Ava isn’t a normal teenager. Intrigued by death and the world around her, Ava latest enterprise is her roadside den, where she brings roadkill to monitor the rate of decomposition. When she stumbles upon the very real boy of a town boy who has been missing, Ava knows her hobbies could put her in an uncomfortable position and reports the body anonymously. As Detective Seth Delahaye begins his investigation, he’ll get help
Set in the early 80s and told primarily through Ava and Detective Delahaye’s POVs, Deadly Animals, the story is also broken up into parts, though I won’t say how to avoid potential spoilers. The extra POVs were a nice way to break up the story while also adding extra context and an additional layer of mystery to the plot.
Finding Ava to be odd, I didn’t immediately click with this story. For me it had a very slow reading pace, but I ended up finding Ava to be such an interesting character. She is quietly brilliant, and I enjoyed getting into her mind throughout the story. She was such an asset to the investigation and though she seems morbid at first meeting, her respect of living things and her morals are unmatched. She is such a fascinating character and original character, especially for a 14year old girl. I kind of hope we get a sequel to continue following Ava.
As the 2024 winner of the Val McDermid debut award, Deadly Animals is a dark, macabre, and extremely well written debut. It definitely won’t be for everyone and certainly touches on some darker topics and themes (TW: child death, animal death). While it’s being listed as a Horror novel, it’s more gruesome and darker theme wise than scary. Overall, this was a fantastic literary mystery that I strongly recommend.
Deadly Animals comes out November 12, 2024. Thank you to Henry Holt and Co. for my advanced copy in exchange for my review. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.
