Unreliable narration at its finest, this novel is about Cordelia, a serial killer who kills only men who have done terrible things. A polished medical sales rep, Cordelia would do...literally anything to protect her chosen family. A quick, thrilling read - already hoping this will become a series.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

⚡️ T H R I L L I N G T H U R S D A Y review ⚡️ featuring “This Girl’s A Killer” by Emma C Wells!

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

There are two sides to Cordelia Black. During the day she is a thriving pharmaceutical rep who dresses to kill and is fiercely loyal to her bestfriend and goddaughter. But during the night … well this girl is a killer. LITERALLY! As in has a vendetta against BAD MEN and seeks justice by hunting them! Think of Cordelia as a female Dexter, but in high fashion and with fabulous hair!

Cordelia feels PROUD of herself for getting rid of these monsters, but is now facing a conflict of interest. She gets introduced to her bestfriend’s new boyfriend and something is just OFF about him. She is catching a predator vibe from him … or is she just being paranoid/picky/overprotective?? Time will only tell 👀!

When the town starts to whisper about a potential serial killer being on the loose, Cordelia will do anything to protect her vigilante ways 🔪

I loved the BAD ASS B*TCH energy in this book and the dark humour mixed with suspense made it such an entertaining read! This girl is savage, bold and has no shame! Everyone should read this one!

Thank you kindly to @emma.c.wells.books @poisonedpenpress @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases next week on October 29, 2024!

Language: R (33+ swears, 7+ "f"); Mature Content: R; Violence: PG+
In the first couple of chapters, there are crass innuendo comments that suggest there will be other sexual content later in the book that I do not want to read, so I stopped reading. The story is intriguing, and I would love to know what happens, but not at the cost of reading the sexual content.
The mature content rating is for illegal activity; alcohol use; mentions of kissing, drugs, and rape; discussion of sex; and innuendo. The violence rating is for mentions of guns and murder.

I never thought I would be rooting for a serial killer, but here we are! Cordelia is the new Dexter in town, making it her mission to rid the world of bad men. There were some laugh out loud moments, and Cordelia has got to be one of my favorite lead characters in a long time.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read!

The title of the book sounded intriguing but the writing fell flat for me. I didn’t care about Cordelia and what motivates her to kill. She seemed a tad immature and petulant. Honestly haven’t been a fan of revenge killing in books but the author Peter Swanson wrote a stunning portrayal of a female protagonist who seeks revenge brilliantly. If you are looking for a clever plot and writing about avenging the wrongs of others… skip this one.

Cordelia is a female version of Dexter and has her own code of honor in deciding who she eliminates from this world. The plot is filled with tension, and a dash of humor, as one thing after another starts destroying Cordelia’s perfect system. The writing style was engaging and the story moved well.

My review is voluntary and all comments and opinions expressed are
my own.

I never thought I would root for a killer but this one is different! Think of Dexter, but a woman. I loved the main character and thought this book was amazing! I would definitely recommend.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

From the outside Cordelia looks like a successful, confident businesswoman but that is only one aspect of her. In get free time she likes to murder men that pursue the vulnerable in her city. Her best friend, Diane, begins dating someone who Cordelia can’t quite trust and so begins a winding road to protect her friend.

When I read the premise of the book I was immediately intrigued. The first chunk of the book was a little slow for me, but then there is an unexpected twist in the middle that really sets the book in motion. This is when I was more intrigued and felt genuine anxiety through some of the scenes.

I like a strong female protagonist who is living this double life. She was confident, but at times infuriating and some of her decisions were questionable at best. Sometimes I felt that Cordelia was a little generic, which doesn’t fit the serial killer vibe. I don’t want to go into the details too much, to avoid spoilers but I want my serial killer to have more personality and really pop.

Overall, it wasn’t bad. I was entertained and I read it pretty quickly!

