Book Review: THE MURDERER'S GIRL

Title: The Murderer's Girl

Author: KL Murphy

Publisher: Level Best Books

Pages: 308

My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

 

Gordon Little, whose podcast, Catch a Criminal, went viral with the cold case he last investigated, is now in small-town Hampstead at the invitation of dear friend and ex-girlfriend Lynnleigh Lawson. He plans to investigate and cover on his podcast the cold case of the murders of Lynnleigh’s mother Lisa and Lisa’s best friend, Tina Cox, 15 years ago. Lynnleigh’s father Harry, who insisted he was innocent, that he was in Washington DC at the time, was arrested for the murders.

Fifteen years later, a video has surfaced showing that Harry was exactly where he said he was, absolving him of the crime. Unfortunately, the video has come too late, as Harry died in prison.

Now there are two investigations running parallelly. Detective Callie Forde and Gordon are both running their own investigations, determined to find out who was the real killer and to clear Harry’s name posthumously. But there is someone in town who is determined to put an end to the investigation.

Meanwhile, there is another issue that is plaguing the police. Two houses have been robbed, with some trinkets, a laptop and some cash stolen. Is it a random case or is it connected with the Lawson and Cox killings? And will the truth ever surface?

 

The story is told in two timelines, 15 years ago and now, and from the 3^rd person past tense PoVs of Callie Then and Now, and Gordon Now. Set in a small town, the story has the air of a cozy mystery.

 

WHAT I LIKED:

I enjoy stories about cold cases, where a long-suffering innocent person is finally acquitted, and so I was eagerly looking forward to this one.

I enjoyed the parts that showed the podcast coming together, and the details shared about what it takes to run a podcast, the equipment etc. Gordon and sound engineer Jeremy made a good team.

Every chapter ended with a mini-cliffhanger, which was nice. The last few scenes had a good spell of action and description, and a brisk pace. Major and minor characters were both drawn out well, giving them the required motivation and increasing stakes. The character that touched me the most was Harry; I wish there was more of him, in flashbacks or in the narrative of the past. Even the old records and testimonies didn’t include any interviews with him.

We get bits of the past in the present, memories which give way to flashbacks, but it was done well enough.

The author brings up the question of the nature of today’s media where opinions and lies are often passed off as fact.

There were some sweet and warm scenes as when Maura, Callie’s mother, tells her the owl story, related to Callie’s grandmother, and another scene, Lynnleigh’s flashback, when Harry tells eight-year-old Lynnleigh that he would always choose her to be his daughter.

 

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:

The initial dump of back story about Gordon, as soon as his character was introduced, was unnecessary.

 

WHAT DIDN’T WORK FOR ME:

The mystery of who had broken into the houses and how whatever came to be found there had come to be put there in the first place was not adequately answered. We also learn nothing about who released the video that proved Harry’s innocence.

Henderson and Chang were hard to relate to. At the outset, we learn a little bit about them, but then they turn into flat characters, always in the background, never taking any initiative at all.

There were too many characters whose names began with the same letter. For instance, Lynnleigh Lawson’s mother is Lisa Lawson. Then Gordon’s previous case was that of Hamilton Hayes. In Hampstead, another H, for the Lawson case, he meets police officers Henderson, another H, and Chang. A minor character is salon owner Karen Huddleston, another H, who is interviewed by Gordon.

It was odd that even when the story was told from the PoV of Callie Then, the narrative shifted to referring to her mother as Maura, something a daughter would hardly do.

 

ALL SAID AND DONE: Early on, I had an idea about the identity of the real killer, and it was satisfying to be proved right. I still enjoyed the story and how it was drawn out.

(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.)