Deadly Animals is an atmospheric story of a teenager who knows she a little bit different than everyone else. She enjoys studying roadkill and the time it takes to decompose. While documenting her latest roadside victim, she stumbles upon the body of a missing child- who’s now no longer missing, but dead. As more children go missing in her town, she finds herself at the middle of an investigation that is far from reality, but enjoyable just the same. The story comes full circle and is well told. The premise and building suspense kept me wanting more. While not necessarily believable, the story doesn’t stray far from potential truth- read into that how you’d like.

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for this ALC!

deadly animals by marie tierney 🖤 finding a dead body is not normal but ava is not a normal 14 year old girl. in this chilling mystery, only the obsessive spirit of youth can save a desperate town from the savagery within.

this serial killer mystery (with light horror) is set in birmingham, england which made for a fun debut read! I was a big fan of tierney’s descriptive writing style but at times, in order to cover all of the case information, it drug on a bit and was hard to get invested in. the charcter list is a looong one but all felt necessary*ish* to the plot! I guessed who the killer was early on but the reader is meant to find out the identity of the killer prior to the end as you dive into the WHY of their actions 🐺

trigger: the killer is targeting young children- boys! & animal abuse!

the audiobook narrator (olivia dowd) had an accent that instantly transported me to england in the 80’s, even if it meant I had to slow down my listening speed, hehe! thank you macmillan audio for an early copy 🎧 2.5 stars!

Such an enthralling book. I wasn't expecting much from what seemed like another police procedural with a YA twist, but this audiobook kept me rewinding so I could catch all the intensity and detail.

"Monsters should look like monsters, John thought. Otherwise it was unfair."

There was so much complexity wrapped into this novel about a serial killer of children in the early 1980s in South Birmingham, England. I was rapt through the entire experience.

Especially interesting was the bonus wrap-up between the narrator and the author in the afterward, which brought home so much of the scenery, characterization and plot. As a first novelist, Marie Tierney dazzles.

I haven't read a mystery in a while but I love watching mystery shows and police procedurals so I figured I would give this book a shot. I surprised myself with how much I enjoyed the story. I really liked the characters and the way the book was told in multiple perspectives. This book definitely felt like watching an episode of Criminal Minds or Broadchurch. I was completely engrossed in the story and what was happening to the boys in town.
I will say I wasn't shocked by the culprit but the story wasn't set up in a way that it actually mattered if you guessed or not. This book was definitely about the journey and not the destination.
My only criticism is that I got the audio and I didn't really care for the narrator. She did a fine job in some places but in others her voice just didn't seem right. I think I would have liked this just that much more if I had read it instead of listened. Still this is a solid work and definitely one I would recommend.

Ava is a very smart teenager with extensive knowledge of death and decomposition. After finding a dead body, she sets out to find out who the killer is while feeding information to the police without telling them it’s her.

Unfortunately this book was spoiled for me before I had a chance to read it, so I already knew what to expect. I decided to still listen to it since I was given an ARC copy in exchange for a review.

Even though I knew the outcome ahead of time, the story still unfolded decently. It was quite slow at times, and I felt like there was a lot going on with a lot of different characters that didn’t really add to the story. It was a good story overall, and the narration was great, but I found myself losing interest and checking how much time was left quite often, just trying to power through it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Audiobook/book Review 🎧📖🔎

Deadly Animals
by Marie Tierney
Narrated by Olivia Dowd

Thank you so much partner @henryholtbooks @macmillan.audio #macaudio2024 for the gifted copy and audiobook!

About the book 👇🏽

Ava Bonney is a compassionate and studious fourteen-year-old girl with a dark secret: she has an obsessive interest in the macabre. She is fascinated by the rate at which dead animals decompose. The highway she lives by regularly offers up gifts of roadkill, and in the dead of night Ava loves 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 and, fearing that her secret ritual could be revealed, she makes an anonymous call to the police. But when Detective Seth Delahaye is given the case, Ava won’t step back—not while teenagers continue to go missing.

