The 13th Girl

by N.V. Peacock

Dee knows what it's like to be accused of something you didn't do. So when young women go missing in her English town, she resolves to prove the innocence of the man falsely accused and track down the real killer.

After spending decades in a mental health hospital, Dee knows that people find her creepy. They tell her so. Once the reluctant star of an infamous documentary, she is trying to blend back into the outside world. But when a string of local girls disappear, only to be found dead days later, she becomes fixated on the case and decides to film her own true crime documentary. 

There is a serial killer on the loose—the Righteous Wraith. Girls are being found one by one, their bodies gruesomely staged in innocent public spaces. With the killer taunting the police and the public's fear mounting, the armchair detectives begin pointing fingers at one suspect. But for Dee, something isn't adding up. She knows what it's like to be accused of something that you didn't do. She resolves to prove his innocence, unmask the real killer, and save the 13th girl. But who will believe her?

Genres: Thriller, Audiobook, Mystery, Fiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2024

About the author

Nicky lives in lovely Northamptonshire. She works full time in sales and spends her spare time writing, reading, and running a group for local writers. She started her writing career with short stories in anthologies for publishers all over the world, before turning her hand to novels. After writing 2 YA supernatural series, she decided to indulge her dark side and write an adult thriller, and hasn’t looked back since. As an avid writer, she spends every minute she can creating characters, drafting stories and plotting. Nicky writes for her readers and appreciates every review she receives; without them, she couldn’t do what she loves.

Reviews

[aeryn rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

2⭐️

To say I was bitterly disappointed is an understatement. Prepare yourself for my rant review cause I have a LOT to say.

THE PLOT:

Dee is released from an institution after a car accident leaves her mental problems that others described as "being possessed." Having gone through an intense exorcism, Dee struggles to live life normally outside of the institution. All while this is going on, there is a serial killer on the loose kidnapping woman and torturing them. Dee is determined to solve this case by herself and make sure the 13th victim is saved before it's too late.

MY THOUGHTS:

Okay where do I start? First off, I am not particularly a religious person. I understand writing about religion and I am perfectly okay with that. The problem I had was this book revolved around signs from God and religious references in every chapter that mostly had absolutely nothing to do with the plot. It had gotten to the point where it lessened my enjoyment for this book. I mean the entire thing revolved around religion in a way that the writing could have been better to explain why religion was so important. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, of course, but I wanted to know why she was so religious; why it was so meaningful to her; how it made her life better. Unfortunately, it just didn't deliver on any of these questions. As far as we all know, she got into an accident and turned to religion to help her....but why? How? What was the turning point? Where did her motivation come from? That's what I find most frustrating.

Side note: I am NOT saying that I dislike certain religions and their beliefs. What I AM saying is I don't like the way it was represented in this book. The way religion was represented in this book was odd and I personally did not care for it.

Now onto the characters...they were not written very well either. The characters were shallow and had zero depth to them. My entire time reading, no one stuck out as a character that had any personality. Dee doesn't like to be touched and she only does public transportation; okay fine that’s great. However, where is the character development in all this? The characters were stagnant and I felt zero personality coming from them. It made it really hard to get into the book and it really effected the overall enjoyment.

The ending was very predictable and it doesn't take a genius to figure it out. I was not shaking in my boots or on the edge of my seat; everything played out exactly how I thought it would. And the explanation for the reasoning of said killer and why they did what they did made no sense either??? Sigh

Overall, I did not enjoy this book. I personally wouldn't recommend it, as I thought the writing style wasn't great either and for the reasons listed above.

Thank you to Netgalley and N. V. Peacock for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

we love a good thriller arc 😌 can't wait to dive into this!!

[Linzie (suspenseisthrillingme) · Rating 1 out of 5]

After starting The 13th Girl and DNFing it relatively quickly, I can’t, in good conscience, recommend it. A disturbing tale that revolved around a past trauma that was never revealed (at least, not by the point I decided to call it quits), the story had entirely too much talk about religion and signs from God. Add in the shallow characters and many plot holes such as why Dee turned to religion in the first place, and I just couldn’t get into the story. Even worse, the entire cast seemed to be cruel bullies whose voices were no better than a teen’s. So I won’t drag this out, but if it isn’t already obvious, I strongly suggest giving this one a pass. After all, thriller or not, this one just didn’t do the trick. Rating of 1 star (DNF).

