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  • Writer's pictureJudith D Collins

The Devil You Know

ISBN: 1476779082
Publisher: Touchtone
Publication Date: 1/13/2015
Format: Audio
My Rating: 3 Stars
In the vein of Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects and A.S.A. Harrison's The Silent Wife, The Devil You Know is a thrilling debut about a rookie reporter, whose memories of the murder of her childhood best friend bring danger and a stalker right to her doorstep.
The year is 1993. Rookie crime beat reporter Evie Jones is haunted by the unsolved murder of her best friend Lianne Gagnon who was killed in 1982, back when both girls were eleven. The suspected killer, a repeat offender named Robert Cameron, was never arrested, leaving Lianne's case cold.
Now twenty-one and living alone for the first time, Evie is obsessively drawn to finding out what really happened to Lianne. She leans on another childhood friend, David Patton, for help, but every clue they uncover seems to lead to an unimaginable conclusion. As she gets closer and closer to the truth, Evie becomes convinced that the killer is still at large; and that he's coming back for her.
From critically acclaimed author Elisabeth de Mariaffi comes a spine-tingling debut about secrets long buried and obsession that cannot be controlled.

My Review

THE DEVIL YOU KNOW by Elisabeth de Mariaffi is an intense psychological suspense crime thriller with a blend of mystery and literary fiction. Evie Jones, age twenty-two is a crime beat reporter for the Toronto Press in Canada and reports on crime, but is still haunted by an old unsolved murder of her friend years ago. Robert Cameron was suspected of the murder; however, was never apprehended and uses a number of names. She is obsessed (truly) with finding the murdered, as she is being watched, stalked, and taunted. She is reminded of her best friend murder's and of course uses her tools and soon finds some connections. Currently with Ellie's job, there is a great deal of publicity surrounding the arrest of Paul Bernardo. He's accused of being the Scarborough Rapist, a serial killer. She is assigned to stake out Paul Bernardo’s house and gather as much information as possible, solicits help, and ultimately leads her into danger and details of her mother’s past. While the novel had some nice writing, feeling the fear, tension, violence and haunting emotions of women, with a story close to the author’s own heart, I could not get past the narrator of the audio book, Andi Arndt— very flat and non-engaging. Would recommend reading the book; however, would not recommend the audio version.
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