A slow and steady read that really pulled me in and a twist I didn’t see coming.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

Tainted love ★★★☆☆

Eighteen years ago, Greer’s teenage sister Eliza and her boyfriend were murdered. Her killer, Roy Mathews, has been executed. Now two more teenagers have been murdered and Greer is compelled to finally return to her hometown.

Is it a copycat killing? Or is there an accomplice still at large? Greer teams up with Roy’s brother to dig up their painful pasts to find the whole truth before it is too late.

A story of obsession, murder, secrets, and guilt.

There are many great aspects to this story. It deals in some complicated relationships and dynamics for a start, reminding us that they are rarely as simple as stories make out, and even how we tend to easily define them ourselves. For example Greer, a teenager whose older sister is murdered, highlights the loss of a loved one alongside the friction of growing siblings. This story sees her returning to her hometown and facing those complicated memories when a second murder takes place. She wanted more answers when she was young, and fourteen years later she wants them even more. It's a good premise, and gives the structure the story needs, but the murders actually feel rather secondary to the emotional turmoil that is explored.

That's what makes this story a little odd. The murder mystery aspect takes far too long to develop any substance in itself. The characters are interesting throughout. And in fairness, the final few chapters do wrap up the crime aspect rather well, but for most of the book it just never delivers that adrenal rush of the thriller I was expecting. It was always enjoyable but never managed to be insatiable.

Read it because it touches on some powerful points on humanity. The characters and their interactions are well written and rewarding in their own right. Appreciate the backdrop of a small town murder mystery too, it's there. But don't expect the murder to engross you. It's just there. It's a good book with many great parts, but somehow it never manages that important quality of being greater than the sum of them.

Absorbing, twisty, well-written thriller with unreliable narrators and an interesting plot line. A double murder 7years ago and a convicted killer, now executed ( it’s set in Texas) but there are questions and secrets and another double murder blows these up again and brings Greer back to work things out. I was totally hooked and couldn’t put it down.

Greer Dunning’s younger sister, Eliza, and her boyfriend, Travis were cruelly murdered by Roy Matthew’s who was tried, found guilty and sentenced to death in the electric chair. Shortly afterwards Greer, unable to cope with life at home, leaves and finds work well away from her home town.

After something like 13 years she returns to her parents, finding her father i a permanently drunken state and her mother worn out. Her old friends. Cassie and Ryan, take her under their wing but, unknown to them, she is convinced that Roy didn’t carry out the murders alone and is convinced that somebody else must have been involved as well. Without confiding in her friends she meets up with Roy’s brother, Dean, who agrees with her and they set out together to try and find the co-conspirator - can they solve this mystery or will it end in tears?

I Did it for You works at a number of levels. It’s a murder mystery but it’s also an exploration of relationships, families and small town America. Greer returns to her hometown, Ludlow, after an absence of some years following the murder of her sister. The killer confessed and was executed, but there’s been a similar killing.

The pace is relatively slow, but it’s intense. We see events through Greer’s eyes as she tries to make sense of what really happened the night her sister was killed and what’s happening now. Amy Engel really captured the sense of claustrophobic, small town America. As Greer arrives, she knows that the Tom toms will be beating and news if her arrival will be ahead of her. That oppressive sense of whispering and secrets pervades throughout the story and adds to the tension. More so when she catches up with the killers brother and they work together.

Fir me, this was a tense and compelling journey; packed with mystery, plausible characters and it kept my attention right the way through. So much so, I’ve also listened to the audio version and enjoyed that even more. Well written and thoroughly engaging tale of broken lives.

Amy Engel is just brilliant! Her books always draw me in and this was no different. I was completely drawn in to this story and couldn't believe the twist. Great book.

Greer returns to her hometown after leaving 14yr ago when her sister Eliza and her boyfriend was murdered, Roy admitted to the murders and was executed.
Before her return another couple were murdered a presumed copycat but Greer thinks otherwise and goes about trying to find the answer with Dean Roy`s brother.
Very slow going with a twist near the end, but the end was a bit of a let down.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC
Posted on Goodreads

I had read The Roanoke Girls and throughly enjoyed it so when I saw this was available to request, I asked for it straight away, most of the book is slow paced but I got the feeling something might happen to pick up the pace and it did a bit and then fell back so I reckon the author was paralleling the storyline with how life goes in most small towns anywhere. There were hints throughout the story as too how the ending would be but one revelation did surprise me. The characterisation of the people living in Ludlow was spot on as I felt by her writing and descriptions that I was standing on the edge watching the story unfold.

This was an edge of your seats thriller, which keeps you guessing until the last couple of chapters.

Well it did me, anyway.

The characters are varied and well developed.

I thoroughly enjoyed this.

Having enjoyed 'The Roanoke Girls', I was pleased to be granted an early copy of 'I Did It For You' for review. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, HQ Stories - as always, opinions are my own.

This story follows a young woman, Greer Dunning, who returns to her small home town in Kansas. She has been away for over a decade, having left after the murder of her sister, Eliza, for which crime a man was executed. Greer finds her home unchanged in many ways - her family and close friends are there, the town's rhythms are the same - but a new murder has shaken the inhabitants. The slaughter of a young couple in the same place as Eliza's murder 14 years previously has raised the prospect of a copycat killer - and Greer finds herself wondering whether justice was truly done for her sister's death.

