Sunday, September 04, 2022

Five top serial killer thrillers

Stacy Willingham worked as a copywriter and brand strategist for various marketing agencies before deciding to write fiction full time. She earned her BA in Magazine Journalism from the University of Georgia and MFA in Writing from the Savannah College of Art & Design.

Her debut novel is A Flicker in the Dark.

At the Waterstones blog Willingham tagged five favorite serial killer thrillers, including:
Girl, 11 by Amy Suiter Clark

Elle Castillo is the host of popular true crime podcast Justice Delayed, where she attempts to reopen cold cases and ultimately upend the perpetrators who have gotten away with their crimes. In her latest season, Elle decides to tackle the biggest cold case of all: The Countdown Killer, or TCK, a serial killer who terrorized Minnesota twenty years ago by ritualistically murdering young girls, each victim one year younger than the last. However, TCK never finished his countdown. The murders abruptly stopped, and nobody knows why—until Elle’s podcast starts reigniting interest, and suddenly, a girl goes missing again.

For fans of true crime podcasts, Girl, 11 cannot be missed. TCK feels like a very real serial killer, and the author’s research and attention to detail makes the podcast portion of the novel feel eerily real, as well. While the novel delves into interesting questions regarding ethics in true crime, the nature of TCK’s killings ratchets up the tension, making it impossible to put this one down.
Read about another entry on the list.

The Page 69 Test: Girl, 11.

--Marshal Zeringue