A tremendous premise, but the end result leaves a lot to be desired. I was game for a female version of Dexter Morgan and all that came with it going in, and this is a fast-moving and fairly engaging read. However, I often felt frustrated by choices made by Wells with its tone, main character and plot. Although the book starts off mostly serious with some humor here and there, it devolves into slapstick once Cordelia receives an unplanned visit leading to an increasingly ridiculous chain of events that goes on for far too long. I had issues with Cordelia's characterization, as readers are told about her meticulous nature with regard to her murderous hobby early on, yet she is introduced as flustered while running late for a function, and frantically scrambles for solutions when confronted with trouble or makes many poor decisions that strain the believability of her being a successful serial killer. While I liked Cordelia's fierce devotion to Diane and Sugar as an explanation for her actions, I wanted more backstory to fully flesh these connections out, and the secondary characters overall are wafer thin, only existing to push forward the plot. The story wraps up far too conveniently, and the incorporation at the end of a real-world villain with a name change is a bridge too far, completely taking me out of the book. I wanted so much more from this and finished dissatisfied.

This is a fast-moving story about a woman who is in control of her whole life. Cordelia has worked her way up to a lucrative pharmaceutical sales position, she has her little found family that includes her college roommate Diana and Diana's daughter, and she keeps the demons at bay by killing men who do bad things to women. She's worked out the perfect system that keeps her from being caught.

But now Diana is dating someone who doesn't seem quite right, a cop has matched with her on a dating app, her neighbor's dog won't stop busting into her house, and the news is starting to talk about a possible serial killer in Baton Rouge, even though no bodies have been found. The reins on Cordelia's control start to slip and soon the problems keep piling up.

This story is not the for faint of heart (some of what Cordelia does is quite gruesome), but it was quite entertaining and kept me reading. Wells does a great job of building the suspense until you're sure that there's no way Cordelia is going to make it out of this unscathed. I would definitely read another book by this author. Perhaps a sequel is in the works?

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for a honest review.

The “serial killer of serial killers” seems to be the new thriller trope and I’m kind of loving it. The danger in writing a book that’s “on trend” is that you need to stand out but “This Girls a Killer” manages to do just that. The FMC is definitely a flawed and neurotic individual but you kind of root for her because her morally grey heart has a gold tarnish to it. And the book is FUNNY! Seriously, I laughed a lot during this book which was disturbing given the theme but also a nice break from the more graphic scenes.

So why 3 stars? The book gets l o n g in places. Seriously, editors need to be less scared to trim the fat. Just because a scene is written well doesn’t mean it needs to be in the book if it doesn’t make sense. Second, there were a lot of things that were left open ended at the end or just wrapped up a little too nicely for this type of book. It felt like the author spent all this time writing a great book only to forget her own plot points and then scramble to make them all “work” at the end of the book.

Overall, I think this is a solid debut and I look forward to seeing more books from this author.

3.75 - This was enjoyable. I’m always down for someone doing street justice getting rid of the bad guys. Almost reminds me of the show Dexter. They both have similar things they do to get ready for the kill and move the body. Cordelia being a pharmacist for sure helped with her mission and i liked that. She had a not so nice pass and once she was old enough she decided to do something about it. I loved that she has a found family with her best friend Diane and goddaughter Sugar who is awesome. Wish we got more of her. She’ll do anything to keep them safe.

Now she did get on my nerves a little when something doesn’t go as planned. As we all sometimes do we have a little freak out but Cordelia was going off. I was thinking “girl take a breather and get it together!” Wish we didn’t spend so much time on the guy and her spiraling. I would have liked to seen more of her doing what she does best even though we did get some. Let’s not forget Mango crazy tail. All the other things, people and storylines in this story added a little something something.

So if you need a book with some humor, bad ass FMC, characters with substance and mystery then check this book out.

Cordelia has killing down to a science. Don’t worry though, she only kills men that deserve it. Her main goal in life is to protect women, specifically her best friend Diane and her goddaughter Sugar. When Diane starts dating Simon, she immediately feels in her gut there is something wrong. There is just something about him that rubs her the wrong way. The local news has started talking about a serial killer though, so can she take the risk?

Ok this was the book I needed right now. It kept my attention and I just could not stop reading. However, it was also a lil bit insane! I sort of loved Cordelia though. She was taking these men who were absolutely terrible, think serial r**ists and abusers, and saving the women they would possibly hurt in the future. I just wanted her to get away with it all the entire book! If you love a good fight the patriarchy (in the most extreme sense) then you will enjoy this book!