Thank you to N.V. Peacock and Hera Books. All opinions are my own.

PUB DATE: February 1, 2024

Trigger warning: bullying, mention of: abduction (incomplete as I didn’t finish the book)

[Sarah (berriesandbooks) · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was bad.

Recently discharged from a mental health facility, Dee is adjusting to normal life. After a traumatic brain injury and exorcism, she hasn't been quite the same. She finds comfort in documentaries and hopes to one day make her own. When a killer starts taking girls in her hometown, she sees a perfect opportunity to film her documentary. Can she find the killer before he takes another girl?

Yikes.

Dee's trauma is never fully explained. Her brain injury as a kid changed her from a quiet, loving kid to someone having violent outbursts. Her parent's solution? An exorcism, not even a true one, just some hired goons with fake credentials. Frankly, her parents are villains. The fact that they put no research into who would be performing an exorcism on their daughter is ludicrous. Also, do they not know about what traumatic injuries can do to someone, especially a kid who isn't fully developed? One Google search, and trust me, plenty of reliable and legitimate research talks about the science behind brain injuries and how it can dramatically change someone. This is based in England, so I don't know how the legal system works over there, but it's not discussed how she goes from a traumatic exorcism to a mental hospital for a decade. What's even more ludicrous is that she still lives with her parents. Not in the sense of, "Why would Dee do that, she is an idiot," but because where else is she supposed to go after being away from the world for ten years? But the fact that her parents treat her like a child and that it's never addressed is a huge misstep. Plastic forks, her mom tracks what she eats, she's not allowed to have her bank card...am I the only one who sees how wrong this is? She seems to be a fully functional adult; the injury seemed to cause violent moods, but those are mainly under control throughout the whole book. Nothing about Dee's origin story is explained well or thought out.

Despite the trauma the exorcism caused, Dee is intensely religious. This in itself is not weird; many people find comfort in God. But her "religion" doesn't make a lot of sense. She goes to a Catholic church, yet the book says she is not a practicing Catholic. She prays daily and asks God for signs and such. But the signs? A chicken nugget shaped like Jesus. A lighting strike tells her that one of her suspects in the case is innocent despite only talking to him twice. What faith is this? I am genuinely curious. Nowhere in the blurb does it talk about how much her religion affects her, but in the book it is brought up every two paragraphs. How weird to not include that in the summary.

*NOTE: I am not dissing religion. I AM religious. It's like the author didn't want to explore any theology and just threw prayers and miracles together, hoping for the best*

I didn't care for any of the characters. Despite most of them being in their thirties or older, they talk like teenagers. They all blur together; nothing stands out about one of the supporting cast. Dee's coworkers are middle-grade bullies. Also, the amount of time total strangers see Dee and mutter "weirdo" is a perfect example of comedy. Mental health problems do not make one weird. Let us not nail that stereotype into the reader's heads.

Dee's "weirdness" comes from how she views the crime only as an opportunity. She sees the crime only from the perspective of being a documentary. She condemns others for the same things she does, but since she has "good intentions" (read: to make a better documentary than a friend who betrayed her) she thinks it's okay to take pictures of victims and see them only through the lens of what their tragedy can provide for her.

The mystery was convoluted and didn't make sense. The reveal made me roll my eyes and was far-fetched. The author wanted maximum shock value without making it flow with the rest of the story.

Rant over. Find another mystery, guys.

Thank you, NetGalley and Hera, for the advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

[Kat (Katlovesbooks) Dietrich · Rating 2 out of 5]

The 13th Girl by N.V. Peacock is a psychological thriller.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Hera and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

  
My Synopsis:    (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Dee (Dinah) has spent decades in a mental health hospital, and although she is really trying to fit in, she knows that most people find her creepy. 

Thanks to her psychiatrist, she has been working, but no one at the firm likes her, and they either laugh at her or put her down.  She loses her job when one of the other girls accuses her of sending out incorrect invoices, and she gets no real chance to stand up for herself.

Everyone seems to know that she was the rather reluctant star of a documentary that resulted in her years in the asylum.  But that's okay, she's going to do her own documentary.  A number of girls have gone missing, and three days after their abduction, they are found mutilated.  A serial killer calling himself The Righteous Wraith is claiming responsibility, and Dee has selected this topic for her documentary.  Can she save the next one?

