Beautifully written with evocative descriptions of Greece and Sweden. The story is complex and tangled with an ambiguous ending that was completely different from the one I saw in my head. I loved this book and found it hard to put down. The writing was refreshingly elegant. The point of view switched from individual storylines to an unreliable manuscript written by one of the characters.

3.5 stars. Gia and Abby are best friends and spent most of their childhoods together when Abby’s mother was hired to cook for Gia’s wealthy family. Years later, the two are grown up and living countries apart as their pursue very different lives. A birthday trip promises to bring them back together after a recent falling out, but it soon becomes apparent that Gia has gone missing.

This book is an excellent vacation read as it’s set predominantly in the Greek isles as well as in lux resort in Sweden designed to showcase the Northern Lights. The chapters alternate between Abby’s present and what we are told is a manuscript of a new memoir written by Gia. The unreliable characters, rich locations, and cast of interesting characters make this a compelling read but I’m not quite sure the author figured out the ending. I actually thought I knew where this was going about 60% of the way through and weirdly found myself disappointed by the more straightforward and weirdly ambiguous real conclusion.

Overall, this is still a solidly diverting read when you need an escape. Also I do feel that the title is strangely misleading as this is far more a tale of deception and duplicity than overt violence and murder.

Many thanks to Random House Ballantine and NetGalley for sending this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

While I enjoyed the fast pace of the book and the twists and turns it leaves you on a cliffhanger of sorts and never really fully explains what happened to some of the vital characters the author spent so much of the story setting up. Did the soon to be ex husband Garrett die or run away? What really happened to Emilia? Is Gia really a cold hearted person and killed Noah out of spite and then years later kill again? While I love that Abby and Benny ended up together in the end, the end just left me with so many question’s.

When someone tells you who they are, believe them. Excellent advice, yes, but those tells are riddled with so many variations, so many caveats, sometimes so tempered with love that we just don’t know what the real truth is. Bookish Abby grew up with super rich Gia and Benny. Abby’s mom was part of their household staff but Abby ended up being gifted an education along with them. Abby and Gia are besties and Benny has always been silently in love with Abby. Now Gia invites Abby and Benny to a Swedish holiday to celebrate her 30th birthday. Gia is newly married but will be coming alone. But then she doesn’t show up, and calls to her are not returned. They do. get a few return texts but nothing that sounds like Gia. Concerned they travel to Gia’s house in Greece only to find it empty and the locks changed. So what has happened to the heiress Gia and her new husband? The more they find out about the new spouse the shadier he becomes and the more worried they become for their friend.

Is he as the title suggests a lady killer? Or who can really be trusted in this bunch? There are lots of twists and turns in this great summer beach read.

I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review
Wow what a read!
Gia is writing a book about her life, she married, lives in a beautiful home, has wild parties, and an active sex life but she is worried her husband always needs money- is he telling her lies? Where is the money going? And when Gia goes missing her friend Abby with Gia’s brother go looking for her. Abby begins to follow the clues in the book but are they true or just writing? Where is Gia? Was her husband abusive? Was he stealing from her?
And where is her husband? You won’t want to miss this book!

Ladykiller is a fast paced book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. It's a mystery with a lot of red herrings to keep you guessing til the very end which will have you saying "WOW, really?!".

The beginning of the book sets the stage by giving you insight into the dynamics of the 3 main characters - Gia, Benny, and Abby- then alternates between Gia's and Abby's point of view. All 3 have secrets which come out as the book moves along. Just when you think you've figured it out you learn something new and you're back to square 1.

I will definitely be reading more from Katherine Wood.

**I did receive this advance copy for my honest review, which this is.

What a pageturner! I read this in two sittings. It grabs you right away and doesn’t let go. None of the characters are likable. They already all liars. There is just enough truth that you are left wondering who, if any, are telling the truth.. Just when you think you have the worst of them figured out, there is a twist and it goes into a different direction. Even the ending leaves you guessing. Great debut novel.

Utterly fantastic - One of my favorite reads of 2023! Ladykiller was a mind boggling, twisty thriller that I truly couldn’t put down. I think I still need some time to process this, because I’m not convinced on what was truth and what was lies. I found myself jumping to conclusions, just as Abby was doing, and then changing my tune when I learned new pieces of information. Everyone in the story had something to hide and something to lose. Will you be able to unravel the mystery?

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for an ARC of Ladykiller in exchange for an honest review. Regrettably, my honesty is not complimentary.

First and foremost, the genre of this thriller is close to pornographic. Exceedingly smutty. I am appalled by the lewd and crude scenarios and dialogue. The mystery is compelling, however, and I learned to skim and skip large segments when I determined the crude, crass, and vulgar content was approaching.

Once I concentrated on the mystery content and found I could skip the aforementioned, I was hooked on the mystery. But there are a lot of factors at play. Something terribly tragic that happened twelve years earlier, Abby and Noah, or was it Gia and Noah, Abby and Benny, the three con artists: Garret, Emelia and Tim, and the main unlikeable, narcissistic character, Gia. There are a lot of scenarios at play as well: the unfinished castles, the mother in a sanatorium in Switzerland; dead goats no one but Gia witnesses; a contaminated well who Gia claims is cursed and she throws peace offerings down the well to appease the evil spirit ( this is addressed ad ad nauseam yet with no revelation concerning it); employed help whose identity can’t be confirmed; the plight of the kitchen cook crying- on and on and on. A. LOT is never explained or resolved.

