This is my first book by this author, and I am thrilled to have discovered him. It's a fine thriller with a great premise and wonderful execution. This is a novel sure to captivate suspense and thriller lovers.

Eve is cleaning out her father's house shortly after his death and discovers a box of old cassette tapes recorded by her mother, who disappeared 13 years ago. The tapes contain both everyday ramblings about her life and two shocking revelations: she was convinced she was about to be murdered, and she knew the identity of the serial killer plaguing the region. This understandably shocks Eve and rattles her world.

A recovering alcoholic, Eve has been sober for several years and attends weekly AA meetings. As she continues to listen to the tapes, she learns more about her mother and her secrets, which begin to haunt her. She uses the resources available to her to make sense of what she learns.

Told from Eve's point of view and including excerpts from a book about the serial killer, the story unfolds at a quick pace and is fully engrossing. The cassette tapes and the description of Eve's listening to them are powerfully nostalgic for this Gen-X reader! I truly enjoyed the feelings the experience of listening to the tapes engendered in me! It was a fun plot device that was well employed by the author.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an advance review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Solid thriller with interesting twists and turns. At first I was concerned that the main character was a little flat but I warmed up to her as the story went forward. I think that was meant to be her personality for all she went through. I liked the book within a book concept. It helped to flesh out the mystery in an interesting way. The short chapters worked for me making this a fast and interesting read. My first book from #NetGalley! Thank you to them, and #Bookouture for the advance copy!

The Tapes by Kerry Wilkinson kicks off with a really intriguing premise. Eve’s mom has been missing for years, and when she finds a box of old cassette tapes with her mom’s voice on them, things start to unravel. But what she hears isn’t just comforting memories, there’s something much darker going on. That discovery sets off a twisty story filled with murders, a big cast of characters, and the classic “whodunnit” .

I liked the crime and mystery angle, and Eve’s determination kept me hooked. But honestly? It started to feel a little too crowded. There were just too many people and plot points flying around at once. I kind of wish we got more time with the characters actually involved in the crimes, it would’ve made the payoff hit harder.

I had very mixed feelings while reading this novel and, ultimately, finished the book wanting more. There were so many characters and open threads that it didn’t seem like there was neat ending to wrap up loose ends. I would have liked to see a deeper exploration of the complicated dynamics of the main protagonist’s relationship with her mother and how that impacted her choices and being.

While the ending identifies a “killer” that is fairly surprising, I felt that it was a little forced as an element of surprise.

Thank you so much for sending me this arc.
Great, short, easy read. I really liked the parts written by ‘viv’, I felt like they added a good element to the story. I didn’t guess the twist either which always bumps up a book rating wise for me! I do wish we could’ve had more back ground information on the FMC, I didn’t feel as connected to her as I would’ve liked to but still overall was an enjoyable read!

This book wasn’t as thrilling as I expected it to be. I felt a lot of it was redundant and the main character was kind of hard to connect with.

Mystery/Thriller used to be my number one genre. I loved the twists, feeling involved in the “whodunit” side as evidence was laid out, and the serotonin boost at the big reveal. Then the genre started to feel repetitive and predictable. It’s not very often anymore that I find a mystery/thriller that keeps me engaged from cover to cover.

“The Tapes” was a wonderful return to the genre for me. I was drawn to the concept of evidence through found media and the use of multiple medias within the novel made this an exciting and fun read! Red herrings, a perfect range of suspects, and the tenacity of the main character even through her grief was perfect for a summer read for me! Well done, Wilkinson!

2.50/5 ( I rounded up to 3 since I can't do half star here)


This book had a promising start. This is also the first time I read anything that this author wrote. Though the pacing for me is kinda slow tbh, or i just expected too much from the story based on its premise. I was excited when she found the tapes, it brings me back in time since I used to listen to cassette tapes and record things too and that made me had those nostalgic pull with this book. Also the process of clearing things when a love one died, and if the things they used to own are worth the keep. Also this story shown how realistic it is when it comes to family, when they are not close to each other. But during the middle chapter and as I notice there were parts that made me confuse since I think they incorporate those article about the earring serial killer. All in all this book is good .


Thank you netgalley for the advance copy.

I recently read a book by an author I hadn’t come across before. It was quite engaging, but it did feel a bit drawn out at times. The ending left me a bit puzzled, but that’s okay. 3.5 stars Thanks to NetGally for the early advance copy!

