One of the more unique and interesting books I've read recently, Love Letters to a Serial Killer somehow turns a mostly unlikeable main character with questionable morals and integrity into someone that you desperately want to understand. The character arc was compelling and the mystery was intriguing to the end.

Tasha Coryell's dazzling debut novel, LOVE LETTERS TO A SERIAL KILLER, is an entertaining, twisted, darkly funny, disturbing, and thrilling adventure of a woman who gets caught up in a relationship with a serial killer on trial for murder.

By the end, you will be shaking your head about who needs more counseling: the prey or the predator. Who is more disturbed?

About...

Before falling in love with a serial killer, thirty-something Hannah worked in communications in Minneapolis for a nonprofit. She spent more time on social media than doing her job. Unmotivated, she drank too much, dated men, got dumped, and ghosted by men and friends.

Then she joined an online crime forum about William Thompson, the good-looking, handsome, and wealthy attorney who is accused of murdering Anna, Kimberly, Jill, and Emma. There was nothing about him that screamed, "serial killer."

#FindAnnaLeigh was trending last spotted at the law firm in Georgia, where she served as an intern. Her body was later found in a ravine. This was just the beginning.

Hannah said she was not obsessed with killers but with justice. However, as we soon discover, that may NOT be the case. Hannah finds herself engrossed in a true-crime forum with a mission to solve the murders of four women in Atlanta.

After William is arrested for the killings, Hannah decides to write him a letter as she thinks this will be a good exercise for her anger and will give her a sense of empowerment.

However, William writes back. It is not what she expected.

She soon is obsessed, loses her job, and decides to go to Atlanta and join the other true-crime junkies to follow the trial. However, when a fifth woman is discovered murdered while William is in prison, the jury has no choice but to let him go.

Soon, Hannah moves in with William and is in a relationship, but she still does not trust him. She enjoys the family's money and prestige, but secretly, she is still sleuthing and keeping a notebook to see what she can find. He proposes, and they are engaged. Is this what she wants?

Why is she drawn to William?

However, the secret sleuthing, digging, and investigating may prove more harmful than she imagined. The mysterious matchbox will lead her to danger. What does Hannah really want? What if William is not a murderer and it is someone else? Will she lose the thrill and attraction? What if there is something more sinister going on?

My Thoughts...

LOVE LETTERS TO A SERIAL KILLER is wild and disturbing. You will be hooked by the smashing front cover and the opening page! It is a cat-and-mouse psychological suspense thriller—but who is the cat, and who is the mouse?

The author cleverly creates a compelling, disturbing, unhinged young woman with a brilliant character study. You will fly through the pages to see how this mystery will play out.

The author takes us inside the life of William's family with their dad, mom, brother, and relatives. What happens behind closed doors? She has no clue about this dark family.

The author's writing is witty, edgy, topical, and psychologically rich — a cautionary tale for the relatable millennials—an inside realistic look at the modern dating culture, social media, and crime-obsessed followers. Unputdownable, darkly comic, thought-provoking, and a shocking whodunit mystery —a wild ride for your summer reading. True crime-obsessed buffs will devour. What an ending!

A gripping debut, I would like a sequel to continue the story of William, the family, Hannah, and more! There is much more to explore, and I am in.
I enjoyed the author's writing style and look forward to seeing what she comes up with next!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for providing a digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

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@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: June 25, 2024
My Rating: 4 Stars
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I’m impressed with this debut novel! The title and cover is what led me to request it and I wasn’t disappointed. The main protagonist, Hannah, is not very likable and I found myself yelling at her through the pages, however, this did not ruin the story at all, I was that much more invested waiting to see what bad decision she made next; it was very entertaining! Although this is fiction, it’s also a satirical look at our serial killer-obsessed society. I enjoyed the read and look forward to this author’s future work. This would make a great book club pick as well. Thanks so much for the opportunity to read!

Thank you netgalley and berkley for an arc of this book in exchange for a honest review

This is about hannah who discovers that women are being killed by the same killer and starts investing the case whatever way she can however when the suspect for the murders is arrested and in jail she starts sending him letters and starts falling in love with him.

