There was much to enjoy here, but I found I couldn't connect with it. I'd read more from this author in the future though.

I recently bought a new kindle after my old one broke. For some reason I was unable to download this title from the cloud onto my kindle, therefore I will be unable to review this title. I am sorry for any inconvenience caused

Hmmm…Little Deaths. I don’t really know what I want to say about this story. It is a fictional story that has been inspired by real life events that looks closely at the relationship between women and the societal standards that they were held to in the 1960s.

Ruth Malone is a working class single mother of two. When she is accused of murder her whole life is scrutinised to determine whether she is guilty or not. They don’t just look at the evidence they look at her personally.

Whilst the writing in Little Deaths was very good, I personally felt that the pacing let it down. In one respect it allowed you to reflect and really empathise with Ruth but in the other respect it meant that the punchier storyline of a crime that had been committed lost some of its importance to the plot.

Little Deaths is an interesting read if you look at it as a social construct of how women are perceived by society
and the expectations of how to be a woman.

Little Deaths by Emma Flint is available now.

For more information regarding Emma Flint (@flint_writes) please visit www.emmaflint.com.

For more information regarding Pan Macmillan (@panmacmillan) please visit www.panmacmillan.com.

Although the premise of the book is interesting - two children go missing and their mother is the prime suspect - I just couldn't get into the story. I had no interest in any of the characters, who seemed to be mostly caricatures: the children have no personality, the mother is a caricature of an alcoholic, the reporter who thinks there's more to the story is just plain boring. After 50 pages I had to abandon the book in favor of something more gripping.

Little Deaths is a compelling whodunnit set in the 1960s, based on a real case. It's more character led than plot led, with a focus on morality and society at that time. I'd read a lot of hype about this book and was interested to see if it lived up to expectations.

Ruth Malone is a mother on the verge of divorce. She's struggling to make ends meet and wants more out of life. She's prepared to take risks to do so, going beyond society's norms, even when her children go missing. Her neighbours steer clear of her, her soon-to-be ex-husband doesn't understand her and the police suspect her of murder. Little Deaths is a fascinating look at the attitudes of disproving neighbours, intrusive press and bigoted police towards women at the time.

The mystery of what happened to Ruth Malone's two young children intrigued me, with lots of twists, turns and red herrings. The mesmerising writing certainly sucked me into the story straight away. The characters felt very real and the interaction between them is what, for me, kept the story going. Ruth, in particular, was a complex character, judged by her appearance and behaviour rather than what was inside. The period setting was very well described and highly atmospheric, transporting me right into the heart of 1960s New York, with the sights, sounds and smells of city life in the summer heat.

I wasn't 100% sure about the ending, feeling it was a little neat and rushed. But overall, I really enjoyed Little Deaths.

I was approved to read this book from NetGalley back in January and I read it soon after but life got in the way of me getting my review written in a timely manner. I’m now quite pleased about that as I’ve had time to really think about the book and I can honestly say that it has stayed with me so strongly.

Little Deaths is a claustrophobic read; it’s set in a hot summer in 1965 and the heat feels stifling as it emanates from the page. There is a sense that the heat is intensifying the way everyone behaves.

Ruth is a fascinating character; I was intrigued by her and interested in her all the way through the novel. It was shocking to see how quick everyone was to judge that she likely murdered her two children entirely based on her looks and the fact that she was a single mother, but then it seems that all women are judged harshly, and so often it’s by other women and their peers. Ruth is a very glamorous woman and she enjoys going out dancing, but her outer appearance belies how she really feels. Ruth is uncomfortable in her own skin. She has an almost fear of any kind of bodily function – she panics when she feels herself begin to perspire and her mind obsesses about people noticing. She puts on her make up in a fastidious fashion – she cannot bear to be seen without it, even on the morning she finds her children missing. Society judges that she is vain and cold, but actually her make up is her mask – she needs it on in order to face the world, in order to cope. It is so easy for society to make judgements but people are far more complex than what we can see on the outside. For me, Ruth wanting to paint her face was her way of holding herself together when her life was spiralling out of control.

