You Owe Me a Murder

17-year-old Kim never expected to plot a murder. But that was before her boyfriend dumped her for another girl. Now, Kim’s stuck on a class trip to London with him and his new soulmate and she can’t help wishing he was a little bit dead, even if she’d never really do that.  But when Kim meets Nicki, a stranger on the plane who’s more than willing to listen to Kim’s woes, things start to look up. Nicki's got a great sense of humor, and when she jokes about swapping murders, Kim plays along—that is, until Kim’s ex-boyfriend mysteriously dies.  Blackmailed by Nicki to fulfill her end of the deal, Kim will have to commit a murder or take the fall for one.

You Owe Me a Murder by Eileen Cook - release date March 5, 2019

I. Cannot.  Believe.  What I just read.  This book was exactly what I needed right now.  It is absolutely amazing and just "hit me right in the feels" as they say.  I loved every bit of it.  

You can already guess what happens in the beginning, how Conner is going to get murdered by Nicki and Nicki is going to hold that against Kim to make her do her bidding.  But from there the plot developed in some ways I did see coming and other ways that I didn't.  The side characters in this novel are one of the most interesting that I've seen.  Nicki is a total CRACKHEAD--minus the crack (LOL).  She is a complete nutcase (but it was fun reading about her).  And of course there is the love interest, Alex, and he is a total sweetheart.  He is supportive and caring the entire time and honestly? The romance makes the story.  If Alex hadn't been in this book and he and Kim didn't have what they did, You Owe Me a Murder would not be the same.  This romance makes the book so good and it has been one of my favorites in a long time.  So if anything, you need to pick up this book just for that.

One thing I really liked about this was how Kim wasn't just a stupid main character like the ones in horror movies that could have easily avoided their fates if they just put a little more thought into it.  Kim tries as best as she can to outsmart the enemy which makes it scarier that everything she does just isn't good enough.  That made it way more realistic and just in general just better.  The only thing I didn't like was when she had to "take a break" for his "safety."  Like it gets resolved in the end but I really hate that kind of plot device but whatever it's fine I guess.

5 out of 5 stars for tearing straight into my soul with this masterpiece of a book.  Of course I'd recommend, especially to people who liked One of Us if Lying by Karen M. McManus and/or Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson.  Read this and cry with me (LOL).  Took me 4 days to read.

-Taylor

Reviewed on March 3, 2019