Hannah is bored. Her job at a nonprofit barely pays her bills but does leave her time to endlessly scroll various social media and gossip sites online. Her most recent relationship has ghosted her, and her best friend spends more time with a new boyfriend than with Hannah. All of this changes when #FindAnnaLeigh captures Hannah’s attention. Now she has found sometime exciting to do and uses all her time obsessing over William, an accused serial killer. Her obsession leads to her writing a letter to William and soon the two are corresponding regularly. What, if anything, will become of their relationship. After all, William is facing serious charges….

LOVE LETTERS TO A SERIAL KILLER Is one of those rare books where I disliked every character in it and yet couldn’t stop reading! In fact, I kept wishing one of the other characters (such as her best friend) would suggest therapy for Hannah where her obsessions could be clinically diagnosed and hopefully treated. However, one of the fun aspects of LOVE LETTERS TO A SERIAL KILLER is we never know just how Hannah will react to certain things- because her reactions and behaviors are not typically what we would expect.

We see a lot about Hannah’s inward turmoil through the letters and the trial itself. The letters between Hannah and William are my favorite parts of LOVE LETTERS TO A SERIAL KILLER. Tasha Coryell uses the letters well to develop the characters and give us a lot of background history as well as what their inner thoughts are. The trial itself is another fascinating aspect of the storyline, and I couldn’t help but think of the old pictures and documentaries I’ve seen about the Charles Manson girls. However, Hannah has her own internal conflicts raging inside of her and Tasha Coryell portrays these magnificently, despite Hannah’s seemingly bizarre behaviors.

LOVE LETTERS TO A SERIAL KILLER is Tasha Coryell’s debut novel. The story is oddly compelling, despite the very unusual premise. From the opening scenes, the reader knows this journey is going to take some strange and unexpected twists, and wow, what a ride it is!