I’m sharing another instalment of my Mini Review Mondays, the most recent of which was the other week. In case you haven’t seen any of my previous posts, I do ‘mini’ reviews of books that I’ve previously read and am now ready to share my full thoughts about.
First up, I’d like to talk about Buyer Beware by Catherine Ryan Howard. Thank you to Bantam for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
When Ellie moves into 1 Delaney Row, all she has to her name is the house, a small suitcase and the terrible secrets she’s desperate to keep. But what she doesn’t know is that her new home is already hiding someone else’s secrets – and the people determined to keep them are watching her.
When a grim discovery prompts Ellie to find out more about the house’s past, she unwittingly puts herself on a deadly collision course not just with her new home’s history, but with her own as well…
Publication Date: 16th July
CW: murder, death, violence, manipulation, gaslighting, infidelity, cheating, blood, injury
My Thoughts:
Buyer Beware is a claustrophobic thriller that reels you in and then stabs you in the back. It spins a brilliant concept into a captivating and tightly plotted story that ensnares you from the first chapter.
Catherine Ryan Howard is a staple thriller writer for me. She has these fantastic ideas that bring some of your darkest fears on to the page and add layers to what you may initially assume about the characters, story and world of the book you are picking up. Her sense of atmosphere and voice is excellent and never fails to totally entrance me. Buyer Beware continues that trends and might just be my favourite work from her so far. It is such a trickster of a book with some fantastic surprises in store. This is a complex story that delves into important themes around relationships, power dynamics and the secrets we would all rather keep buried. Nothing is quite as it seems and there is this escalating sense of disaster as one domino after another falls.
It is built on a brilliant premise, making the ghosts of a place haunt you in unexpected ways and tapping into the imprint a legacy of violence leaves on a location. This is a familiar idea but the way Ryan Howard spins this yarn is something a little different. You will hear the creaks of an old house differently after picking this up. It is a nightmare made flesh and devolves wonderfully into chaos. That pacing is razor-sharp and taught as you feel the paranoia build and the mob mentality start to form. There are plenty of secrets and lies here, all coming together with the classic shudder of a small town. From the first chapter, the pacing is relentless and you feel trapped alongside Ellie.
Buyer Beware is a gripping story that plays on your expectations and undermines them in wonderful fashion. If you have not yet picked up Catherine Ryan Howard’s work, you are missing out.
Next up, I’d like to talk about Paint Me Like Your Dead Girls by Cynthia Murphy. Thank you to Penguin Random House Children’s UK for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
When aspiring crime journalist Fliss Keller uncovers a disturbing self-portrait of a man at an estate sale, her Art History professor dad buys it, despite how unsettled Fliss feels. The portrait has been lost for decades and completes a set of four existing paintings of women by the same artist already hanging in the town’s gallery.
That evening, the portrait falls to the floor, revealing paperwork inside the frame that suggests the artist was a serial killer and that the women depicted were his victims. Despite her alarm, Fliss vows to investigate and uncover the truth.
But when a series of gruesome murders rock the community, and some think the resurrection of the self-portrait has unleashed a curse, Fliss knows better than to believe them. There are shocking similarities between the poses of the modern-day murders and the painted women, and she’s sure there’s a copycat killer on the loose.
Racing against time, can Fliss unravel the clues before she becomes the murderer’s next muse?
Publication Date: 23rd July
CW: murder, death, violence, blood, gore
My Thoughts:
Paint Me Like Your Dead Girls is another smash-hit from a powerhouse writer. Cynthia Murphy is an incredible talent, especially within the YA thriller space with a horror twist that I adore.
This brings another brilliant idea to realisation in a story that will stay in your mind long after the final page. Her work has this refreshing mix of history and present narratives that flesh out the world of this story and give a three-dimensional feel.
All of her previous book are endlessly inventive and walk this fascinating line between reality and something a little more supernatural. The interplay she has heightens the tension and paranoia experienced by the characters and has just the right amount of ambiguity. They are delivered in a way where it feels plausible but also heavily leans on the monstrosity of humanity. These are books that are steeped in blood and darkness that humans have wrought and this make just have cast a shadow elsewhere at the same time.
This book closely looks at the legacy of violence and how it can be overlooked in the pursuit of greatness. There is a bloody footprint in this section of art history and there is a question throughout of just how deadly the artwork is. The idea of the muse, particularly when focused on beautiful, vulnerable young women, and how historically this has been exploited is explored wonderfully. I loved how Fliss’ investigation dovetails the history and present mystery with the obvious parallels that she immediately draws. It shows the throughline in that conversation about the pursuit of art against the cost of human life and how that conversation has evolved in the modern day. There are uncomfortable questions asked about how we should evaluate history in the weighing of these artists and their continued impact.
Paint Me Like Your Dead Girls is a killer read. It is brilliantly paced with a fascinating and frightening mystery at its heart, but also exploring the intriguing world of art history.
Finally, I’d like to delve into Below The Deck by Nikki Allen. Thank you to Pan Macmillan for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
All aboard for one killer voyage.
On a sun-soaked voyage around enchanting French Polynesia, three rising stars, their CEO and their partners are living the dream: cocktails, coral reefs, and the promise of reward after a year of hard work.
But as the tight quarters of their luxury superyacht close in, tensions emerge – not just between the guests, but the jaded crew serving them. Soon, secrets surface, marriages crack, and danger stalks guests below the deck. And when a passenger is found dead, it’s clear the glossy facade has shattered forever.
Because here on the high seas, everyone’s hiding something – and no one can escape what they’ve done…
Publication Date: 30th July
CW: death, murder, violence, blood, injury, sexual assault, harassment, domestic violence, cheating
My Thoughts:
Below the Deck takes the trip of a lifetime and turns it into nightmare fuel. This is a book that understand creeping dread and wields it as the weapon it is.
Nikki Allen is an exciting talent in the destination thriller space, transforming these luxurious experiences into dark and bloody stories that expose the capability humanity has to destroy one another. They play on these psychological torments and the various power dynamics at hand with some excellent twists and turns. I thoroughly enjoyed The Hideaway and this proves that Allen is a name to watch. This is a brilliantly tense and twisty story that cuts into some of our darkest fears.
I enjoyed the suspense throughout and the way you were just waiting for the storm to hit. Right from the start, you know this trip will end in death, but not quite how it will all play out. It is an exhilarating rollercoaster of a read with sharp pacing and tension that threatens to engulf you. Each of these characters has something to hide and I enjoyed putting together the puzzle pieces between their points of view. They all felt distinctive and three-dimensional, brought together by their success in their jobs now turned against them as everything spirals into chaos. The way their stories start to intersect with the oncoming disaster is excellent and builds to a brilliant crescendo.
Below the Deck will change your view on a luxury yacht vacation – it taps into that peculiar fascination and revulsion. It peels back the curtain on these glamorous locations and shows the rotten heart of those who exploit it.
A Short Book Lover 
Ohh paint me like your dead girl is on my list!
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I hope you love it as much as I did!
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