I thought the plot was interesting and i really thought i would enjoy it however i didn't like how the plot was written it felt like the romance between hannah and william was just overdone and exaggerated. I am a very character based person and i didn't like anyone in this book i found hannah to be very annoying and self centered she never thought that anything was her fault and she felt like she was always right, william was nothing special he was just a basic rich white man with no personality, hannah also became very obsessed with william and the case against him but it's more so how obsessed she became with death and the serial killer that i didn't like at all. It was fast paced but i honestly just didn't care about the characters or the plot even and i had figured out the plot twist before it was revealed and i didn't like the 'open ending' that we got. I just didn't enjoy anything about this unfortunately.

“There are ways to find goodness in even the darkest of moments of our lives.”

Oh I 💯 requested an ARC of this book because of the title. I mean haven’t we all wondered what kind of person falls in love with an incarcerated serial killer?!? Like WHAT?! I was intrigued. So I began to read…

And this book ended up being so much more than just love letters to a prisoner. It had heart and soul and made me truly understand how this type of scenario could play out. Reference below quote for what I believe to be the best explanation to that question that I have wondered about since the Menendez brothers. 3.5 stars!

“I’d always understood our relationship to be conditional, predicated on the notion that he would forever be in jail and I was the pathetic woman willing to date him while he was there. In that situation, I was the one with the power if only because I was the one who was free.”

Thank you to Netaglley, Berkley Publishing, and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Hannah was just a hot mess on the onset. Pushing all responsibilities to the side, she gets sucked into the true crime junkies’ community in investigating a string of murders. Deciding she wanted more hands on connection, she chooses to write letters to the accused. That’s when the crazy gets even more pronounced.

I went into this read blind. In a word, this whole thing was unhinged. Our MC had me questioning if most people were normal or did they flow down the path that Hannah was on… because wow. 😵‍💫😳

There will be a huge swing of people who will enjoy this wild ride and others who might not. This was a unique concept that I found super binge worthy. 🍿🍿

Thank you #NetGalley and #BerkleyPub for an arc of #LoveLetterstoaSerialKiller in exchange for an honest review.

As soon as I saw Love Letters to a Serial Killer, I knew I had to read it!

It starts with the familiar pang we all feel when we hear of a missing woman. It ends with the thought you might BECOME the missing woman.

Hannah didn't plan to fall in love with William Thompson. It began innocently enough when she shared the missing woman's picture. It quickly evolved into an obsession, and before she knew what was happening, she was writing love letters to a serial killer.

This was such a fun read, and I want more! Hannah is the kind of person who sees the signs and knows there's a hole ahead, but she drives around the cones and the road blocks and falls in anyway! Hannah's choices are like the train wreck or internet comments section you can't look away from. You know it's not gonna end well, but you wanna know what happens next. Throw a serial killer in the mix, and I can't help myself. I blame Dexter for why I am the way I am!

Love Letters to a Serial Killer by Tasha Coryell is the quintessential summer read! Pretty cover, romance, danger, and a page turner! What's not to love?!

Read this if you like:
•  True crime junkies
•  Hot mess MCs
•  She falls for a bad boy
•  She makes questionable choices, and you wanna know what happens

There's being interested in true crime and there's being head over heels, make it your entire personality, love the killer type of being interested in true crime and our main girl Hannah really dives head first into that second category.

While I found it hard to root for Hannah most of the time (girl needs to find a really good therapist), it was interesting to see her story unfold and just how far she was willing to take her obsession when several women start dying and a handsome man is the suspect.

This one was wild, unhinged, and really shows one of the bad aspects that can arise from certain true crime fans.

Hannah’s boyfriend has left her just as her best friend pulls away to spend time with her own boyfriend. When a series of women are found murdered, Hannah finds herself on a true crime forum, where she learns about William, the prime suspect. Hannah starts writing to William, originally from a place of anger, which soon turns into something else entirely when William writes back.

William’s case becomes Hannah’s whole life. Then he is found not guilty and his life becomes Hannah’s life. But that doesn’t mean Hannah doesn’t still have her suspicions.

This was a great book. Hannah is a very complex character, and the other characters all add so much to the story. The author has some very interesting things to say about true crime culture and society’s obsession with true crime. There’s an amazing twist as well. I would recommend this book.

I've seen a lot of reviews using the word "unhinged" to describe this book, and I can't think of a better word. This was weird and fun and thoroughly entertaining.

Hannah is adrift in her 30s, and after a serial killer starts making headlines, she finds a purpose in amateur sleuthing along with other people on a forum.

