Murders that look like accidents. An accident that look like murder.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bloodhound Books and Joanna Stephen-Ward for the chance to read this book.

Gloria seems like your average boring, frumpy woman next door who is a little too clingy and desperate to have any real friends or kind of relationship. But underneath all that normalcy lurks a woman who is driven to kill. She doesn’t like killing, or at least that’s what she tells herself and her doll collection, and she doesn’t know why people are cruel to her and make her kill them. But they do. So each time she kills she adds another doll to her collection and moves on in her quest for love and acceptance.

The book started off well and I enjoyed the opening chapter and it’s chilling final two sentences whispered to her dolls about more joining her collection and was excited to read what Gloria would do next. I liked the early 90s setting of the story and the small moments of nostalgia it offered. Reading references to things such as doing the pools and using phone boxes took me back to my youth. I think setting the story in this era worked well as a lot of things the various characters did wouldn’t have been possible with a modern timeline.

Unfortunately I felt that overall the synopsis of this book was a case of false advertising: the murders Gloria commits are mostly historic, she shows no sense of buying dolls for ‘satisfaction’ and she kills only because she feels they’ve driven her too it with their mistreatment of her rather than because she craves it. The thrills in this book were lacking and it concentrated more on her “romance” with Maurice and the subplot of the saga of his housing situation than it did on her killings. Gloria is a very judgmental and bitter character but instead of this making her interesting and someone you love to hate, I found her quite bland and boring and was unable to connect with her or be invested in anything that she did or that happened to her.. Maurice was a better character but I found the story predictable and lacking in any real excitement. I think the book might have been a better read if it had deliberately focused on Maurice and Gloria had been a secondary character.

The Doll Collector is a great psychological thriller. The author really makes you despise the killer Gloria. Joanna Stephaen-Ward has written a great book and the characters are very interesting. If you like a good thriller read this book.

Wow, what a loathesome person this Gloria is--Gloria is a 30 year old woman and a psycho-- that is all I will say.. From the book blurb you find that she is a murderess and has gotten away with the murders many times over--she calls her victims her dolls.. The other characters in the book were written very well and were fleshed out and seemed real. .The only problem I had with the story is the ending--I am not sure why the author ended it that way.. In any event, I still recommend reading this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review.

The Doll Collector by author Joanna Stephen-Ward is a great mystery/thriller and a well developed book. The psychological thrill to it makes it even better. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy of The Doll Collector in exchange for an honest review.