“What happens when three women decide to avenge the murder of their best friend? In her riveting debut, Katie Collum explores what we owe the ones we love, and how ordinary life can change in an instant. I couldn’t put this thriller down.”—Amanda Eyre Ward, New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters
Peter Miles has to die. And Dylan Darcy, Priya Shah, and Isabel Guerrero—a bartender, a nurse, and a student—have to be the ones to kill him. As they see it, this local cop deserves death for murdering their best friend and getting away with it. All they need to do to pull off the perfect crime is stick to their carefully prepared plan.
So that’s exactly what they do. Murder, it turns out, is surprisingly easy when you’re fueled by revenge. What comes after is the hard part.
As the dry Texas heat gives way to cooler weather, their blazing rage is replaced by a chill fear. Because there’s a fallout that comes from settling the score against someone like Peter, and it could cost them more than they’ve bargained for. When the lead investigator on the case starts sniffing around for a cop killer, the three friends are not feeling as confident as they did on that fateful night. And when they start receiving death threats, it weakens their resolve even further . . . but it’s too little too late.
What they don’t realize is that this detective has her own reasons for wanting to get to the bottom of Peter’s murder. Reasons that don’t involve them at all. The investigation ramps up, and so does the pressure, leaving Dylan, Priya, and Isabel to wonder if ending his life may end up costing them theirs.
As the guilt of what they’ve done settles in their bones, they realize there’s no going back. Someone is going to have to take the fall.
What did I think?
Wow! I raced through this book and read it in two sittings as I simply couldn't put it down. It's a page-turning thriller without a whodunnit as we know why Peter Miles has to die and we also know who killed him but what we don't know is who is in prison for his murder.
The story is told from various points of views over different timelines but it never gets confusing and it's very easy to follow. Dylan, Priya and Isabel plan the murder of Peter Miles, who got away with murdering their friend Beck. Peter Miles got away with it because he's a cop and cops stick together, even when one of them is rotten.
Bree is the detective who is investigating Peter's murder and it's not a straightforward case as there are so many people who would have wanted to kill him. It obviously looks like Beck's three friends avenged her death but there is no evidence and that's when the intimidation tactics begin as some cops take the law into their own hands. Bree's case just got a lot more complicated as the spotlight turns on her colleagues.
I couldn't read this book fast enough and although I wanted them all to get away with murder, I knew that one of them went to prison for it. The abuse of power is infuriating as the cops think they can do what they want to the suspects (who are innocent until proven guilty) and unfortunately, this does sometimes happen in real life.
Blisteringly fast-paced and impossible to put down, Peter Miles Has To Die is an outstanding debut novel (I actually had to double check that this was Katie Collom's debut). Take note, thriller fans: Katie Collom is definitely one to watch and I am excited to see what she writes next.
I received a gifted hardback for The Love Books Tours blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
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