Deadly Animals by Marie Tierney is a mystery unlike anything I’ve ever read.
Ava Bonney, age 14, has long been fascinated by death, decomposition and all things medically scientific. She records her ‘interests’ in her many red notebooks, oftentimes in the dead of night when she goes searching for roadkill and/or other recently deceased animals.
On one of her many nights wandering the streets, she discovers the mutilated and dead body of a classmate. Fearing the police won’t believe her or take her seriously due to her age, she places an anonymous call to the precinct.
After this young boy’s body is discovered, more murders of young boys take place leading Detective Seth Delahaye to the conclusion that a child predator is on the loose.
Detective Delahaye, with frequent input from Ava whom he has come to respect and trust, hunts for this brutal and ritualistic killer. When the identity and motives of the child killer are revealed, Ava, and all of Birmingham, are shocked and devastated.

I love this book so much. To the very first page to the end it had you very intrigued wanting to know what will happen next.

Loved it and definitely worth reading and sharing! I found this book unique and with some very interesting facts of the anatomy as well as the type of illness one has.

Not going to lie, I was a little surprised with the main character being a teenager - I assumed maybe it would be a better fit for YA? Upon further reading, the darker themes and motifs proved the exact opposite. This one was a slower read for me because some parts were downright creepy, and I'm an avid thriller reader! The writing style and characters made for a strong storyline, but it would have been better suited for a bigger true crime fan with a stronger stomach than I am..some parts felt more gruesome and in tune with a horror genre than suspense. That being said, the fact I responded so strongly just goes to show that Tierny is onto something and will be a writer that we all need to keep an eye out for! Thanks for the ARC!

I really enjoyed the writing in this book. Ava as a character is someone I understand and I liked being inside her head. The themes of the novel felt a little adult for such a young protagonist, but sometimes bad things happen to young people, as this novel excels and showing, and so giving us the story through Ava’s perspective most of the time fit. The metaphors and similes used throughout were unusual in a good way. John even mentions once that Ava is an unusual person and provides vivid descriptions, something that I felt through the narration of the story, even though it wasn’t told in first person. The author does a fantastic job of making that awkward, unique teenage perspective clear.
At one point it felt that there was going to be a supernatural element to the story, but it was done in a way that was well achieved and subtle. A lot of authors go very heavy handed on the supernatural, but this was just sprinkled in enough to be believable. And then when things did start to come together, it was fun to see it all happen. There were hints throughout the book for the savvy reader, but not so much that I spent the whole time feeling like I had it all figured out.

I enjoyed this book. I thought the characters and the narrative structure were very interesting. I would recommend this book to those interested in this genre. I would be interested in reading more from this author.

I absolutely LOVED this. This is exactly what I want when I pick up a mystery/thriller, and as a DEBUT this is even more impressive.

If you like watching small town crime HBO mini-series, then this is the book for you. This had multiple POVs, small town drama, an overall eerie atmosphere, and many very interesting animal facts. I loved the mystery here, and I love how everything was slowly revealed through the multiple POVs, keeping the reader one step ahead of the characters. I was on the edge of my seat for the last 40% of this book, read it in 2 days, and was very satisfied with the ending.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC, I will definitely be buying a physical copy of this ASAP.

This book wasn't really my genre I guess, I'm fine with young adult but the fantasy portion was not cup of tea. I did like the two main characters but the obsession with dead things was odd.

Ava Bonney is a precocious, bright and talented fourteen year old. She goes to school, completes her homework and carries out her chores like every other kid in her small British town. However, Ava has a secret -- she loves collecting dead animals and studying them as they decay under the cover of night.

On one such nighttime excursion, Ava stumbles upon an interesting specimen. Upon a closer look she realizes this is not just another crow or fox, it is the body of missing boy Micky Grant. This discovery leads Ava down a twisty path of anonymous calls to the police, secret investigations, and confronting what makes us human.

At first I found this book to be a little hard to get sucked in to, which by all accounts should not have been the case because it has everything I loved! I think the biggest factor was that the language used is quite British and therefore the author utilized common British slang and colloquialisms that I simply didn't know. It took me a minute to understand what the hell a "gint" and "nonce" were, for example. Once I was able to clear that language barrier, the book moved swiftly and by the last few chapters I was doing everything I could to not rush it through.