🔎 My thoughts:

Ava is a fascinating character and made this story sooo good! She is incredibly smart and the amount of knowledge she has was incredible. I loved to see it because the mind of a child is truly a sponge and I wish I was able to retain information the way I used to. The mystery is pretty easy but it’s Ava that made this story unique in the best way. I hybrid read this by reading the physical book and switched to the audiobook when I had to do things around the house and I enjoyed both versions. Olivia Dowd did a terrific job bringing this story to life. Reading and listening to this story unfold was quite the experience. It’s paced perfectly and was hard not to devour. If you’re looking for a refreshing mystery for your weekend read, this is the one you need to pick up! Deadly Animals is out now!

Happy reading 📖 🔎🎧

Ava is obsessed with dead animals. But when she stumbles upon the dead body of a classmate, she becomes determined to find the killer before she is his next prey.

This one leans more on the side of horror than thriller so definitely check trigger warnings.

I personally believe I would have enjoyed the physical book over the audio because I felt the narrator hard to follow at times. Nothing against the narrator, just personal preference. I also felt the story dragged a bit and could have been a short story instead.

Pub date 11/12/24. Thanks so much to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for my ALC.

Deadly Animals follows Ava Bonney, a young teenager who happens upon the body of one of the local boys that had gone missing. Ava knows that this wasn't the kill site for Mickey. After calling in a tip using a fake name and voice Ava is giving leads to the police. With the help from Ava, Detective Seth Delahaye finds where Mickey had been held and killed and really no clues on who might be the killer. Now with another boy missing Ava believes that these cases are connected. Dectective Delahaye feels like he is running out of time and suspects. The one suspect that they are interested in has served time as a sex offender with boys and now is missing. Ava and her friend John have stumbled onto another body that happens to be the second missing child. John and Ava have made a murder borard trying to link the boys dissapearance and what they know from each crime scene to solve the crime. This book was unbelievably good and will keep you on your toes til the very end. I loved how strong and smart Ava was and she wasn't afraid to speak her mind even to the police. I would like to think both NetGalley and Mcmillan Audio for giving me an advanced copy of this audio book.

I love this type of book. It's gritty and the murder victims are young witch makes it horrible but the main character is a 14 year old teen who has a very sharp mind and finds the first body by accident, from there she decides to investigate in secret voluntary some help to the police without their knowledge. The audiobook has a great narrator for this one. I couldn't put it down. Felt like I was watching a movie. The police investigating starts to realize how smart Ava is, and he rethinks what girls are supposed to behave or look like.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Henry Holt & Company, and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of this debut novel by Marie Tierney, with the audiobook perfectly narrated by Olivia Dowd. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars!

Ava is not a normal teenager. She has an obsessive interest in dead animals and how they compose. She collects roadkill in the middle of the night and pulls them into her den, recording her findings in notebooks. But one night, she comes across the body of her classmate, Mickey. Worried that she might be in trouble for her nighttime activities, she makes an anonymous phone call to the police. Detective Delahaye begins investigating, and Ava does her best to help, because more teenagers are going missing.

This is a wonderful debut and I would love to see it become a series, because the combination of Ava and the detective were wonderful! Ava's character is amazing - having a tough home life, she is strong, intelligent, interested in everything, helpful, very respective. While the subject matter is definitely dark, it's not overly graphic or gratuitous, though still sad and disturbing. This story takes place in the 1980s; there was an interview between narrator and author at the end of the audiobook which explained that the author wanted the mystery to not be easily solved with modern advances in DNA. So it's nostalgic, with a small town feel, and the alternating POV between Ava and the detective in short chapters were perfect to engage the reader with this story. Anxious to read more from this author!

I'm happy that so many early readers are loving this book. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me at all.

I liked Ava's character. She's precocious and smart and fearless. No one else stood out for me. The other kids, parents, and even the investigating detectives were dull.

I figured out the killer early on.

Pacing dragged. I didn't find the investigation interesting at all.

