This review is written with thanks to the publisher for my copy of Deadly Animals.

Blurb:

Thirteen-year-old Ava Bonney is different.

While her friends play, Ava searches for roadkill. She knows studying animal decomposition is an unusual hobby, but Ava doesn’t care what other people think.

Then, one night, when Ava sneaks out to find a fox, she instead stumbles upon the body of Mickey Grant.

Despite his many years in the police, Detective Seth Delahaye has never seen a murder case like this one – as though the victim was set upon by a wild animal.

Nor has he met anyone quite like Ava: so determined, resourceful and . . . unusual.

And when another boy goes missing, he has no idea that Ava will become his secret weapon in the hunt for a killer.

DISCOVER THE GRIPPING AWARD-WINNING 2024 BRITISH CRIME NOVEL EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT.

Review:

Deadly Animals first came to my attention when it won Val McDermid’s Debut Prize at the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. I can easily see why it won the award: Marie Tierney’s writing is absolutely exquisite but it has a really dark edge to it that makes it stand out from anything else I’ve read recently. 

The chapters in Deadly Animals alternate between the perspectives of Ava and Sergeant Delahaye. Ava is a thirteen year old girl who has an unusual hobby: studying dead animals. She’s very intelligent and self aware and realises she’s not like most teenagers, so despite her difficulty fitting in, she’s actually quite likeable. I did want the detectives to listen to her and for her questions to be answered. I loved her friendship with John and the way they worked together to solve the mystery.

Ava also has a strong relationship with Sergeant Delahaye, whose chapters allow us to see what is happening from the perspective of the police. I did have to suspend my disbelief slightly, as it’s unlikely a teenage girl would be given confidential information about an investigation, but I loved how Sergeant Delahaye used his friendly personality and sense of humour to gain her trust.

Deadly Animals is set in the early 1980s. Marie Tierney creates such a strong sense of time and place and I felt as though I could slot into Ava’s family myself as the story is so immersive.

This novel may not be for everyone. As the title suggests, there are a few instances of animal death, which are sometimes graphic. However, I loved the way that Marie Tierney created a dark atmosphere which kept me engaged the whole way through. I did guess who the killer was, but this didn’t diminish the tension in the novel, especially towards the end, and I was still on the edge of my seat!

Marie Tierney is definitely an author to look out for in future.

Deadly Animals is available from Amazon.