Deadly Animals is a wild ride. It’s a bit slow at times, and the pacing felt off at times too. Still, it’s a unique and interesting premise. This wasnt for me, but people who enjoy police procedurals or more slow burn thrillers will love this book.

DNF at 30%.
I found this book very slow and boring. The characters have a lot of in-depth descriptions, but I just found myself not caring. There's a lot to digest in this book. Also did not appreciate jokes made about SA on minors. Def did not want to continue after that.

Ava’s unusual fascination with animal decomposition leads her to a chilling discovery—the body of a classmate. Her curiosity doesn’t stop there, pulling her deeper into a mystery drenched in folklore, this is a hauntingly unique read that sticks with you.

It's a great book. I did like the main character Ava, who's 13, but has a head for science. When young boys start to go missing and are then found murdered, Ava investigates. She forms a connection to the main detective, Delaheye. Ava is fascinated by decay and anatomy, She finds 2 bodies with one she preserves evidence. Whilst I did love Avas relationship with the police I also do not believe that they would have shared the detail they did with her. I did guess the murderer early on, but this did not affect my enjoyment of the read. It's a super gory debut.

A quirky little book. It does some interesting things with the amateur detective genre, and the MC is one to root for. A slow burn with a decent payoff.

Although this eerie, macabre, and gruesome (in places) novel is the writer’s debut offering, the characters and setting are well developed. It was creepier and darker than my usual suspense and mystery reads. Yet at the same time the action moves slowly. I would not call it an exciting police procedural. Certain readers will love Deadly Animals; while not for everyone, it is a solid debut.,

A rather steady police procedural. Honestly the only thing that made it slightly stand out was Ava as a character. She seemed to make a lot of rather stupid decisions regarding the police while being extremely smart and intuitive otherwise. The last chapter seemed like the author pushed a lot into a small amount of time. Perhaps drawing out the ending so we could have time to really dig into the killers motive and past would have been nice. I would say a solid 3.5/5.
I received a ARC of this title, all opinions are my own.

I want to be like Ava Bonney when I grow up.

Ava is a fourteen-year-old amateur forensic pathologist, who studies the rate of decomposition of dead animals she finds in the woods. One night when conducting her research, she stumbles across the body of a missing child and fellow classmate. Being only fourteen years old, out late at night, and not wanting others to find out her hobby, she places an anonymous call the police. This story follows the investigations conducted by both Ava and the police of what happened to this child. The story is told through both Ava's point of view, and the point of view of Detective Delahaye.

At times I felt as though the story dragged on a bit, and I did prefer Ava's chapters more. But I did enjoy the contrasting POVs. Overall, a very interesting and original concept for a book. I can't wait to see what else this author publishes.

Ava knows she’s different and she’s okay with that. She enjoys studying roadkill and records her findings in her red notebook. She obsesses over this and has experiments she conducted on the roadkill.

During one search, she finds the body of a missing child. This missing, now dead child, is the first of many. Ava finds herself trying to connecting the dots with what is going on.

This story also gives POV from Seth, the detective in charge of the missing children case. He was a likable character but the chapters from Ava’s POV were my favorite because I loved her obsessive and unique mind. Neurodivergent representation - yes !

Very impressive as a debut!

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holy & Company for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In 1981, the quiet town of Rubery, England, is shaken by a string of murders, with 14-year-old Ava Bonney at the center. Fascinated by death and decomposition, Ava’s nighttime animal studies lead her to a human body. Using a fake voice, "Miss Misty," she calls in crucial tips to the police, who are baffled by the case. While they suspect wild animals, Ava’s sharp observations point to someone with clinical lycanthropy. This dark, suspenseful debut has a gripping start and a fantastic ending, with Ava’s eerie brilliance stealing the show. Four stars!

Deadly Animals definitely isn’t a light whodunit. It’s a grim and often disturbing mystery—not exactly the kind of story that will help you relax at the end of the day. But if you’re not the type to shy away from dark crime dramas, you’ll enjoy this grisly read.

Full review published on NightsAndWeekends.com and aired on Shelf Discovery.

This book is such a wild mix of vibes. Ava is one of the most unique characters I’ve ever read—dark, quirky, and surprisingly likeable. The whole “roadkill body farm” thing? Super weird but oddly fascinating. That said, the pacing dragged in places, and some parts felt a little too far-fetched. It’s not for the faint of heart, with some heavy themes like animal cruelty and child trauma, but if you’re into slow-burn, dark, and unusual stories, it’s worth checking out.

1981 was quite a year for the town of Rubery, England, and for a 14-year-old girl named Ava Bonney. This small town sees some petty crimes, some graffiti, but nothing like what this year has in store. And young Ava? I wonder if she sensed something was coming; this is a very astute young lady, with a mind that doesn’t work like others.

Ava has different interests than most teen girls, the biggest one being her love for death and decomposition. Don’t think she’s harmful though - she has nothing but respect for the road kill and other dead animals she finds. She brings them to her special hiding place, then takes notes like a laboratory student on how they break down, what environmental factors play a role, how they might have died and what their skeletons are like. After they are done decomposing, she buries them all and says a prayer over them.

It’s one night when she’s out to look at a fox she recently obtained when she sees her first dead human body next to it. It’s a young boy, and of course Ava is freaking out. She calls emergency services and puts on a posh woman’s accent to report the obvious murder, knowing they would never listen to a child who was in the woods at 2 a.m., checking on a dead fox. When the police get there, Detective Delahaye begins the investigation, but he does get some things wrong…

Soon, more young boys go missing, and Ava is always the one to find them. When she realizes Detective Delahaye needs help, she keeps calling with crucial information, always using the same voice which the police come to start calling “Miss Misty”. The police think deadly animals may be the cause of this, but Ava believes this is a case of clinical lycanthropy. Yes, the boys all had numerous bite marks, but they were clearly human bite marks - she knows, she found them. They were all found curled up near dead canines. She believes this is someone who thinks they are a werewolf and acts as such, and the police start taking her seriously.

This book was so good - it got slow in the middle, but the beginning and (especially) the ending were FANTASTIC. Ava is a great character, and while she is the main character, I wish the book spent more time on her and her mind. Those are my only complaints though, this book is feral, gory, suspenseful and creepy as hell. This being a debut only makes it that much more impressive. Four stars!

(Thank you to Henry Holt & Co., Marie Tierney and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)

[TW/CW: Gory scenes, blood, graphic sexual abuse, toxic family relationships, underage sexual abuse]

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Fourteen-year-old Ava Bonney is unlike other children. She has an obsessive interest in the rate at which dead animals decompose. The motorway she lives by regularly offers up roadkill, and in the dead of night, Ava likes nothing more than to pull her latest discovery into her roadside den and record her findings.

One night, she stumbles across the body of her classmate Mickey Grant, and fearing that her secret ritual could be revealed, she makes an anonymous call to the police. When Detective Seth Delahaye is given the case, Ava won’t step back—not when teenagers in her sleepy South Birmingham town are going missing.
Release Date: November 12th, 2024
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 368
Rating: ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Cover is pretty
2. Lots of in-depth character development
3. Some parts of book interesting

What I Didn't Like:
1. Boring
2. So unbelievably slow
3. Found myself not caring about characters

Final Thoughts:
Perhaps the problem with this book lies with me. I found this book very slow and boring. I found myself wondering about other things as I was reading it. There's a lot to digest in this book and I think I stopped carrying 20% into it. The characters have a lot of in-depth descriptions and I never felt like they were underwritten, but I just didn't care about who did it or why they did it, which if you don't care about those things then the book's not for you.

There is a lot of sensitive subject matter in this book such as sexual assault of minors that really is just kind of joked about at certain points in the book. Those parts made me feel uncomfortable. I don't think two PC Detectives would be making jokes of a situation of this matter

I got 50% into this book before I decided it wasn't for me and I was just going to dnf it.

IG | Blog

Thanks to Netgalley and Henry Holt and Co for the ebook & thanks to Macmillan Audio for the audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
9 likes

I am so conflicted about this book. I loved the characters. I loved the uniqueness of the voices the author, not to mention the narrator, gave to them. I am conflicted about the descriptions of animal death and cruelty. With all of that, the book should have flown by. Instead it seemed to drag at points, making me force myself to push through them. Overall, I'd read about these people again.

This was a great spooky murder mystery with one of the best MCs I’ve read in a while. Am hoping for a second in this series with Ava as the lead, a fresh Nancy drew.

Deadly Animals by Marie Tierney, it’s the early 1980s and Ava Bonnie lives with her neglectful mom and little sister Vivian. she’s 14 and obsessed with death from a scientific and research viewpoint so on the night she sneaks out to go check on the decay of a dead fox. She finds her missing classmate in a ditch near the fox and he is also dead. since it was 2:30 in the morning and she had no excuse or at least not a good one for being out, she used one of her mini voices to call 999 to alert them of the dead boy. Little does little Ava know, but this is going to start her on a new career along with her best friend John, as an amateur slueth where the case takes her and lieutenant detective. Seth Delahay. on the wild and crazy ride because this will not be the only child taken, and although they have some good suspects, the real perpetrator is going to be a much stranger animal. There was so much to this book and I really am not doing it justice with this simple review. This is a fast entertaining read. I thought Ava was such a great character and so likable along with Lieutenant detective Seth and his partner, little Ava was so smart, and it all seem so believable. This was just a great book with likable and lovable characters that usually don’t find murder mystery. At certain points, I thought I knew who the perpetrator was but Miss Tierney is such a skillful writer that I would start to doubt myself when you think the impossible is impossible… Think again. This was a great read. #NetGalley, #HenryHoltAndCompany, #MarieTierney, #DeadlyAnimals,

I cannot believe this is a debut! This book was so gripping, I was hooked until the very last page. If all of Tierney's work is this amazing, I can't wait to read more!

This is a very engrossing and well written story. The character development is good and the pacing is perfect. I would recommend this! Special Thank You to Marie Tierney, Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am so thankful to Henry Holt Books, Macmillan Audio, Marie Tierney, and Netgalley for granting me advanced access to this galley before publication day. I really enjoyed the dialogue and plot of this book and can’t wait to chat this one up with my friends!