I alternated between a print copy and the audiobook. I thought Olivia Dowd did a great job with Ava's narrating parts, but I needed a second narrator for the detective's parts. Dowd's voice didn't change much at all, in tone or otherwise, with the different characters, so it all just blended together and I drifted away.

Just beyond the halfway point, I found I didn't even care. I skipped to the final chapters to see if I was right. I was.

*Thanks to Henry Holt for the free ARC, and to Macmillan Audio for the free audiobook download.*

4.5 rounded up for this new series wherein a bright, nearly 14-year-old girl in Northern England in the 1980s aids the police in solving a series of grisly murders. It’s dark and rife with neglectful parents and the bones of animals. The audiobook is well narrated and evocative. i can’t wait to listen to the next one in the series!
My thanks to the author, publisher, producer, and #NetGalley for early access to the audiobook for review purposes. Publication date: Nov 12, 2024.

I feel like Ava and Wednesday Addams would be best friends. This book is a great quick listen. It's got an excellent plot, and the narration is fantastic! It is great for anyone who loved the Nancy Drew books or the Hardy Boys; I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good mystery!

Ava was such a curiosity of a young girl. She was so authentically odd in such an endearing way. She proves that just because something or someone is uncommon or unusual does not make them bad, in fact in her case it makes her so deeply good. I loved the suspense, the oddity, the absolute strangeness of this crime novel. While getting deeply invested in the characters and the mystery of it all, I was also super impressed with the writing and the phenomenal narration. Thank you Marie Tierney, NetGalley and MacMillan Audio!

I am definitely in the minority, but I had a hard time getting into this book. I listened via audiobook and part of me wonders if it was the narrator I struggled with. Other readers have given fantastic reviews, so I think it’s certainly worth trying out.

This book was a little too slow for my particular taste, but I think others will enjoy it. The premise and story were great!

Ava is not your typical 14-year-old girl. She is obsessed with the decomposition of dead animals. Suddenly she finds herself at the center of the investigation of a series of murders when she finds more than one of the dead bodies.

I will say that enjoyed the narrator, but did not feel like it was a good fit for this story. Obviously, I know that children are often narrated by adults, but I think the narrator's accent just made Ava sound much older than she was. Since the same narrator was used for the chapters from the male detective's POV, it was hard to keep them separated.

Overall, the story was interesting, but it wasn't necessarily my favorite.

4.5 stars. Birmingham, England 1981: 13 year-old Ava Bonney is unlike other teenagers. First of all, she keeps a level head in almost any situation. But secondly, she studies the dead to learn what she can from decomposition. As she is engaging in her hobby, she finds the body of a local bully and calls it in to the police. This is only the start of a number of strange murders that take place in Ava's vicinity and she does what she can to help the police. Detective Seth Delahaye is on the case but mostly, Ava is the star investigator.
This novel was fantastic and I'm very happy to report that it's the start of a new series starring Ava. Love that it takes place in the 80s so it was more difficult to investigate the murders and other strange happenings.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio e-arc.*

3 stars

The premise of this sounded so intriguing to me, and the narrator of the audiobook is exceptional. Overall, this is a worthwhile debut.

Ava, the m.c., is just the kind of quirky character that makes for a compelling focal point, especially in horror featuring younger characters. She is a truly unique individual, and that assessment is not limited to her peculiar interests, which are highlighted from the jump.

While I enjoyed many aspects of this, particularly the way they were delivered by this outstanding narrator, I found myself frustrated with the pacing more than once (transparently to the point of nearly lost focus). There are enough positives to have me interested in reading more from this author, but prospective readers may be well served by more realistic expectations about the pacing.

I look forward to reading more from this writer.

Wow. I have a million things to day but I don't want to do any spoilers. I just love any references to feral children and little girls doing not "girly" things. I love our protagonist!
I love the narration.

Some of the characterization was really well done, but ultimately the theory of criminality left me disappointed.



Review copy provided by publisher.