The way men see Ruth throughout this novel is also really fascinating. The police seem keen to see her as a scarlet woman and therefore someone who would likely have hurt her children, believing that she would kill them because they held her back from the lifestyle she wanted to be living. Then there is Pete, the young journalist, who quickly becomes fixated with Ruth and therefore believes she must be innocent. He imprints his own beliefs about Ruth onto her and begins to believe that he knows how she’s feeling. There doesn’t seem to be a man in this novel that can see Ruth as she really is – an independent woman who is doing her best in difficult circumstances. Even her estranged husband Frank cannot, or perhaps will not, see that Ruth is actually vulnerable and fragile, and that her wanting to look nice all the time is part of her defence mechanism.

Although we, as readers, are seeing a lot of the story through Ruth’s eyes we still can’t be sure that she is innocent. She maintains that she didn’t harm her children or take them out of the apartment, and she that worries people are thinking that she did. I thought she was most likely telling the truth but I couldn’t be sure that she wasn’t suffering from a breakdown of some kind and that she believed she hadn’t done it when really she might have done.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a crime or thriller novel before that has made me tearful. As this novel went on I felt more and more sad for Ruth. There is a moment when she feels a compulsion to buy a new dress and the way she is torn to shreds in the media for that one act made me want to weep for her. It was so apparent to me that she just wanted to look nice one more time for her babies, she wasn’t aware of it seeming inappropriate, she was just compelled to do it for them, and as a way of holding herself together. This makes sense knowing what we know about Ruth but the things that were said about her afterwards made my heart break.

I actually didn’t know when I was reading this novel that it was based on a true story, so when I read this at the end of the book I was horrified all over again at what society is capable of doing to women in the way we judge. There are still so many cases, particularly when a crime is committed, where society leaps to a judgement based on how the woman looks in a way that we don’t do with men. It’s sobering to think that what happened to Ruth, or Alice Crimmins, the woman she is based on, is still happening now.

This book had me completely and utterly engrossed all the way through, I begrudged real life interrupting my reading time.

Little Deaths is a stunning literary thriller and I highly recommend it. I read this novel back in January and it has stayed with me all these months and I feel sure it will still be in my top books of the year when I come to compile that list in December.

I received a copy of Little Deaths from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had not heard about the Alice Crimmins case before I read the book, and I was struck afterwards at how closely the author stuck to most of the factual details of the true story, while managing to give it her own slant and style. A very authentic feel of recreating a 1960s neighbourhood, with its gossipy atmosphere and small resentments, as well as judgemental attitudes towards what makes a good mother - which are sadly still with us today. The obsessive self-delusion of the journalist Pete is a great counterpoint to the story.

DNF. I have chosen not to review this on my blog or elsewhere as I couldn't finish it and so I don't think it;s fair to do that..

