Cordelia’s well constructed and maintained life is falling apart. A successful pharmaceutical rep, her main product has just been pulled from the market due to life threatening side effects. She has been using the drug for her hobby, which is to murder monsters….abusers, predators, pedophiles. Now that the authorities have discovered a number of men missing, the press wonders if there is a serial killer afoot. The only good thing in Cordelia’s life is her found family; longtime friend, Diane and Diane's daughter to whom she is totally devoted. When a new man in Diane’s life raises Cordelia’s suspicion that he may be a monster, her well thought out plans go awry.

This started out as a decent thriller, but for me, became a bit of a farce. There is a lot of introspection, dithering, and some ludicrous situations. Despite the dark theme, there is humor and a slapstick quality to the story. Think the I Love Lucy character as Dexter! For many, this will be an entertaining read.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #PoisonedPenPress for the DRC.

Ask Cordelia Black why she did it. The answer will always be: He had it coming.

Cordelia Black loves exactly three things: Her chosen family, her hairdresser (worth every penny plus tip), and killing bad men.

This hooked you from the very beginning and didn't release you until the very end.

Okay, so I binged this in a day! It was such an adrenaline rush and I was so engrossed in the story. It did seem to get a little over wordy and repetitive towards the middle and end but overall I really enjoyed this book! I definitely knew how the book was going to end but I liked the journey and how it all came together. A serial killer who only kills the bad guys, whose world starts to fall apart one piece at a time. Will she be caught? Will the cop she is casually dating catch on? Will her secrets stay hidden? This was like a mix between Finlay Donovan and Dexter and I think it was a very solid debut popcorn thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The premise of This Girl's a Killer sounded right up my alley. A girl who kills monsters? Heck yes! While overall the story was good, it began to get so repetitive that I started skimming some chapters. I knew I didn't want to DNF the book, but it was getting to that point until the last few chapters came to light. The ending was fine, but it also didn't wow me. This book has a lot of potential and I wish it had been better, but it also wasn't terrible.

This girl's a killer is a pretty predictable read to be honest. There are parts of the book which I loved a lot and then there are parts of the book which I hated more than what I loved. Still I could finish it fast because I wanted to know what will happen next. So I will give that "this book kept me hooked throughout" point.

Cordelia Black is obsessed with herself and her friend, she thinks highly of herself. Too highly I suppose because the mistakes she made along the way were too dumb to call someone smart. Too rooky even. When she kept calling herself "sweet Cordelia" or kept referring to herself as "The Cordelia Black" my eye twitched. There were so many moments where she referred herself as the third "Grand" person who never makes mistakes, I could not stop myself from rolling me eyes . Hard.

When you are supposed to be a serial killer you can not make such mistakes. And when you make rooky mistakes, are you even smart??

This was a good book, but so many things could have been better. The character development according to me was poor, it wasn't clear (to me) what happened with Cordelia exactly. Also I'm all up for vigilante type of feminist but there is stuff in the book which is just very gross and I could not get over it. I know men can be monsters and they deserve hell for the crimes they commit but I could not just ignore the uncomfortable feeling it felt me with.

If not for that I would have rated it higher but it was really disturbing. It gave me Dexter vibes and I never liked Dexter no matter what he did.

Thank you Netgalley and poisoned pen press for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

I don't typically root for the serial killer, but this story is so unique and enthralling that you will be hanging onto every word. A fantastic read!

This Girls A Killer is a debut thriller by Emma Wells, and I can not believe it’s her first book! It’s going to be a best seller, FOR SURE! It’s a masterpiece, it’s interesting, engaging, and will keep you coming back for more!

Cordelia works in pharmaceuticals full time, and dabbles in murder part time, with a wardrobe anyone would die for! Cordelia is a serial killer who believes that she is the karma that eliminated bad men.
Cordelia’s best friend, Diane, starts dating someone new, but Cordelia is suspicious that he is not exactly who he says he is. What is he hiding?
How far will Cordelia go to protect her best friend and Goddaughter? And will she get caught?

Thank you to netgalley and poisoned pen press for the ARC of This Girls a Killer in exchange for my honest review.
This book is set to be released September 10, 2024
Solid 4.5 stars!

I enjoyed this very much. I am a sucker for books where the killer uses her powers to rid the world of criminals. I like the thought of people being punished for their bad deeds. The beginning was great. The middle portion slowed down quite a bit. After she kills a man on impulse, the book became all about disposing of the body. Which took up at least half of the book. I feel that this book shows enough promise that I would happily read another book by this author.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. I voluntarily wrote this review.

