Member Reviews
Cordelia is a highly paid pharma rep by day, with a best friend and goddaughter she would, and has, kill for. Cordelia won't kill just anyone though, just men she knows are bad after stalking and accumulating proof.
I really enjoyed the premise of this book. I think if it were about 30 pages shorter It would have been a much higher rating, but the story got a bit redundant in the middle and some parts got a little too silly.
SPOILER ALERT I do wish her best friend figured things out sooner because I think that could have been a more enjoyable dynamic early on. I also wish we got more closure on her Chris and if they really would not have worked or if she just did not want them to based on her need to kill.
Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.
This Girl's a Killer
by Emma C. Wells
Pub Date: Oct 29 2024
This book is a must-read for fans of female serial killer thrillers and anyone looking for a suspenseful, entertaining read. It's an easy read with many twists and turns, a little dark and violent!
Synopsis: Meet Cordelia Black. Cordelia loves exactly three things: her chosen family composed of her best friend Diane and her goddaughter; her hairdresser (worth every penny plus tip); and killing bad men. By day she's a successful pharmaceutical rep with a pristine reputation and a designer wardrobe. By night she's culling South Louisiana of unscrupulous men—monsters who always seem to evade justice, until they meet her. It's a complicated yet fulfilling life that requires complete and total control at all times.
Many thanks to #thisgirlsakiller #NetGalley and #PoisonedPenPress for providing me with a copy of this E-ARC.
This is one of those books where if I think about it for too long I'll start to pick it apart and dig into all its flaws (and there were a bunch! I have notes!) but I also just...liked it. So I'm not gonna.
What really got me here was the fierce dedication to female friendship at the heart of the book. The most important relationship in Cordelia's life is her friendship with Diane and being a godparent to Diane's daughter, which reeeeally appealed to the part of me that loves a character who's a total uncaring sociopath...except for the one person they truly care about for whom they would move heaven and earth to protect. Hell yeah. HELL YEAH. And this sort of thing has to be really skillfully done for me to not be like what if they just kissed though 👀 and Wells pulled that off expertly, even with one of them being actually bisexual. Sometimes the love of your life is a friend and that can actually be platonic and still just as meaningful. Did I mention hell yeah???
Three objective quality-based stars plus one completely subjective bonus star for being For Me.
My thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the ARC.
Cordelia is having a bad day. Then the bad day continues as her perfect life of killing it in her job and her killer workshop starts to implode. What’s a killer to do other than keep on track by killing and self-correcting until it all goes boom.
I just love this book. I was laughing hysterically. I was shaking my head so hard when I shouldn’t because my dislocated discs were saying, “Girl, STOP!!!” I’m in love with Cordelia and Emma C. Wells.
Do you remember the movie Serial Mom (Dir. John Waters 1994)? This Girl’s a Killer kind of reminded me of it. Not so much in the silly reasons that Kathleen Turner’s character killed people, but in the humor of being a serial killer. Hmmm…did that come out right? (chuckle) No, I’m not a serial killer and serial killing is not funny (gotta make sure I put a disclaimer in just in case my humor does not come across (face palm)). It’s just really funny how Cordelia thinks when all of these obstacles appear in the midst of what is originally one crime of the day (chuckle). Gotta read the book, people.
Now, I have to admit I am really suspicious by nature, kind of like Cordelia - though I don’t stare into people’s eyes. My Mom just raised me on horror movies instead of cartoons. So when Cordelia bumps into people, there is always something more that is going to happen. Duh. This is kind of where I feel Cordelia (not the author) drops the ball. I wanted to slap her upside the head. BUT, then we wouldn’t have a story.
I love the friendship between Cordelia, Samantha, and Diane. Girl code is a real thing. In saying that, I totally agree with Cordelia about her perceptions about Diane and forget about girl code. There is a scene in a restaurant that happens, that once again I’m all like, why didn’t you take out your phone and get evidence? Like, there is some logic missing sometimes with Cordelia. I just want to smack her upside the head. (chuckle…yup, I channel Gibbs on occasion.)
