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Sloane Donovan Mysteries #1
To Those Who Killed Me
Disgraced ex-cop Sloane Donovan has relied on her job as a fitness instructor to keep her mental illness and PTSD in check—until she finds a close friend dead, apparently by her own hand. Obsessive demons triggered and doubtful of the official narrative, she teams up with Wayne Capson, a PI willing to bend the law, to find out who really killed her friend. The search leads Sloane from Vancouver's wealthiest enclaves to the street's darkest corners, questioning millionaires, tennis instructors, sex workers, former police colleagues—anyone who might provide answers.
Recalling the works of Jo Nesbø and Gillian Flynn, J.T. Siemens’s To Those Who Killed Me is a debut that provides a heavy dose of hardboiled suspense and introduces a fiery new heroine in crime fiction.
Recalling the works of Jo Nesbø and Gillian Flynn, J.T. Siemens’s To Those Who Killed Me is a debut that provides a heavy dose of hardboiled suspense and introduces a fiery new heroine in crime fiction.
392 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2022
4 people are currently reading
71 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 20, 2022
An exhilarating white-knuckled thrill ride that blasts out of the gates and doesn't let up for a moment. In his debut crime novel, Siemens brilliantly weaves together gripping tension and page-turning twists while showcasing a penchant for depicting the glamour and grit of Vancouver and introducing one of the most complex heroines I've ever read. Sloane Donovan is a compelling force not to be missed.
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January 25, 2026enjoyed reading this title. set in Vancouver, by a Canadian author, how can you go wrong.
April 2, 2022
Fitness instructor and former ex-cop, Sloane Donovan, is devastated when she finds her good friend, Geri Harp, dead in her vehicle. Although Geri’s death appears to be a suicide, Sloane doesn’t buy it and begins to investigate, despite warnings not to. The deeper Sloane digs, the more sordid and dangerous things become. Threats and attacks won’t stop her, though. With the help of private investigator, Wayne, Sloane keeps searching for the truth until shocking answers are revealed.
This is a gritty, hard-boiled crime novel whose graphic violence isn’t for the squeamish. Still, the violence presents an integral and realistic portrayal of Vancouver’s darker side, where poverty, homelessness, prostitution, and drugs are the only means of existence for some citizens.
Sloane is an interesting and complex character. For a reasonably young woman, she carries a lot of baggage, including serious mental health issues. When she’s off her medications, she makes reckless decisions, but this is also when she feels most alive and productive. There are plenty of victims and villains in this story, and those that fall between. This is a memorable story that will stay with me for a while, and an excellent debut novel.
This is a gritty, hard-boiled crime novel whose graphic violence isn’t for the squeamish. Still, the violence presents an integral and realistic portrayal of Vancouver’s darker side, where poverty, homelessness, prostitution, and drugs are the only means of existence for some citizens.
Sloane is an interesting and complex character. For a reasonably young woman, she carries a lot of baggage, including serious mental health issues. When she’s off her medications, she makes reckless decisions, but this is also when she feels most alive and productive. There are plenty of victims and villains in this story, and those that fall between. This is a memorable story that will stay with me for a while, and an excellent debut novel.
October 18, 2024
Sloane Donovan, a former Vancouver police officer who left the force under traumatic and unclear circumstances, and now struggles with addiction and mental illness. She has tried to put her past behind her and find work as a fitness coach, but she is thrust back into a world of crime and danger when she becomes the prime suspect in a gruesome murder investigation. When her best friend is found dead with a mysterious note headed "Those who killed me" and addressed to two unnamed people, she is determined to find out the truth, digging deeper into the sordid side of the city, plunging headfirst into women's shelters, crack dens, adultery, human trafficking, and more.
I was unimpressed with this one. On the positive side, it has some good elements of the police procedural, and Sloane Donovan is a complex, deeply flawed protagonist with the requisite bulldog streak that makes a great mystery hero. There are also a few vivid action scenes. The pacing is rapid, but there's an overwhelmingly large cast of characters who come and go, which left me having to jot down names in order to keep up, something I don't really want to do in escape fiction. That in itself isn't a deal-breaker, but the book also has everything but the kitchen sink thrown at it (as so often with debut novels), as if the author wanted to cram in every idea he'd ever had, in case there was no second book. This makes for an overcrowded, meandering plot. And for me, the sex scenes were either jarring and creepily prurient or gratuitous in their violence. That, on top of the well-worn tropes of the disgraced cop facing down corrupt or jaded police with the help of a ragtag bunch of private tough guys, had me finishing the book purely out of stubbornness.
