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Verk av Kathy Childs

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Puzzle Me Dead, by Kathy Childs, is a fast-paced suspense novel. In her teens, Careen Tamley was a final girl in a serial killer's spree. Although she survived, the killer was never caught and continues to send her creepy messages. Now an adult, Careen ignores her past and focuses on work.

Careen is a bit of a workaholic, but as the story goes on, readers discover just how much trauma she's ignoring by throwing herself into running her company. While Careen deals with the creepy clown messages, a muckraking journalist is messing around in Careen's past. Turns out, surviving the clown killer is just one of the murky areas in Careen's life that can be turn into dramatic podcast fodder. Careen got her position from her beloved mentor, but under kind of mysterious circumstances, including a presumed-suicide where the body was never found. (I know that's a bit of a mystery-novel trope, but it's one of my favorite tropes. I love the tension that comes from a possible sighting, and wondering if the missing person could be back and out for some kind of revenge? Or is the protagonist imagining things? Is someone else messing with the protagonist?) And, although the nosy podcaster hasn't figured it out, someone close to Careen is in an abusive relationship with an angry, unhinged partner.

A clown killer suspense novel is pretty much guaranteed to have the drama on eleven the whole time. This story is full of creepy messages, with numbered jigsaw puzzle pieces forming a clown face, appearing in Careen's personal spaces, where no one else should be able to enter. There are just so many suspects in this story, with so many motives. Some of the messages were so horror-movie chic that I had to agree with one character's theory that this was a copycat messing with Careen for business (or personal, or muckraking) reasons. The suspense builds because so many people around Careen have dark secrets.

In addition, some of the good people around her are accidentally untrustworthy, too, by letting slip details that might help the villain harm Careen. This sets up a real contrast in Careen's life, with obvious danger coming from a shadowy stalker and additional trouble from, say, a friendly security guard who's only too happy to reassure an anxious resident about exactly where all the building's cameras are located, and how the building's security works.

Also, you might not expect it from the creepy clown cover, but this is 100% gore free! The suspense comes from wondering who is behind the creepy messages invading Careen's personal space, not from descriptions of guts and gore.
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
TheFictionAddiction | May 8, 2022 |
PUZZLE ME DEAD is the story of Careen Tamley, a survivor of the Clown Killer. On her nineteenth birthday, she survived a terrifying assault by a still unidentified serial killer, eleven other girls were not so lucky. Each murder scene included a card, numbered two to twelve. Careen moved on as best she could, despite the killer constantly sending her creepy messages, despite never knowing who they are, or why she was picked. She's become a bit of a workaholic, obsessed with her own security, but still she's been receiving pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, making up the face of a clown, each piece numbered, counting down again from twelve. The messages seems pretty clear, number one in his scheme is still on his mind.

Careen Tamley seems to be a trauma magnet in PUZZLE ME DEAD. As if the close call from a serial killer in her past wasn't enough, there's also plenty of mystery about the presumed suicide of her beloved mentor, founder of the company that she has worked so hard to maintain. Then there's the gutter journalist who seems to enjoy poking about in Careen's past, and somebody close who is in an abusive relationship with a dangerous, angry, partner.

Needless to say, anybody suffering from coulrophobia (fear of clowns) would do well to proceed with extreme caution. Although there's a hell of a lot going on in PUZZLE ME DEAD to the point where it gets a bit cinematic, with decided horror-movie overtones, it does keep coming back to the Clown Killer thread. Needless to say with this much happening, it's a swirling vortex of nasty, all spinning Careen into a state of terror, increasingly aware that nobody, even those with best intentions, can be trusted because there's a master manipulator sitting at the centre of all these threads and they are very good at crafting impenetrable knots.

I will admit that for this reader it got a little too busy at some points, which kind of downplayed the credibility levels a bit too much. There are elements of this story though, that are flat out scary despite a bit of femjep that stopped short of nighties, high-heels and candles in basements thankfully. Although not completely convinced by the ending, I could definitely see PUZZLE ME DEAD as one of those stories that would work for readers who are particularly drawn to the central themes of manipulation and terrorisation.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/puzzle-me-dead-kathy-childs
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
austcrimefiction | Aug 11, 2021 |
A clown killer suspense novel is pretty much guaranteed to have the drama on eleven the whole time. This story is full of creepy messages, with numbered jigsaw puzzle pieces forming a clown face, appearing in Careen's personal spaces, where no one else should be able to enter. There are just so many suspects in this story, with so many motives. Some of the messages were so horror-movie chic that I had to agree with one character's theory that this was a copycat messing with Careen for business (or personal, or muckraking) reasons. The suspense builds because so many people around Careen have dark secrets.

In addition, some of the good people around her are accidentally untrustworthy, too, by letting slip details that might help the villain harm Careen. This sets up a real contrast in Careen's life, with obvious danger coming from a shadowy stalker and additional trouble from, say, a friendly security guard who's only too happy to reassure an anxious resident about exactly where all the building's cameras are located, and how the building's security works.

Also, you might not expect it from the creepy clown cover, but this is 100% gore free! The suspense comes from wondering who is behind the creepy messages invading Careen's personal space, not from descriptions of guts and gore.
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
TheFictionAddiction | Dec 9, 2020 |

Statistik

Verk
3
Medlemmar
4
Popularitet
#1,536,815
Betyg
½ 4.3
Recensioner
3
ISBN
2