As you can see, I was totally invested in this book. I love it. Cordelia is a hot mess and I’m totally there for it. This is the humorous thriller that you didn’t know you needed for the spooky season.
I really enjoyed this book, it was thrilling and thoroughly entertaining. Claudia is a dark and slightly twisted character who will do absolutely anything for those she loves. She is also extremely likeable! If you’re a fan of Sweetpea then you will love this!
Cordelia- a very sympathetic character- is also a killer. She's got her life tightly in order: she works, she spends time with her BFF and she kills men. Now, though things are falling apart because a cop has come into the romantic mix. Can she hold it together? This is a quite entertaining page turner (no spoilers from me!). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Good storytelling made this a good debut.
This book sounded so entertaining to me and perfect for October. I did enjoy it, however I didn't love the writing style. I found myself getting bored with the repetitive inner monologue of the FMC. She kept having the same thoughts and I just wanted to skip over them after awhile. It was a bit predictable, but still a fun and quick read. I would recommend as an easy popcorn thriller with a fun twist of a femail serial killer. Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for allowing be an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
I really enjoyed this book overall. I was completely invested in the first 75% of the book then my interest was slightly lost. Everything wrapped up a little too tightly for me. I liked the authors writing style and would definitely read more from her. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Interesting psychological thriller that gives Dexter type vibes. Follow though the mind of a serial vigilante killer as her life begins to spiral out of control.
Unreliable narration at its finest, this novel is about Cordelia, a serial killer who kills only men who have done terrible things. A polished medical sales rep, Cordelia would do...literally anything to protect her chosen family. A quick, thrilling read - already hoping this will become a series.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
⚡️ T H R I L L I N G T H U R S D A Y review ⚡️ featuring “This Girl’s A Killer” by Emma C Wells!
BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5
There are two sides to Cordelia Black. During the day she is a thriving pharmaceutical rep who dresses to kill and is fiercely loyal to her bestfriend and goddaughter. But during the night … well this girl is a killer. LITERALLY! As in has a vendetta against BAD MEN and seeks justice by hunting them! Think of Cordelia as a female Dexter, but in high fashion and with fabulous hair!
Cordelia feels PROUD of herself for getting rid of these monsters, but is now facing a conflict of interest. She gets introduced to her bestfriend’s new boyfriend and something is just OFF about him. She is catching a predator vibe from him … or is she just being paranoid/picky/overprotective?? Time will only tell 👀!
When the town starts to whisper about a potential serial killer being on the loose, Cordelia will do anything to protect her vigilante ways 🔪
I loved the BAD ASS B*TCH energy in this book and the dark humour mixed with suspense made it such an entertaining read! This girl is savage, bold and has no shame! Everyone should read this one!
Thank you kindly to @emma.c.wells.books @poisonedpenpress @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases next week on October 29, 2024!
Language: R (33+ swears, 7+ "f"); Mature Content: R; Violence: PG+
In the first couple of chapters, there are crass innuendo comments that suggest there will be other sexual content later in the book that I do not want to read, so I stopped reading. The story is intriguing, and I would love to know what happens, but not at the cost of reading the sexual content.
The mature content rating is for illegal activity; alcohol use; mentions of kissing, drugs, and rape; discussion of sex; and innuendo. The violence rating is for mentions of guns and murder.
I never thought I would be rooting for a serial killer, but here we are! Cordelia is the new Dexter in town, making it her mission to rid the world of bad men. There were some laugh out loud moments, and Cordelia has got to be one of my favorite lead characters in a long time.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to read!
The title of the book sounded intriguing but the writing fell flat for me. I didn’t care about Cordelia and what motivates her to kill. She seemed a tad immature and petulant. Honestly haven’t been a fan of revenge killing in books but the author Peter Swanson wrote a stunning portrayal of a female protagonist who seeks revenge brilliantly. If you are looking for a clever plot and writing about avenging the wrongs of others… skip this one.
Cordelia is a female version of Dexter and has her own code of honor in deciding who she eliminates from this world. The plot is filled with tension, and a dash of humor, as one thing after another starts destroying Cordelia’s perfect system. The writing style was engaging and the story moved well.
