Title: This Girl’s A Killer
Author: Emma C. Wells (Debut Author)
Genre: Mystery Thriller, Women’s Fiction
Publisher: Poison Pen Press
Pub Date: October 29, 2024
My Rating: 4.6 Rounded up
Pages: 400

"Once upon a time, ~I was a broken girl, unable to protect myself from scary things.
Now, ~ I am the scary thing."

Cordelia Black is a pharmaceutical representative and loves three things:
1. Her chosen family - best friend Diane and Samantha aka ‘Sugar’ Diane’s daughter.
2. Her hairdresser - as she loves to look her best - hair, nails as well as designer clothes.
3. Her love of Friday night hunts when she removes horrible men- men who hurt women, children as well others - including men.

Cordelia will do anything and everything to protect her chosen family as well as those who need protected.

When Cordelia’s best friend Diane starts to date coworker Simon, things get complicated.
Hmm does that mean what I think it means?

The author’s trigger warnings at the beginning of this book regarding Cordelia’s murders had me concerned that perhaps this was not going to work for me.
Okay it did take a couple chapters and then I COULD NOT put it down.
When Cordelia murders a bad guy in her home and has to get rid of his body; the situation is actually humorous. One crazy thing leads to another and that leads to another and so on.
In the meantime I am cheering her on.
I never thought I would describe this story as a fun read.

The last part was a bit OTT – However, Ms. Wells’ great prose had me hanging onto every word. I applaud her on her debut novel and excited and ready for her next one!

Want to thank NetGalley and Poison Pen Press for this great early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for October 29, 2024.

An unlikeable serial killer with an obsession with designer clothing frets about getting caught for her vigilante murders.

For a serial killer’s POV I expected it to be a little more complex and less corny. I also didn’t really like the main character

I absolutely enjoyed the hell out of this book! I found it to be fast paced, similar to Dexter but a female rage version. I loved that the MC had a moral compass and her victims had to check off some boxes in order to be one of her victims. I imagined her as Natasha Lyonne so if there’s ever a film adaptation, she would be amazing!! This book was a test of true friendship and she’s not interested in a love story, she is perfectly content with her modern day family - her BFF and her daughter. I feel there may have been a few loose ends but that leaves me hopeful for a sequel. I’d love to follow where Cordelia’s adventures take her next.

One word I would use to describe this book is juicy! This book is about Cordelia and her circle of people that love her. They don’t know Cordelia though. They don’t know that she’s a killer. She’s a female Dexter ridding the world of bad me. A true vigilante. As a character Cordelia was a complete force to be reckoned with. I found this to be a fun thriller that was a quick read and would recommend to anyone looking for some suspense and a fun and quick ride!

One of my top books of the year. I couldn't put it down, then regretted reading it so quickly once it was over! A female Dexter, with more humor and style, Cordelia is a character for the ages. The ending hints at a sequel, I'm hoping for a whole series.

This Girl’s A Killer, Emma C Wells
Pub date: Sept 10/24

Female serial killer who works in pharma by day and hunts down bad and depraved men at night. Drugging them with medication she is meant to shop to Doctors. Bringing them to a Saran Wrap clad workshop. Allowing them to wake, then have a brief recounting of their misdeeds, and then killed.

Sound familiar? It’s a like female Dexter minus the cat-and-mouse or truly knowing what they did. Unfortunately, while still an interesting premise there wasn’t anything really “new” about it that spoke to me. Even the artistic token gave me Brynne Weaver vibes, but as the character was rather 1 dimensional, it didn’t add anything to her personality.

Things kinda played out rather predictably and loose ends and potholes were seemingly brushed aside without any accountability, not a real plausible misdirect.

All told, good ones that needed just a bit more marinating to really come together.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cordelia Black is a pharmaceutical rep by day and a killer by night. She takes down bad guys, monsters that walk the streets praying on innocent female victims. Cordelia does this all while having a regular life. She has a best friend, Diane, and a goddaughter, Samantha.

I really enjoyed this one. The main character of Cordelia was fully developed. The dark humor and suspense used by the author was perfect. I don’t want to say too much more as it’s best going in blind for this one. It is a wild ride for sure. I highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys thrillers!