 
My Opinions:
Okay... I admit to struggling with this book.  Early on, I felt sure we must be dealing with an unreliable narrator, because I could not see so many people being so rude and behave so unkindly to a young woman who was struggling with a mental illness.  I thought she may be making this up.  Then I wondered if she could possibly be this naive, and have this many awful acquaintances.  Either way, this truly bothered me.

Unfortunately, I didn't like any of the characters.  I didn't even like Dee.  Most were repulsive in the way they treated Dee.  I definitely disliked her parents, who seemed to ignore what they had put her through.  Yes, THEY had put her through.  Her mother in particular rankled.   I didn't really trust anyone, which is probably what the author intended.  There were far too many suspects that fit the bill of the serial killer, that it became mind numbing.  After a while, I didn't care who was doing the killing.

Now, around the 70% mark, I actually started enjoying it.  Unfortunately, that ended too abruptly.  By the 75% mark, I was back to dislike.

I am not saying the writing was bad...it wasn't.  The premise too, was good.   It was a really unique take on the serial killer theme.  Those are the reasons I gave it 2 stars.

Bottom line, others will probably enjoy this.  I didn't.



For a more complete review of this book and others (including the reason I chose to read/review this book, as well as author information), please visit my blog: http://katlovesbooksblog.wordpress.com/

[Mandy White (mandylovestoread) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this authors first book, and was looking forward to another pager turning thriller. While this one was a little bit more far fetched, it was still a highly entertaining read. It had me at serial killer and amateur sleuthing and certainly deliver on both accounts.

Our main character Dee was interesting, very naive and trusting. After years in a mental hospital, she is now trying to have a normal life. But that isn’t easy when she was the subject of a popular true crime documentary. But now somebody she knows is being accused online of being the local serial killer, she decides to film her own true crime documentary to prove his innocence….but is he?

This book will keep you guessing until the very end. There were plenty of times that I doubted what was happening and who I believed to be the killer,

Thanks to Hera for my advanced copy of this book to read. Published on February 1st.

[Zoe Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC

Dinah known as Dee was the subject of a documentary when she was 12 years old exploiting her apparent possession that required an exorcism. She was then held in a mental hospital but has now been released.

Dee becomes obsessive over a current serial killer known as the righteous wraith and decides to do her own documentary and sleuthing.

This book struck me as more of a YA horror and was annoyingly repetitive. The storyline was good although extremely far fetched in places

[Aria · Rating 5 out of 5]

An authentic thriller that makes you question the way you perceive things and people. When a serial killer, who proclaimed oneself the righteous wraith, starts killing women in Northamptonshire with a particular modus operandi. Panic and terror succumb in the streets about who will be next. This is when our main character makes her entrance. Dee (real name Dinah), who had a traumatic brain injury, returned to her home after being sent to a mental institution for apparent demonic possession. Adapting to a society that labels her as crazy won't be easy for her and even more so, with a serial killer on the loose. Not giving up, she creates a documentary to unravel the identity of the killer and try to save the victims. The real question is: Will everyone believe her? This is definitely one hell of a book. I was a little skeptical of how all the religious aspects, mental health issues and moral compass would be handled in this book, but it turned out in a way that was interesting and well-addressed at times. During the book, I had many suspicions from everyone, including Dee, but little by little, I realized who the culprit might be. Even if I got some of them right, everything came as a surprise with all those plot twists and turns. I enjoyed reading the book.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the digital ARC

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital ARC!

If you love a good thriller novel, then this will definitely be the one for you. Someone is killing women in Northamptonshire - they kidnap them, then 3 days later the woman is found dumped with their eyes missing in a pose. Who is it, and why are they doing this?

Our main character is Dee - a woman in her 30s who has spent most of her life in a mental institution and has now been released and living back with her parents. Said parents were religious when she was younger, which is why after an accident gave her a traumatic brain injury as a child and changed her behaviour, they agree for her to be in a documentary showing her possession and exorcism from a demon. This, understandably, gave Dee a lot of mental trauma on top of her existing head injury trauma, and it also made her infamous.

