, Florence and Agnes were the main characters and the plot was truly sad, if not true to the time period. Warnings for SA and family trauma.

A historical novel based on the mysterious disappearance of an actual Mt. Holyoke student in 1897. This novel imagines how and why Bertha Mellish, a junior at Mt. Holyoke disappeared. Her roommate, Agnes Sullivan, seems to know more than she is saying and is obstinately tight-lipped about Bertha. The family doctor sees suspects in everyone Bertha ever knew and her sister, Florence, just wants her found safely.
What actually happened to Bertha? This story tries to figure out that very question. Using actual correspondence and historical documents found by the author and sprinkled throughout the story, KIllingly offers an actual explanation for the unexplainable.

*Special thanks thanks to NetGalley and RB Digital for this audio e-arc.*

Killingly interested me as a reader of historical fiction and mysteries and thrillers. Based on a true disappearance of a Mount Holyoke student in 1897, this story begins with the introduction of several important characters and hastens to the disappearance of Bertha Mellish.

While I appreciate the story that was being told here, this novel was so unevenly paced and overly drawn out. If it had been significantly shorter, that would have greatly increased the tension. Beutner speaks to many social issues of the time without hitting the reader over the head, which I did enjoy. I was hoping for an author's note explaining how much of the story was fiction and how much was grounded in facts from the case. That would have helped justify the extremely slow and uneven pacing, but alas that wasn't what I found at the end.

Overall, I think this is a good fit for readers of true crime and historical fiction.

I liked the premise of "Killingly" but the story lost my interest before I was even halfway through. There were a lot of repetitions, the characters were mostly unlikable, and the book just dragged on for way too long.