Overall, this book delivers a dark thrilling, and emotionally charged story that will appeal to fans of hard-hidden crime novels with complex, strong, wild female leads. It’s a page-turner that will leave you wanting more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy of this book for my honest review

Boring, obnoxious, and beyond cliche. Was also very poorly written. This book was trying too hard to be like Dexter to be quite honest.

this is giving "Dexter" (the show) with a touch of Lana from the "Mindf*ck" series by the late S.T. Abby, and i am living for it! AND it's a debut??? excuse me. this is too good to be a debut, but this author did well to show her storytelling abilities. there might have been a few moments where i got confused, but it really doesn't take away from the entire book. but you've got a closet serial killer with a big heart for those she cares about, ones who she'll do anything protect. her victims are all bad men. but what happens when one of those bad men finds their way into her circle? chaos. i highly recommend this! it's a fun and intense read. i look forward to reading more from this author.

thank you to NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this book. i received this book as an ARC and leave this review voluntarily.

This was a great read! Really interesting plot and well written. I liked the character development and how the book was written overall

3.5 stars.

I liked this one. Cordelia has the potential to be a fun character in a series, which I hope happens. Her painting with her victims blood made her one of my favorite characters I’ve encountered this year. The characters were fun and the dog deserves all the treats and cheese in the world!

It dragged a bit in parts, it could definitely be shorter, but the main problem I had was the silly situations were so absurd that I kept thinking of Finley Donovan. It spoiled my enjoyment a bit.

I recommend this.


Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, all opinions are my own.

This was an enjoyable, unique read. Cordelia, a Dexter-esque character, is a pharmaceutical rep by day and serial killer of bad men by night. She’s spent her adult life taking out men who harm others and have not been brought to justice in the conventional manner. She’s devoted to her best friend and her goddaughter, and she’ll do anything to keep them safe. Complications arise due to a budding relationship with an officer for Cordelia and a new love interest for her best friend, who raises Cordelia’s hackles and sets off her bad-guy radar. It’s a relatively quick read and one that lends itself to a sequel.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for this free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is an exciting, fast paced story of a female serial killer, focusing on taking out the 'bad' men.

There is a good mix of comedy at times, though this isn't used too heavily, allowing the real focus to be the introspection and internal struggles of Cordelia Black. She is an unlikeable and unrelatable character who is beyond intriguing and a delight to follow, even when she's committing a heinous crime.

The pacing is strong and the FMC is strong, however the side characters let it down a little.

Whattttt! This was intriguing reading through a female serial killer's perspective. Especially the twists and gripping moments! I liked that she didn't truly harm people unless they were bad people, and I loved her ride or die bestie, Diane. This was wild, and things get even more wild when the twists happen! Truly kept me gripped and had to read it in one sitting. Was hoping the twist would be different near the ending, so I took off part of a star for that. But either way, I thoroughly enjoyed this one!

I received this ARC from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press to read/review. All of the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading this book.

Really enjoyed this book! Cordelia Black is a truly fascinating character--pharmaceutical rep by day and killer of toxic men by night. It's very fast-paced and exciting, but not at the expense of well-drawn characters, including Cordelia's BFF Diane and Diane's daughter. Everything's going great until Diane begins a serious relationship with Simon, who sends off very bad vibes to Cordelia's finely-tuned radar. Things spiral after that, as Cordelia takes whatever steps are necessary to protect the ones she loves.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cordelia Black is successful at her job. Both of them. Her day job in pharma rep sales provides a cushy expense account for catering extravagant treats to doctor’s offices. Expensive sushi, lush flowers and cocktail hours are all part of the swanky gig. But by night, she is a vigilante. In true Dexter Morgan fashion, she rids the world of one bad guy after another. Serving as judge, jury and executioner, she takes care of business.

**Spoiler Alert**The book blurb for this one definitely caught my eye. I liked Cordelia’s spunky personality and her close friendship with Diane and daughter, Sugar, lets you see she has a soft side too. Unfortunately, the reader anxiety I felt at the chaotic crime scenes left in Cordelia’s wake corroded the storyline for me. I was waiting on pins and needles to see which slopy mistake was going to be the damning evidence. Moving dead bodies from location to location in her car (or her even purse in one scene!), burning items in her backyard firepit during the summer, and casually tossing her clothing worn during the murder on the bathroom floor like an afterthought, made for an unbelievable story. Maybe true crime podcasts have ruined me from reading crime fiction but all I kept thinking was how she was spreading evidence like a trail of glitter. There was no way she could commit this crime over and over without getting caught.

