The August crime review
These are the crime books which have been read and reviewed by our excellent booksellers this month – all in one place!
Dark Corners by Megan Goldin
True crime podcaster Rachel Krall is back, in search of a popular influencer who disappears after visiting a suspected serial killer.
Always know what you're walking into. Dark corners can be danger points.
True-crime podcaster Rachel Krall gets pulled into the cut-throat and narcissistic world of social media influencers as she investigates the mysterious disappearance of an Instagrammer. Racing to find the missing woman before it's too late, Rachel discovers a connection to the abduction and murders of other young women years earlier.
Even social media influencers have secrets, and some of them can be deadly.
Bad Men by Julie Mae Cohen
Saffy Huntley-Oliver is beautiful, charming, rich, and in her spare time she's a serial killer. For the past fifteen years she's been hunting down and killing bad men: rapists, murderers, domestic abusers. As a hobby, it's not as Instagrammable as baking, but at least it's better for your thighs. The problem is, that it's hard to sustain a healthy, balanced heterosexual relationship when you're expecting to have to kill your boyfriend at any moment. That's why she's decided to look for a good man instead, preferably one who shares her interests.
Jon Desrosiers, with his campaigning podcast, perfect bone structure and adorably messy hair, could be just the guy for her. As the creator of a hugely popular true-crime podcast, he has to delve deep into the psyches of monsters, though he's always been on the side of justice. So begins a tale of obsession as Saffy uses every trick in the book to get her man.
My Husband by Maud Ventura & Emma Ramadan (trans.)
From the outside, she has an enviable life - a successful career, stunning looks, a beautiful house in the suburbs, two healthy children, and most importantly, an ideal husband. After fifteen years together, she is still besotted with him. But she's never quite sure that her passion is reciprocated.
Determined to keep their relationship perfect, she meticulously prepares for every encounter they have, always taking care to make her actions seem effortless. She watches him attentively, charting every mistake and punishing him accordingly to help him improve. And she tests him - setting traps to make sure that he still loves her just as much as he did when they first met.
Until one day she realizes she may have gone too far . . .
