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A review by carolinerd
The Murder List by Jackie Kabler
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Having recently enjoyed a Jackie Kabler psychological thriller, I decided to try another one. In this novel we meet Mary Ellis, a crime writer, who receives a diary for Christmas and has no idea who sent it. When she looks inside, she discovers that someone has written the word 'Murder' next to four different names and four different places. Chillingly, one of the names is 'Mary.' At first it seems it could just be a sick joke, but it soon becomes clear that there's a serial killer on the loose.
It's all rather far-fetched and silly, but it keeps you turning the pages, makes you want to know what is going on. The pace is a bit ploddy, particularly all the tediously repetitive conference calls where the police link up over Zoom to lament their lack of leads and despair of ever catching the 'Diary Killer.' I didn't like Mary much either. I suppose I ought to have had some sympathy for her but I found it irritating how she kept obsessing about her hot flat mate at a time when you would think her sole concern was not getting murdered by a serial killer. Dashing around interviewing relatives of the victims in pursuit of a good story also seemed an odd thing to want to do when your own life is in danger. I didn't find her very credible. We also learn that she is living with a dark secret, which doesn't make her anymore likeable.
When you find out the truth about the serial killer, you don't really get any sense of what made them the way they are, beyond a rather superficial explanation. To be fair, it wasn't the person I thought it would be, so at least it wasn't predictable.
It's all rather far-fetched and silly, but it keeps you turning the pages, makes you want to know what is going on. The pace is a bit ploddy, particularly all the tediously repetitive conference calls where the police link up over Zoom to lament their lack of leads and despair of ever catching the 'Diary Killer.' I didn't like Mary much either. I suppose I ought to have had some sympathy for her but I found it irritating how she kept obsessing about her hot flat mate at a time when you would think her sole concern was not getting murdered by a serial killer. Dashing around interviewing relatives of the victims in pursuit of a good story also seemed an odd thing to want to do when your own life is in danger. I didn't find her very credible. We also learn that she is living with a dark secret, which doesn't make her anymore likeable.
When you find out the truth about the serial killer, you don't really get any sense of what made them the way they are, beyond a rather superficial explanation. To be fair, it wasn't the person I thought it would be, so at least it wasn't predictable.