The documentary went famous, and everyone knows her as the girl who was possessed. As a result, people don't like her or trust her and she had a lot of problems to deal with. She's struggling to exist in a world outside of St Aldas, and what she really wants is to make a documentary of her own to reclaim what was stolen from her. She decided her topic is the serial killer on the loose.

Dee was hard for me to like - she felt very paranoid and obsessive at points, and it made me roll my eyes sometimes. She did silly things that she really shouldn't have, she ignored blatantly bizarre stuff and she had habits I found annoying, but these are all well explained in the book. Some of it is leftover from her head injury, some of it is just that she's not been properly socialised to the society because of her circumstances. There's even a moment all this is specifically addressed, which I did enjoy.

I think I had about 20 suspects whilst reading this, including Dee herself. Even though, I still didn't see the perpetrator coming and enjoyed the twist. Some things I figured out early, but there was a lot of red herrings that threw me off enough that the revelation was more than enjoyable. The author did a fantastic job of making every character seem like a suspect, so I really had no idea what was going on.

The ending was quick paced and enjoyable, and it definitely felt like the lead up was worth it.

My main issue was her mum - what an absolute arsehole she was. Patronising, cruel, distrusting and generally a terrible person. She refused to treat Dee like an actual adult and instead treated her like a child. A child who angered her when she did something she didn't like.

[Regan, Maze, and MK · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. I think the religious aspects and focus on God made it take a bit longer for me to get into this book. However, I found it to be a genuinely enjoyable read with a unique premise once I got hooked.

Synopsis: The Righteous Wraith is on the loose and the police are no closer to catching the killer on his tenth kill than they were at his first. Dee the protagonist has recently been released from St. Agatha’s where she was treated for a Traumatic Brain Injury that short circuits her amygdala and causes her to “see RED.” Dee as a child, was subjected to a less than ethical exorcism that was then turned into a blockbuster documentary. Dee decides that she will make her own documentary on The Righteous Wraith now that she has been deemed “normal.”

🔪What I liked:🔪
-A protagonist that is honest in her observations, but naive enough to not always know how to interpret those observations.
-A villain who literally had everything I have been asking for.
-Online sleuths with a passion for true crime and mob mentality.
-A serial killer who sends petty notes taunting the media and police force. “Teamwork does not make the dream work in this constabulary”
-A whole lot of victims kept the story moving pretty quickly once the protagonist gets interested in The Righteous Wraith.
-A dog named Lucifer.


🛑What I didn’t like:🛑
-A lot of talk about religion and God, that was occasionally hard to push through— especially at the beginning. I wish the author would have made a quick statement or paragraph as to WHY religion was so important to Dee. Religion is not something I attach any importance to in my own life, so it would have been nice to have known why Dee did so I could have understood her better. And yes, of course I can make assumptions as to why… but you know what they say about assumptions… Her own parents walked away from religion so I couldn’t help but wonder why Dee didn’t?

Overall, this was a unique read for a thriller that I think many thriller fans will find enjoyment in. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Janaya Kabamba · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've mixed feelings about this. The whole exorcism aspect just seemed very far fetched to me but I guess it wad necessary to explain some of the other trauma in the main character so fair enough. I absolutely did not guess who the killer was and suspected more or less every character at one point or another. I liked the writing style and I really liked the main character. She was paranoid and sheltered aswell as having a head injury, mental health issues and an exorcism but she seemed sweet and was always trying her best. I can't say I liked many of the other characters much but they were well written and had layers to them aswell. The plot flowed quite well and I couldnt tell where the plot was going next so I was constantly having to read the next chapter since I just had to know it all panned out

[Zoe Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really unsure on picking this up after I read the reviews but I'm pleased I did. I liked it from the start and it kept me captured through to the end.

Many reviews mention the heavy religious aspect letting it down but I can't say I agree at all, the main character is very religious but that just adds depth to her story and it isn't overbearing if you aren't particularly religious yourself (I'm not). It made the story more interesting in my opinion.

The one thing that I'd actually say let it down for me was that there a few too many spelling and grammatical errors / typos in the book which is a shame, it doesn't affect the storyline of course.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was confused about the direction this book was going as there seemed quite a few storylines. They did all come together but maybe there was too much going on?? I did really like Dee as a character but she was far too naive, I suppose a decade in a mental health hospital will do that. Her dad seemed sweet and really tried to help her but her mum? I hated her, she was awful!
In terms of the serial killer, there were so many potential suspects and I guessed one of the Wraiths early on. I think the multiple Wraiths was a bit much and didn’t make a whole lot of sense?
Overall, it did suck me in and I was invested so thats how I’ve based my rating.