Overall, despite some of the hectic scenes I think this was a three-star debut. I look forward to seeing what Emma C. Wells writes in the future.

*I received an arc of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

Thank Netgalley & Poisoned Pen spree for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

Title: This Girl’s A Killer
Author: Emma C. Wells
Publication Date: October 29th, 2024
Pages: 400
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Goodreads Rating: 3.91
My Rating: 5 ⭐️

"This Girl’s a Killer" by Emma C. Wells is a five-star thriller with an intense plot and well-crafted suspense. The protagonist's emotionally complex journey, combined with unexpected twists and engaging characters, makes for a captivating read. Wells' sharp, immersive writing ensures a page-turning experience from start to finish. An exceptional standout in the genre.

What a fun read!!! For a debut, this was really well done! 👏

I loved the serial-killing FMC!! A lot of dark humor throughout - some parts literally had me laughing out loud!! It kept me entertained and I did not want to put this one down!! 🙌 Highly recommend to fans of unhinged female characters and dark humor!

Thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and Emma C. Wells for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for my honest review!! I certainly hope we’ll see more of Cordelia Black in the future!!! ❤️

The premise had me intrigued and there were aspects of this book I liked but it was just ok for me. I did need to skip over the gory parts.

Thank you netgalley for my advanced copy. My opinions are my own.

I love the FMCs name it reminds me of buffy the vampire slayer. Also I loved the character in general, a woman fighting and unaliving the bad men in the world. As the story progressed the tension got higher and i kept telling my husband Im just going to read another chapter so that I could see if she made it out without being caught.

I really hope this becomes a series because the writing is so good and the character development was amazing but I want to know more about her backstory.

*some spoilers contained within*
Rounding up from 1.5 stars

Listen, I am predisposed to root for a woman taking revenge on bad men. I wanted this to feel like either/both *They Never Learn* by Layne Fargo and the Finlay Donovan series by Elle Cosimano. Unfortunately it felt like neither. (In fact, I was so surprised to see Layne Fargo blurb this…yeesh.) It did leave me absolutely infuriated like I did after watching *Promising Young Woman* so I guess kudos for that? Instead of what I was hoping for, it felt like the girlbossification of revenge killing. Like *Dexter* (because she’s got a code) meets *Psych*’s Gus (because she’s a pharmaceutical rep) but make it girl power.

Cordelia, the main character, is meant to be 33 years old, but reads as SO juvenile to me. This whole book really read more to me as YA because of the essence of the MC. She annoyed THE SHIT out of me, I found her insufferable, self-aggrandizing, and sloppy.

But that would be surmountable, if it weren’t for how insulting I found the writing. It was so repetitive that I started searching for certain words in my kindle: bestie/best friend 50 times, referring to her best friend and her BF’s daughter as her family 41 times, smoke (appears in the eyes of “monsters as an indicator she’s good to kill them) 42 times, plan 98 times, McSmiley (how she references the cop she starts dating to get info) 62 times, monster 119 times. And I’m generally the kind of reader who would rather see “said” five million times than synonyms that are not fitting used in its place, but this repetition is not that. LOTS of telling rather than showing, like if you keep telling me that she’s meticulous maybe I’ll just believe you, even though the actual beats of the story negate that. If it had been done more artfully I might believe that Cordelia keeps repeating it because she’s convinced herself that she’s got things well in hand, but it wasn’t. If I had to hear one more time about how she had a code so she couldn’t kill her best friend’s boyfriend, I was going to scream.

Then there were story beats that drove me up a wall.

