Female serial killers always pull me in and I loved this take on a female Dexter. Cordelia was a wonderful MC full of depth. I enjoyed her sass, gumption and overall badassery. This has everything I love in a story - drama, tension, hijinx and even a romantic side plot. This does dark humor well and still pulls at the heartstrings. This was an excellent debut!

3.5 stars! ✨🩸☠️👠

This was a WILD ride - from start to finish. You have romance, friendship, suspense, and terror.

This book had a lot of body horror, mentions of SA, and sensitive topics that were not easy to digest - so please, read your trigger warnings before proceeding.

Thank you to Netgalley and Poisoned Press Press for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In “This Girl’s a Killer” we follow our FMC Cordelia Black. She is successful, stylish, and NEVER late. But she also has a BIG secret. She hunts men - bad men and kills them. Life is peachy for Cordelia as she is very type A. Organized to the high heavens, and running her life with a “fake it til’ you make it” attitude she never runs into trouble at work, is never caught in her endeavors, and is always there for her best friend and god-daughter. One day, everything takes a turn for the worst when word gets out that the medicine she was in charge of promoting - was being investigated for causing strokes and even death to clients/patients. On top of that - her best friend’s new boyfriend Simon is obnoxiously off-putting. She ends up on a blind date with a police officer, who is in fact looking into - her killings unbeknownst to him. Her perfectly curated life is unraveling at the seams - and she REFUSES to let her image, and her life slip away.

Wow - the plot was very fast paced and interesting. I love how when it started to rain, it STORMED. There was so much going on , and everything intertwined with Cordelia’s current situation.

I will say, I do not know how to feel about Cordelia as a main character. On one hand I appreciated her cause and how she wanted to bring bad men down, so they could never hurt anyone ever again. On the other hand, there were traits I did not care for in her. She was materialistic and cared about appearing a “certain way" to those who knew her. She was superficial, and quite frankly, a snob. Also, I understand her sense of wanting the best for her best friend, but I feel like she hated Simon out of the gate and was looking for an excuse to get rid of him right away. I was hoping his story would be less predictable, but, why does Cordelia feel so entitled to make decisions for those most important to her? Also, the way she used Mcsmiley - not cool. Not nice. I think she is a brat, I am so sorry. I can’t decide if I love or hate her.

True crime lovers would know that there would be traces of Cordelia’s shopping trips, her gps locations, her DNA on her victims, and more things that would come back to her. I don’t think she was as sly as she made herself to believe. At the end of the day, she will have to face her karma as well. Just because she has a good cause - does not make her a good person.

Mango deserves the best. What a sweetie. Hands down the best character in the book.

Overall, if you like a humorous, true crime-esque book I would give this a try ✨

I love a book where the FMC is a little unhinged. This is giving Dexter but with a strong female character.

Cordelia Black is just your average pharmacy sales rep. By day she is the top sales woman. Hanging out with her best friend and goddaughter. By night she is dealing out revenge for the worst men in Louisiana.

This book was so fun to read. It was fast paced and kept me engaged through out the whole book. We watch Cordelia not only try and protect herself but her friends family as they are the only family she has.

We do hear some stuff about Cordelia’s past but I wish we would have found out how she turned into the killer that she is. I feel like her past was briefly talked about and then swept under the rug.

Still I loved how the book ended. This is a great girly thriller if you’re wanting thriller with minimal gore.

Genre: Thriller
APK: Ebook
Pages: 435
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Series or Standalone: Stand-alone

Thank you Poison Pen Publishing for sending me a copy of This Girls a Killer for an honest review.

Nothing better than a feminist vigilante serial killer! This debut will have you hoping for a series run of this fun, bloody novel!
Cordelia Black is the best friend we all need. She has a way of seeing into the hearts of really bad guys and then ridding the Baton Rouge area of them. Her actual job, as a pharmaceutical rep, even helps with this "hobby". But almost as soon as her day job is threatened, Cordelia starts to lose her careful control. Can she reign it back in before she loses her bestie and her freedom?