Rating: ★★★★½ (4.5/5)

After her father’s death, Eve returns home to go through his belongings - only to find a box of cassette tapes recorded by her mother, who vanished years ago. As she listens, long-buried secrets begin to surface, and Eve quickly realizes she can’t go to the police. Someone knows more than they’re saying - and her mother may not have been the only one hiding something.

The tape recordings added a haunting, personal layer to the mystery, and Eve’s emotional journey was compelling from start to finish. I read this in one sitting - gripping, tense, and impossible to walk away from.

Why 4.5 instead of 5:
One twist was a little predictable, but the overall suspense and emotional depth more than made up for it.

A chilling, slow-burn psychological thriller that fans of Lisa Jewell and Alice Feeney will love.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of The Tapes by Kerry Wilkinson in return for my honest review.
Another really good read by Kerry Wilkinson once I started The Tapes I just wanted to keep reading, about halfway through I thought I’d worked it all out how wrong was I, lots of twists and turns and an ending that was a surprise. I highly recommend reading The Tapes and any book by Kerry Wilkinson you won’t be disappointed.

First, thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC!

Kerry Wilkinson did deliver again! This was a quick and easy read, with around 250 pages, I did finish it in one sitting. The blurb was already enough to draw me in, with the box of tapes Eve did discover. Curious, Eve does listen to one with her name on the label. It is from her mother, and it tells Eve that, if she does find this tape, that she is not only missing, but also murdered....

The short chapters and single-person POV are surely the cherry on the cake, since it made me fly through the pages even faster. Highly recommended!

3⭐️

A more or less obsolete piece of technology being the catalyst to finding a serial killer is such a fascinating idea. Especially when the woman recording the tapes isn't necessarily a reliable narrator. Watching Eve process the messages her mother left behind before her disappearance and realizing that this is all she likely has left was heart warming. I loved that if nothing else she had a her mother's voice telling her that she loved her. I also liked how this looked at how often trauma is passed down in families and that Eve had just as bad of a reputation as her mother in the small town. It was great that even though Angela's memories weren't always reliable that Eve believed enough to search for answers.

There were several things though that didn't necessarily work or felt like it was left unanswered. Even repeatedly points out all of the crimes her mother confessed to on the tapes that weren't true. If they weren't true, then why was she talking about them? Why were there so many with details? I also questioned why the reveal of the killer was stretched out across several different tapes. There's also a long plot line of Eve looking for a second tape when she repeatedly said that it sounded like the tape she had was recorded over. To me it made perfect sense that there wasn't a second tape but the story kind of spiraled from there.

Thanks Netgalley and Bookouture for proving this ARC to me!

Oof. I really wanted to love this. The concept was so good but it just fell so flat. I would’ve loved more of the tapes maybe alternating chapters. What mom confessed wasn’t even bad enough that she couldn’t report it? It was so bad I’m sorry.

The plot:
When Eves father dies, her job is to clear his house ready to place on the market for sale. On doing this, Eve finds a box of cassette tapes recorded by her mother who vanished without a trace years before. Eve takes enjoyment in hearing her mum's voice once again and reminiscing the good old days. That is until she comes across a tape where her mother declares "if you're listening to this, I've been murdered" From there, Eve makes it her primary focus to discover what has happened and uncovers some shocking truths. Is there a serial killer on the loose?

My personal review:
This book is steady paced with a couple of heart pumping moments. It is written just how I like it. No information overload or world building which I prefer as sometimes I can find that quite hard to follow. The characters are all easy to relate to. This is a wonderful cosy mystery, rather than a thriller. I definitely enjoyed picking my book up every evening to see what Eve discovers over the next couple of chapters. The ending of the book was a good one. Not an OMG moment, but really well thought out nonetheless.

The Tapes

Thrillers will usually drag me out of a slump kicking and screaming and this book succeeded in doing just that.

I was intrigued by The Tapes from the second I read the description and it didn’t disappoint. Being someone who has always been fascinated by true crime, whether it be listening to podcasts or reading books about serial killers, this was right up my alley.

Initially I actually had to put the book down because it was making me paranoid but I did get past that once the initial shock wore off. Once you dive deeper into the book it becomes more of a mystery than a horror/thriller.

Just like Eve, I too was suspicious of everyone (except for the actual killer, which is wild because I’m usually pretty good at figuring this stuff out) is it the brother? The boss? Her own dad?!? I didn’t know who to trust, and even began doubting Eve herself at points.

I really enjoyed the biography snippets we get throughout about the victims of this fictional serial killer. I think actual, real life biographies about serial killers should take a similar approach as the victims story is rarely told.