A difficult read in terms of the subject matter. The murder of two young children isn't always going to be an uplifting read. However, when the matter is treated with care and an original eye a fictional account can helps us see our humanity and the frailties of life.
Ruth Malone is struggling in her relationship with the children's father so lives as a single mother, working long hours as a cocktail waitress to meet the needs of the household. Ruth is a woman first and therefore in her presentation she is always immaculate. Others will judge her, feeling she puts her needs before those of her kids, leaving her home a mess while looking her best and ready to entertain men.
Seen as promiscuous due to the 1960's setting in a working neighbourhood in New York.
The loss of her children as they go missing on her watch, and the ultimate tragedy of them being found dead breaks her and all see can hold on to is her appearance, something others fail to see for what it is as she seeks to overcome her grief and sense of guilt.
Ruth has several shady relationships in this story; a fine female friend and a strong mother but mostly a group of men attracted to her beauty but maintain their relationships for carnal pleasure. Nothing satisfies Ruth she just needs to be treated as special and loved; this appears to be how she viewed her darling children.
In addition, the story is marked by a young journalist who over steps his professional boundaries as he is drawn to this femme fatale who he desires to save and be found innocent of murder. An old detective Devlin is convinced of her guilt and strives to build a case, waiting for Ruth to trip herself up or for her to confess and reveal who helped her in this horrendous crime and nature.
A compelling story that seeps into your reasoning and you never feel quite ready to give up on Ruth but despair that she must know more of what happened.
When she is finally arrested, and brought before a jury, no woman will sit in judgement as all are convinced of her guilty. As the evidence seems to be contrived to be against her and witnesses seem prepared to lie you wonder how far the journalist will go to save her. Did he uncover the truth among all his earlier interviews? Can his unnatural involvement and knowledge of the case find the salvation Ruth needs to avoid a guilty verdict?
Tense at times, beautifully constructed and written. You feel the despair of seeking the truth by the journalist. You become frustrated by Ruth's inability to help herself or speak the truth. You are not prepared for the shocks and the lengths others will go to in this case and trial.
Good courtroom drama, a wonderful sense of time and place. The writing has a rhythm that carries you along and belies the fact that this is a debut novel.

Based on a true story, this is a fictionalised account of woman who loses her children. Accused of their murder, the public focus on her personality and life-style and convict her in the press. One journalist sees beyond this and realises that corruption and narrow-mindedness are in danger of causing a miscarriage of justice. This is powerful and demanding read.

This is another of those novels which is an uncomfortable read. What kept me reading? The characters. I wanted to know what really happened. But of course this is fiction and characters don’t always tell the truth, only their version of the truth. ‘Little Deaths’ by Emma Flint is an accomplished debut, as I read I could tell she had got under the skin of her characters.
There is an intriguing set-up, we first hear Ruth’s voice. She is in prison. We don’t know why, but she compares her life now with her life before. When she was a single mum with two small children. As I read, I felt a shiver down my back: where are her children now? Starting the story with Ruth in prison surely gives away the ending, doesn’t it? Not really. This is a nuanced tale of trial by jury in 1960s America [though until the Sixties were mentioned, it seemed to be set in a curiously non-time specific period] where prejudices about women could wrongly influence outcomes, where social pre-conceptions coloured witness statements, and hearsay evidence seemed admissible if the accused was disliked. It is a tale of presumed guilt, and it should make all readers stop and think.
Ruth, separated from her husband Frank, works as a cocktail waitress to support her children. It is a hard life when Frank’s support cheques bounce and the children don’t want to eat the only food she has to feed them. Ruth puts on a persona when she leaves the house, it is her way of coping. She is a proud woman, who doesn’t want to admit her struggles or to ask for help. She is attractive and uses make-up and tight clothes to attract boyfriends who give her cash, cash which helps her to survive. And then one morning when she goes to the children’s bedroom, Cindy and Frank Junior are not there. The police questioning starts, and the make-up, short skirts and lack of friendly neighbours come back to haunt her.
We are told Ruth’s story, first by Ruth herself, and also by Pete Wonicke, a young journalist who reports on the case. As the months go on and no-one is arrested we see Ruth’s anger and helplessness in the face of police who wait to convict her rather than investigate other clues. Meanwhile, Pete becomes obsessed with Ruth and with proving her innocence.
This novel stayed with me for days afterwards. It made me question how quick we are to judge others by what we see on the outside, how easy it is to allow our prejudices to dominate our views on life. Sometimes the guilty-looking person will be guilty. But sometimes they won’t.
You will have to read right to the end to find out if Ruth is guilty or not guilty.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/

Well, I wasn't expecting that !

I thought I was in for just 'another psychological domestic thriller' in Emma Flint's debut novel 'Little Deaths', but I was pleasantly surprised. 'Little Deaths' is a well written, compelling, literary crime novel with a classic crime noir influence.

