Did I Kill You?: A Thriller Novel

by Harper Shaw

The monster never stops, and it’ll never stop…coming for her.
 At fifteen, Iris Sinclair was always the more outgoing of the twins. That’s how she convinced her more reserved sister to sneak out for a Halloween party.
 She can’t ever forget…
 She ditched her sister on the side of the road when she refused to stay in the car while the other kids smoked pot. Except it was laced with PCP. Later, high on the drugs, Iris went back, and found her sister… Dead.
 They never found the killer. Just a Jack O’Lantern near her sister’s head.
 It’s affected her all these years and it was enough to drive her to become a NYPD detective. But when her parents are killed, Iris finds herself returning to the estate she grew up on, and she quickly realizes one thing.
 The killer that was never found is ready to finish the job.
 The question is...is it her?

Genres: Thriller, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller, Mystery, Contemporary, Adult, Fiction

436 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 21, 2020

Reviews

[anouk♡ semi-hiatus · Rating 1 out of 5]

25% DNF
-

Nope, absolutely not.
This is really bad.

[where the pages bleed · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a disappointing read. The MC was a predictable no nonsense Female Detective from NYC. Just her whole personality was cringe. Anyway she did rub me the wrong way, just not a very likeable character. The story line was very very predictable, sister coming back the settle her parents estate after being gone for a decade. She also decides to solve her sisters murder as more girls start to show up dead. Just sorry nothing about this book was enjoyable. Should've been a DNF but here we are....

[Arnela · Rating 2 out of 5]

For someone who was a detective this girl was extremely clueless. She regularly put herself in risky situations knowing that this murderer was very likely to target her. In this one scene, she gets overpowered by one said suspect and she only manages to escape through sheer luck and the fact the guy was off his face on drugs. She missed so many clues bc she was too focussed on her own pity party. She broke countless laws to pursue suspects that had already been cleared in the hopes it might solve her murder case. She acted like a spoilt brat every time she didn’t get her way. Just a very annoying ✨detective✨
One of the most irritating aspects of this book was the eating and drinking. My god. I mean why wouldn’t I care every time iris poured herself some coffee or ordered a burger and fries? This, by the way, happened so many times that if I took a shot every time she ate or drank I’d be passed out drunk on the floor for a solid week and a half. I understand it was for the purposes of showing her every day tasks to create a realistic setting but I! Don’t! Care! Most of the time there wasn’t anything that followed her having coffee or food. Most of the time no dramatic revelation occurred, no emotions were explored, nothing life altering happened, it was simply a description of Iris’ bubble bath and a nice Chinese takeaway to help her relax.
Okay, what I did enjoy.
The twist at the end, though predictable, was quite well executed. It did actually have me on the edge of my seat throughout which I appreciated.
The mental health representation wasn’t great but it wasn’t horrific. At one point, I thought that the person behind everything was someone with DID and I genuinely started gritting my teeth bc I am so sick of the narrative that people with mental illnesses like schizophrenia and DID are criminals. Iris’ ptsd, delusions, and hallucinations, were a very interesting addition to the story but I would’ve liked a bit more depth.
The pacing was a bit erratic and the plot could’ve been a bit more polished, but overall it was alright.

[Janine · Rating 1 out of 5]

You mean to tell me this inept, mentally unstable and rude dumbo made detective? Poorly written. Ending ridiculous. Wish I DNF-ed this one.

[Sandra (bookishoxygen) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lmao, this book was really bad and it almost felt comically so.
The MC is a NYPD detective and probably the most unprofessional one at that. When she found a knive along with some other incriminating drawings by a suspect, she actually swung the knife around to get a feel of it and accidentally cut herself 💀 😂, then she quickly wiped off her blood and put it back.
GIRL, you gotta be kidding me.

Nah, I can’t. I can’t be serious about this book or write an actual review on it.

It’s an easy listen though so I’ll give it that.

[clumsyplankton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Obvious, boring, full of cliches, annoying characters

[Barbara Harris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nope. The only reason I made it through this was because I listened to the audio version and I'm too stubborn to stop once I start something. The writing felt like a teenager with big dreams attempted to write a story about an adult doing something badass. Seriously. The main character constantly reminds people she's a detective with the NYPD and walks around like shes better than everyone because of it. And the entire town acting hostile towards her is ridiculous. After 10 years, I don't care what backwoods town this is supposed to be, that's not happening. Not EVERY person in town is going to act like that. And the dialog, oh my lord the dialog. The killer says the line "It's time to take your medicine."MULTIPLE times in the same chapter. That sentence has no relevance to the story in any way. There was no explanation as to why any of it happened, what the significance of the jack-o'-lantern was, or really any coherent explanation of any important details. Just random throwaway comments meant to explain something, like they were after thoughts that were added in later.
The premise is good but the execution is not.

[Lize · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started off ok but didn’t go anywhere. It is far too predictable. How did this neurotic woman move up the rungs in a big city police department with all her psychological issues? Some surprises and twists would have been welcome. There were some big inconsistencies in the behavior of the main character. I already forgot her name. Also, who is going to take care of the horses?

[Courtney Ferguson · Rating 1 out of 5]

LEFTY MCGEE. Come on now. This entire book was disappointing and full of tropes but that name really grinds my gears.

[cherry madrilejo · Rating 2 out of 5]

My takeaways: You. Killed. Me. Coffee coffee coffee.. you killed me. Coffee coffee coffe. You killed me. Coffee coffee coffee to the nth power. More coffee.

[Christina Rothfusz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Iris never wanted to return to her small hometown. She left as soon as she could and never looked back - after all, the murder of her twin sister was never solved and half the town belief she did it. But now, forced back by the unexpected death of both her parents, she is now a NYPD detective and should be able to fend for herself right?

Almost as soon as she is back, the murders start, staged exactly like the murder of her sister, is she the killer after all?

This was just not great. The protagonist is a NYPD detective - hard core police women - who poses such inane questions as "where were you a couple of nights ago" - a couple of nights ago! Real precise interrogation techniques!

Nothing enjoyable about it, the ending sets them up neatly for a sequel, let's hope not.

[Naisinkoi · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 stars

The thought of losing a sibling leave alone a twin sister is quite heartbreaking. Imagine thinking and believing that it’s your fault to a point of doubting yourself. Iris has to go back to her hometown which blames her on her twin’s death and she has to solve similar murders with the same MO. Quite thrilling and intriguing story.

[Ascher Alchier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, I started off unsure. Holy pumpkin eater, I was shortly enthralled!
This author had me thinking it was everyone but...who it was. I guessed about 70% though then doubted myself. It was indeed a thrill based ride!

[Sabrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel bad but this character is insufferable. Didn’t feel sorry for her, didn’t like her, and the plot twist was so mid 🥴 for what ratings I’ve given other books, I simply have to give it a 2 😵‍💫

[Tracy Diaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not gonna lie I thought the sister really did kill her sister but plot twist, I really enjoyed listening to this, men will do anything but move on when they get rejected I swear. But that ending is there a part 2?

[Shae~• · Rating 1 out of 5]

Super predictable.

Iris is a NYPD detective returning to her home town because of the death of her parents. She fled town after the death of her twin and the entire town pinned it on her, sadly she wasn’t able to defend herself as she was high and could not remember a thing.




anyways….


How is Iris a detective and not notice the signs? Matter a fact how is she a detective with so many mental issues. It was written like a Wattpad story. The story within it self was super repetitive. The jack o lantern thing didn’t make much sense to me. She abused her power as a police. The ENITRE TOWN hated her? The entire town?
The dialogue boring, too much info dumping was done, wasn’t interesting in the romance, the meals and coffee breaks? That one part where she decided not to investigate and chose to read a book all night, why was that even included?

I figured it was the cop since we were introduced to his character.

