Item: Killing Time
Rating: 5.00
Author: bookanonjeff

by Brenna Ehrlich

After that summer, Natalie Temple would forever associate the smell of ketchup with death

Summer in Ferry, Connecticut, has always meant long, lazy days at the beach and wild nights partying in the abandoned mansions on the edge of town. Until now, that is.

Natalie Temple, who's never been one for beaches or parties in the first place, is reeling from the murder of her favorite teacher, and there's no way this true-crime-obsessed girl is going to sit back and let the rumor mill churn out lie after lie. Not if she has anything to say about it--even if she has to hide her investigation from her disapproving mom and team up with the new boy in town with a mysterious smile and a talent for making fake ID's...

But the more Natalie uncovers, the more she realizes some secrets were never meant to be told.

With two interwoven mysteries, Killing Time is a deathly warning to a generation of murderinos: What happens when the stories we're chasing finally catch up with us?

Workable Debut. This is one of those debuts where the author clearly shows quite a bit of promise - even if trying to wrap in as many tropes as remotely plausible within the story - yet could clearly still use some polish. The mystery (ies!) is actually quite compelling, and the reader finds themselves *wanting* to know who the murderer (s!) is. That noted, using third person to tell the stories of both timelines makes them a bit harder to distinguish - particularly without any kind of time reference at the beginning of the chapters. Ultimately, this is absolutely an author whose sophomore effort I would love to read, and I look forward to seeing her growth. Very much recommended.

Killing Time

by Brenna Ehrlich

Reviewed by Jeff Sexton on Mar 2, 2022

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