I enjoyed seeing her self-perception change with her actions, from "this man is so disgusting, how could he?!" and, "I'll never be one of those women in love with a killer," to wanting to be seen as the girlfriend of an accused serial killer at his trial.

Hannah is obsessed with a bunch of murders that have happened nearby. She begins writing letters to the accused killer, William, and when he writes her back, she falls under his spell and for him. With nothing going on in her life, she decides to go to the trial to figure out for herself if this man, that she loves, is actually a serial killer or not.

I was drawn into this story at first because I really loved the premise, but honestly, I’m really struggling with my thoughts on this one. Here’s why:

First, Hannah was such an irritating and unlikeable character that I couldn’t get invested in her story. She made such horrible decisions throughout the book, and she might have been crazier than the actual serial killer. Was it interesting to delve into the mind of a woman who loves a killer? Sure! But was this a realistic depiction of that? I don’t know.

Second, I don’t really know what genre this book was. It says it’s a thriller, but nothing really thrilling or suspenseful happened. I wouldn’t really classify it as a romance either. I guess there’s a “love story” of sorts, but there really wasn’t anything romantic about this relationship.

I didn’t hate this book, but I didn’t love it either. I found the writing witty and humorous at times, but at other times I really wanted it to end. I was hoping there would be a big reveal at the end, but what happened was easy to predict and anticlimactic. I have seen save reviews where people loved this one so don’t let my opinion sway you. If you think the premise sounds entertaining then I think you should check this one out for yourself.

Thank you Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

The premise of this one is quite interesting, and I enjoyed how it all began. I was kept intrigued by the characters and plot until about two-thirds of the way through when the book lagged and became a bit boring and too predictable. I had a guess of where it was going, and then when it went there, it just didn’t quite work. I wasn’t a fan of the ending as a whole and the twist. But part of what made the first portion of the book work so well is Hannah’s character. She certainly isn’t likeable, but she’s understandable, well written, and a sympathetic character (at least in the first half), making it easy to get sucked into her story.

One thing that greatly detracted from my enjoyment of this one was how many heavy-handed foreshadowing phrases were used throughout the book. Phrases like “if only I’d known then that this wouldn’t be the last time” were overused, and it seemed like most chapters ended with them. This is a pet peeve, but I really dislike it when this technique is relied on so heavily.

I can certainly understand why some folks adore this one and why some folks hate it. I enjoyed the beginning and disliked the ending, leaving me somewhere in the middle. If you enjoy unlikeable characters who bring a world of trouble on themselves, you may like this one. My thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for allowing me to read this work, which was published today. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Love Letters to a Serial Killer wasn't like any other book I've ever read (and I've read a few books lol). I can't really say that I liked any of the characters, including Hannah, the main character who is jilted and making so many wrong choices. But, that didn't stop me from turning the pages to see what could go wrong (and keep going wrong 😂). I wouldn't say I was particularly shocked by any of the twists, but I thought this was a fun read and I wanted to know if William was really the serial killer he was accused of being.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the e-ARC to review.

I’m really not sure what I read! Started off slow to the point I almost DNF, but I stuck with it and it picked up. Still, it was a crazy read.

Hannah is a protagonist that I didn’t care for, but did feel sorry for. She has so much going on…looking for a relationship in all the wrong places, no real friends, dead end job, lacking self esteem. She starts writing letters to a man on trial for serial killing, which leads to much more. As someone who enjoys true crime documentaries, Hannah takes this to an unhealthy fascination. All the characters and their backstories are just over the top.

I had expected much more suspense and twists but found things to be pretty obvious with no big twist, except maybe a small one. The writing was good, bringing out strong feelings about all the characters. I would give this author another try.

Thanks to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. This is my honest opinion.

OMG, I absolutely loved this book. I was not sure if it was going to be a romance or thriller and it ended up being a little of both! Hannah is deeply unhinged, and a fascinating main character. She is so much of a mess it is relatable.. also for a true crime enthusiast like me, her obsession and fascination into the serial killer and crimes of William is so much like how so many people get with these types of cases... completely obsessed. This book was so good. Her relationship with William was so cringe, and his brother Bentley. I ate up every page of this book. I thought it was kind of funny how sick her obsession to William is... that she has this deep rooted infatuation with the fact he may or may not be a serial killer, and wanting to be with someone like that. Its funny how she is secretly trying to determine if he actually killed the women or not.. while starting a relationship with him. I loved being inside of her messed up mind. The end of the book was also pretty messed up... perfect chefs kiss ending for a great read. I loved this messed up book.