It is a slow burn, finally building up to the rising action very late in the narrative. There are twists and turns galore, building tension and excitement. Chapters alternate between Abby’s perspective and Gia’s manuscript. That becomes confusing as the chapters are written entirely at different time periods. The reader is kept guessing until the very end: who is the ladykiller? Regrettably, the reader is kept guessing after the story ends. There is no conclusive resolution to the who-done-it. It is a huge disappointment, having been psyched for a killer ending, then..….poof. Unanswered questions and unresolved scenarios- very unsatisfactory denouement.

I was asked to review the novel, “Ladykiller” by Katherine Wood. Other than knowing this book was somewhat of a thriller, I was not sure what to expect. When I found out a major part of this story takes place in Greece, I was very excited.

Gia and Abby have been BBF since childhood. Unfortunately, a falling out leads to estrangement. But then Abby is invited to Sweden to celebrate Gia’s birthday. Yet, when Abby arrives, where is Gia?

Abby’s search leads to a heart-racing tale. The beautiful descriptions—especially of Greece—really put me in the moment, though I did not find either main character all that likable. Part of the story is told through Abby’s POV while part is told through Gia’s manuscript as well as through other literary devices. Though the change in narration could be jarring in places, I liked the technique.

Three and a half out of five stars.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This story about two friends, one who mysteriously disappears while staying at her family home on a Greek Island, fell flat. Described as a thriller although it wasn’t very thrilling, it read more like a harlequin romance novel trying to be taken seriously. The characters were all silly and cliched and I just didn’t care about any of them. The only plus is the gorgeous descriptions of the Greek islands, but it wasn’t enough to save this book for me.

4.5 stars

An explosive read! I flew through this story - books about books, a dash of folklore, themes of friendship, wealth/privilege, betrayal, romance - it’s got it all!

I was pulled in from the start with the gossip column-esque overview of Gia’s dad’s funeral, and enjoyed the different literary devices the author employed. The jump between Gia’s manuscript and Abby’s present-day POV helped pace the plot perfectly and created an aura of mystery. I thought the characters were all very well developed, but wish Emelia also had her own POV chapters. I think that would have really helped connect all the events together. Additionally, I would have like to have seen Gia’s obsession with the well and her spiritualism around it explored just a bit more.

This story is equal parts Rachel Hawkins’s Reckless Girls and The Villa, and Andrea Bartz’s We Were Never Here - the ultimate suspense thriller! I highly recommend checking it out!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars

While I enjoyed the book for the most part, I found that it was not what I was expecting based on the synopsis.
It wasn’t quite as suspenseful as I was hoping, but I did like to hate the characters and their privileged lives and problems.

I also enjoyed the unique style of writing, it was a bit different at first but after a while I got used to it and found that it made for a fun reading experience.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
This novel is a salacious, twisted glimpse into a world of wealth and privilege where the characters live by their own rules, often at the expense of those around them.
While not especially likeable, their story was compelling enough that I wanted to know what happened to them, and the details of their lives were juicy enough to hold my interest. I found the ending to be a bit of a letdown, and there were a few plot holes that left me shaking my head, but overall this was a fun, quick read.

So darn good! I flew through this quickly as I stole every spare moment to read it. Great characters and plot. Just when I thought I had it figured out another twist exploded. How far can friendship go? And will secrets from the past ever go away? This will be an easy one to promote!

I could not get into this book at all. The writing style seemed weird to me. The book didn't seem to follow much of what was described in my opinion. It was extremely slow in the beginning and I almost stopped right away. I kept moving a little ahead hoping something exciting would grab my attention; it didn't. I didn't even go to the back to see what happened. not for me. Expected it to be a great suspenseful thriller and it was not.

I really liked the description and thought I would love it, but it missed the mark for me. There was so much going on that my head was spinning and I found that by the end, I no longer cared what the outcome was. I realize this was an ARC, I hope a good editor will pare down the repetitions and make the shifting timelines more readable.

I loved this one set on a Greek Island . It was a good thriller and was fast paced and tension filled with a plot that kept you engaged till the end
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review the book

An intriguing and captivating thriller set on a gorgeous Greek island.

Abby and Gia are an unlikely pair of best friends - Abby is hard-working, low-key, and from humble beginnings while Gia is glamorous, impulsive, and wealthy. When Gia convinces Abby to join her for a lavish trip to Sweden, Abby senses something is amiss when Gia never shows up.

This was a fun, tension-filled read with plenty of surprises - I loved it! The storytelling alternates between Abby’s point of view and chapters from Gia’s latest manuscript which seems to be a retelling of the events leading up to her disappearance. 4.5 stars.

Thank you very much to Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

This was such a great, suspenseful thriller! I couldn't put this book down and I would love to read more by this author. You'll never guess the twist at the end!