The Killer Next Door

August 4, 2014
At the start of this engrossing standalone from Edgar-winner Marwood (The Wicked Girls), Det. Insp. Merri Cheyne from Scotland Yard questions a young woman, Cheryl Farrell, about the grisly find of human fingers in a freezer inside a rundown boarding house located in a London suburb. As Cheryl confirms, the prints from those fingers belong to a fellow lodger, Lisa Dunne, who witnessed a murder and whom the FBI was seeking to interview. Dunne is not the only victim. Body parts from multiple corpses have surfaced in and around the boarding house, which turns out to be a destination for people with dark and embarrassing pasts that they wish to conceal. Meanwhile, the tenants must contend with break-ins, strange smells, loud music, hidden video-recording equipment in the bathrooms, and pipes clogged with a mysterious substance. Events converge to unite the lodgers in a mutual conspiracy, building up to a well-plotted ending filled with unexpected surprises. Six-city author tour. Agent: Laetitia Rutherford, Watson, Little (U.K.).

February 23, 2015
In Marwood’s engrossing standalone thriller, Det. Insp. Merri Cheyne from Scotland Yard is investigating a case involving a grisly find of severed in a rundown boarding house in a London suburb. After Cheyne learns that the fingers belonged to a resident who recently witnessed a murder, body parts from other victims surface in and around the house, which turns out to be a destination for people with dark and embarrassing pasts that they wish to conceal. Church’s level narration during the most nightmarish chapters casually segues listeners into the macabre, making Marwood’s story all the more terrifying. Church is clearly practiced in voice variation, and delivers several disturbed, and disturbing, male and female characters. The subtle vocal nuances she assigns to each character throughout the reading will keep listeners attentive.