Blog Tour and Book Review: The Murder List by Jackie Kabler

Publication Date: 31 May 2022 (ePub), 18 August 2022 (paperback)
Publisher: One More Chapter (Harpercollins UK)

When Mary receives a blank diary as a present, she thinks nothing of it. Until she opens the diary, and sees it’s not blank after all…

1st January MURDER LISA, OXFORD
1st February MURDER JANE, BIRMINGHAM
1st March MURDER DAVID, CARDIFF
1st April MURDER MARY, CHELTENHAM

Is this some kind of sick joke? But…it’s the end of January now. And a woman named Lisa was murdered in Oxford on 1st January.

Does that mean there really is a killer out there, planning to commit a new murder on the first of each month? And is the Mary due to be killed on 1st April her?

The clock is ticking for Mary to uncover the truth, before she becomes the next victim on the killer’s list…

Being a big fan of Jackie’s previous books, I am thrilled to be able to take part in the blog tour for her latest novel, The Murder List.

Crime reporter, Mary Ellis, receives a “gift” on the run up to Christmas. It turns out to be a lovely diary, pre-populated with the names, dates and locations of upcoming murders. Needless to say, Mary is more than a little spooked by this, particularly as the last name on the list seems to be hers… What a gripping start to the book!

The story flips between Mary’s first-person narrative and the third-person narrative of the police investigation. I particularly liked the idea that part of the story was told from the point of view of a character who knows/suspects that she is going to be a potential victim. This certainly adds an extra element of suspense and urgency to the tale.

The plot is absorbing and intriguing and whilst I don’t want to ruin it for anyone, suffice to say that there is murder, several concurrent police investigations and a number of twists, some of which caught me completely off-guard. I do love a book that has the ability to surprise me!

The character development is well-done. The author slowly peels back the layers, gradually revealing Mary to be an unexpectedly complex character. I found myself questioning and becoming suspicious of her reactions to certain events.

Overall, a great twisty thriller that kept me gripped until the very last line. Suspenseful, clever and very entertaining – I would happily recommend this book.

Huge thanks to Jackie, One More Chapter and to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for giving me the change to join in with this blog tour and for providing an advanced copy of the book for review.

Jackie Kabler is an internationally bestselling author of psychological thrillers including The Perfect Couple, Am I Guilty? and The Happy Family. She worked as a newspaper reporter and then in television news for twenty years, including nearly a decade on GMTV. She later appeared on BBC and ITV news, presented a property show for Sky, hosted sports shows on Setanta Sports News and worked as a media trainer for the Armed Forces. She now combines her crime writing with her job as a presenter on shopping channel QVC. Jackie lives in Gloucestershire with her husband.