[Alfie Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing in summary. Waiting for a twist of some sort & it just never happened. Was all obvious what was happening the entire time.
The entire plot is based around her theory of who is abducting these girls and she gets one bang on, other 2 are then supposed to shock the reader?

12 girls abducted by 3 “wraiths” and the last girl just happens to escape from being strapped to a bed twice with restraints? Do one.
Also, a guard dog that is all friendly with the main character, when she puts her hands in a building it’s protecting & licks her and lets her stroke it?!? Yeah alright. Then, protects her later in the book when she gets attacked, bites one of the abductors & comes out unscathed?
Just so many holes,

Well written in a way that this book is easy to follow, introduction & description of characters allows you to get a good picture in your mind of what they would look like as well as location’s & environments.
But yeah, wouldn’t recommend if you want a thriller that promises to “keep you up all night.

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's unusual, twisty, dark and gripping. The main character is quite original and it could also be an unreliable narrator.
There's a lot of surprising twists and a very well done plot.
I found the solution satisfying and liked the storytelling
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[Camila Aravena Otárola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining and dynamic book with touches of horror. I loved the character of Dee, and seeing her evolve back into the real world. The subtle touches of evidence that allowed us to doubt several characters made it an interesting read that begged to continue reading.

[shan · Rating 3 out of 5]

not as predictable as i originally thought after all

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

ehhh this was bad

i wouldn’t recommend

[Rosie-May · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book, read it when I was on a holiday. At the beginning, it was slow, I was struggling a bit but the rest of the book was good! Would definitely recommend if you want a quick and easy read!

[Thesh K · Rating 2 out of 5]

my first attempt to get back into reading after a long time idk about this one

[Nyah Raine · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

[Roisin Mooney · Rating 1 out of 5]

‘I felt as hot as a chicken nugget in an oven’ was a genuine sentence from this book :) make of the what you will.

[Cat Berrow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately did not enjoy this book!! Really struggled to get into it and found the plot very messy!

[Lu Steed · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d give this book a solid 3.5. I did enjoy it, the plot was fast paced with twists, however at times it did get tricky to follow and jumped about a fair bit. Some characters seemed unreal or difficult to relate to. I would recommend for a serial killer, who done it vibe.

[MiniMicroPup (X Liscombe) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compelling character-driven mystery about grappling with past mental health issues and being drawn into a serial killer case. If you’re excited for the documentary elements, it’s not at the forefront, it’s more like this character is struggling to make one and…it isn’t going great 😬.

Energy: Naïve. Surreal. Gritty.

🐕 Howls: The ending veered into cartoonish twists and villain schemes. Everything fell into place a bit too conveniently.

🐩 Tail Wags: Engaging setup. A main character viewed by others as off-putting, naïve, or too fragile because of past mental health struggles. The suspense and uncertainty about how reliable the MC’s perceptions are. How it had me sympathizing with the main character’s frustration at being dismissed or patronized, then finding myself being dismissive or mistrusting her take on clues.

Scene: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Northhamtonshire, England
Perspective: Our thirty-something main character was recently released into the care of their parents after spending most of their twenties in a mental institution. They are a determined but inexperienced aspiring documentary filmmaker trying to solve a cold case but struggling due to lack of experience in the field (and with adult life in general).
Timeline: 🥵 Heat wave August. 2010s or 2020s. Linear.
🔥 Fuel: Who is the serial killer? Will Dinah score any interviews for her documentary? Is she seeing the world clearly? Is she on to something but being dismissed? Who (if anyone) among the suspects in her life are involved in the cases?
📖 Cred: Suspended disbelief

Mood Reading Match-Up:
Vegetable scent. Fumsup. Pink pills and prayers. Counting back from six. Red demon. Cakes. Bus. Three knocks. Plastic utensils.
• Mix of direct and read between the lines, reflective writing style
• Bumbling, morally good, questionable, underdog characters
• Multiple suspects red herrings
• (very) amateur sleuthing, jumping to conclusions
• Inner demons
• Revenge
• Exploitative documentaries
• Mental health struggles, prejudice, second-hand embarassments
• Accusations, betrayals, and the dark side of human nature
• Down the rabbit hole descent into madness or detail-oriented investigator?
• Misfits navigating daily life
• Popcorn thriller schemes
• Serial killer whodunit

