This book was a bit of a mystery at times. I liked all the characters. The story was told in a dark way.

I received an ARC of, Amy Among the Serial Killers, by Jincy Willett. I could not get into this book, not matter how much I tried. Its a heavy book, who do you trust?

I was really excited about this book - I love a good mystery/thriller having to do with serial killers. This book follows Carla, who has founded a writing retreat and spends most of her time alone or talking with her therapist Toonie. When Toonie is found dead, Carla calls someone from her past (Amy) for help as an investigation ensues and a possible serial killer is rising up in the San Diego area.

This book did not have the dark undertone of a normal mystery book, but was in fact full of dark humor, witty character development, and a mysterious plot well worth the read. The only downside, which is minor, was that there were a lot of lengthy descriptions (super long paragraphs) that could have been removed without any loss to the overall plot.

Overall, I would recommend that you read this book. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Jincy Willett, and her quirky characters are treasures. Having been a fan since book one, I was excited to receive an advance copy through NetGalley. I enjoyed it more than I anticipated.

You could classify Amy Among the Serial Killers as a murder mystery, but it is much more of an in-depth character study. And unlike the author's two earlier books featuring writer/instructor Amy (2009 and 2013), this one focuses more on Carla, one of Amy's previous writing students.

Carla was once a successful child star, propelled but not protected by her now-deceased stage mother. She wants to write a memoir, but she is much better at launching other writers' careers by renting them "cells" in the part of her huge house in La Jolla that she calls "Inspiration Point!" One of them is Toonie, who is also her therapist, and whom Carla finds strangled in her writing "cell." When it seems that Toonie's death may be connected with other recent murders in the San Diego area, an explosive investigation is initiated, and Amy (who has herself been threatened by a serial murderer in the past) find herself involved once more.

There are many fascinating characters to savor here in addition to Carla and Amy, among them a mysterious and overbearing man who writes about serial killers, charms women easily, and wants to turn Carla's house (and her fantastic 3-story dollhouse) into a public attraction. Elaborate descriptions and musings can be found throughout the book, some of them in unnecessarily long paragraphs, which I believe could have been eliminated without hurting the plot. But there is also a lot of dark humor to enjoy. One of my favorite running gags is the way Amy responds to unwanted telephone callers, including one who insists he is her grandson and needs money.

If you are looking for quirky characters, a satisfying mystery plot, and a seasoned (albeit sometimes over the top) writing style, look no further.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for affording me the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

Very creative...any person that has attempted to write a book or thought about it, will love the idea/setting of this whodoneit.
The cast is a bit zany. The writing is smooth and the very odd setup of cells is oddly believable.
The characters are sympathetic, and the story, while sometimes hits lulls, carries on for the most part, quite quickly.
An easy handsell to my mystery lovers.

Amy has finally retired from her job as a writing instructor when she hera from former student, Carla. It’s been several years since the women spoke, but now Carla is a suspect in a murder case after she finds her therapist, Toonie, dead as a doornail. Carla has been running a bizarre, but successful writer’s retreat where potential authors are locked into cell like rooms and not allowed out until they hit their daily word count. Carla’s predicament reunites other members of Amy’s old writing group as they gang set out to find a killer. Read the first two books in the series first in order to get some of the more subtle nuances and get the maximum enjoyment from this zany story