Love letters to a serial killer by Tasha Coryell

The opening chapter presents Hannah, calling ‘Help’, bound to a chair in a nondescript white room, hearing the approaching steps of her captor, and preparing to die. But this is not the first chapter of a thriller as most would expect, but a very funny and bizarre rom-com about a woman ludicrously infatuated with a serial killer.

There is never any explicit description of Hannah, but the references to her binge eating of takeaway and machine dispensed snacks, her shabby clothes, blanking by friends and former would-be boyfriend, and her obsession with social media in work hours, all contribute to the portrayal of a person who is failing in all areas of her life. Even her mother sounds disappointed during phone calls.

Hannah is one of ‘those women’ who write letters to serial killers in prison. There are a number of women writing to William Thompson, but the thing that Hannah loves is that he writes back . . .  because she is special, they have a connection. He wants her to be his girlfriend.

I loved reading this book. It is so funny, not in a laugh out loud way, but in a subtle ‘can you believe it’ way, that is reinforced by the narrator’s complete lack of insight into herself. It is like reading a person’s account of something and knowing that others have a completely different view of the event. Hannah is so wrapped up in her own world, she doesn’t realise how bizarre she is. We read her letters to the serial killer, and think how could he possibly want to have a relationship with her.  But he does!

This book is so much fun. It is clever, and satisfying in the way the mystery is resolved. But don’t expect an ‘edge of the seat’ thriller. It’s not that, more of a character expose shining a light on the insecurities we can all identify with in some way. This is a debut novel by Tasha Coryell. Please write some more!

Themes: Serial killer, Murder, Letters, Obsession.

Helen Eddy