Thank you to @poisonedpenpress for my gifted copy of this book!

Looking for a book with a magical mist that shows up in your eyes when you’re bad, a woman with a taste for vengeance, and the annoying moment when your BFF’s new BF is a total drag and you want to kill him? Then This Girl's a Killer by Emma C. Wells will be perfect for you! #girlpower #girlboss #girlsgirl
If my sarcastic intro and rating didn’t give it away, I did not like this book. The plot was full of inconsistencies, the characters were under-developed, and the main character’s internal monologue had me pulling my hair out. The whole book, we’re told by other characters, and by Cordelia herself, that she’s extremely put together, pays attention to every detail, and is never late. And then none of those characteristics are ever displayed in the time we spend with Cordelia. She also has some deep and tragic backstory we get next to no information on, but is the sole reason why she’s turned into a killer?
I was still feeling hopeful up to that point. Sometimes life just gets messy, especially when you’re a serial killer. And I don’t need to know EVERYTHING about a character’s background to follow a story. Then we got to using “bestie” 24 times in a chapter. Then there was the Xbox Cordelia bought for her goddaughter Sugar (!!) that was for Zelda. Then the smoke was introduced. That’s right, Cordelia has to see a special gray smoke in a man’s eyes before she decides to kill him. This is literally never explained.
I finished this book hoping for any redemption. I love women committing crimes so much that I just pressed on through every over-explained scene and plot hole. But it got even more disappointing the further in I got. However, I’m not trying to yuck anyone’s yum! If any of this book's weirdly specific traits caught your eye, you should definitely give it a shot! I’d also recommend it if you’re really craving a female Dexter storyline!
Thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

This felt like a gender swapped version of “You” or “Dexter.” Cordelia is a killer with a code and people she will do anything to protect. The morality is murky but the book is a clear cut thriller. Very enjoyable read from start to finish.

This Girl's a Killer by Emma C. Wells is an extraordinary tale that grips you from the very first page and refuses to let go.
Absolutely consuming book for the ones who love the mysteries and thrillers! This book seriously was the definition of devour.

Thank You NetGalley and Publisher for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts. Unfortunately while I found the premise cool on paper, reading it didn’t work for me. It took too long to get into the meat of the story, and I didn’t like how the main character was written so it was hard for me to want to keep reading her story. I DNFed but I may come back to it at some point.

Did I finish this book in basically one sitting? Why yes I did. This is if Dexter was a woman, it’s very reminiscent of the tv show You as well. It’s like you know what she’s doing is bad, but she’s soooooo good at convincing you it’s not. She’s a villain for sure but you also can’t help rooting for her! I literally couldn’t stop reading I was HOOKED. And the ending? Realllllyyyyy interesting but also I felt some things didn’t quite wrap up for me for that’s why 4 stars. Overall super fun and action packed and girlboss (but also murder is bad!)(unless it’s being committed by Cordelia Black). I feel like maybe we are being set up for a sequel?? I hope so!!!!

The only problem I had with this was that Cordelia was a pharmaceutical rep, and those problems could have been a whole separate book that I would have been happy to read. Cordelia takes out bad guys -- like, really bad guys -- but she also lives a pretty normal life with her friends and job. Unlike so many serial killers, Cordelia isn't really a psychopath, she's just doing the world a lot of favors. The beginning sets the tone, and this story is genuinely funny and interesting. I hope we see more of Cordelia's adventures in the future.
Thanks to NetGalley, I got to listen to the audiobook, which I think made it even funnier. The narrator did a fantastic job

I love the premise of a female serial killer POV executing vigilante justice to the community, and found this debut engaging, well-plotted, and a great blend of humor, tension, and thrills. There was just something lacking that led me to keep setting his one aside rather than rushing to see its conclusion. I think I just didn’t connect with the FMC, and wanted a little more depth on her background/trauma that led to her current choices. I still think this book will connect with readers who enjoy Dexter and thrillers with feminine themes.