I've read some complaints that people disliked figuring out who the killer was early on in the book, but I didn't mind it. In fact I think that was the point of the story! Instead of being in the dark with the other characters, we the readers had the distinct advantage of knowing who it was and therefore could palpably feel the tension rise as the characters failed to figure out what we already knew. I enjoyed this angle tremendously!

Be warned: there is violence and abuse against children, some descriptions of blood and gore and obviously descriptions of the death of animals.

Personally this wasn't for me, it was a bit too slow to get going and I guessed the killer too early on so the ending just wasn't exciting for me.

This is the author’s first novel and it works well, holding readers' interest and keeping an investment in the outcome throughout.
I gave it the following SCORE:
Setting: Birmingham, England, 1981
Characters: 14-year-old, precocious Ava Bonney, who has an incredible self-taught knowledge of biology and anatomy, particularly in animals and, more precisely, in dead animals, plus her group of young friends, Seth Delahaye, an understanding and cooperative DS, and a supporting cast of evil-doers.
Overview: Ava regularly sneaks out at night on a busy highway to collect, categorize, eulogize, and bury dead animals, until she discovers the body of a human. Her persistence in following the death, coupled with growing concern that this is the work of a serial killer, combined with the failed attempts by the investigating detectives, leads her and her best friend into personal danger.
Recommendation: I rate this book 4 stars
Extras: This tale is a little different than most of this type, mainly because of the intelligence and caring for animals shown by the protagonist. Don’t let the title scare off animal lovers because it is quite the opposite, more of a testimony honoring our beloved creatures. It’s the humans, as usual, that are the problem.
Thanx to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for the opportunity to provide this candid review.

This book was very hard to put down! I was hooked from the very beginning. The way Marie Tierney developed Ava was amazing. Ava was so brave and smart and I loved how she only wanted to be herself even if that made her weird. The story was one of a kind and very interesting and easy to follow. The story line was clean and not confusing in any way. The relationships built in this book could go forever and it was so fun seeing them all develop. I would love to see how Ava continues on with her journey and would love to see her and Detective Delahaye work together again! When I first started the book I never anticipated where it would take me but it was a very great and interesting ride!

This book is beautifully written with a compelling protagonist. While challenging to read at times due to the content it is not overly gruesome however animal lovers be warned. I look forward to more of this authors work.

"Deadly Obsession" by Marie Tierney is an unsettling tale of a young girl's morbid fascination with death and decomposition. Ava's unusual hobby of documenting decaying animals takes a dark turn when she discovers the body of a classmate and becomes entangled in a murder investigation. As she anonymously assists the police, the narrative takes a bizarre twist when we eventually find out the killer's disturbing transformation into an animal-like being. While the premise of the story had shown a lot of promise, the execution falls short. It left me feeling disconnected from the characters and disappointed by the outlandish plot development. Despite finishing the book, I found it too hard to connect with the story and wouldn't recommend it to others.

This book hooked me from the very beginning! I agree with another reviewer that this would be a great read during Spooky Season as at some points I honestly didn’t know if the antagonist was a human or a supernatural being. My only complaint was that I wish some parts were a little shorter, but I would definitely read more by this author and will be recommending to others!

I can't believe this is a debut novel. This author can write! I really enjoyed this book once I got over the main character's fascination with dead animals. That was a bit of a turn off at the start but I'm glad I stuck with it as Ava is one of my favorite characters. She's spunky and different and I was rooting for her throughout this chilly mystery. Underestimated at only fourteen years old, she ultimately is the hero and her persistence and intelligence lend a wonderful sense of hope to the horrible cruel world around her. I devoured this novel in a few days because I was so invested in her survival. I eagerly await Marie Tierney's next book. I know I'll love it more if there are no dead bodies described in vivid detail!

This was just meh for me. The book was a slow read, which caused me to take longer to get through. I loved how descriptive things were within the book, but also there were parts that were just unnecessary you could say. Good starter book for some, definitely good for spooky season! Thanks NetGalley for this ARC

This book seemed a little longer than necessary and a very slow read. I like books with short chapters, but I feel like a lot of it was not needed as part of the story. This book was dark and witty, but I didn't love it.