I was unimpressed with this one. On the positive side, it has some good elements of the police procedural, and Sloane Donovan is a complex, deeply flawed protagonist with the requisite bulldog streak that makes a great mystery hero. There are also a few vivid action scenes. The pacing is rapid, but there's an overwhelmingly large cast of characters who come and go, which left me having to jot down names in order to keep up, something I don't really want to do in escape fiction. That in itself isn't a deal-breaker, but the book also has everything but the kitchen sink thrown at it (as so often with debut novels), as if the author wanted to cram in every idea he'd ever had, in case there was no second book. This makes for an overcrowded, meandering plot. And for me, the sex scenes were either jarring and creepily prurient or gratuitous in their violence. That, on top of the well-worn tropes of the disgraced cop facing down corrupt or jaded police with the help of a ragtag bunch of private tough guys, had me finishing the book purely out of stubbornness.
November 16, 2024
Sloane Donovan used to be a cop. That is until her mental health deteriorates to the point she can no longer do the job. Now, she works as a fitness trainer, goes for long runs, and drinks, as exercise and booze are coping mechanisms that put the demons to rest. Temporarily.
When Sloane’s wealthy friend with connections to a women’s shelter in Vancouver’s East Side dies by suicide, Sloane disagrees with the official narrative and launches an investigation of her own.
This is my kind of novel. It’s gritty, hard-hitting, and full of well-constructed prose that brings to life many of the ideas I wrestle with.
What happens to the people who fall through the cracks?
How can I make peace with a world that allows some to have so much, while others have so little?
Is there a way to be better, to do more, and contribute more than I am?
There are no answers given, but To Those That Killed Me is one hell of a ride.
When Sloane’s wealthy friend with connections to a women’s shelter in Vancouver’s East Side dies by suicide, Sloane disagrees with the official narrative and launches an investigation of her own.
This is my kind of novel. It’s gritty, hard-hitting, and full of well-constructed prose that brings to life many of the ideas I wrestle with.
What happens to the people who fall through the cracks?
How can I make peace with a world that allows some to have so much, while others have so little?
Is there a way to be better, to do more, and contribute more than I am?
There are no answers given, but To Those That Killed Me is one hell of a ride.
November 23, 2024
A wholly engaging local story, tense and grittier than I’d been expecting. I physically reacted, wincing often as I was pulled through the dangerous and unthinkable. Sloane Donovan is a character I’d follow into another adventure, but only from this side of the page…. And isn’t that some of the magic of reading?
July 4, 2023
This book was dark and twisty and I was hooked from the get go. I love how it was set in my hometown too. Can’t wait to see what Sloan & Wayne are up to next.
April 8, 2022
“To Those Who Killed Me” opens with former Vancouver police officer Sloane Donovan discovering the body of dear friend, Geri Harp. She calls 911, then desperately attempts resuscitation. Before first responders arrive, she has tampered with and stolen evidence. Her decision to investigate things her way quickly ignites a firestorm of impulsive actions with the most dire of consequences.
Sloane has issues with alcohol and lives with mental illness. In addition to drinking way too hard, she's not in therapy and doesn’t take her mood stabilizing meds. Several chapters in there’s a vivid flashback to a heartbreaking and traumatic timeline of events from five years earlier. It’s Sloane’s emotional tsunami … the big reveal!!
Sloane is obsessed with Geri’s death, and she will break almost any law to get to the truth. Thankfully she leans on Wayne, a seasoned private investigator with good connections and grounding opinions. He’s their voice of reason, while quickly learning Sloane’s intuitions are often more on point than not. They both go “all in” to prove Geri’s apparent suicide was an act of murder!
