Alex Marwood - The Wicked Girls

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HMW

Well-Known Member
May 11, 2012
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Sweden
Not that I pay that much attention to awards and the like, but I understand why this book won this year's Edward for ”Best Paperback Original”. Marwood can, without a doubt, write a gripping tale.

This is a book about two women, Jade and Annabel, who were once kids at opposite ends of the social ladder. They met for one disastrous day, when both were eleven years old, and ended up being the ”adults”, responsible for a little girl only four years old. The latter of the three eventually, after a series of misfortunes and bad luck, ends up dead, and the two older girls are both convicted and named by the press as ”wicked”.

Fast forward thirty odd years. Both Jade and Annabel have reinvented themselves with new names and identities. The court ruled that they are never to socialize again, for as long as they live. This has not been a problem for either, but a series of gruesome killings at a seaside resort in England brings – in a roundabout way – the two of them together again.

Just as in Marwood's other book, The Killer Next Door, this one contains a depraved serial killer, and just as that book is not about a serial killer – neither is this one. Ultimately, this books deals with neglect, redemption and sacrifice. Neglect on behalf of the children, both the ”wicked” girls, and the poor little girl who ends up dying. Redemption for the ”wicked” girls, both victims of a series of bizarre events and a society unable – or unwilling – to forgive. Sacrifice, as in the ultimate sacrifice of giving up everything for another human being.

For her next book, I hope Marwood excludes any serial killers. She doesn't need them to write a compelling page turner. As a matter of fact, they take more away from the actual story than they add in suspense. I also believe that unless her well of inspiration runs completely dry, Alex Marwood will be just as big as Sara Paretsky or Ruth Rendell, and rightfully so.
 

HollyGolightly

Well-Known Member
Sep 6, 2013
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Heart of the South
Interesting.... The Killer Next Door was on the shelf at the thrift store yesterday and I passed it by. So - it's not about serial killers - it just happens to have one in it? I ask because, serial killers scare me. But I like a good read for sure. The Wicked Girls sounds intriguing.
 
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HMW

Well-Known Member
May 11, 2012
145
744
Sweden
So - it's not about serial killers - it just happens to have one in it? I ask because, serial killers scare me. But I like a good read for sure. The Wicked Girls sounds intriguing.
On the surface, both The Wicked Girls and The Killer Next Door are about serial killers. But once you read the books you realize they are there mainly to propel the story onwards. What's really interesting is what happens around the serial killers and what they do to get their kicks.

Serial killers do not scare me. I think they are overrated and overused in fiction.

I hope that made at least some sense.