The book is set I England (which don’t get me wrong, I love England and have visited several times) so to an American it was a bit jarring when the set up mystery is that of a random gun. I thought to myself “oh you found a gun? That’s pretty normal right?” like no babes, that’s not normal, you live in a weird country (me to me) and then when someone’s being questioned about it they’re like “I don’t even know where I’d get a gun” and I was like “uh Walmart? The gun show? A neighbor?” and again I say (to myself) nope! That’s not average for people outside of the US. This wasn’t really an issue, and definitely not the books fault, just something that jarred me quite a bit right away and I couldn’t shake it. a me problem and definitely NOT the books fault or authors fault.

The only think that was bothersome was the way the main character spoke/thought about her friend. *spoiler* sure, her friend ended up being horrible and a murdered but this woman was still given side eyes throughout the entire book before that reveal all because she doesn’t feel comfy with her husband being a personal trainer who goes inside his (female) clients homes. Like sorry, that’s a valid thing for a wife to not be comfortable with and the main character spends every mention of this disparaging and doubting her friend and basically rolling her eyes at her. Came off super weird to me in the moment and then AGAIN later when it’s revealed the friend did kill 2 people, the main character looks at the MAN WHO KILLED 9 PEOPLE and says he seems more sympathetic than his daughter who was clearly raised by a monster. Idk it felt weird to me.

Overall I enjoyed the twists and turns that this story takes and would recommend to anyone trying to get out of a reading slump!

For the most part I thought I will give this book 4 stars, but the ending was kind of disappointing, hence 3 stars.

The cover is hinting at something much more tension filled, while it’s more of a novel with serial killer storyline in the background. The main character was more like solving a mystery from years ago than expecting something bad to happen.
The whole action is triggered when Eve deals with her father’s funeral and finds old tapes her mother recorded. Her mother who disappeared 13 years ago. Eve found a tape on which her mother says she was murdered.

I thought it will be tension filled thriller, cause (my mistake) I thought it’s “if you’re listening to this, you will be murdered”, while in fact it’s “if you’re listening to this, I was murdered”. Once I noticed my mistake, I was still very much interested in the story! It started off really great. Not the type of thriller that keeps you on your toes from the first page, but still interesting. It’s a book that does NOT give you anxiety, so hey, that’s good, you don’t always want that!
It was a rather fast read, I was enjoying it, other than the chapters with excerpts from the book. It was a huge struggle to read those, for some reason, I guess the writing style was too different and I was REALLY struggling to keep my attention on what I’m reading. Also, I don’t think they were necessary, or at least way too long compared to what they served for the story.

The twists and turns happened mostly towards the end of the story. The killer was rather unexpected, but I felt rather disappointed. It didn’t make much sense. I finished and I still don’t understand the reasoning.
There is a serial killer who didn’t kill for 13 years and then once we know the villain and also get to know what happened with Eve’s mums, it’s still not explained why the killer killed or why he stopped.
I’m disappointed with who turned out to be the villain. It was unexpected (pro) but made zero sense (huge con)

This was an ARC read through Netgally.
I chose this book because of its cover and well the description also.

The book is barely 250 pages. But every page that I read had new information and frankly it really pulled me in. I was literally addicted to it by the time I was 50 pages in.
The story starts strong with cassettes as a prime element in the story bringing that analogue days back 📼.
I think the use of cassettes was very clever, not leaving much of a trail in terms of the investigation. It added some mystery to the story.

The plot is clever and very meticulously planned. There are so many characters in this book that I doubted every new character that was introduced.

It's gripping and fast paced. And I liked it. It kept me intrigued. It was a guessing game till the end for sure. Even if I had an inclination about who the murderer must be it wasn't revealed until the very end of the book. (and I was right about it too, well partially.) But when it was revealed, it was a "fist pumping I knew it !" moment 😂

The second twist I genuinely didn't see it coming. I pieced it together at the last moment. But everything leading up to it was just a thrilling ride. 🎢

Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐

This book hooked me from the very beginning - a woman discovers a tape recording of her mother saying that if she is listening to the tape then she has been killed. Full of twists and turns, this will keep you guessing!

Firstly, thank you so much for an early copy of this one. I have seen this book posted a few times and once I read the description, the concept drew me in immediately. I found this to be an easy quick read, but also felt like it dragged on at some points where it didn’t need to. There were a lot of characters, which ended up confusing me because I felt some characters had no development and weren’t necessary to have in the story.

The second half of the story picked up a lot and kept me interested, but completely felt rushed more towards the end of the book. I didn’t predict the ending, but I wish it went into a little more detail and didn’t end so abruptly.