My review is voluntary and all comments and opinions expressed are
my own.
I never thought I would root for a killer but this one is different! Think of Dexter, but a woman. I loved the main character and thought this book was amazing! I would definitely recommend.
Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
From the outside Cordelia looks like a successful, confident businesswoman but that is only one aspect of her. In get free time she likes to murder men that pursue the vulnerable in her city. Her best friend, Diane, begins dating someone who Cordelia can’t quite trust and so begins a winding road to protect her friend.
When I read the premise of the book I was immediately intrigued. The first chunk of the book was a little slow for me, but then there is an unexpected twist in the middle that really sets the book in motion. This is when I was more intrigued and felt genuine anxiety through some of the scenes.
I like a strong female protagonist who is living this double life. She was confident, but at times infuriating and some of her decisions were questionable at best. Sometimes I felt that Cordelia was a little generic, which doesn’t fit the serial killer vibe. I don’t want to go into the details too much, to avoid spoilers but I want my serial killer to have more personality and really pop.
Overall, it wasn’t bad. I was entertained and I read it pretty quickly!
A tremendous premise, but the end result leaves a lot to be desired. I was game for a female version of Dexter Morgan and all that came with it going in, and this is a fast-moving and fairly engaging read. However, I often felt frustrated by choices made by Wells with its tone, main character and plot. Although the book starts off mostly serious with some humor here and there, it devolves into slapstick once Cordelia receives an unplanned visit leading to an increasingly ridiculous chain of events that goes on for far too long. I had issues with Cordelia's characterization, as readers are told about her meticulous nature with regard to her murderous hobby early on, yet she is introduced as flustered while running late for a function, and frantically scrambles for solutions when confronted with trouble or makes many poor decisions that strain the believability of her being a successful serial killer. While I liked Cordelia's fierce devotion to Diane and Sugar as an explanation for her actions, I wanted more backstory to fully flesh these connections out, and the secondary characters overall are wafer thin, only existing to push forward the plot. The story wraps up far too conveniently, and the incorporation at the end of a real-world villain with a name change is a bridge too far, completely taking me out of the book. I wanted so much more from this and finished dissatisfied.
This is a fast-moving story about a woman who is in control of her whole life. Cordelia has worked her way up to a lucrative pharmaceutical sales position, she has her little found family that includes her college roommate Diana and Diana's daughter, and she keeps the demons at bay by killing men who do bad things to women. She's worked out the perfect system that keeps her from being caught.
But now Diana is dating someone who doesn't seem quite right, a cop has matched with her on a dating app, her neighbor's dog won't stop busting into her house, and the news is starting to talk about a possible serial killer in Baton Rouge, even though no bodies have been found. The reins on Cordelia's control start to slip and soon the problems keep piling up.
This story is not the for faint of heart (some of what Cordelia does is quite gruesome), but it was quite entertaining and kept me reading. Wells does a great job of building the suspense until you're sure that there's no way Cordelia is going to make it out of this unscathed. I would definitely read another book by this author. Perhaps a sequel is in the works?
Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for a honest review.
The “serial killer of serial killers” seems to be the new thriller trope and I’m kind of loving it. The danger in writing a book that’s “on trend” is that you need to stand out but “This Girls a Killer” manages to do just that. The FMC is definitely a flawed and neurotic individual but you kind of root for her because her morally grey heart has a gold tarnish to it. And the book is FUNNY! Seriously, I laughed a lot during this book which was disturbing given the theme but also a nice break from the more graphic scenes.
So why 3 stars? The book gets l o n g in places. Seriously, editors need to be less scared to trim the fat. Just because a scene is written well doesn’t mean it needs to be in the book if it doesn’t make sense. Second, there were a lot of things that were left open ended at the end or just wrapped up a little too nicely for this type of book. It felt like the author spent all this time writing a great book only to forget her own plot points and then scramble to make them all “work” at the end of the book.
Overall, I think this is a solid debut and I look forward to seeing more books from this author.