Thank you, Netgalley and Berkley Publishing, for allowing me the opportunity to read this eARC. This was the first book I’ve read by Tasha Coryell. I like her writing style and how she captivates her audience through her characters. Although I enjoyed reading this book, I did think some dialogue moments were quite cringeworthy, and some of the characters definitely upset me. This book really is a thrilling read. I was not expecting it to be that crazy. The pretty pink cover is the complete opposite of what the book entails! The twists and turns kept me guessing until the very end. It truly is a messy and creepy read. I would recommend it to readers looking for a thrilling mystery book. 4/5 stars.

2.5 stars- Not for me.

Hours: 8 hours and 59 minutes
Narrator: Andi Arndt
Thank you so much to PRH Audio for the #gifted audio book! #PRHAudioPartner and Netgalley for a #eARC version!

William Thompson is arrested and accused of killing four women and dumping their bodies. Hannah and William begin exchanging letters. Hannah is bored with her life and doesn't have many friends. She's a hopeless romantic wanting to find and do more. So what better way than to help solve and bring awareness to the brutally murdered women? She finds herself captivated with the murders and decides to "investigate".

You know, there isn't much I really liked about this book. The title is what hooked me into reading this but don't think this will be cute and ditsy. This was some wild sh*t. The main character was absolutely insufferable. I get it, she was supposed to be- to an extent. But there were quite a few times I wanted to DNF this because I truly could not salvage the main character, Hannah. #privallege Honey, get some braincells and self respect. We have all wondered how people end up falling in love with terrible beings and this explores the thought and idea. Straight into the mind of Hannah. I, myself like true crime and indulge just as much as everyone else. I also work in the criminal justice system and lots of parts of this just seemed out of reality and dramatized, which I can understand since that was the point (or at least I think so). I do think the author did a good job of exploring the mind of someone who has fallen in love with a terrible being.

Now the plot? I figured it all out pretty quickly. This has true crime, romance, and mystery elements. Unreliable and unlikeable narrators. What is entertaining at times? Yes. What is it odd and made me go "wtf?" also yes. Very unhinged. But did I like it? No, not really. I think this could have hit a few more marks but left me more annoyed. And that ending??? The only thing i liked what that it ended.

Overall: Not for me.

Read if you like:
- true crime elements
- romantic suspense
- unreliable/unlikable narrators
- odd and crazy plotlines

Love Letters to a Serial Killer
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Hannah has just been ghosted by the guy she was seeing and she winds up joining a true crime forum. This leads to her obsession with an accused serial killer, William. Writing letters to him is just an outlet at first, but when he writes back it turns into something more.
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What I liked:
-This was a bit unhinged, in a seriously addicting way. Hannah just kept making these choices that were bad ideas, and even embraced them.
-There was this subtle thread of suspense throughout the book. Writing to an accused serial killer, what could go wrong? 😳😅
-The last 20% of the book was really wild.
-The end actually made me want more. 🙈
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I don’t want to say more because *spoilers*, but I was impressed with Love Letters. If you lean more thrillers or true crime but are intrigued by romance, then this will be a fun book for you!

If you are looking for a thriller that is different from any thriller you’ve read, that’s quirky, and told by someone who loves a serial killer, this is the book for you! I was invested in this book and was very curious to how it would end. This book takes you on a ride through Hannah’s desire to help with murder cases, to falling in love with the one accused of murdering. This book was more about Hannah’s mindset, and her emotions towards herself than the actual crimes committed. I personally wouldn’t really classify it as a true thriller, more mysterious literary fiction. There is a small amount of spice involved, as there are romance elements to this book.

I think this book would be a good pick for someone who wants to dip their toe into mystery/thriller but likes the deeper themes of life, maturing and discovering yourself throughout the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for allowing me to get my hands on this early!

This was such an odd and twisted story, but in a fun way. Hannah was one of the most infuriating MCs I’ve ever read but I couldn’t help but be intrigued by her actions. She was truly delulu and had me cringing throughout my read. Coryell has some nuanced references to the true crime obsession that many have. I would definitely check this one out if you’re looking for a unique read!