At one point Sloane decides to hook up at a bar with one of the suspects in her investigation. This unexpected and captivating sparring match is seductive, magnetic, and wickedly enjoyable. Here we experience the fusion of primal attraction, substance use, deception, and danger. The fallout from that night is momentous.
As the story unfolds, there are a few violent scenes, and this is not exactly a book I’d recommend to the faint of heart nor sexually repressed. At every turn the sleuthing is engaging and intelligent, with subtle undertones of dry humor and escalating instances of menacing encounters.
“To Those Who Killed Me” is a crime fiction connoisseur's paradise. J.T. Siemens leaves very little to the imagination as he takes us to some of the darkest and most deviant corners of Vancouver’s diverse communities. Anyone who has experienced the traumas of violence, addiction and/or mental health will undoubtedly recognize themselves in Sloane and the other authentic characters set down in this novel. Hold on…then LET GO…this is a breathtaking, intoxicating, and unforgettable read!!
Sloane has issues with alcohol and lives with mental illness. In addition to drinking way too hard, she's not in therapy and doesn’t take her mood stabilizing meds. Several chapters in there’s a vivid flashback to a heartbreaking and traumatic timeline of events from five years earlier. It’s Sloane’s emotional tsunami … the big reveal!!
Sloane is obsessed with Geri’s death, and she will break almost any law to get to the truth. Thankfully she leans on Wayne, a seasoned private investigator with good connections and grounding opinions. He’s their voice of reason, while quickly learning Sloane’s intuitions are often more on point than not. They both go “all in” to prove Geri’s apparent suicide was an act of murder!
At one point Sloane decides to hook up at a bar with one of the suspects in her investigation. This unexpected and captivating sparring match is seductive, magnetic, and wickedly enjoyable. Here we experience the fusion of primal attraction, substance use, deception, and danger. The fallout from that night is momentous.
As the story unfolds, there are a few violent scenes, and this is not exactly a book I’d recommend to the faint of heart nor sexually repressed. At every turn the sleuthing is engaging and intelligent, with subtle undertones of dry humor and escalating instances of menacing encounters.
“To Those Who Killed Me” is a crime fiction connoisseur's paradise. J.T. Siemens leaves very little to the imagination as he takes us to some of the darkest and most deviant corners of Vancouver’s diverse communities. Anyone who has experienced the traumas of violence, addiction and/or mental health will undoubtedly recognize themselves in Sloane and the other authentic characters set down in this novel. Hold on…then LET GO…this is a breathtaking, intoxicating, and unforgettable read!!
May 9, 2022
This was an extremely dark but exciting thriller. It brought to attention many of the difficult conditions those in poverty live under, specifically in Vancouver, BC, but these experiences could be applied to almost any city that is pricing many of its citizens out of it. Vancouver used to sit at #3 on the Economist's Global Liveability Index in 2015-2017 and has since fallen to spot #16. Rising rent, home and food prices make it difficult for many to live comfortably even with an above-minimum wage. This novel brings to light what can happen to those who are pushed out of their homes or unable to find regular employment. I appreciated the character of Sloane, as well as the connections between various other characters and how the story came together in the end. This case in particular hit close to home for our protagonist and I'd be really interested to see how she works on other cases in future books!
April 21, 2022
It was on a day off when I reached chapter 17 — and I opted to finish the book that day rather let my work week get in between me and this story. Siemens has crafted a taught, engaging story filled with supporting characters nearly as compelling as as the lead character herself. Sloane Donovan stands apart from the pack, and I want more stories. Fans of hardboiled noir owe it to themselves to read TO THOSE WHO KILLED ME.
April 20, 2022
Hard boiled detective novel not for the faint of heart. Our deeply flawed heroine also struggles with mental illness but is a tenacious investigator willing to put it all on the line to prove the 'suicide' of her friend is anything but. This book depicts the underbelly of Vancouver warts and all. It will not be for everyone, but fans of gritty detective/noir fiction will be intrigued.
May 5, 2022
I normally shy away from dark books but this was not as dark as I was lead to believe. It was an interesting, exhausting, alarming, soul bruising with a sampling of snorted laughter romp of a read. There is a light and there is closure. Looking forward to seeing what Sloane will get up to next!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews