The Grievance Collectors: Dead Day by Karla M. Hull.
A series of sadistic murders has transformed Harrison University’s quiet southern charm into a house of horrors. The killer is sending anonymous notes to Dr. Bridget O’Leary hinting the Dead Day tradition will become a memorial for murdered students and faculty, rather than a day set aside to prepare for final exams. The frantic search for this psychotic killer leads Bridget on a terrifying professional and personal journey. Bridget O’Leary is grateful for the hectic, workaholic pace that characterizes her job as the newly appointed Provost for Harrison University. Focusing on the needs of thousands of students and faculty is a welcome diversion from the dark internal conversations reeling out of control in her mind as she tries to cope with baby Lana’s death, and the recent murder of her husband Caleb. Bridget faces the beginning of the fall semester with optimism and confidence until her rose-colored glasses are shattered by news that members of local gangs have infiltrated the campus, and may be responsible for the brutal murder of a young biology professor. When another body is discovered with the same savage markings, the hunt for a serial killer begins and Bridget has to grapple with events that threaten to destroy her. Detective Sam Adams has investigated dozens of murders including the murder of Bridget’s husband Caleb. His anxiety is heightened by the fact that the killer is placing notes in Bridget’s office. These murders are personal and Bridget is either a target or a pawn in this deadly rampage. He may have ruined his chances for a relationship with Bridget, but he has no intention of losing her at the hands of this killer. Can Sam and Bridget find the killer before the end of the semester, or will the meaning of the Dead Day tradition on campus be forever altered?
A really good read. I did enjoy this book. Kept me guessing. 4*.

This is the second book in this series and I hadn't read the first one, but you don't really have to, to understand what is going on. There are some references to the past but they are generally well explained.

The story flowed very quickly, there was always something happening and I kept turning the pages, wanting to know what would happen next. Unfortunately I figured out most plot twists quite early on, so it took away a lot of the suspense. But I would still say it was an enjoyable easy read.

Such a good read! This was full creepy with interesting twists and turns. Will definitely keep you awake at night!

*thank you to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

2 stars.

Unfortunately not all books are for everybody and it is clear to me that this is one of those that I was not suited for. I struggled to get into this and all through the book I found my attention drifted. I don't think it was badly written or anything like that, it just wasnt my type. But I'm glad I got the opportunity to read it. The cover is definitely really good.

I loved the diversity and thrills of this book, but I honestly kept getting a little lost with all of the POV switches. While I like getting different POVs in my books, I wish the changes had been more clear. With clearer delineation I would definitely bump this to a 4 star review!

While I loved the cover the did love the cover , as for the story it's self I didn't love it or enjoy it at all, because it was so confusing thought the story ,with that said I would like to say thinks to Netgalley for giving me at change at read it in change for my honest opinion.

A look at the University lifestyle and the dangers of drugs, money, peer pressure and some lecturer’s attitudes and duplicity. This book tells of the deceptive bloody trail that led law-enforcement officers investigating the murders in a merry-go-round, they were being maneuvered like puppets, only responding to what and where the puppeteer wanted them to go and do. Mesmerizing is what I would say to describe this book, the law enforcers I find were too easily led in the wrong direction, they were too slow and almost too late in finding the killer. It was left up to Dr. O'Leary with the help of her student assistant Nathan to follow the clues although they themselves were being led in a merry chase, they were all under the puppeteer’s string, they could not discern the truth or even interpret the clues before them. The character, that of the psychotic genius, the mastermind behind the murders was impressive and strong, the storyline was thought-provoking, interesting with an intriguing puzzle twist, nicely done.

Dr. Bridget O'Leary is receiving anonymous notes from the killer who is telling her that the Dead Day tradition will become a memorial for murdered students and faculty, rather than a day set aside to prepare for final exams. This is not helping O'Leary keep her mind off the deaths of her baby and her husband, Caleb's murder. Detective Sam Adams is investigating the murders of a young biology professor and another body with the same markings. Adams also investigated the murder of O'Leary's husband. Now notes to her office. Can Adams keep the killer away from O'Leary? She seems to be the focus of the killer's attention. Why? What does she have to do with these killings and her husband's death? Or is it just a sick game someone is playing? You will need to read the book to find out. This story is very well written and keeps things 'just out of reach' of the reader where you don't know who or what will come up next. I received ARC of this book. The review is voluntarily done, with pleasure and my own opinion

Nicely done. This book was full of so many creepy, surprising, and interesting twists and turns. This book had me feeling a little disturbed every now and then. The characters in the book were very well written and the story was amazing, sad, and creepy. I loved it!! I am looking forward to reading more books from this author. It did not disappoint. Thanks for allowing me to write about this book and let others know how good it was.