Set in Queens, New York during the stifling hot Summer of 1965, Ruth Malone, a single mother wakes one morning to find that both of her children have gone missing. Ruth is not the conventional mother or wife (of the times) and at her instigation she has been separated from her husband Frank for the past year. Her priorities also appear a little skewed especially her obsession with her appearance purely to make her attractive and desirable to men.

Frankie Jr's and Cindy's bodies are soon found and in light of a conversation with her lawyer ending with, ‘He can’t have the kids. He can’t have them. I’d rather see them dead than with Frank’, Ruth becomes the prime suspect.

Ruth is not an easy character to like and I found myself judging her, (and boy is she easy to judge), for not behaving in a manor deemed appropriate for a caring mother, or for her lack of emotion as a grieving mother. As a result i wondered if she could indeed be guilty of murder in order to live the glamorous lifestyle she craved. I did warm to her somewhat during the course of the book as her narrative gives a privileged insight to her thought processes. I still didn't agree with her choices or actions, but I did gain an understanding of why she behaved as she did.

Emma Flint has written a thought provoking story based on the '60's real case of Alice Cribbins, and she has kept pretty close to the original facts in this reimagined account albeit with a neat resolution which I found a bit contrived, and coming from nowhere. However I do appreciate that for some readers a finality to a plot is preferred, which is more than can be said for the real case.

Gripping, intensely upsetting in parts, 'Little Deaths' is an impressive debut novel and perfect for fans of Megan Abbott.

I absolutely loved it.

This is a beautifully written dark novel. The details and how close it is to the actual case is amazing. Although there are some clumsy moments where the whole truth isn't revealed so the twist can be discovered at a better point, overall it's an addictive read. Part of the way through I thought that there wouldn't be a resolution as it is a novel with a crime in it rather than a crime novel but I'm glad that it was resolved. It's great on obsession and dissatisfaction.

Really enjoyed this novel, a fascinating read. I really appreciated how we found out in the end who had really murdered the children. Only think I never quite understood was the detective's single-minded hatred for Ruth, I thought this could have been explained more fully. But overall a thought-provoking read.

This story felt very familiar to me. Maybe it's because it is the tenth work of fiction inspired by the infamous Alice Crimmins case. Or maybe it's the fact that every character was a cliché, every twist seemed telegraphed. I just felt like I'd read it all before.

Ruth Malone is a struggling cocktail waitress in 1960s Queens, recently estranged from her husband Frank. One sweltering July night, her two children go missing from their beds. And when their battered bodies are found a few days later, the ensuing murder investigation becomes the hot topic on every New Yorker's lips. The public quickly make up their minds about the identity of the guilty party - with her late-night carousing and long string of lovers, Mrs Malone is not society's idea of a perfect mother. But one young journalist sees something special in Ruth, and will not rest until he proves her innocence.

Every stock aspect of the noir novel is present in Little Deaths: the flame-haired femme fatale, the hard-nosed detective, the rookie reporter chasing his first major scoop. The plot features precious few surprises until the ending, which seemed quite improbable to me. Flint does deserve praise for capturing the social disapproval and media frenzy surrounding a woman who is tried for her lifestyle as much as her children's deaths. But overall this book feels like a stale entry in the literary crime genre, and is best avoided.

I confess to being a little disappointed with this book.
The premise of two young children going missing in the night and then being found murdered was intriguing, and the prejudice shown towards their promiscuous and drunken mother by the police in 1960s USA was quite shocking - as based upon the Alice Crimmins case. However, there are some issues which remain unaddressed - for example, why Ruth is the way she is was never explained, although there hints about her darker side, and a mention of her change in attitude towards Frank during her second pregnancy is never explored. I also found Pete's character quite unconvincing - he wants to help Ruth and initially suspects Frank of being more involved in the children's disappearance, but then fails to look into this properly after being told there is nothing to find by the detective he knows is determined to find Ruth guilty?
The ending us also dissatisfying - would Ruth really accept Frank's confession and do nothing? Scope for a sequel methinks...
Overall, this is an interesting read, but leaves too many questions unanswered.

