Richard Chizmar is a writer not a detective. When a creepy serial killer strikes in his small home town, his interest gets the best of him as he falls down the rabbit hole trying to crack the case. In the process he ingratiates himself with the detectives on the case, inadvertently becomes a suspect and finds his way as a true crime and horror writer.
What you’ll love about this story is the way it is written. It balances the facts of the crimes with Richard’s own life. He gets to live with the paranoia of having this particular ghoul stalking his own town. The fear isn’t theoretical. He isn’t empathetic towards these victims’ families without having a real connection to what they are going through. He describes the incidents from several angles as the town sees them, as he and his family see them and as the police see them. As he gains his own literary notoriety he even has an opportunity to interview the victims’ families and later the Boogeyman himself.
The story gives you all the elements you want in a true crime story with the flare of fiction and a splash of slasher horror. I can totally see the parallels drawn to McNamara’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, but here we see the writer and amateur detective get the payoff in the end… and it’s a good one!
I wished for slightly more in the end, there were a few things the Boogeyman alluded to and I really wanted finalized so I’m taking off half a star but it’s still a fabulous read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 This one is out August 17th, add it to your TBR!!
Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this novel. All opinions above are my own.
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