- She’s so meticulous, but she makes paintings with the exsanguinated blood of her victims and then DISPLAYS IT IN HER HOME?! Girl, you work in the medical field, you know that’s a disaster waiting to happen. Hubris!
- She buys KITTY LITTER INSTEAD OF ICE to preserve the dead body of one of her victims. And then is shocked when the odor of rotting flesh is not appropriately curbed. What is wrong with you?!
- The first person she ever accidentally killed was for her friend, the last person she killed was for her friend, she’s gone through all of these motions to keep her friend and her friend’s kid safe, and then when her friend finds the decapitated head in her crisper drawer, she suddenly lets her friend participate in disposing of the body. You did all of this to protect her but now you are going to let her get involved? What happens to your goddaughter when you and her mom both go to jail?! Especially when the reason why she wants to help you is because you LIED ABOUT THE IMPETUS FOR KILLING HIM and then retconned it because you happened to find incriminating evidence on his phone.

Some of these beats absolutely could’ve been camp and I would’ve enjoyed them more. But they didn’t hit the right tone for that to be the case, unfortch.

There were some other smaller things that rankled but felt inconsequential compared to the rest. For example, there is an attempt to build backstory for Cordelia—not in a way that was believable or compelling for me personally—and she constantly refers to her “junkie” mom and it felt like such a lame caricature of a person, not to mention that I don’t love non-addicts using terms like junkie. There’s also a moment where Cordelia goes to try to bribe the staff at a clinic and describes the staff in incredibly derogatory ways that are completely unnecessary and felt very mean girl.

I’m not one to see all best friendships as indicative of a deeper non-platonic affection because I actually think platonic love is one of the most beautiful and underrated things, but there could have been some very interesting exploration here of Cordelia’s feelings for her friend and the inclination to kill anyone who gets close to her. But nope, that didn’t happen! No self-awareness or examination of motives.

Anyway, I took several weeks away after finishing this and read more than a dozen books in between, and I ended up being more angry while reviewing my notes than I was the first time so it’s really going to be a nah from me.

Seems like a combo of America Psycho, Death Wish, and Dexter.

There was a lot of repetitive narration from the main character, Cordelia Black. I think another read through by an editor is needed. Cordelia seems like a character that is trying to come across as quirky, but I just felt that she fell flat. None of the characters had dimensions and that really didn't help me engage with this book.

I also felt that the description of this book could have been more clear that torture would be involved. If that had been expressed I most likely wouldn't have asked for a copy of this book.

Overall I thought the premises was there but the characters weren't well rounded and the main character's enjoyment of being a serial killer was very off putting. Feminine rage just for the sake of feminine rage just wasn't enough to win me over with this novel.

My unrestrained thoughts: If I have to describe this book in one word, that’s gotta be lukewarm. Nope, not gonna explain it further.
Now, onto a little sophisticated review – it may contain tiny spoilers!

Emma C Wells’ This Girl is a Killer is about a woman named Cordelia Black, a skilled pharma sales rep working for a popular pharma company. But she is not an ordinary woman – why? Because the title is not misleading – she really is a killer. While we love our anti-hero(ines), she is not a mindless serial killer. She meticulously combs through the male population, finds the ones who are monsters under their nice-guy personas, and takes her time to make them disappear off the face of this earth.
Pretty cool, right? It is… until the medicine that she’s been selling is pulled off the market because of some issues. It shouldn’t have been a problem… but it’s the medicine she uses to make her victims unconscious and bring them back to her ‘workshop’. As if that’s not enough, her best friend, Diane (the only person she’ll trust herself with but doesn’t know about her nightly excursions) is dating a guy that sets off Cordelia’s alarm bells even when he seems really normal.
Cordelia’s life starts to fall apart like pieces of dominoes until it ends up with her stabbing the knife inside Simon’s heart!
Accompanying Cordelia and Diane in this bizarre tale is her goddaughter, the only sane person in the story, in my opinion; a suspiciously cute cop-slash-her ‘Fumble’ date; a cuddly dog that breaks into her house for cheese; her neighbor who ventures on her property to take the dog back; and a real creepy man who helps her in getting rid of the bodies she accumulates.
Despite the setup, the mystery fell a little flat on me. I mean, I was expecting something really badass action. But what I got was Cordelia moping and crying about how everything was falling apart while narrowly escaping the blunders she had created all by herself.
The ending was a little anticlimactic for all the things the story built up for. No sane person would accept their friend murdering someone and then letting them get away with it by helping them get rid of the body… it’s simply not believable.
There were also a few loose ends to tie, which was done rather unconvincingly. Am I supposed to believe that Cordelia was able to pin the blame on literally everyone else except her? That she closed the McSmiley chapter without any protests? That the manager in the doctor’s office wouldn’t retaliate once she finds out about the forged signature? That Cordelia is already planning on murdering someone else? Loose ends so loose they don’t seem they can be tied at all…

