Feel the feminine rage. An antihero, a female serial killer, a vigilante (not sure of the specific designation) is a fun character, and this one has some fun, sass and our FMC has some interesting artistic talents. She is devoted to her girlfriends and protecting those who need it. When a girlfriend gets a new man…well, he gives our FMC the ick and she decides to do something about it, as she has done for others in the past.

I guess the author was going for character development or ‘humanisation’ in this book, but I’m not totally sure it was pulled off. We are told she’s controlled, a planner, someone with foresight of how things need to be done, but then somewhere along the line she stops being this and there are scenes where things go wrong, or she made decisions which were, in my opinion, bizarre and the introduction of a ‘relationship’ was something I didn’t think was necessary.

While I read this one I thought it was okay, but later I thought about things that I don’t think were resolved wholly, or at all, and I’m left wondering if there is going to be a series. I think it was okay, but I wasn’t the biggest lover of the ‘silliness’ factor for this character.

Thank you for the ARC. I mostly liked this book. It was a fast read. However, I felt the last chapter about Brett Turner was not necessary. It just seemed out of place.

As a fan of serial killer & badass fmc who do us such great service of erasing bad men, I gotta say that this one doesn’t disappoint me!

Meet Cordelia Black, the girl with childhood trauma, growing up broken but managed to find the strength and held up herself and her life to such a badass grown woman that she is now - successful, wealthy and girl boss, aside from her extra activities of making bad men gone. I love how the author includes all the gory details, aside from casual yet humorous writing for the characters and most scenes. The plot growth also executed neatly and enjoyable indeed, I love how the story is not only about murder, but also includes friendship, relationship, family issues, career, and a little bit of how to get away with murder vibes haha. The story becomes more intense and interesting as the journey of Cordelia hating & having bad gut feeling regarding her best friend’s new boyfriend shifted to more and more things that made me gasp entertainingly and get me hooked till the end.

The only thing that I wish the author should add more is regarding McSmiley and Cordelia at the end, like for me it feels like I’ve been hopeful for the two of them to be together, hence it’ll be great if I can know for sure what finally happened to them at the end, since what she gave is too loose ends despite understandable regarding Cordelia’s stance when it comes to love & relationship, haha. They both are kinda cute together for real haha.

Overall, this is such an enjoyable read! Thank you for the arc! 👍🏻❤️

This book is sooooooooo good and the cover was fantasic.

I think many women would relate to this in some way and feel seen and understood. Cordelias character highlights the monsters so many of us see or experience in the world and exageratingly deals with them. I found myself relating to her in so many ways and feeling validation and gratification in her ugliest moments and her most vunrable. I think she is a force to be recon with. I think where she is strong and indipendance and firece she is also sensitive and hurt and nervous. She exhibits so many emotions during this book and fights for the ones she loves.

I really enjoyed this book! There are few books with female characters like this that are likable and relatable dispite the circumstances they’re in or situations they face.

We need more female driven thrillers and horror novels! LOVEEEDDDDD ITTTTTTT!!!!

What! is a great story about revenge and looking good doing it. Thank you for my copy of "This Girl a Killer." I enjoy this killer story

A Female Serial With A Code

3.65 stars

A female serial killer's hackles are raised when she sets her sights on her best friend’s new boyfriend. However, an impulsive mistake puts her at risk, endangering those she loves the most.

MC Cordelia is a badass, confident, snarky bitch. She is also a serial killer who hunts men who have hurt women and children. Her joy in life comes from her best friend, Diane, and her daughter, Samantha. Cordelia has worked hard to keep her secret hobby from her best friend, but when she makes the wrong move, her relationships are tested as her secrets threaten to come to light.

This is a fun but flawed read. The plot borrows heavily from Dexter (I was annoyed by a few moments that mirrored his killing room and process), and the beginning is choppy (no pun intended) and a bit confusing. Also, the MC makes some stupid mistakes--one wonders how she got away with killing for so long. However, once I settled in, this turned into a fun read.

This is not about the action and the killing but more about Cordelia’s inner demons and her fear of being found out for who she really is. Details of her past are slowly sprinkled in. Sparse details are shared of her victims' crimes (this I appreciated), and the author shares her reasons why she didn't include details out of her concern for triggers, which I appreciated.

Overall, this is an entertaining read that is more of a character study than a thriller. However, there are thriller moments, and the tone turns dark, suspenseful, and tense. There is also a lot of dark humor and a cute dog named Mango. There could have been more character development, but I hope the author isn’t done with Cordelia, and we meet her again to learn more about her past and the repercussions of her last kill.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review

I absolutely TORE through this "Feminist Dexter" - as I have dubbed it - vigilante tale. Cordelia starts off in total control, once her plans become unraveled, the scramble to cover her tracks begins. Poisoned Pen Press is ROCKING the thriller genre lately!

3.5 stars for this debut author. Themes of loyalty, friendship, and resilience keep the plot moving. This book is definitely not boring! Love the female Robin Hood aspect. With obvious nods to Dexter (the TV show), the originality was lacking at times. Would definitely recommend to lovers of redemption, righting wrongs, and twisty stories.

This book was an engaging read that skillfully blended dark themes with light-hearted moments. The intriguing storyline of a pharmacy rep turned vigilante by night had me hooked. The main character's strong sense of justice and complex emotions added depth to the plot. The dynamic between the FMC, her best friend, and their romantic interests provided a good balance of drama and humor. Despite some confusion with the backstory and pacing issues, overall, it was an interesting thriller that kept me entertained.

I have to say the first half of this was a two star book. I did not like the tone and near constant internal monologuing. The first half was so much talking and not enough doing. O yes Cordelia is such a bad ass who wears designer items and is a cool aunt, with a disturbing past and even more troubling side hustle. I guess we just had to take her word for it. The smoke in the eyes thing...too much, too heavily utilized. I was struggling.

But at EXACTLY 48% I was hooked. I liked the panicked, desperate, completely out of control side of this much better, but it also did not become a consistent story either. I was entertained. But I also didn't love enduring the first half of this book to get there.

I received this e-arc from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This Girl’s a Killer, was a bit different than what I’m used to reading. The main character definitely reminded me of a female version of “Dexter”. It got a little gory at times and then funny at other times. Overall it was a good book! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

Cordelia "Not Renee" Black is a successful woman with a great career, a ride or die best friend, and an incredible goddaughter. Oh yeah, and she's also a serial killer who gets rid of bad men. Cordelia is able to balance these different parts of her life so well because she always has a plan, and as long as she follows her plan then everything is fine. However, with things at work starting to crumble, her best friend introducing a new boyfriend that raises concern, and her neighbor's dog Mango always being a nuisance, things start to unravel and Cordelia finds herself in a big mess.

What a ride! This debut thriller by Emma C. Wells had me in a chokehold. Do I find myself rooting for serial killers in life? No, of course not. Did I find myself rooting for Cordelia Black? Absolutely! She was giving me Dexter vibes. She was giving me Joe Goldberg from You vibes. She was giving me all of these but as a badass woman. She is a character who truly cherishes her relationships and would do anything for her chosen family in order to keep them safe. When things were looking bad and seemed to be getting worse, it was so entertaining and exciting to see how things would turn out. There were times I truly didn't know how Cordelia would dig herself out from the mess she found herself in. For me, things were tied up in a nice bow and left me wanting some answers, but at the end of the day, I had an absolute blast reading this one! For a debut, I'm super excited to see what Emma C. Wells has in store for us in the future! A sequel to this would be pretty amazing! 4.5 rounded up to 5.

Thank you @poisonedpenpress and @netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC!

Cordelia, a successful pharma rep, dressed to the nines, loves two people in the world, her college pal, Diane, and Diane's tween daughter Samantha. Cordelia's hobby of killing sexual predators and getting away with it exhibits her precise planning and execution skills but things begin to unravel when Diane starts dating someone Cordelia suspects is bad. Crazy things like a body in the bathtub, a lost friendship bracelet, a kidnapped dog, and a smiling cop combine to add humor and make this a thoroughly enjoyable read.

“This Girl’s a Killer” by Emma C. Wells follows a female serial killer who only kills men who deserve it- men who have somehow evaded justice. When her best friend begins dating someone she’s not sure is a good person, her world begins spinning out of control. What will she do to make sure her friend stays safe?
This book was SUCH a quick read. I was invested from page one. Cordelia Black is such an odd main character that you had to constantly wonder, “what will she do next?” I was torn- do I root for her? Or should she step back and find better ways to impart justice? It was a weird time mentally, haha.
In this book, you can clearly see Black’s heart and motivation, however misguided it might be. She’s a strong main character and her humor is so fun. In fact, this whole book reads as fun, which you wouldn’t think after hearing the premise.
In the end, this book was a 5 star read for me. It was quick, witty, and kept me on my toes. If you like a quick paced thriller, this is definitely the book for you!
Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for an eARC! This book comes out October 29th!

This book is a little farfetched, and I'm not in love with the writing style. There was a bit too much repetition of some elements, such as constantly looking for the "gray smoke" in the men's eyes or the emphasis on how much the protagonist loved designer clothing - mentioned almost ad nauseum. I do think the book has an interesting premise overall, however, and I think this would make for a really good book discussion. There are some meaty topics a group can discuss, and I think there will be good appeal to fans of a Janet Evanovich-type writing style - black humor, over-the-top situations, and a strong female protagonist.

A different twist of a traditional thriller, Author Emma C. Wells mixes the conventional “cereal” unaliver themes with humor—and it works! The FMC, Cordelia, is quick with her wit throughout the story as she permanently takes care of bad men. The dialogue is written well, and I laughed at several scenes.

Though a bit slow on the front end of the story, I got more engrossed in it as it progressed. It was overall entertaining.

This book was so good for me that once I picked it up and began reading I did not stop. Cordella Blak is a heck of a character on the pages. She is a killer, godmother, and a sales rep for a pharmaceutical company. She has a plan and a system for everything she does. Things slowly at first seem to unravel when the company has a recall on a drug that she has been selling. Then her best friend begins dating again, but she does not like the guy and her friend continues to try and set her up with a nice guy accepting that he is a cop and she is a killer. She only kills bad men who have committed crimes that police cannot make stick but everyone knows that they have done. Things are slowly beginning to hotwire but she is keeping it together when she makes an unexpected killing this throws everything into a tizzy but just for a little while. Nothing like getting her hair done will take care of. This book will keep you going and you will not only be wondering about the guy in the tub but also about the dog and the neighbor. Just a fantastic book.

Stunning book.
Ready for anything she writes again...loved it!
I thought I'd be able to predict the plot and outcome but this one was too difficult- I was fooled and enjoyed being wrong.

I loved it! The female Dexter vibes drew me in, and I couldn’t put it down. The characters were all well developed. Cordelia is a pharmaceutical rep, but is also a serial killer who kills very bad men. She is very disciplined and accounts for every detail.

I love that it was not as dark as I thought it would be and that it has some comedic parts that really work well. It seems like nothing goes right for Cordelia yet she pulls through.

This Girl is a Killer was an amazing reading. I can’t wait to read more from this author! Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the chance to leave my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed this one much more than I expected to. Great characters. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book