Fourteen-year-old Ava Bonney has a curiosity about dead things. She keeps a secret roadkill body farm in an abandoned garden near the local motorway and likes to sneak out of her flat in the dead of night to note the decomposition rates of her finds. But on this particular evening in May 1981, she discovers the putrefying body of her classmate Mickey Grant, who disappeared from a local disco two weeks ago. “Ava knew him as an unpleasant boy, a bully you couldn’t walk past without him saying something spiteful. When he went missing, Ava hadn’t cared.” But she telephones the police and, not wanting to reveal her unusual hobby, disguises her voice as Mrs. Poshy-Snob, a woman with a low voice and flawless diction. When he interviews Ava during his inquiries, Detective Sergeant Seth Delahaye is impressed by the teen’s intelligence and self-possession. Signs point to a monstrous serial killer at work after Ava and her best friend John find another mutilated corpse, that of a six-year-old boy. In alternating chapters, Tierney’s compelling narrative follows Ava’s and Delahaye’s separate investigations until the two threads braid into a chilling climax. Ava’s precocity may remind readers of Alan Bradley’s 11-year-old amateur sleuth, Flavia de Luce, but Ava uses her morbid studies to escape an unhappy home life, and her territory is not a cozy English village but the gritty, impoverished suburb of Rudery, South Birmingham. Selected as a finalist in the Daily Mail First Novel competition, this astonishing, beautifully written debut is creepy, gruesome, and heartbreaking. One of the best thrillers of the year.

Deadly Animals

By Marie Tierney

Review of Uncorrected ARC (Not sure if its the U.K. version or American)

Ava is a teenager who has an obsession with dead things. She enjoys studying the decomposition of animals, usually roadkill, which she keeps in various places around her town. One day while checking on one of the "subjects" she finds the body of a boy. She recognizes him from her town and knows the death wasn't natural. Is there a killer loose, and will she be able to find them?

This book was a very mixed bag for me. As I've stated in my bio and other reviews I make my ratings based on how much fun I had reading a book. With this book there is a lot to like. The descriptions of areas and objects are very well written and I don't think anyone will have a hard time picturing these things in their mind. The mystery is easily solvable so if you like mysteries where the author doesn't use secret information as a "twist" at the end explaining everything so you had no chance of figuring things out, this is a good one. But at the same time it's not a mystery you are going to read twenty pages and have figured out. Even as an uncorrected version the book flows pretty well jumping between Ava and DS Seth Delahaye.

Now what I didn't like. In a word, Ava. Ava is a 13-14 year old who knows everything. She has no sense of fear, she is never really surprised and she also just knows things. She has the knowledge and poise of someone many times her age and for some reason everyone just looks at her as this infallible being who you just listen to no matter what. She is in charge.

Now if this was a character Miss Marple's age, or even Cleopatra Fox's age, I'd find the character much more believable and enjoyable having had the years to actually accumulate her knowledge. With the only explanation for her knowing things I'm sure most adults in the law enforcement industry don't being "I read a lot", I just kept being taking out of the fun of the story to roll my eyes and put the book down while I went and did something else for awhile. This character, for me, ventured dangerously towards Mary Sue territory.

My only other complaint isn't a big one, I just wish there was a bit more of a reason given for certain details or characters in the book. There were questions I still had at the end but in the long run they didn't matter a whole lot to the main story line.

I have been really struggling with how many stars to give this book. Much like Ava "read a LOT" I didn't like her character "a LOT", however the book is very well written, it isn't a final version and though I would have found it more of a fun read with her "know-it-all-ness" toned down I do think that a lot of people will really enjoy Ava and the rest of the book. Some things get under my skin that other people don't even notice and I am not going to torpedo the book because there was one thing I wasn't happy with. Mrs. Tierney is a very talented writer and I think this is a good debut novel that will be well received.

3 out of 5 Stars

One final note regarding the U.K. version and the American version, at the end of my copy Mrs. Tierney thanks people for their advice on the American Copy, and I don't know if that is the one I received or not. I would guess not though, I had to look quite a few terms up, but being a fan of British books and other media I didn't mind that at all.