What I liked:
o Cordelia’s ‘hobby’: No matter what I think about this book, I’ll never shut up about the fact that she turns the monsters into artwork. Mixing the blood of the people you killed in your paintings and then hanging those all over the house – that’s some next-level genius. Does that make her slightly psychopathic weird? Yes, obviously. Does this mean I disapprove? Heck, no! I love it, Cordelia, do it again. If you think about it, she can sell those and make a living out of it.
o Diane and Sugar Bug: Out of all these characters, even Cordelia (especially her), I think Samantha and Diane were the only sane people. Cordelia is really annoying. Simon is dead – no RIP for him – while Christopher has practically no part in the story. Funnily enough, the ones all this craziness was going on for, are living in their little bubble of obliviousness. They had relatable problems and relatable reactions – even though I don’t believe accepting your murderer’s friend is realistic…
o Mango: I certainly wasn’t expecting a four-pawed furry little creature to be a part of this thriller book – and I’m not complaining. Mango provided a nice sub-plot for the story while simultaneously showing Cordelia still had her human side intact. And when I found out exactly why Mango came running into her house, all I wanted was to hurt the stupid neighbor the exact same way he abused her. Thank god, Cordelia agreed with me on that front and gave a happy ending to the poor doggo.

What I wasn’t impressed with:
The premise of the book is really good. It’s unique and fresh, and it provides a solution to the problem seen in reality a lot these days. I definitely found it awesome to see a woman taking it upon herself to get rid of monsters in this world. But there are so many loose ends
One of the things I absolutely hated was how many times Cordelia assured the readers about Diane and Sugar being her family. Saying it twice is bad enough, but sprinkling this apparent fact in every section the author can think of; it actually annoyed me enough that I ignored reading for a long time.
Another thing is her self-confidence. Don’t get me wrong, self-confidence is necessary and it’s good that she had that, but hers was the pompous kind. Just like Diane-Sugar-family situation, her telling us she always has a plan and she is so meticulous and smart became old real fast. It also didn’t help when everything crumbled for her in just one night. A camera, Simon following her, unplanned kill, Christopher visiting her on the same night… as if this is a sign of a planner and meticulous killer. She spent half her book bragging about how she is perfect, but her actions spoke otherwise. Girlie…
The end also didn’t give me that cathartic feeling I was hoping for. Everything never works out so well – there’s always something that gets fucked up beyond repair. But in Cordelia’s case, she escapes everything within inches of her life and that was mildly annoying.

My Final Thoughts?
It’s not like I hated This Girl is a Killer, but it’s also not like I loved it completely. Unfortunately, it’s just a one-time read for me. But I can see the appeal this book has, so please, pick it up to see how this girl is actually a killer!

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
#netgalley #arcreview

This book might be about a killer but it was more than just a standard thriller. More than anything it was about loyalty and formed family and the lengths one woman will go to protect that in what she thinks is the right way. The narrative voice was really strong — from page one who Cordelia is and what she believes was apparent.

Rounded up from 2.5 stars.

My biggest problems with this book could likely be fixed with another pass by an editor; if even half of the repetitiveness was cut out, there'd be plenty of room to fill in some of the plot holes. But it was a fun enough story, with plenty of humor and sass. I definitely agree with the comparison to the Finlay Donovan series, bot comparing to Bandit Queens is more of a stretch for me.

This Girl's a Killer is a POV from a female serial killer who murders predatory men. She is sassy, and strong but what she really is is a survivor. I also like books about female serial killers but I like that Cordelia had an extreme loyalty to the people that she has in her life. She might be a killer but she's relatable. LOL.

If you are worried about the book being too gruesome for your taste, don't be. There isn't really any gory details of the murders and is actually pretty tame. I think this would be perfect for anyone who is looking for a fast paste tamer thriller.