Samantha Downing has quickly become one of my go-to mystery/thriller authors. Every book I have read from her so far has landed at either four or five stars. She has a real talent for pulling readers straight into her twisted and addictive stories. One of the things she does best is taking seemingly ordinary people and revealing the darkness lurking beneath their polite surfaces. They look like model citizens on the outside, yet inside, they are anything but.

I absolutely loved this book. I chose the audiobook, and the narrator gave a fantastic performance. She captured each character beautifully, especially Lottie, and made the entire story even more entertaining. I highly recommend listening to this one.

Lottie herself is a delight of a character. She is in her 70s, snarky, sharp, and wildly funny, but she also used to be a serial killer. Due to unexpected circumstances, she finds herself pulled out of retirement, and what follows is an outrageous and thoroughly entertaining ride. The story kept me guessing from start to finish, and even with all the dark behavior, there is a surprising sense of lightness and charm woven throughout. I loved every over-the-top situation Lottie had to navigate and escape.

Downing’s dark and clever humor, memorable characters, energetic pacing, and irresistible cat-and-mouse tension made this an instant favorite for me. I will always pick up anything she writes. She is a true auto-read author at this point, and I cannot recommend this one enough.