I have to admit that a few chapters in, I was ready to put this one aside. It’s extremely gory, graphic and gruesome and spares no punches! But I just couldn’t let it go. I didn’t guess who the killer was until there was just 3% of the book left!!! Thinking back, the clues are very cleverly scattered throughout, but I think I was probably racing through the book, desperate to get to the punchline – when I got there, I did literally gasp out loud!! That does not happen often.
Kerri, Beatrice and Mike are all struggling to find their way in their chosen careers. Every month it’s a challenge to pay the rent, and too often they’re just passing ships in the night in the London apartment they share. Their kindly old landlady tries to look out for them as best she can though – when she sees them.
Told in alternating chapters from their differing perspectives, with interspersed chapters from a sadistic ‘Killer’ who believes they’re doing a service to society by ridding the streets of child abusers, the reader is drawn into the hunt for a serial killer, where all three friends seem to have some sort of connection to our murderer.
Kerri is trying to impress her boss and attempting to get-ahead in the cut-throat (excuse the pun) world of journalism. She feels she’s never taken seriously, and desperately wants a break at the ‘big’ stories. When she stumbles upon a body in a warehouse one night, she knows this is what she’s been waiting for.
Recluse Beatrice is a writer who’s lost her mojo. Her new agent is a bit of a wild card and urges her to take risks she’d rather not take, but when she discovers the story that Kerri’s working on, she realises that this is material she can work with.
And Mike – I found him such a sad character – works as a mime in Trafalgar Square by day and goes out as his alter-ego, drag queen Micha, by night. He’d love to be taken seriously as a performer, but doesn’t have the confidence to see an audition through.
Written with perfect pace and excellent characterisation, Paper Dolls is not for sensitive readers, but it’s definitely for those who love an in-your-face, ohmigod twist!!
About the Author: 
Emma Pullar is an award-winning and bestselling writer of dark fiction and children’s books. Her picture book, Curly from Shirley, was a national bestseller and named best opening lines by NZ Post. Her second picture book, Kitty Stuck, was illustrated by her talented daughter who was just twelve-years-old at the time. Four of Emma’s short stories have been published. Her dystopian duology, Skeletal and Avian, are popular with fans of the genre and Emma’s crime debut is out March 2019. She also writes articles for Bang2write and dabbles in screenwriting.Â
Find her on Twitter @EmmaStoryteller or Instagram @emmapullar_storyteller or www.emmapullar.com.
Thank you so much to Bloodhound Books for inviting me along for this Blitz. Take a look at what other book bloggers had to say …
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