Content Heads-Up: Ableism (mental illness, psychiatric treatment). Amygdala hijack, anger. Blood, gore. Bullying (workplace). Corpse, mutilation (discovery of; on page, descriptive). Eye stuff. Head injury (severe, long-term effects). Hit and run. Kidnapping, physical attack, confinement. Loss of friend/found family member. Misogyny, violence against women. Psychiatric medication (experience, discontinuation). Religious trauma (exorcism). Murder, torture (serial). Suicide (recall). Trauma, flashbacks.

Rep: British. Cis. Porcelain, sunburnt, ruddy, tanned skin tones. Catholic. Obsessive compulsive disorder (peripheral character). Brain injury.

📚 Format: Kobo Plus

💖 Musings powered by puppy snuggles 🐶

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

All my reviews can be found at damppebbles.com

Following a terrible accident as a child, which led to her suffering bursts of furious rage as a young teen, adult Dee is seen by many as different and weird. Particularly after she was made the unwilling star of a viral documentary by someone she thought was a friend. Many still believe Dee to be possessed, having watched her exorcism on film, something that keeps many people at bay and that suits Dee just fine. When a notorious serial killer starts snatching women from the streets of Northamptonshire, Dee sees this as the perfect opportunity to start her own career as a documentary film maker. All she needs is an angle. And that angle is Andy Fryer. Andy is believed by many to be the serial killer who calls themselves ‘The Righteous Wraith’ but Dee isn’t so sure. After all, she knows how it feels when people get it wrong. When they judge your character and accuse you of things that just aren’t true. Dee feels it’s her duty to prove Andy innocent, unmask the true killer and to make her name as the next big thing in documentary film making. That’s providing the killer doesn’t get to her first…

The 13th Girl is a very compelling, thoroughly enjoyable serial killer thriller. It felt quite different to others in the same genre and truth be told, I was sold! I really enjoyed every moment I spent with this book. Reluctant to put it down when life demanded, but ALWAYS keen to return to Dee’s story and find out where our unlikely protagonist would end up next. I’m not sure Dee will be a hit with all readers but the more of her story I read, the more I warmed to her. As a child she was involved in a devastating accident. The reader gets the bare bones of the incident, thanks to her fear of getting in a car. The accident resulted in Dee suffering from uncontrollable flashes of rage, moments she describes as ‘red’. Her church-going parents, unable to deal with the change in their daughter, agree to have her exorcised – all arranged by Louisa Black, a novice documentary maker who convinces them Dee is possessed by a demon. The exorcism goes ahead, every moment filmed by a fame hungry Louisa. Flash forward several decades and after spending most of her life in a mental health hospital, Dee is finally starting over. She’s living back with her parents, she takes the bus everywhere, she isn’t allowed a key to her parent’s house, she’s only allowed to use plastic cutlery, she has a sweet tooth that made my own teeth hum and she’s determined to find a vicious murderer who sadistically kills and maims his poor victims, leaving them in the most macabre set-ups. Dee is an unlikely hero but I thought she was magnificent.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with The 13th Girl and will, without a doubt, be downloading the author’s first two books. My main focus was on discovering who the murderer was, I was keen to find out if my suspicions were correct. And I was right, in a way. But a lot of the appeal of this book was also the grisly murders, the taunting letters the killer sent, the macabre tableaus set for the unfortunate soul who discovered the bodies. And as the title of the book implies, there are many bodies. I do love a serial killer thriller! The relationship Dee has with her parents is written so well that I felt really quite awkward at times, it’s strained at best! Dee’s father tries his best but Dee’s mother, I couldn’t help but feel she was living on the edge. Waiting for Dee to relapse again. This once religious family has all but turned its back on its faith, Dee being the only believer left. She turns to God for signs she should follow a certain path or just for someone to talk to when she’s unsure or lonely. There are many references to God and the church which I didn’t mind as religion is a big part of Dee’s life. It’s all part of her story. All in all, I very much enjoyed The 13th Girl. I enjoyed spending time with Dee, I thought she was quite different to many other lead protagonists in crime fiction. There’s a vulnerability there. I thought the plot was paced extremely well with lots of tense, gripping moments and lots of intrigue to keep me turning the pages. I couldn’t help but feel that if Strange Sally Diamond (Liz Nugent) and Death of a Bookseller (Alice Slater) had a baby, The 13th Girl would be the result. Highly compelling, great characterisation and a perfectly pitched, twisty plot. Recommended.

