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May Queen Killers #1

The Perfect Girl

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Where have all the May Queens gone?

At 34 years old, Sapphire Butterworth is a little old to be crowned May Queen, but she has her heart set on the title and no one is going to stand in her way. But then Sapphire disappears in the middle of the May Day celebrations and someone throws a brick through the window of her tea shop. Soon, there are scenes of May Day carnage throughout the village; lambs mauled by vicious dogs and may poles ripped apart.

Mystery writer, Jock Skone is one of the last to see Sapphire and determined to use his detective skills to find her. But Jock quickly discovers that Sapphire’s friends do not know her as well as they thought they did. And Sapphire is not the first May Queen to go missing. Is there a deeper reason why Sapphire wanted the title so badly? Does she know more about the May Queen Killers than she’s been letting on?

May Queen Killers is a very British psychological thriller set on the English/Welsh border.

308 pages, ebook

First published May 1, 2015

553 people are currently reading
1539 people want to read

About the author

Lorna Dounaeva

52 books271 followers
Lorna Dounaeva is a politics graduate who worked for the British Home Office before turning to crime fiction. She writes dark domestic thrillers and is especially fond of female villains. She lives in the Orkney islands with her Ukrainian husband and his parents, three children, a crafty cat and a happy dog.

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5 stars
244 (26%)
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250 (27%)
3 stars
251 (27%)
2 stars
118 (12%)
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62 (6%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
Profile Image for Bandit.
4,946 reviews578 followers
July 8, 2021
A tonally peculiar thriller featuring a surprisingly lighthearted approach to serial kidnapping, mental disorders and murder. Not sure if it’s a cozy, but it might be.
In a small town with a long time tradition of selecting a May Queen, someone is taking the May Queens. Just took another one, in fact, a hilariously named Sapphire Butterworth. Actually, that name alone sums up the tone of mood of this book perfectly.
So now, a visiting mystery writer named Jock (of course, he would be) who has become quite besotted with Sapphire during his short stay already gets involved in solving her disappearance right from the May Queen parade.
Jock is joined by your stereotypical small town cast of wackos and because it is, as advertised, a very British thriller, the wackos are all sort of charming in a British way. Despite the fact that one of them may very well be a killer. Despite the fact that one of them might just want Jock for his liver.
It sounds silly, because it is. But it also managed to complete step up to meet the traditional thriller standards and deliver some fun, unexpected twists and surprises. Which pretty much saved the book for me, gotta love a proper final twist and this book has at least two. It doesn’t entirely elevate the book above the inanity line, but it at least gives some worth to it. Butterworth. The book that’s worth its weight in butter. Possibly.
I suppose if you’re looking for something properly mindless, but not offensively terrible, this’ll do. Not quite sure why it was reprinted from the original May Queen Killer, maybe to make it a more marketable standalone, cover/title and all.. Decent enough for a random freebie, anyway.
Profile Image for Nicki.
2,160 reviews15 followers
Read
April 12, 2023
This one was a DNF. Idea was interesting but the way it was written didn’t hold my attention at all.
Profile Image for Les.
2,911 reviews1 follower
February 20, 2016
This is one of the most twisting, turning mystery stories I have ever read. This book is both a murder mystery and a thriller and is satisfying as both. At several points during the story I was absolutely convinced I knew who the killer(s) were and every time I was wrong. The author is utterly brilliant about leading the reader down the garden path and leaving them to jump their own; and in my case wrong, conclusions.

The book starts in current day and then through the well placed use of flashbacks and ongoing plot moves the story along. Sapphire, is to be May Queen in her tiny English village. Jock is a nervous, mystery writer, who is avoiding his past; he is our guide to the history and current events of the story. When Sapphire leaps from the May Queen Float and takes off in a run. Jock tries to follow but loses her. When she doesn't return the story of the May Queen Killers is teased out.
There are very few books where I am truly gobsmacked at the end, this in one succeeds as two separate things are revealed that are just brilliant. After I finished I was still trying to determine how I had been so successfully mislead.
Profile Image for Julie Baswell.
724 reviews29 followers
October 31, 2015
When Jock stopped in Fleckford to spend some time writing his next novel, he had no idea that he would end up right in the middle of the latest May Queen disappearance. As Jock gets to know the townspeople, he becomes suspicious of everyone. And as he gets closer to the truth, he must face his terrors and find strength he never knew he had.

I admit, I didn’t see this one coming. This mystery read had plenty of well-developed characters, and a plot with a twist that you won’t figure out ahead of time. I thoroughly enjoyed trying to guess the kidnapper, but not finding out until it was revealed. I had so many theories, but none panned out. The author had this one very well-thought-out. Even in the seriousness, there was plenty of humor. And the ending, best.ever.
Profile Image for Becky.
70 reviews
July 6, 2015
This is really more of a 3.5 as opposed to a 3. Because of everything she did right, this book gets a 4.

Pros
1) Great Character Development (for the most part. More later on that.)
2 ) Fantastic pacing; some really gripping scenes
3) Good job with the flashbacks -- added tension to the story and explanation to behaviors

Cons
1) Details, like the Rottweiler sent to attack, and it paws the air. Attacking dogs attack, they don't paw the air. But, I saw later why she'd done it; it was necessary to the story, though. I wish she'd found a different way to leave something in the elevator.
2) The killer and motives weren't well enough developed. The red herrings were all too obvious, so were easily ruled out as the killer.
3) To avoid a spoiler, I can't give details. When the last May Queen is taken, the details after her capture seem completely opposite to how others might act around her. You find out later why, but you have to stick with it to find out. Hints are given, but I didn't realize that's what was going on, and a few passages I thought the writer was just being stupid. Once you get to the end, it all makes sense.

Overall, this was a very good read, and I would recommend it to those who like suspense. It did have a lot of British jargon, which I loved. Being an American, it's nice to get a touch of the authentic.

There were at couple of loose ends that I would like to have had tied up. Why did the fellow get kicked off the police force? Why was he deliberately drinking himself to death? Unrequited love was mentioned in passing, but that was all. This lent itself nicely to him maybe being the killer, but was never explained.

Another loose end was the budding romance that was left hanging. It would seem from the beginning of the book that this would be important, but it got no time at the end.

I read "Fry", which led me to this book. Fry was a more solid book, and it's one that I would reread. This one, however, maybe, maybe not. It was an easy read, and I might go back to see what clues I may have missed. Depends on what other books I have backed up waiting for attention.

I will continue to watch for more novels by this author, because for the most part they are well plotted and really good reads.
Profile Image for Mark Heath.
375 reviews2 followers
October 19, 2015
Jock, a writer moves to a small town to finish writing his novel, when all hell breaks loose. The mayday queen goes missing, her shop window is stoved in, local lambs are mauled and it is up to Jock to save the day. Another great book by Lorna who knows how to write a great thriller.
83 reviews
July 30, 2020
A very confusing story

I found this story quite confusing. It jumps around in time, it is difficult to determine who is who at times. It is one of those stories you continue to read, hoping it will get better.
81 reviews2 followers
July 23, 2021
Meh...who cares? The characters in this story were somewhat forgettable and not very likable either. The twists and turns were unpredictable, but that was because important information was not available to the reader. There was an English flavor to the writing, but there was quite a bit of discussing and re-discussing the same thing over and over...again, who cares?

The worst part was the ending. Trapped in an old warehouse, our hero abandons his best friend who is being attacked by a dog. A dog bites and kills an imaginary person, while the living person escapes just to be caught and put in a freezer (working, despite the disrepair of the warehouse). An elevator goes up and down randomly and there apparently isn't a stairwell or emergency exit. The murderer and a kidnap victim die in the elevator shaft and the man who knew what was going on (and didn't tell anyone) goes free. Oh yeah, the cops show up just in the nick of time to save most of the characters. Takes a lot of imagination to get through that!

