Kelly Money

Told with fascinating and convincing detail, Kelly Money’s Fairy Tale Murders is a dark tale of the birth of and search for a sick serial killer in Topeka. The story opens when Detective Kate Kingsley’s best friend leaves home with no forwarding message. A strange parcel contains an oddly inscribed children’s story. And a young man sinks into sexual temptation and evil.

The author’s attention to detail brings locations and occupations convincingly to life. But an equally detailed approach to her antagonist’s actions make this a novel best read by mature readers with strong stomachs, perhaps. Short chapters invite the reader to pick up and put down the book during a busy day. Leisurely, sometimes bumpy narration leaves time for extensive backstories. And dialog, though sometimes long-winded, keeps all the details in place for the casual reader. Meanwhile, the antagonist's mounting errors are carefully choreographed as the tale draws to a close.

Kate and her partner are pleasingly ordinary cops, with real world distractions and lives. They add a lot to this tale of a less ordinary young man whose life devolves into the surreal. The presence of a strong female lead deepens a tale of female loss. And “no stone” will be unturned as the investigation proceeds.

Disclosure: I was given a free copy and I offer my honest review.… (meer)

This book isn't bad by any means, but I can't help feeling that something was missing. The plot and characters were fine, but I never really felt engaged in the story. One of my main draws for reading it was that it's set in Topeka which is where I'm from. It was nice to be able to recognize specifically where or what the author was referring to in regards to location, and I'm friends with a couple funeral directors, so that aspect of the plot was familiar to me, however I still wasn't drawn into the story. At least part of the problem was the dialogue. It often wasn't written in a conversational manner and therefore seemed rather fake. Overall this was an ok read that I believe would benefit from better editing.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.… (meer)

I was given a free copy for an honest review.

The Fairy Tale Murders is a great thriller. You get a lot of perspectives. The killer, the detective, and the victims. I couldn't believe how dumb the vicitims were. Even if they knew a killer was running around, hey that guy's cute, so I'll be alone with him!

I was interested because the theme of fairy tales interested me. Well, this is the Disney version because the killer is obviously going off the animated Disney movies. I have no problem with that, but the Disney versions are watered down Grimm stories.

We know who the killer is from the beginning. The detectives are kind of.. dumb. Now I know this is a trope, but god. You go with your gut.… (meer)