The publisher's summary:
Elle Castillo once trained as a social worker, supporting young victims of violent crime. Now she hosts a popular true crime podcast that focuses on cold cases of missing and abducted children.
After four seasons of successfully solving these cases in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, Elle decides to tackle her white whale: The Countdown Killer. Twenty years ago, TCK was terrorizing the community, kidnapping and ritualistically murdering three girls over seven days, each a year younger than the last. Then, after he took his eleven-year-old victim, the pattern—and the murders—abruptly stopped. No one has ever known why.
When Elle follows up on a listener tip only to discover the man’s dead body, she feels at fault. Then, within days, a child is abducted—a young girl who seems to fit suspiciously into the sequence halted decades before. While media and law enforcement long ago concluded that TCK had suicided, Elle has never believed that. She’d hoped her investigation would lay that suspicion to rest—but instead, her podcast seems to be creating new victims . . .
The mystery is revealed and solved via information given by the guests on Elle's podcast as well as in narrative by Elle to friends and family. Most chapters begin with a transcript of a podcast. The rest of the chapter has Elle following up on leads that either she discovers or her assistant Tina Nguyen discovers. There are also chapters from Elle's perspective and TCK's perspective. I have never read an epistolary novel before. It was uncomfortable initially but I eventually became accustomed to the format. By the middle of the book I looked forward to reading the podcast transcripts as plenty of clues were contained in them. I am calling this an epistolary novel even though the definition is one where letters reveal the story. It seems to fit in my mind.
So who is Girl, 11? Eleanor Watson was 11 years old when she was abducted by TCK. She was the only victim to escape his clutches. After her escape there was a twenty year period where TCK stopped killing. Some people thought he was dead or in jail but Elle was convinced that he was still alive. She devoted the entire fifth season of her podcast into catching him.
Elle is a strong female character. She is a favorite among local police officers for finding evidence on cold cases. On some cases she worked alongside them and was a frequent visitor at the police station. Elle is married to Martin who was formerly married to Elle's best friend Sash. Together Sash and Martin have a 10 year old daughter Natalie. Martin works at the medical examiner's office performing autopsies. Now we all know both of them are supposed to keep their cases confidential. We all also know that it probably doesn't happen that often. I think Elle and Martin make a great team and would be perfect for a series of their own.
All in all this was a gripping read and I am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.
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