REVIEW: Dear Killer by Katherine Ewell

Rule One—Nothing is right, nothing is wrong.
Rule Two—Be careful.
Rule Three—Fight using your legs whenever possible, because they’re the strongest part of your body. Your arms are the weakest.
Rule Four—Hit to kill. The first blow should be the last, if at all possible.
Rule Five—The letters are the law.

Kit takes her role as London’s notorious “Perfect Killer” seriously. The letters and cash that come to her via a secret mailbox are not a game; choosing who to kill is not an impulse decision. Every letter she receives begins with “Dear Killer,” and every time Kit murders, she leaves a letter with the dead body. Her moral nihilism and thus her murders are a way of life—the only way of life she has ever known.

But when a letter appears in the mailbox that will have the power to topple Kit’s convictions as perfectly as she commits her murders, she must make a decision: follow the only rules she has ever known, or challenge Rule One, and go from there.

Katherine Ewell’s Dear Killer is a sinister psychological thriller that explores the thin line between good and evil, and the messiness of that inevitable moment when life contradicts everything you believe.

My Thoughts:

My name is Kit, but most people know me as the Perfect Killer.

I kill on order. I am everyone's assassin. I belong to no one but the grim reaper herself.

Before I was a reader of YA, I was a huge true crime fan. I loved trying to get inside the mind of the criminal and seeing what made them tick. What made them different to you and me. Was it an evil that they were born with or was it something that developed over time due to circumstance? The whole nature verses nurture debate. When I saw the synopsis for Dear Killer, I was immediately drawn to it. This sounded right up my alley. 

I will firstly say that I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed it a great deal actually. But there were also aspects that I didn't like at all. And having read it some weeks back now, I've had time to reflect a little bit more and hopefully get across more accurately my thoughts on the book.

And I felt like laughing.

Because I was the queen of it all, a queen looking out over her kingdom, because they were all bent to my will and marched to the beat of my murderous drum. And of course they didn't know it, but I knew it, and that was what mattered.

Kit is the perfect killer. Or so she tells us, constantly. She commits cold blooded murder while telling herself that she is justified because the people that she is killing have done wrong to someone, somewhere. She shows no remorse, because she feels none. She is cold and calculated. Kit is a character that doesn't make you feel all warm and fuzzy. In fact you will more than likely despise her. I know I did for the most part. She thinks highly enough of herself to make up for that though. Her logic is skewed so badly. Her reasons for killing were not what I expected. The people that she is killing are not evil people who have committed heinous acts. She kills them for the most basic and flimsy of reasons. Barely batting an eyelid when she's done.

Another aspect of the story that bugged me was the drop off point for the letters. How is it that everyone in all of London knew where this place was, except for the police? The police with the investigators and resources to find out such facts. The police who have been delving into the case for such a long period of time. I really struggled with this aspect throughout the whole story. It got on my nerves that the police were portrayed as so completely inept.

Another issue that I had was Kit's friendship with the officer in charge of the investigation. The age difference between them made me question what basis the friendship had, I mean, she's still in school, not to mention that Kit wasn't the greatest at keeping her mouth shut in regards to the murders. And yet, he suspects nothing! She left clues, left, right and centre, but still he put his trust in her. He defended her and believed in her. 

The paradise of death, that crushing slicing burning sensation

That beautiful sensation

I'm lost and I don't mind because I am so alive

Because I am a murderer

Despite all the previously discussed issues I had with Dear Killer, and my dislike of Kit, I have to say that I did enjoy it. It was original and very different to most other Young Adult reads that you're likely to pick up. The writing was good and I was hooked by the story right from the very start. I'm not sure though, if my investment was due to my need to find something redeemable in Kit or not. And while nothing ever eventuated, I still enjoyed the time that I spent reading it.

Do you remember what I said about not enjoying murder? 

That was a lie.

3.5/5 Cold Kit Stars.

Copy received from the publisher via Edelweiss.