Oh, man, what a tense read! Cordelia has nerves of steel, which just reiterates how bad I would be as a killer. Have never cheered for a murderer more. Then again, she’s not a murderer, she’s a monster killer. A hero. Fun, dark, stuff!

The story of Cordelia Black. a pharmaceutical rep. who seeks to rid the world of men who prey on women. Things begin to fall apart when the drug she uses to incapacitate her victims is under investigation for deadly side effects. Cordelia is called to provide proof of her sales of the drug . Unfortunately, she has been falsifying the information by paying a doctor to sign off on the sales. Her life is further complicated when her best friend starts dating a predator and Cordelia herself is seeing a police officer. With reports of a serial killer, Cordelia's life seems to be falling apart. Will she manage to get herself out of the current situation and continue her goal of killing predators?
Interesting character.
#ThisGirlsaKiller #PoisonedPenPress #NetGalley

This Girl's a Killer || Emma C. Wells

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book. Book is out October 29,2024!

"When I held a blade and stared down at the bad man tethered to my table, stress melted away--it was only me and my monster, and a single goal:justice. Here in my workshop, I was my authentic self. The world may do nothing for women--but within these four walls--Cordelia Black did."

Cordelia Black loves nothing in more in this world than her best friend, her goddaughter, dressing to kill in designer clothes, and ridding the world of evil men. She is a meticulous person who does things carefully so her secret hobby of exterminating bad men and making art out of their blood can continue to go under the radar.

However, Cordelia's life takes a turn when her best friend starts dating a guy who seems to be malicious, but she cannot quite pinpoint his intent. When this guy figures out Cordelia's darkest secret, Cordelia learns his as well, and now her carefully orchestrated life is threatened to be uncovered.

This was an excellent debut novel by Emma C. Wells! I flew through it. There is gruesome details and discussion of difficult subjects (r*pe, ab*se (both animal and human), p*dophila), but only the extermination of the bad men were in detail. She also crafts a special memento of each eradication. If you don't like the idea of blood, this would not be the book for you. I would classify this more as a thriller than a horror and the last 50% of the book had my anxiety spiking. This book comes out right before Halloween and the perfect book to pick up during spooky season while listening to Taylor Swift's "No Body No Crime".

-thriller
-female anti-hero
-female vigilante
-female serial killer
-blood and gore
-fast paced
-1st person POV
-ARC, out 10/29/2024

It's interesting to see a female serial killer. It's an entertaining story, but I had some difficulty caring about the characters, especially Cordelia. I hate it when people refer to themselves in the third person. I can see why it was done in this story, but it was done so much that it really got annoying.

Wow. How could anyone rate this less than 5 stars?!

🖤 Found Family
🔪 Feminine Rage
🖤 Bestie Energy
🔪 Girl Dexter

If you’re into The Mind F series, The Ruinous Love Trilogy (B&B, L&L) and badass FMC then this is your next read. Cordelia Black is one bad b****! In the day time, she’s a designer wearing business woman. She’s loyal to her chosen family, her best friend Diane and Diane’s daughter Sugar. At night, she performs her ritual of killing bad men known as the monsters of Southern Louisiana. When Diane starts dating someone named Simon, who Cordelia questions his motives, things take a bit of a turn…

𝑨𝒔𝒌 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒂 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒊𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒃𝒆: 𝑯𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈.

Thank you for this read, Emma C. Wells! I had the pleasure of reading an ARC copy from Net Galley 🫶🏻

📚🔪👩‍🎨 BOOK REVIEW! 👩‍🎨🔪📚

If you love the Finlay Donovan series, try:

This Girl's A Killer by Emma C. Wells
Genre: Thriller
Length: 432 pages
Pub. Date: Oct. 29, 2024

Thank you to @NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the e-ARC of this book. The opinions expressed are my own.

Cordelia Black is a self-made, successful 33 year-old pharmaceutical sales rep with a real passion for her found family - best friend since college, Diane, and her daughter Sugar. She also has another passion: making the world a better place by hunting abusive men and murdering them in her handy storage unit. If that premise doesn't pique your interest, I'm not sure what will! 🤣 Cordelia has been carrying on her 'second job' easily for years, but she gets in over her head when she ends up having to make a very sudden and unplanned kill. This begins a spiral of cat-and-mouse with her job, family, and new love interest who happens to be a local policeman. Will Cordelia get away with (another) murder - especially if the victim is a little too close to home??