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this e-arc.*

Cordelia Black is a pharmaceutical rep…and a serial killer. By day she sells sleeping pills, and at night she uses those sleeping pills to help her take down bad men and make them disappear. When an issue is found with the pills and Cordelia’s best friend introduces her to a new boyfriend, everything goes off the rails and her nighttime hobby is at threat of being exposed.

I really liked this one! It was like a female Dexter in Louisiana and felt a little bit Finlay Donovan at times (but no mob, thankfully). I do wish Cordelia shared more of her own back story - I was rooting for her, but only for taking down the awful men and not for any redemptive reasons.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the free digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This story follows Cordelia and the people she cares about the most, her best friend, Diane and her daughter, Sammy.
Cordelia is a serial Killer, she only kills bad men who deserve it.

I thought the first chapter was really interesting! Then it went very slow.
I was expecting more thriller than it was more just about the characters.
I wish we had more suspense!

Thank you to Netgalley for my ARC.

This was a fun & Fast paced & perfect for all Dexter fans! Cordelia is a pharmaceutical rep by day and someone else entirely by night… but just like Dexter she only kills bad men. What Happens when one of her murders doesn’t quite go as planned??

I was hooked on this book from start to finish. I know it's terrible to love a serial Killer, but Dang, I love Cordelia.

This is how you write a BadAss Female Character. I know she's a killer, and that's a bad thing, but Hot Dang, she gets it done. She is the type of friend we all deserve. She's the Best GodMother.

Honestly, everything about this book was fantastic. I love the cast of characters. The writing and story kept me reading and engaged, and there were some nice plot twists.

I can't wait to read more by Emma C. Wells.

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

I will preface by this book is absolutely unhinged and violent and is not to be taken as a real life suggestion. But once you get past that it’s honestly pretty good. The female friendship is sweet and the action keeps coming. I do wish they dug keeper into the backstories rather than just quick mentions of history.

This book was fun! It reminded me of a female Dexter-esque character - a vigilante serial killer on the prowl for unsavory characters. There was so much going on in the book that was deeper - I’d say the essence of the story deals with the power of female friendships - but there are just so many wacky things that happen, that you just have to read this book to experience it. It’s a wild ride.

This girls a killer is a fun, page-turning read! Cordelia black is a pharm rep by day and a serial killer by night. Cordelia delivers justice to men who need to face karma for their wrong doing in life. Cordelia’s best friend brings home a boyfriend that Cordelia gets a bad feeling about and her life gets even more complicated in her quest to
Protect her friend and daughter..

This is a feminist spin on Dexter-a fun, witty, and off-turning read. Cordelia is an engaging character that you will root for, even as she’s breaking laws! I would love to hear more of her backstory and am hoping for a sequel! Thanks to the publisher for providing an arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This story is a crazy wild ride and perfect for fans of Dexter or the MindF*ck Series!! Cordelia is a serial ki!!er and at the moment everything is going wrong for her. We get an intimate view of her thought process and justification for what and how she does it. The whole book your questioning will there be a mistake in all this that gets her caught.

This book was funny in a dark humor sort of way. I enjoyed it and found it easy to read. She was so paranoid and anxious that it made her all the more relatable as a character. I’d like to see more.

Holy Crap Cordelia Black. This book was great, lots of twists and secrets. I loved the relationship between Diana, Cordelia and Sugar. I personally think there could easily be a series about her and her "adventures". Will definitely be reading the author again.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

3.5 stars, rounded up. Cordelia Black is definitely an interesting character, and readers will love and hate her in equal measure. A serial killer with a code of ethics in the vein of some fictional characters we've read before, things are not going to plan for Cordelia as one thing after the other seems to fall apart. This is definitely a bit gross/gory at points, contrasted with Cordelia's taste in the finer things. It's an entertaining one, but a little too long and light on character development.

Thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and Ms. Wells for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not required.

I'm no stranger to the "Dexter" concept (a serial killer who preys on bad people) - I believe Butcher & Blackbird was the most recent I've read prior to this one - but this was a fun ride. I really liked Cordelia, who had such a traumatic and anxiety-ridden childhood and whose rules and rituals were so clearly built to keep her functioning. I also really liked that Cordelia humored her friend Diane and persisted with "trying" dating for Diane's sake but was honest about not really being interested in men or romance. Her friend Diane and her goddaughter Samantha were enough for her. It was a nice change to have romance be off the table.

For all the dark themes, the book's overtones veered more on the humorous side; Cordelia's anxiety attakcs were honestly more difficult for me to read than her rituals dispatching pedophiles, abusers and rapists. I would recommend this to readers with strong enough stomachs to handle the MC being a serial killer. It was a GREAT Halloween read! 🔪🔪

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for gifted access via NetGalley. All opinions below are my own.

This was a fun read. If you liked Dexter then you should check this one out. Cordelia is a woman with a penchant for murder. But she has a code and only kills men who victimize others. She has a code and a process which has served her well. The pressure around her rises as the drug she's selling is pulled from the market, she starts dating a cop and her best friend starts dating a guy who she badly wants to get rid of but can't prove meets her code.

You do need to check reality at the door a bit for this one. But it's fun if you like a quirky psychopath MC.

This book is bad ass! If you love thrillers and the show Dexter this book is an instant hit.
I couldnt put it down and read it in two days!

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for this ARC.
Book releases Oct 29th just in time for Halloween!!!

Is there such a thing as a likeable serial killer? Cordelia Black might be just that! By day a successful pharmaceutical rep in designer clothes, she also has a calling to rid the earth of bad men when the justice system fails their victims.
Her life starts spiraling down when her pharma product gets recalled and a lawsuit is imminent, and on top of that, her best friend since college, single mother to Cordelia’s goddaughter, falls for a guy who may not be the nice guy that he seems to be. Cordelia knows that - to be successful - it’s crucial to be super organized and to always have a meticulous plan but now things just start to go wrong. Dating a cop while she is still hunting bad guys doesn’t make it easier. In the end, protecting her loved ones remains Cordelia’s highest priority even if she risks her own safety.
I was skeptical at first to read about a female serial killer but I have to say, the story is so tastefully written that you can’t but cheer for Cordelia, and even her actions are never overly gruesome. Around the middle of the book, I was Team Cordelia 100%. The pacing of the story is fast with multiple twists. I couldn’t put the book down and couldn’t wait to find out how all would end for Cordelia. All in all a great debut novel and an entertaining read with a lot of humor, suspense and drama. Cordelia’s friendship and loyalty to her BFF and goddaughter are admirable. And I absolutely loved the side story about Mango, the dog!
Thank you Netgalley, Poisoned Pen Press and Emma C Wells for the opportunity to read this advance copy. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can’t wait for more from the author. Above is my honest review and own opinion.

"This Girl's a Killer" introduces us to Cordelia Black, a character who redefines moral ambiguity with her double life as a pharmaceutical rep by day and vigilante by night. Cordelia’s world is carefully crafted, balancing her affinity for her chosen family and her need to "correct" injustices. Emma C. Wells explores Cordelia's psychology effectively, making her a fascinating yet unsettling protagonist who navigates South Louisiana’s seedy underbelly.

The plot intensifies as Cordelia’s carefully managed world begins to fracture, especially when her best friend Diane starts dating someone Cordelia distrusts. However, the story's tension sometimes feels diluted by pacing issues, and the stakes could have been higher to match the strong, suspenseful setup.

Overall, "This Girl's a Killer" is an intriguing read that grapples with justice and morality, though it lacks the punch to make it truly memorable. Fans of morally complex antiheroes may find Cordelia’s character appealing but might wish for more consistent thrills.