This was a very interesting read for me. Incredibly engaging, with a brilliant main character and a very intriguing plot. An interesting idea and execution, but... quite uneven. There were moments when I felt it would be a 5-star read for me, and moments when I was bored. But! It’s a debut. It can't be perfect ;) I will definitely keep an eye on the author and eagerly await the next installments!

Thanks to the publisher for an e-ARC but Cordelia feels way too similar to Dexter for me, right now for how she takes care of her victims.

Cordelia Black is anything but your ordinary pharmacueticals rep. Cordelia shows us what happens when a woman takes getting rid of monsters into her own hands.
As much as I enjoyed the twists and turns that Cordelia's "adventures" brought, I feel like I was left with too many questions about her past and wanted more.
This book is a thriller that definitely kept my attention. I love that we were able to get a FMC without a love story playing a side role.
Overall 3.5 stars.

This book had all the makings for what I love in a book: female rage, revenge, unhinged women but it fell a bit flat for me.

This Girls A Killer follows Cordelia Black who moonlights as a serial killer for evil men.

I don’t fully even know what missed the mark for me but I just didn’t *like* any of the characters and was bored throughout. Cordelia was just way too into herself and I never relate to someone who’s obsessed with material things.

I read it quickly and wanted to know how it ended so it must’ve been doing something right!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

Are you a Dexter fan? If so, you are going to want to check this one out!
Cordelia Black is a badass. She’s a successful pharmaceutical rep, a loyal best friend and absolutely adores her goddaughter. Oh, she also kills men that are complete scum. We get the viewpoint of a female serial killer while she rids the world of bad men.
Such a wild read and I am hoping we will see more of Cordelia!

Cordelia Black is a bit crazy! She really is close to her friend Diane. She is impulsive one night and killed a bad guy that Diane seemed to like. Cordelia is a very successful Pharmaceutical rep. by day and a killer at night. She feels she is getting justice.

She is really close to Diane's daughter Samantha. Cordelia would do anything to protect her best friend and bf's daughter. She is full of personality, snarky, smart, hard working, and confident!

Everything is always fine for Cordelia Black. "One thing I'd learned in my childhood, sometimes you had to lie to yourself until you believed it. Once you believed it, you could make it true."

This book is fun and the lead character is very flawed!

Dark, Suspenseful and Tense!

3.5 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy! This book will be released 10/29/24.

A female Dexter is always going to have me picking up a book. I know this has become a more common theme in books lately but I just love a strong woman who rids the world of bad men. How can you not want to read about that.

Emma C Wells debut novel is just fabulous!! It is so much to read and had me laughing so many times. Yes it is a dark story but told so well. Cordelia was a badass! a successful pharmaceutical sales rep with amazing taste is clothes and shoes. She loves her bestie and her goddaughter and will do anything to protect them…anything. And that is when things start to go wrong, and keep going wrong.

This book will keep you turning those pages well into the night, who needs sleep when there are bad men to be disposed of!

Thanks so much to Poisoned Pen Press for my advanced copy t read. Publishes on October 29th, you don’t want to miss this one.

In Emma C. Wells’ debut novel, THIS GIRL'S A KILLER, we are introduced to Cordelia Black, a pharmaceutical sales rep with a dark, unconventional side hustle. By day, she navigates the corporate world, dealing with the fallout from the FDA pulling her top-selling drug, Bosephan, off the market. By night, Cordelia becomes a vigilante, targeting and killing sex abusers, and selling their remains to Clarence Elgin, a broker of body parts. Despite the gruesome nature of her actions, Cordelia operates by a strict moral code: she only kills “monsters.”

Readers may liken Cordelia to Jeff Lindsay's iconic Dexter Morgan character. Much like Dexter, Cordelia is a complex and fascinating anti-hero, blending a cool, calculated mind with moments of dry humor and introspection. Her clinical approach to murder and meticulous organization make her both chilling and oddly sympathetic. Wells deftly weaves together Cordelia’s internal struggles with her increasingly risky actions, keeping readers hooked as Cordelia tries to outsmart federal agents who are closing in on her use of Bosephan to drug her victims.