[Giullia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good read, I got super into it after we started getting more clues and patterns involved. However I feel like a lot of my questions by the end weren't answered and the ending was slightly rushed. I was really disappointed peacocks decided to tell us the guy in the tree was Craig but then decided to talk about for two seconds and move on. We never heard more about him at all and the reasons given to why he did what he did was very bland and disappointing.
Dee's character felt very underdeveloped she felt flat this was really disappointing since I feel like her character had so much potential. Her relationship witch her parents was very confusing I feel like I couldn't tell if her parents loved her or not especially since at the end of the book Dee disappears and they choose not to call the police which felt weird to me since how could you say you love your child and then when they go missing you pretend nothings wrong?
It was just really messy at times, Dee felt like she had zero emotion even when talking about things she loved like cakes or the friends she made at St Aldas, she completely forgot about cookie after he passed and then we never heard about him again untill a few pages before the end of the book which was very surprising due to the fact that cookie was such an important character in Dee's life.
Dr Taylor being a villain at the end was amazing I loved that! It was a plot twist I didn't expect but I hated how underdeveloped it felt. It was like the author knew they wanted Taylor to be the villain but they didn't know why. Dr Taylor was so confusing and weird during the end and the only reason we were given was because she was in love with Warren ( another wraith) I hated the fact we never found out why they started killing in the first place as well as why they were collecting the girls eyes, fingers and tongues. It all just felt very rushed and I was really disappointed with it.
I didn't like the last three pages of the book where we find out what happens to Dee afterwards. I hate how dee basically learned nothing and had zero character development throughout the book because she was basically the same as how she started, still zero emotions unless it's something she's happy with and even then it's barely anything and she's still no touch or any emotions with her parents and friends. I dislike how Louisa was such an important character in the book but we only meet her near the end and then after being saved by Dee she was never mentioned again.
Personally I neither liked or disliked the book, it was okay at best and took way too long for me to start enjoying it. I don't really recommend unless you have a lot of patience and are okay with religious talk and also religious trauma.
As well as this if you do decide to read it know there are really good points in the book that really made me wanna keep reading, there were lots of good parts just not as many as I'd like.

[James Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

After reading The Brother last year by Peacock and really liking it I was expecting more but this was a bit of a miss for me.

We’re following Dee who’s recently been released after apparently decades in a mental hospital following a past traumatic event and exorcism undertaken on the guidance of a documentary creator - the whole backstory is still quite confusing but isn’t wholly relevant to the book. She’s trying to fit back into real life but then the news of a serial killer, the Righteous Wraith, catches her attention with young women being abducted, the police taunted for inaction and three days later returned mutilated in seemingly public locations. Dee is intrigued by the man being accused of the crimes and sets out to make her own documentary on the case, will she solve it before the 13th girl is taken? That’s the plot.

I personally found it written quite well, it’s intriguing and the story flows but it is rather frustrating at times. I think my main issue is that she’s using the deaths for her own gain via the documentary and considering the same was done to her that she continuously thinks about, it seems a little hypocritical and insensitive. She also seems to act younger then the age she’s supposed to be at times and I don’t know if this is just her (due to the trauma) or the way she’s written but does also act more adult at other times. Dee also has appointments with her doctor about how she’s getting on outside the hospital and on the whole I think the way Peacock deals with mental health is done well, like the way people with such issues are viewed and the reality of discrimination but not always. The character of Cookie is meant to be a grown man but with the mind of a child and in the audiobook his parts are spoken in a childish voice and it just felt a little demeaning when in reality he isn’t one. Dee for some reason loves cake which yh I agree but we don’t really get why (also her bus content is sooo relatable). Another issue is that some of the things that happen just seem very unrealistic at times (like the man in the tree and the way her parents allowed the exorcism) which was frustrating. The author’s note at the end was well received and I did like the explanation that despite her issues Dee is a reliable narrator it’s just the things she’s being told are lies that leads her certain ways and having someone with these mental health issues as a mc was good.