[Audrey Demers · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a big pile of cliches, without any depth or logic. It felt like someone took a list of all possible thriller story pieces, and threw them all together haphazardly.

The main character is an idiot who keeps jumping from « lead » to lead without actually thinking anything through. The characters’ personalities are incoherent and inconsistent. The hallucinations are just weird and serve no purpose.

I was entertained at first, but it got increasingly cliche and ridiculous.

[Lilli-Blue · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I have like five minutes left on the audiobook and genuinely this book is one of the worst thriller books that I have read in the past year and a half of my reading journey. This book really did try to be a good girls guide to murder and failed epically. The twist interns in this book were very predictable. The romance aspect was OK at first and then he killed himself, or died or whatever, and there was just no point to add it in personally. The twist at the very end with the cop, killing Ivy and trying to kill Iris was just so I hated it really and truly I hate it when they put cops is the killers it just annoys the shit out of me. I wanted to DNF this book about halfway through it but honestly, I was on a road trip and it gave me something to do because it was already downloaded. Very disappointed.

[Annette Hatcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book just scrolling through thrillers, and it did not disappoint!! This is a great story for fall/Halloween. Iris comes back to her hometown 10 years after her twin sister’s murder. She had left her sister on the side of the road to go to a party with her friends and when she felt guilty to come back and look for her she was gone… but what happens now that she is a detective from New York City returning to her small town after her parents were killed to find that her sisters death haunts her in more ways than one!!! This story has lots of twists and turns and I definitely would have given it 5 stars but I did figure out who did it about 75% of the way through. But the very end kinda leaves you wanting more!!! Highly recommend!

[prettysureannereads · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars — gahhh

Did I Kill You? had an interesting idea, but the execution really fell flaaaaaaat. The main character didn’t act like a big-city cop at all, she had zero personality, and zero brain cells, kept making choices that didn’t make sense. The story dragged so much, I kept waiting for something exciting to happen, but it never really did. The twist was super obvious, and when the ending finally came, I was left thinking, “All that for THAT?” Honestly, this could’ve been a thirty page novella and probably would’ve worked better that way.

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I listened to this book and found the writing to be too repetitive. Often (every few chapters, there were repeat phrases over and over. It felt as if the author kept forgetting she already included details in the chapters before and would again, remind you. Also, the narrator would have an accent with a character and then drop the accent and go back into the accent. It made me pause. There was potential for a better story. Also, as far as police procedures, it was unbelievable.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

As we say in French: c'est éclaté au sol.

Ridiculous main character, a so-called detective that was not credible at all. Predictable intrigue, I had guessed from the first 30% who was the killer, the plot was not coherent at all and the interactions/relationships felt really fake and not realistic.
If it wasn't for the audiobook, I would have DNF'ed that one.

[Samantha Bevers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this. I love a good detective thriller, but this felt way too predictable and way too cliche. I love the premise of the story, but it felt like it was going in circles at times and just felt familiar. I’ll read more of her work, but hoping it gets more exciting with her books!

[Lucy · Rating 1 out of 5]

didn’t like this :( it was a disappointing read, a lot of characters were thrown to make the “killer” more shocking, but i simply rolled my eyes after the killer was revealed

never liked the main character, Iris, this girl lashes out on everyone

[Florence Njeri · Rating 2 out of 5]

What thrill? 😭😭

[Stephanie ((Strazzybooks)) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rtc

[Maureen]

Dnf at 49% so boringgggg

[Danique · Rating 2 out of 5]

Iris was annoying af and it was predictable

[Nailah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the story but there was a lot of jumping around and I knew who the killer was after the second encounter with them (as to not give it away). It was still a really good story though. I was engaged the whole time reading it.

[Lauren Footman · Rating 1 out of 5]

So close to DNF so many times but kept hoping it would get better (it didn’t)
Guessed the murderer very close to the start but the NYC detective couldn’t get it until multiple more people died and a ‘crazy’ guy had to tell her? Nope awful