Holds your attention from the first paragraph until the last, a cracking read would highly recommend it

This book is going to be huge! I've already heard lots about it on social media and have had customers enquiring about it for months. I am glad to say it lives up to the hype. A gripping "did she do it" novel that tackles stereotypes about women and the obsessive nature of the media. Brilliant!

This is a wonderful debut novel and one that kept me gripped until the very end.

The strength of the narrative voice is astounding and the reader is immediately drawn into the world of protagonist Ruth Malone. Although it is set in the 1960s, and Flint is particularly good at evoking an authentic sense of place and time, the issues in this book are strikingly contemporary. The portrayal of women in the media, the scrutiny of and social boundaries applied to mothers, and the inherent double standard of male and female sexuality are all themes that will make you think we haven't come that far since the 1960s.

All of the characters are well developed and realistic. Pete Wonicke, the journalist who originally investigates the case and becomes obsessed with Ruth, was particularly intriguing. His growing infatuation is built steadily enough to sustain credibility and subtly enough to always keep the reader wondering where it might lead.

This book is atmospheric, sensual and tense, and it won't let you go until you reach the climatic (and heartbreaking) conclusion. A superb novel!

Something about the dark month of January makes me enjoy getting caught up in a good thriller. Last year I read Fiona Barton's “The Widow” about a missing child and a mysterious woman hovering near the centre of the case. Emma Flint's debut novel “Little Deaths” is similarly about a case involving missing children and a misunderstood woman, but it's also about so much more than that. Ruth Malone is a 26 year old woman who is separated from her husband and raising two children by herself in Queens during the 1960s. One morning she opens the door to her children's room to discover they've vanished. A police investigation gets under way to discover what happened, but the default assumption is that Ruth is at fault. The police and public don't consider her to be a conventional mother. She enjoys drinking. She's promiscuous. She doesn't seem to give a damn about society's opinion of her. She's condemned even before they interview her. Flint gets at the shocking and sexist way moral judgement supersedes fact in this tragic case.

It's fascinating the way the author portrays Ruth's sense of self consciousness. She's scrupulous about her appearance and she feels the process of putting on make up is “the routine that would bring Ruth to life in the mirror.” At the same time, she feels an inward sense of disgust and takes fierce possession of her own habitat and sense of being: “The dirt in the apartment was her dirt, it was her sweat, her smell, her looseness, her leaking wet body that had betrayed her.” This harsh sense of criticism for her bodily functions and surroundings reminded me somewhat of Ottessa Moshfegh's protagonist in her novel “Eileen” but Ruth is more accomplished at appearing beautiful and serene despite inwardly breaking down. She's overcome by grief, but because she doesn't express it in conventional ways it makes people extremely suspicious. More than simply subjecting a grieving mother to endless accusatory interviews, the police shockingly interfere with her personal life contacting potential employers to warn them against hiring Ruth and sabotaging her personal relationships.

Although the reader frequently gets flashes of Ruth's perspective, the story is primarily told through Pete Wonicke, an ambitious young reporter. At first I wished the story would focus more exclusively on the complexity of Ruth's view point, but as the story progressed I saw how essential it was to see it from Pete's perspective. He gradually understands how unfairly Ruth is persecuted and fights for her justice. Not only does he get a clearer understanding of her life, but also the lives of other women forced to live on the margins and who've been horrendously mistreated for going against the grain of social norms. This cleverly makes us question our own assumptions about people based on superficial impressions, ask how much our society has changed in the past fifty years and wonder how much our opinions are guided by inherited misogynist notions. It's a forceful story which skilfully builds a feeling of suspense all the way to its gripping conclusion.