Title: YOU OWE ME A MURDER
Author: Eileen Cook
ISBN: 978 2203 0382 57
Publisher: Clarion Books / Harper Collins
Pages: 346
Source: Jonathan Ball Publishers
17-year-old Kim never expected to plot a murder. But that was before her boyfriend dumped her for another girl. Now, Kim’s stuck on a class trip to London with him and his new soulmate and she can’t help wishing he was a little bit dead, even if she’d never really do that.
But when Kim meets Nicki, a stranger on the plane who’s more than willing to listen to Kim’s woes, things start to look up. Nicki’s got a great sense of humour, and when she jokes about swapping murders, Kim plays along—that is, until Kim’s ex-boyfriend mysteriously dies.
Blackmailed by Nicki to fulfil her end of the deal, Kim will have to commit a murder or take the fall for one.
Official Summary
14 December 2022
This book is told from seventeen-year-old Kim’s perspective. A girl who is about to go to London with a group of people. However, one of those people is her ex-boyfriend and one is her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend.
Kim meets a girl in the airport and after getting a little tipsy and emotional they agree that it would be the perfect murder if they could both kill someone in each other lives as there would be no motive. Nicki would kill Connor, Kim’s ex-boyfriend. And Kim would kill Nicki’s alcoholic mother.
Naturally, Kim doesn’t think much of this when she gets off the plane and starts to enjoy her trip. However, this all changes when Connor mysteriously dies and now Kim is expected to fulfil her end of the deal.
This book was such a good thriller/murder mystery. It played out just like a movie in my head. This book honesty had me gripped wanting to find the truth about everything that unfolded. There are so many twists and turns and lies that it was impossible to see that ending coming.
I loved the blooming relationship that formed between Kim and Alex. I liked how sweet and understanding Alex was about everything. I just wish that Kim had formed more connections with the other people in the group. I feel like it would have been nice to have seen her make a friend. I think it would have been cool if Miriam was more involved and maybe they had formed a friendship.
My only complaint about the book was that the last half of the book just had so much repetition. I think if I took a shot every single time Nicki and Kim had the same conversation I would be considered an alcoholic.
Other than that the book was really good. I one hundred per cent want to read more of Eileen Cook’s books and have already added them to my wish list.
Overall I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a page-turning thriller.
Also by Eileen Cook
One Lie Too Many
Skye Thorn has given tarot card readings for years, and now her psychic visions are helping the police find the town’s missing golden girl. It’s no challenge, her readings have always been faked, but this time she has some insider knowledge. The kidnapping was supposed to be easy: no one would get hurt and she’d get the money she needs to start a new life.
But a seemingly harmless prank has turned dark, and Skye realizes the people she’s involved with are willing to kill to get what they want and she must discover their true identity before it’s too late.
About The Author
Author Bio from the Author’s Site
In second grade Eileen’s teacher wrote on a homework assignment “I am sure someday you will be an author” which is a tribute to the psychic abilities of elementary school teachers, as well as Eileen’s penchant for making things up. While she would fill endless notebooks with really bad poetry, short stories, and the occasional start to a novel, she would first pursue a career as a counsellor working with individuals with catastrophic injuries and illnesses.
Eileen quickly discovered that the challenge of working with real people is that they have real problems and she returned to writing where she could make her characters do what she wanted. Her first novel was published in 2008. Entertainment Weekly called her novel WITH MALICE a “seriously creepy thriller” which pretty much made her entire year.
When not planning murder and mayhem on the computer, Eileen enjoys reading, knitting, yelling at her dogs to stop digging holes and watching hockey (which she is required to do as a new Canadian.)
Eileen is a popular speaker at conferences both in the US and the, provides writing/editorial coaching, and is a mentor/instructor for The Creative Academy and the Simon Fraser University The Writer’s Studio.
Thanks for reading, let me know what you think in the comments below.
Goodbye, my little book nerds.