What Amy Engel does absolutely brilliantly in this novel is give a sense of the small town environment, packed with secrets, lies and old resentments. Everyone knows everyone else's business and the result is a claustrophobic, intense nightmare lying beneath the seemingly innocent small-town America setting. There are corrupt law enforcers, criminals who have got away with their misdeeds, alcoholics and those living with huge secrets. Dropping Greer Dunning into this mix - after a period of relative anonymity in the big city of Chicago - is inspired as it forces the reader (along with Greer) to work out the dynamics of the town. It isn't clear at all who can be trusted.

To a British reader, there's also something quite seductive about the simplicity of a small-town American childhood as described in this novel. There's a heavy dose of nostalgia in here for the open Kansas skies, the hot summer days, the drive-in movies, the freedom and the intense friendships of youth. As I grew up somewhere considerably less lovely and a whole lot less hot, I enjoyed the rose-tinted view of Greer and Eliza's past - and felt a real yearning for what had been lost.

Alongside the 'whodunit' element of the murder mystery (which is excellent). there is something much subtler and more tragic in Engel's depiction of the family's grief at losing Eliza. It's a loss that can't be computed, so it is heartbreaking to see the impact on the community and especially Eliza's family even after so many years. It is through this lens of grief that Greer unpacks the events of the fateful summer before Eliza's death, something that is at once affecting and cleverly done as Greer's perception doesn't always match the experiences of others.

I liked the character of Greer as she had an immense strength given what she had to face. As she built and rebuilt her alliances in town, I found myself holding my breath as I questioned her choices about who to trust. I genuinely wanted her to succeed - although the depth of her grief made it unclear what this could ultimately look like.

I'd recommend this to anyone who has enjoyed Engel's previous books, or those who want an intelligent and emotional mystery. The plotting will keep you reading until the end to find out the solution to the mystery - but what will stay with you is the beautifully-depicted study of grief, vengeance and the shockwaves that continue to reverberate in a small community long after a tragic event.

I would like to thank Netgalley and HQ for an advance copy of I Did It for You, a stand-alone novel set in the fictional Kansas town of Ludlow.

Fourteen years ago Greer Dunning’s sister, Eliza, and her boyfriend, Travis, were shot dead in their car. Roy Matthews was executed for the murders. Twelve years ago Greer left Ludlow and has never returned until now when two teenagers have been shot in their car. Greer never felt satisfied with the story of Roy being the only shooter so now she’s back for answers.

I thoroughly enjoyed I Did It for You, even if it is an incredibly slow burner with all the twists and revelations coming in the latter stages of the novel. Still, as Eliza would say, it’s the journey not the destination, even if I was a touch impatient for even a glimpse of the destination.

This is a novel about small towns, friendship and the consequences of trauma, but above all it is about people. Ludlow is a town where everyone knows everyone and their business, but there are still tightly held secrets waiting to be discovered. Greer hasn’t embraced life since Eliza’s murder and while it is never overtly stated she is obviously looking for something to kickstart her life again. She uncovers secrets and manages to make sense of what happened but in doing so she has to give up her own tightly guarded secret. It’s a bit corny to suggest that’s what will set her free, but that’s what the author implies.

On her return to Ludlow Greer immediately falls back into her old friendship with Cassie and Ryan. That’s an interesting dynamic and I’m not sure that I found it totally believable. They have a tight bond and seem like family, especially as Greer’s relationship with her parents is almost non existent. I found myself going along with and believing what Greer tells the reader, but time and again she gets it wrong. Is she unreliable? Not necessarily, selective is probably closer, but then, aren’t we all?

I Did It for You is a good read that I can recommend.

I Did it For You - Amy Engel

A good paced thriller, with some interesting characters (not overly likable - but I felt this added to the atmosphere of the book). A really good twist, and plenty to get your head around. I was so excited to start this book, as I loved the Roanoke Girls, however much I enjoyed this book, I did struggle to not compare the two books especially as I personally could not picture them being set in different settings, but this is just a personal comparison. Thanks so much Netgalley and HQ for this e-arc in return for my honest thoughts and opinions.

Bingeable. Would recommend this for fans of a mystery or thrillers. Quick and easy read for me. Not particularly likeable characters but intriguing plot.

OK read, the start was a little slow, and the characters were not very appealing, whilst the ending was not a surprise (a little obvious to be honest), there was a twist that helped the book..

I enjoyed the claustrophobic small town atmosphere of this book and really felt sympathy for the main character, but the ending was a real disappointment to me. I didn’t understand the motive, which was very thin, and it all felt a bit rushed at the end.

I liked the sound of this book, and was looking forward to reading it .However I failed to connect with the characters and just did not enjoy it ,really sorry but not for me.

Just loved this storyline. Greer had left her home town to get away from her parents who after their daughter had been murdered no longer seemed to want her around them. When two more young ones are killed in a copycat killing Greer goes home straight away. Her sisters killer had confessed, been convicted and executed but Greer always thought that there was someone else involved. She soon finds help where she wouldn't have expected it. What she will find out eventually will shock her to her core and there is no coming back from it.
A very fast paced and exciting read.

I found this book a bit of a slow burner ,set in Ludlow Kansas City ,Greer Dunning is back after the murder of her sister and boyfriend 12 years ago as it seems there is a copy cat killer at large as another girl and her boyfriend has been murdered and Greer was never satisfied that only one murderer was caught as she has always thought there were two .A good psychological thriller with a surprising ending .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC.

This book kept me engaged from start to finish. It was important for Greer to return to her family home to understand more about what happened to her sister. This is a story around so many things. The murder of a sister, the impact on the family and also the town as a whole and about friendship and love. The ending I did not see coming. Definitely an author I will follow