review: the butcher by jennifer hillier

Decades after a serial killer was gunned down by the chief of police, a true crime author is writing about the case. As it happens, her boyfriend’s grandfather is the man who tracked down the killer. He was hailed a hero, but Sam is suspicious that the brutal murders were pinned on the wrong man. Sam believes her own mother was a victim two years after the Beacon Hill Butcher was supposedly killed. While Sam looks into the case, her boyfriend Matt moves into his grandfather’s home and discovers a devastating truth.

The real identity of The Butcher is revealed within the first few pages, so the focus is more on if Sam will figure it out and how Matt handles his discovery. The devolution of Matt was fascinating and handled believingly. There are many tense scenes and times when you want to scream at the characters who withhold information from each other and cause even more problems. Even so, the characters (even the evil ones) are fun to spend time with.
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Gallery Books.