On the whole I guess I’m indifferent to this book, it was still an enjoyable and fast paced thriller but did have its setbacks. I am still intrigued to read more from the author in the future.

[Rach Light · Rating 1 out of 5]

Where to start.
I feel i first need to say that i think my expectations were too high.
I felt the story was just so lack lustre. For one i found it incredibly cringy- i don’t know about you but i actually don’t like cringing at what i’m reading every 2/3 pages. More often than not i felt myself getting annoyed, it was all so drawn out and unnecessary. Considering this is meant to be considered a thriller the only time my blood pressure spiked was when - was in the tree.

I didn’t like any of the characters- not even our main girl Dee herself! I found her very naive, whiny and just annoying. She didn’t exactly try and help herself in many situations- and would talk herself out of things a lot by saying she was crazy- which was how she was making me feel. I also don’t understand why she turned to religion- no issue with religion here at all- it was just never explained, considering it was so heavily featured within the story.

Dee’s dad i could tolerate- her mom however- not being funny but everything that Dee went through was her parents fault- they agreed the exorcism and yet when Dee suffers with her mental health her mom just turns into a mega bitch- all accusatory-

The storyline itself could’ve worked if it was less cringy and predictable- i felt more confused than in suspense.

I honestly feel that both mental health and religion were seriously depicted wrong- she has a brain injury and suddenly her parents are all religious and think’s she possessed by a demon? How regressive is that-

There were a few points where i honestly felt like Dee was only doing what she was doing to one up Louisa.

None of the characters had any real dimension to them- there was no character growth- and you cannot tell me that an entire fucking town of people is all against Dee?

Honestly- would I recommend this book? No, there are far better books out there with a far better pay off. The book was tiresome, the characters lacked any real personality, the writing was cringy- there was no real substance to this book at all- just a pointless read i wish i hadn’t have bothered with.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dee suffered a brain injury and was sent to a mental institution as people including her parents felt she had been the victim of demonic possession. She has now returned home and is considered an outcast by the people she works with and many in her town. Her parents struggle with issues she still deals with on a daily basis, I will not mention some as it takes a little while in the book to find out what actually happened to her.
A girl that she thought was a friend then makes a documentary film on what happened to Dee and becomes a famous for it, Dee of course is not happy about this. She feels she has been exploited and who could blame her, her life is hard enough without this documentary making assumptions about her mental health. Her only real friends are back at the mental home where she used to be housed.
Meanwhile a serial killer called the righteous wrath is killing young woman and taunting the police with words regarding the kills. Dee is suspicious of people that attend a group meeting at the local pub and decides that she is going to make her own documentary on this killer, she wants to be as famous as her friend has become.

This was very different to anything I normally read but I really enjoyed it. The theme of mental health is well documented and the scenes with Dee and her therapist seem very real. I really liked Dee as a character and felt the author provided a great deal of depth when developing her. The story kept me reading until the last page and it was an afternoon well spent. Highly recommended.

Thank you to Netgalley , the author and publisher for an advanced copy, all opinions are my own.

[Farah G · Rating 3 out of 5]

When a brain injury received at a young age leaves Dee a different person after the incident, a friend convinces her very religious parents that she is possessed, and must be put through an exorcism to be cleansed of the "demon". This experience is then allowed by her fundamentalist parents to be part of the material used to make a documentary. Unsuprisingly, this ends up bringing Dee a degree of notoriety.

Some years later, having spent a considerable length of time in mental health institutions, Dee is at home again with her parents. While trying to rebuild her life and keep a low profile, she finds herself drawn to the case of a serial killer who is responsible for the grim deaths of young girls.

By making a documentary on this subject, Dee hopes to reclaim her sense of agency, since her rights to her own story were so cruelly taken from her. But things rarely go according to plan when it comes to serial killers...

This is a compelling story told by a narrator who is by definition unreliable (for mental health reasons). The author does a great job of throwing suspicion on multiple characters so that you are left quite shocked when the killer's identity is revealed.

Overall, the book tells an unusual and interesting story that also provides insights wrt mental health challenges resulting from traumatic brain injury.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review