There were also a lot of loose ends once everything was said and done. It felt as if those were left hanging so the author could explain them in their next book. I dislike that approach and feel having spent the time to read it? It should stand alone.
Profile Image for Energy Rae.
1,760 reviews55 followers
March 20, 2018
May Queen Killers is intense from start to end. Jock is an author who writes mysteries, he's settled in town to work on his newest novel. One of the other boarders, Dylan, is a drunk, but he has a story and Jock is interested in it. Meanwhile, the owner of the Tea shop across the street from where he is staying has caught his eye. Sapphire is fun and flirty, she has a way about her that is drawing Jock in. In the midst of his interest, the town is preparing for the May Day festival, the first they've held in five years. Nothing good comes from being crowned May Queen, yet Sapphire has her eyes set on becoming May Queen, and she will do so at any cost. So when she disappears, Jock must find the will to find her. May Queen Killers has a great supportive cast, many of which carry their own secrets.
As I started out with my review, this book is intense. What kicks off mildly turns into straight out suspense, leaving the reader desperate to learn the various mysteries that Dounaeva has built up in the book. With an engaging plot line and superb twists, May Queen Killers is a one sitting read for any mystery and thriller fans.
Profile Image for Billie.
5,783 reviews72 followers
July 22, 2019
She was beautiful, popular and successful, the one they all wanted to be. So who, or what, was she running from?
When reclusive writer, Jock falls for vivacious Tea Shop owner, Sapphire, he is amazed that she seems to feel the same way about him. He watches with pride as Sapphire is crowned May Queen at the town's May Day celebrations, but his joy turns to heartbreak when she runs off into the crowd, never to return.
As the days pass, he becomes increasingly desperate. Everyone he speaks to seems to love Sapphire. No one has a bad word to say about her. So why did she run away like that, and what is stopping her from coming back?
The Perfect Girl is a claustrophobic British thriller set on the English/Welsh border.

This is a fantastic dark psychological thriller.
Fast paced and so many twist and turns that it will make your head spin.
Literally trust no one in this one.
So very well written and I love the story and plot line.
Fantastically written characters and they have been fleshed out well.
I could not put this down once started.
Recommend reading.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for GREGORY.
200 reviews13 followers
July 8, 2021
I suffered through 58% of this book and could go no further.

The book has a great plot to it that got me to read as far as I did. Unfortunately, it was a boring uninteresting read with little to no real excitement to make me want to keep reading. Then I got to the point where continuing to read the boring meaningless minutiae, would never be worth the climax no matter how good. I see ratings from 2 stars to 5 stars & wonder what I was missing unlike the 5 star raters'. If I had to hear about Dylan's drinking problem one more time I was afraid of throwing my reader across the room. For me the period from the disappearance of the last queen early in the book to the 58th percentage held little to no suspense. The main character could not be more dislikeable and the supporting cast held little interest either. The sentence that settled it for me was "Dylan was laughing so hard, there were tears streaming down his face." I had read this sentence in countless love stories to my wife, and it had no right to be anywhere in this book, never mind describing a six & and half foot policeman with a drinking problem.
Profile Image for Amanda.
1,499 reviews
June 21, 2023
Goodness if this whole book had read like the last 30% it would have been a whiz bang of a book.
This book was my "phone book", meaning the book downloaded to my phone for such occasions as doctor's office waiting rooms and backstage waiting for my cue. For this reason, don't be alarmed at how long it took me to read, with the caveat that had it been more compelling I would have finished it swiftly and downloaded another.
The concept was interesting, but it was mired down in a *lot* of telling. Add to that the characters are confusing and that makes sense at the end of the book, but is frustrating until you get there.
This was a free whodunnit and it really was okay, but it wasn't fantastic. Some good editing really would have helped.
54 reviews
May 25, 2020
I only made it 48% of the way through this book. The plot was interesting and seemed fairly well-written in parts, but there were so many disjointed flashbacks that eventually I gave up trying to keep everything straight and completely lost interest in finishing the book.

