In her seventh book, “The Deadly Book Club,” author Lyn Liao Butler presents a thrilling murder mystery filled with likely suspects, all of whom might have had a reason to kill the victim. Five women, prominent book influencers, meet online once a month to talk business and books, drink cocktails, and dish dirt. During one meeting, when several of them happen to be in Hawaii, the screen freezes. But the audio continues, and those in the meeting hear bloodcurdling screams as one of them is surely being murdered.
The five book lovers have become friends over the years, some closer than others. There’s Helena, the well-known chef from Texas who loves cook books but also relishes books by new authors, books that she feels don’t get the attention they deserve. She’s taken another book influencer, Leigh, under her wing. Leigh is a young book lover who comes from a wealthy family and is engaged to a very successful businessman. She loves romance novels and is happily planning her extremely lavish wedding. Many people think Leigh is a bit standoffish, but Helena recognizes that Leigh is really just an insecure woman who thinks her beauty and money are the only reason anyone befriends her.
There’s Sidney, who lives what some would consider to be a fairytale life with a doting, successful husband, two adorable children, huge homes and vacation homes, and a lifestyle right out of the “rich and famous.” Sidney loves psychological thrillers, and as we learn, she has a few secrets of her own. She’s a huge animal lover, and she’ll do anything to protect animals and those she loves. Anything.
Jessie shares author Butler’s heritage with her Taiwanese parents and her love of her family’s traditional cooking. Jessie loves her job as a sports writer, but to maintain the lifestyle she craves, with designer clothes, exotic vacations, and no financial worries, she has another, very secret profession. Jessie loves horror and true crime books.
The last influencer is Kate. She’s the eldest of the group, and she and her wife, Larissa, have been longing for a family of her own. A traumatic event in Kate’s past caused her to miscarry, and her anger and remorse at that have resulted in Kate making some poor decisions. Those, in turn, put Kate and Larissa in danger.
Each of the five women is harboring at least one secret. But when secrets are uncovered, emotions run high. When one of the group is killed, with the screams reverberating in the ears of the other four women listening helplessly, they all meet in Hawaii, where the murder occurred, to try to figure out what happened. Three of them were already on Kauai, one was on Maui, and Kate traveled from her home on the East Coast.
It’s a difficult feat for an author to juggle narratives from all five women’s points of view. But Butler manages to tell the story effectively from the multiple perspectives, giving us glimpses into each woman’s character, insecurities, and dreams. We see their mistakes, and we see how some would take advantage of the others. This is definitely not a group who share unconditional love for each other. Sidney (and Butler) would remind us that unconditional love is best given by a four-legged creature with a tail that wags.
The suspense continues to almost the very end as we struggle to understand what happened that night on the frozen screen. Red herrings abound. People disappear. Women are forced to confront their transgressions, and there’s a shocking set of twists at the end, as Butler finally uncovers the perpetrator and the perpetrator realizes that mistakes were certainly made. Butler compares her bad guy, really a woman, to Dexter, the serial killer. It’s an apt comparison.
The writing is propulsive, and I read this quickly, wanting to know how it was going to end. Because while we know that some of the women were not at fault, we’re hooked. We still want to know what happens to their problems and how they figure out their path forward. For book lovers like me who dabble in social media, this is also a great peek into the lives of book influencers. Butler also leaves an ending that is open to a sequel, one that I’d love to read!
This review was first posted on Bookreporter.com.