Review for Kill All Your Darlings by David Bell

 

Kill All Your Darlings by  David Bell

 

 

Paperback, 416 pages

Publication: July 6th 2021 by Berkley Books

Genre:  Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Suspense

 

From Goodreads:  After years of struggling to write following the deaths of his wife and son, English professor Connor Nye publishes his first novel, a thriller about the murder of a young woman.

There's just one problem: Connor didn't write the book. His missing student did. And then she appears on his doorstep, alive and well, threatening to expose him.

Connor's problems escalate when the police insist details in the novel implicate him in an unsolved murder from two years ago. Soon Connor discovers the crime is part of a disturbing scandal on campus and faces an impossible dilemma--admit he didn't write the book and lose his job or keep up the lie and risk everything. When another murder occurs, Connor must clear his name by unraveling the horrifying secrets buried in his student's manuscript.

This is a suspenseful, provocative novel about the sexual harassment that still runs rampant in academia--and the lengths those in power will go to cover it up.

My Thoughts:  I devoured this book.   David Bell has always kept me entertained with his amazing talent
of writing thrillers that do not let me stop reading but Kill All Your Darlings might be my favorite so far. 

I loved the college setting.  I could picture the students sitting in class while their professor lectured.   The quaint coffee shop was the perfect place for many of the characters to meet at.   The characters were all relatable and easy to care about.  I cared that Connor had gone through a horrible personal experience and was just not coming out of it while having to deal with being accused of murder. With each chapter I became more invested in the outcome and hoped that the killer would be found.

David Bell kept me guessing.   As the clues started to come together, I thought I had a good idea at who the guilty party is, but I was never 100% sure until the end.    I enjoyed being kept on my toes and I knew that I would love however the end was written. 

**Thank you Loren Jaggers at Berkley Books, Ann-Marie Nieves at GetRed PR for copies of the book in exchange for my honest review.

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Meet David Bell...David Bell is the USA Today-bestselling author of eleven novels from Berkley/Penguin, including KILL ALL YOUR DARLINGS, THE REQUEST, LAYOVER, SOMEBODY’S DAUGHTER, BRING HER HOME, SINCE SHE WENT AWAY, SOMEBODY I USED TO KNOW, THE FORGOTTEN GIRL, NEVER COME BACK, THE HIDING PLACE, and CEMETERY GIRL.

His work has been translated into numerous foreign languages, included on several bestseller lists, nominated for the Pushcart Prize five times, and, in 2013, won the prestigious Prix Polar International de Cognac for best crime novel by an international author.

He is a professor of English at Western Kentucky University where he co-founded and directs the MFA program in creative writing. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, he spends his free time rooting for the Reds and Bengals, watching movies, and walking in the cemetery near his house. He lives in Bowling Green, Kentucky, with his wife, writer Molly McCaffrey.