Ava is not like other 14-year-olds. She has a unique interest in the rate at which different animals decompose. While out collecting roadkill one evening, she stumbles across the body of a fellow classmate, which leads to her making an anonymous call to the police. Ava’s curiosities don’t end there and she finds herself fully enraptured in the case.

DEADLY ANIMALS by Marie Tierney is a debut like no other!

With smart characters who are so steady in who they are and a creepy mystery drenched in folklore, I found this story so incredibly easy to visualize and found myself sneaking through the woods alongside Ava.

I loved the relationship between Ava and Detective Delahaye (give me more more more!!) and I’m hoping we get to see more of this duo in Tierney’s future work!

I docked a star for some pacing issues and for guessing who the killer was very early on, but, overall, this was such a fantastic novel!

Thanks to Henry Holt and Co for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: November 12