Even through this is a follow up book in a series, I haven't read the first one, and most readers can probably follow the plot if they haven't either. There is enough dialogue and clues given to flesh out what happened previously. I liked the inner perspective of those who teach at and run universities, having only been a student myself. It made me think how my school worked. The creepy parts are suitably creepy, and the mystery enjoyable. The narrative flips from first person to third occasionally, and it was a bit disorienting to remember who was who, and who the "I" was when the perspective changed.

Read 20%, but didn't care for the story, the writing style or the characters

A murderer is on the loose in Harrison University. Dr Bridget O'Leary is being sent anonymous notes from the killer.

While I haven't read the first book in the series yet, it wasn't hard to follow along with this one. It has some boring parts and the amount of POVs was overkill. It was also a fairly predictable plot so I managed to figure out who the killer was before it was revealed. I wanted to like it more than I did.

This book put me into a huuuuuge reading slump...

First of all, I'd like to say that I loved the diversity within this book, race and nationality wise.

Now, what I really hated was that there were SO MANY points of view that sometimes I had no idea whose pov it was. We had Dr. O'Leary, Sam, Hazel Mars, Liam Mars, Nathan, Faye Tucker, and sometimes even Roberto passing the ball to each others' povs, and that sometimes happened right in the middle of a chapter.

Another thing I disliked was that this book was very predictable... I knew who DDD was from, like, Chapter 16. Others probably knew it even before that.

Wow! Such a good read! Thriller that will keep you awake at night!

I really tried to get into this book but found my attention drifting time and again. I know that this is the second in the series so it might have held my attention more had I read the first one. That said the story went along at a quick pace, sometimes events happening while you were still processing the previous one. Then the reveal of the killer was a little early, it could have been strung out for longer.
The characters were good, but again, I couldn't quite feel for them as I felt I was missing part of their story.
My advice, read the series in order and you might enjoy this more than I did.

A killer is on the loose in this second installment of The Grievance Collectors series. I did not read the first novel in this series but it is written so that you don't have to read the first book in order to understand what is going on.

The novel follows Dr. Bridget O'Leary, the newly appointed Provost of Harrison University, as she gets used to life after the University had a series of murders. Her newly adopted daughter and her husband have also both been killed. O'Leary is hoping for an easy fall semester to ease her way into her new job but she finds that this semester will be anything but. A note comes to her desk talking about the tradition on campus called Dead Day. On this day there are no classes or tests, in preparation for students to study for their final exams, which gives off the appearance of a "dead" University. The killer's note states that this will not be the only death on this day. Will O'Leary, with the help of campus police, be able to solve this mystery and save the lives and reputation of the University? Or will the murderer strike again, every day, until Dead Day?

The novel's pacing is very fast, which I was not expecting at all. I felt like events were hurrying along without really allowing the reader to think about the different events that were happening. This wasn't something that was a major problem with the novel but I did wish for a little bit of a slower pacing.

I did figure out the killer very quickly, but Hull does give away the killer towards the middle of the novel. I felt that it could have been stretched out just a bit further without having to reveal the murderer right away. I felt that when Hull gave away the killer by giving an obvious clue, it lessened my enjoyment of the novel. I like to be kept guessing, I don't want the killer in the novel to be too obvious.

A killer is on the loose at Harrison University and has been sending cryptic messages to Dr O'Leary. Dead day is approaching and the killer is set to make it one to remember. Can Dr O'Leary discover who the sadistic killer is before she becomes the next target.
This is book 2 in the series and I haven't read the first book but there's enough in the book to help you follow the story. I really enjoyed this book, it was so good.
I wasn't sure at the start if I was going to like it but then I found myself gripped and needing to read on. The pacing picks up as the story goes on and the characterisations are really good. I liked Dr O'Leary and her back story really pulls you in, making you feel for her.