Amid her secret life, Cordelia’s personal relationships add a layer of tension. Her best friend Diane introduces her to Christopher, a local cop, and Cordelia soon suspects he might be getting too close for comfort. When things begin to spiral out of control, Cordelia is forced to rethink her survival strategy, leading to a cascade of thrilling and darkly comic mishaps that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

Wells’ writing balances gruesome action with biting wit, making THIS GIRL'S A KILLER a uniquely entertaining read. The detailed murder scenes and Cordelia’s twisted logic are not for the faint of heart, but fans of dark comedies and psychological thrillers will find this novel captivating. With its blend of suspense, humor, and moral complexity, Wells delivers a bold and memorable debut, leaving readers eager for Cordelia’s next chapter.

I love a good story of feminine rage, and god knows I support women's wrongs, but in the end I think this was a little more miss than hit with me. I think my true rating is probably more around a 3.5, but there were just too many things that niggled at me as I was reading this book to give it a higher rating. The premise is just *chef's kiss* but the execution seems more like an odd mash-up of criminal mind episodes and...dexter...maybe? I certainly wanted to see it though to the end, because I was curious to see how everything would play out. In the end I think even that let me down a little. I'm gonna try and lay it all out for you. On the surface I thought I would love Cordelia, she seems like the exact kind of character I would root for, but unfortunately she grated on me. I'm all for a stone-cold bitch character who is out to serve some just desserts, but considering she says she cares so much about her best friend she was kind of horrible to her. The only one she was really nice to in this entire book was the kid, but she just kind of vanishes from the story half way through. My biggest issue though was the fact that we're told again and again that Cordelia is meticulous and does nothing without a plan, but then 95% of the things she does in this book completely contradict this fact. The number of poor decisions she makes are mind-boggling. I'm honestly not even sure I would have been upset if she had ended up behind bars, because by god she certainly deserved it. It was through sheer dumb luck that the story had a "happy" ending. I think there were also just too many balls in the air. The whole part about her job and the medication she repped having issues was completely irrelevant, and the addition of the cop she was kind of dating added nothing. I think the ideas were there, and the skeleton of the book could have been something, but it just didn't come together for me. That doesn't seem to be the case for some other early reviewers though, so if this sounds up your alley don't hesitate to check it out. I personally won't be hand-selling this, but I do love a good female serial killer book, so I hope it does okay so that similar books get picked up in the future. I'll also be curious to see what Wells comes up with for her next book.

For a debut novel I was very impressed and am excited to read more from this author. The novel had a Dexter-like feminism feel to it and I loved the scheminess of it all.

The author did such a great job keeping me on the edge of my seat and stressing me out. Cordelia’s choices and luck in situations were making me ANXIOUS and I was so nervous for the entire second half of the book. Not many books give me such a visceral reaction of anxiety, so props to Emma C. Wells!

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

The title says it all - we have a beautiful mid-thirties pharmaceutical rep who moonlights as a serial killer - or really the other way round as killing drives, motivates and satisfies Cordelia more than anything else. . And we are rooting for her? Yep, Her other love is her friend Dianne and her daughter Sam. If someone threatens her relationship with them WW3 could begin. So Dianne has a new love interest and off we go. Fun reading in the middle when life is 9ut of control. A little repetitive but a really fast read. I wanted to know if she gets away with it, you will too.

The Girl's A Killer is a wild fast paced read that had me cheering for Cordelia Black who takes it upon herself to rid the world of bad guys.

A female Dexter if you will.

By day she is a pharmacy rep (that's not going well) and by night she avenges those males that are just plain bad and prey upon women or children.

Cordelia is also quick witted, has a best friend, a god daughter and a neighbourhood dog who prefers her home to that of her neighbour.

She had me lauging, she had me cringing, she had me telling her look out ( to no avail)

When things go bad for Cordelia they really go bad and quickly.

Emma C. Wells takes the reader on a graphic but fun ( sounds strange I know ) journey that has you wanting more at the end of the book .

I hated for the book to end.

I certainly hope there is a Book 2.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the privilege of reading and reviewing The Girl's a Killer.