WE WERE KILLERS ONCE (2019)

After seeing a number of mentions and reviews of Becky Masterman's first thriller Rage Against the Dying (2013), I got a copy from my local library and devoured it. Now I watch for each new title as it is released.This is the 4th book in the series but can be read as a stand alone.

Other titles in the series are Fear the Darkness (2015) and Twist of the Knife (2017).

FIRST SENTENCE: "Little Brigid Theresa Quinn, with a band-Aid on my knobby knee from jumping of a banyan tree o a dare, and a ponytail of red hair that should have been washed four days ago--I'm only six years old when I first hear about the murder of the Walker Family on December 19, 1959."

THE STORY: Inspired by Truman Capote's IN COLD BLOOD, Becky Masterman has created a modern crime thriller on the Clutter family murders in Holcomb, Kansas in 1959. The story alternates between the past and today.

Brigid Quinn, a 60 year old retired FBI agent, has recently married and started a new life in Tucson, Arizona. Her husband Carlo, an ex-priest, is now a professor of philosophy and a good balance for Brigid.

Jerry Beaufort, out of prison after years behind bars, worries that somewhere there is a written record of the time he spent with two killers in 1959. His attempts to find the document that could implicate him will pit Jerry against the last person he'll see as a threat: Brigid Quinn.

QUOTES: 

"Cold cases, they call them, as if they're frozen harmlessly in the past without any power to wreak new havoc."

"That I hadn't killed anybody in about a year didn't feel like a huge point in my favor."

WHAT I THOUGHT: A most fascinating story whether you are knowledgeable about the Clutter Murders or are just hearing about them for the first time. And the author gets inside Jerry's head and lets us see the twisted thinking that the reader couldn't imagine.

BOTTOM LINE: Highly Recommended - just keep the lights on. 

DISCLAIMER: An advanced reading copy (ARC) of this book was provided to me by Minotaur and Net Galley for an honest review.

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher:  Minotaur Books (June 4, 2019)
ISBN-10: 1250074525
ISBN-13:  978-1250074522

An acquisitions editor for a press that specializes in medical textbooks (forensic examiners and law enforcement!), Becky Masterman grew up in Florida and received her M.A. in creative writing from Florida Atlantic University. She and her husband actually live in Tucson, Arizona. This is her first thriller.