The Serial Killers Daughter by Alice Hunter

Author: Alice Hunter

Title: The Serial Killer's Daughter

Publisher: Avon

Published: 2022

Pages: 400

Genre: Mystery Thriller 

     Is murder in the blood? In a sleepy Devon village, a young girl is taken from the streets. Local vet, Jenny, is horrified. This kind of thing doesn’t happen here. But it’s not the first time she’s been so close to a crime scene. The daughter of a prolific serial killer, she’s spent her whole life running from who she really is. And the crime is harrowingly similar to those her father committed all those years ago…But she’s not her father’s daughter. Is she?

     With The Serial Killer's Daughter, this is the second time I have come to be reading this author. Having greatly enjoyed The Serial Killer's Wife the first in this series. Although it is worth pointing out that whilst this is the same series the story doesn't follow on from each other.  What Hunter seems to do very well is blend the suburban noir with the serial killer genre. Whereas often we get a well-heeeld detective having to bring all his wits and cunning together to beat a hyper-intelligent killer. Her novels bring it very much into our own home. To question not only what our own families are capable of but also how much our upbringing and genetics go into making us who we are. Are we capable of fighting against all this to become our own people or are we in fact locked into a spiral we cannot escape? 

     When we first come to meet Jenny she is living what would appear to all to be a fairly idyllic one. One some might even envy. But as is far too often the case looks can be deceiving and what seems like a kingdom to some can be a prison to others. Even so, she is still doing her best to juggle work and family life and try and make it all into something that makes sense. As a reader, you get swept up in her swirling life of domestic normality. It's one we can connect with and see in our everyday lives time and again. But this would be a completely different book if nothing else was to happen. It's only with the disappearance of a young local girl that things start to fall apart and we start to see the real jenny come to light. This is the one she thought she had left behind a long time ago. 

     But this is hardly the tale of one, after all, it takes two to have a relationship. The book also throws us into the mind of Jenny's husband Mark. Also, a man seeming to be doing his best to make everything work.  But from the get-go, it is obvious there are cracks here. Things are not quite as content as one might seem. We have all known men like Mark a little too cocky maybe one too many things he's trying to keep secret. He's the sort of block that will complain to his mates that since the kids his wife doesn't pay enough attention to him. Hense how things had spiraled out of control a few years before and he had strayed from the marital bed.  But when push comes to shove can we really trust either of our narrators. They both seem to be a little tricky to pin down as to what exactly is going on. 

     This is definitely one of those books where if you love a good set of secrets then you are going to feel like it's game on. Hunter has superbly gone all out on creating a narrative that requires the reader to keep track if they plan on trying to beat her to the conclusion before the big reveal. I for one had on several occasions to sit back and try and work out just who I thought was more guilty. It is also how she plays on their missed ideas about each other. How so often in couples the words not said would go a long way to sort out problems. How a few short conversations would have resolved a great deal of their problems. But here is the rub, instead of asking they start to assume, and those small cracks that had started before our tale have ripped open into great chasms. How can any of us trust when we already have doubt. What this does create is an amazingly tough thriller that kept me flipping the pages. You want to know just what has happened to this missing girl. just as much as you are waiting for this little slice of domestic bliss to explode. 

     I felt The Serial Killers Daughter was just as brilliant as her first outing. The author has crafted a style that is very easy to get to grips with and become all wrapped up in whichever tale she has given us this time. The narrative hums along at a decent pace and it wasn't often I put the book down to do other things. If you are looking for decent solid thriller then look no further than author Alice Hunter.