Opinion:
This book was a really fun and surprising gem! It definitely gave off Finlay Donovan vibes, but the premise is certainly unique as you pull back the layers of Cordelia's life and circumstances. It was definitely more gruesome and descriptive as far as the murders go, so be aware of this if you are looking for a thriller without the gory details. I really loved Cordelia as a MC and hope the author continues her adventures in vigilantism as is hinted at the end of the book. Definitely pick this one up for a fast-paced ride, with some definite humor involved! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you #poisonedpenpress and #netgalley for this #arc of #thisgirlsakiller. Dexter vibes? A code to live by? Yesss!! This debut book is a 3.5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, rounded up, for me. Cordelia Black (her name screams success) is a successful pharmaceutical sales rep by day and lives by her code a night. The term serial killer is thrown around, but Cordelia Black is not about to accept this term. This story is filled with love, friendship, deceit, determination, success, and justice. In all honesty, my rating is based on a few things I would’ve liked to see have some closure. Sugar’s reaction to everything. Christopher. The pharmaceuticals sales. We had more closure on Mango, who became one of my favorite characters and I often found myself trying to imitate all of the chortling and yodeling little Mango was doing!
Thanks for the fun read.

This Girl's a Killer
By Emma C. Wells

This is the story of Cordelia Black – an avenging angel of justice, out to right the wrongs perpetrated by evil men on the weak and vulnerable. In short, a serial killer. Cordelia tells her story in her own words, the horror of what she does, while trying to justify her actions to the reader – and to herself.

I did not read the whole book. I just couldn't find anything about this story that grabbed and held my interest. Maybe there is an audience for this kind of thing. I am not part of that audience.

Let’s be honest here— Cordelia was a really bad serial killer. She roped too many outsiders into it, displayed her bloody paintings for anyone to see, and had her workshop in a literal storage facility. Girl! The people who work there have skeleton keys! She caused almost all of her own problems and it eventually became very frustrating to read. Her particular brand of millennial girlbossery is also not a character trait I care to read about.

I could not tell if the smoke was supposed to be a metaphor or if she actually had some kind of Shining thing going on. I also felt the reveal that Joanie was her past self that she had “killed” did not have the impact on me that the author intended. It unfortunately ended up seeming corny instead of seeming like a big plot twist.

Finally, the author trying to have her My Year of Rest and Relaxation 9/11 moment at the end with a thinly veiled Brock Turner reference left a very bad taste in my mouth. It felt extremely disrespectful to use a real woman’s trauma in order to wrap up Cordelia’s character arc.

This was not a book for me whatsoever, but I imagine book clubs will really enjoy it a few years in the future.

This was a super fun page turner about a female Dexter killer, who rids the world of bad men who do bad things. But what does she do when such a man is her best friend's boyfriend? Well... you can guess. (Spoiler alert: his head may end up in her freezer. And who among us hasn't wanted to but her best friends a-hole boyfriend's head in the freezer?)

This was a creative, fun, funny romp that basically turned its own pages until I could find out how in the world our heroine would get away with this. I loved this author's voice as well as her plotting and concept, with a feminist tone and a hilarious and humorous bent. I will be eagerly awaiting Emma Wellls's next novel (and btw, I'd love a sequel!)

This one captured my attention right away but it was short lived. I thought the main character was always stating how “organized” she was or how she never missed any details but kept continually missing something. As a popcorn thriller, it was fine but if this one is trying to market anything other than that, I would say it misses the mark completely. I think the book could use a good edit scrub before it gets published as well. But I appreciate the gifted copy!

Cordelia Black is a doting godmother to her best friend’s daughter, a successful pharmaceutical rep, and an artist. She’s also a serial killer, purging Baton Rouge of unpunished men who have committed atrocious crimes. This Girl’s A Killer is a total blast from start to finish! Having a female protagonist who’s also a prolific killer is rare enough in this genre, but having one so likable is even rarer. And that’s why this debut novel works so well, as the reader can’t help but fall in love with Cordelia, as well as her goddaughter Samantha, and the dialogue when the two of them are together is priceless. When the man Cordelia’s BFF is dating gives off bad vibes, her carefully constructed hidden life starts to unravel and everything that could possibly go wrong does, and the reader is along for a harrowing ride, filled with suspense, tension, and more than a few laughs. This was a completely enjoyable read, and can’t wait for this author’s next novel. Five stars! I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.