It was almost like the author finished the book, read through it, decided more backstory was needed but didn't want to take the time to do a major re-write, so dropped random flashbacks throughout and hoped that would cover it.
Others may like it, but it didn't work for me.
1,268 reviews2 followers
August 5, 2021
Actually very good. Liked all the characters. There was a great who done it thread of the May day Killers. Definitely NOT someone on my radar. Jock the writer who gets embroiled in the missing May Day queens, and is trying to write his mystery book. Dylan the drunk ex cop who flits in and out and needs a liver transplant. Sapphire who goes missing; her sister Claire who was a missing May Day queen. The setting is a little english burrough, and Saphhire owns a cute little tea shop. Worth even reading more fro this author.
Profile Image for R.L..
Author 5 books48 followers
March 22, 2022
The interest was immediate as I began reading this novel. It seemed to all make sense. I began to believe things might not be as they seem towards the end. The scenery was really great. The problem was that at the end I didn't believe in the "bad guy". The character was not one that I had noticed from the beginning. I know the author was trying to keep the reader guessing, but I felt that it went too far and a real unknown was sprung on me. I don't think keeping the bad guy a big secret until the last few pages was needed. There was enough suspense to keep the reader turning pages without it.
Profile Image for Alexa Whitewolf.
Author 34 books116 followers
August 16, 2022
I don’t think I was the right audience for this one, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
But the beginning hooked me…. Then I spent the next 40-55% waiting for something to happen. It finally did, but not at the pace I expected. The flashbacks were confusing, and sometimes didn’t read chronological which made it more confusing. And the ending was wrapped up way too fast with too many loose ends that didn’t feel needed to be loose.
All in all? Wouldn’t recommend it unless you have the patience of a saint.
Profile Image for Heather W.
4,065 reviews35 followers
July 22, 2019
This was an awesome thriller, well written by Lorna Dounaeva. The characters are well developed and very interesting. The suspense aspect is top-notch as the various clues leave you guessing. The flashbacks provide the reader with the necessary details to understand the story and also add even more intrigue. All around, this was an excellent book and I would highly recommend it.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Bev.
3,271 reviews98 followers
July 25, 2019
Sapphire ran a tea shop. She is well-loved by many people, she is beautiful, and has a great personality. But when she wins the May Queen title, she walks into the crowd and keeps right on walking...disappears. Jock, a writer, has fallen for her and wants to find her. But where do they start to look? This is a thriller/mystery that will keep your eyes glued to the pages to see what else is coming! Great story. I purchased this book in 2005, I also reviewed a copy of it from Booksprout.
Profile Image for Sonia Myers.
3 reviews1 follower
July 11, 2021
Perfect one day reader... Just enough interesting plot twists, and character interactions to keep you engaged and keen to keep reading. Good twist. Suspense building throughout the book.
Will look forward to more books by Lorna. The Perfect Girl by Lorna Dounaeva
Profile Image for Sharon.
4,152 reviews31 followers
August 1, 2019
This is a wonderful murder mystery that is filled with red herrings and kept me engaged throughout. There’s a lot of emotion and feeling in this story that really ensured I was able to relate to the characters on a more personal level. This is a really great book.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Pat Eroh.
2,617 reviews32 followers
August 9, 2019
This is a great thriller with quite a bit of mystery as well. In fact, there are many twists and turns that kept me guessing to the end. I have read a few of this author's books and I have never been disappointed but this book really delivers. Wonderful, well-developed characters with a great story!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
16.6k reviews153 followers
January 21, 2020
He is a writer who tends to help to himself but when he sees her, he falls for her. She also.falls for him. She get crowned the may queen for the festival. She runs into the crowd and disappears. Why? What has happened to her? Will he ever find her again? See if he will

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for M.K. Turner.
Author 45 books78 followers
May 27, 2020
Really enjoyed this book polished it off in two sittings. I really appreciated the light hearted way the book was written, more than a few smiles raised, without detracting from the ‘whodunit’ element. Loved the two main characters Jock and Dylan, and didn’t guess who was kidnapping the May Queens until just before the reveal.
Profile Image for Conna Powles.
152 reviews2 followers
December 26, 2024
This was rather strange as some of the actions of the characters were odd and the subject matters of mental health and abduction were treated almost comically...it was all a bit strange to me and I couldn't take to it. It was very slow to begin with and got more interesting when I got half way through. The ending was quite good as I didn't see it coming which is always a bonus!
705 reviews5 followers
July 23, 2019
I highly recommend The Perfect Girl book because of the great characters and storyline. It's a one of a kind story.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
48 reviews
September 5, 2020
A slow start with a WOW! ending!

Jock is not a particularly likeable guy. He visits a country town for inspiration in writing his latest novel but gets involved in a local mystery of a missing girl. Interesting characters and odd situations accelerate to a great ending.
1,405 reviews
November 20, 2020
This book started off sort of tongue-in-cheek when an author vacations in a small English village near the Welsh border. Several Queens of the May have disappeared in the area over a number of years. When he goes searching trying to find the most recent girl who has disappeared, it all turns rather gruesome.
Profile Image for Mary Ann.
314 reviews33 followers
August 4, 2021
For a debut novel, Lorna Dounaeva’s The Perfect Girl is an okay mystery that deals with mental illness, superstition, and abductions. Finding the answers involves a rather convoluted plot that is so tangled and somewhat lacking in clues that this novel earned. 3.7 out of 5 from me.
Profile Image for Angela Hodgetts.
38 reviews9 followers
August 8, 2021
2.5 - Upgraded to 3 stars

I have read other books by this author which I enjoyed very much, but this one was a huge miss. In the first 10% of the book I had to keep going back a page or two to see if I missed something. After that I just couldn't seem to get interested.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews

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