Author: Tasha Coryell
Publisher: Berkley
ISBN: 9780593640272
A woman becomes obsessedwith an accused murderer and begins writing him letters, only to fallin love with him. As they become pen pals and then lovers, the womanmust decide whether she believes in his self-pronounced innocence andthat he won’t try to kill her next. Author Tasha Coryell crafts acompelling narrative with an unlikeable protagonist and a paper-thinplot in her debut novel Love Letters to a Serial Killer.
Hannah White’s life isslowly falling apart. Her boyfriend has ghosted her; at least, shethought he was her boyfriend. He certainly didn’t mind sleepingwith her and her coming to the concerts he put on with his punk band.But the minute Hannah tries to move the relationship forward,suddenly he’s gone.
It doesn’t help that herjob as the communications person for a nonprofit in Minneapolis payspeanuts and she has no passion for it. The job was supposed to be anin-between kind of thing until she found something better, butsomehow Hannah has gotten stuck in that weird space. She hates herjob, and it’s looking like it hates her back.
Thank goodness there areplenty of distractions. The latest is an awful crime out of Georgia.Upstanding lawyer William Thompson is facing the accusation ofmurdering four women, and Hannah devours the details of the case. Shejoins an online forum where followers of William’s story areworking together to see if they can definitively prove he did it.
Hannah is all for justice.Those poor women were murdered and thrown into a ravine like trash.In a fit of righteous anger, Hannah decides to write William inprison so he knows how despicable he is.
Except William startswriting her back. And before she realizes it, Hannah begins sharinginformation about her life with him. He does the same, although healways sidesteps her questions about whether he actually killed thewomen in question. Instead, the two get to know one another andHannah comes to a startling realization: she’s fallen in love withWilliam.
When his trial date isset, Hannah goes to Georgia to support him. There she meets othersympathizers and true-crime junkies like herself, but she knows she’sthe only person who has a true connection to William. She still can’tquite rid herself of the doubt about his innocence, but the moreimportant thing to Hannah is the love they share.
Then the unthinkablehappens: a fifth woman is murdered while William is in prison. Thejury lets William, and he turns to Hannah right away. The two pick uptheir relationship where their letters left off, and Hannah believesshe’s found her happy ending.
There is that naggingdoubt, though. Now, even as she’s consumed with the idea ofspending her life with William, she’s equally overwhelmed with thepossibility that he might murder her. And she’s trying to figureout which idea she likes more.
Author Tasha Coryellcreates a deeply compelling voice for her protagonist. Hannah’s wrylife observations and the deep irony with which she views hersituation with William will keep most readers engaged through thefirst portion of the book. Her journey is similar to a long rabbithole online where one click leads to another until it’s hard toremember where and when a person started searching.
The plot, however, feelsflimsy at best. Much of the book is taken up by Hannah’s shockingdeclarations and revelations about herself and men. The actualsequence of events moves in stop-and-go motions. The result is a bookthat moves at a decent pace only to stop for Hannah to share whatoften sound like memes of her life and then start moving again. Moreastute readers may not appreciate the jerkiness of the narrative.
The ending too, while itmay fit the overall tone and approach of the book, feels rushed andpapered over. Those who want a quick true-crime fix may want to checkthis one out. Otherwise I say Love Letters to a Serial Killer Borderson Bypassing it.