YVO’S SHORTIES #178 – The Curator & Knock Knock

Time for another round of Yvo’s Shorties! This time around it’s all about two crime series… One an old favorite and one a new discovery. I’m a huge fan of the Tilly and Poe duo, so of course book number three The Curator turned into another new all time favorite. And Knock Knock by Chris Merritt turned out to be an excellent start of a series I will keep following.

Title: The Curator
(Washington Poe #3)
Author: M.W. Craven
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime
First published: June 4th 2020
Publisher: Constable
Finished reading: September 5th 2020
Pages: 384

“Go and get some rest, Tilly – we’re gonna Sherlock the fuck out of this thing tomorrow.”

I decided to pick up this title on a whim as I thought it would be the perfect title to beat my beginning slump… Why? Well, I was blown away by the first two books of the series and it features one of my all time favorite character duos, so I thought I couldn’t go wrong with this third installment. And I was right, because The Curator did as expected and more. The holy guacamole is back!! M.W. Craven has written another absolute firecracker and I loved every single minute of my time with favorite characters Tilly and Poe. These books are dark, these books are suspenseful, these books are intense… And they all have that special humor and bantering between two characters that might seem like such an unlikely pairing, but somehow work brilliantly together. They bring that little something extra to what is already a fantastic crime thriller, and they have another nailbitingly intense and shocking case on their hands… Fantastic writing, brilliant plot development, ingenious and highly effective plot twist bombs and holy guacamole, that ending!! This series cannot go wrong for me and The Curator goes straight to my list of 2020 favorites. If you haven’t met Tilly and Poe yet, you are truly missing out on something special!

Title: Knock Knock
(Detectives Lockhart & Green #1)
Author: Chris Merritt
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime
First published: March 13th 2020
Publisher: Bookouture
Finished reading: September 7th 2020
Pages: 392

“Losing someone who had so much life left to live was tragic. It was the sort of thing that could tear you apart. He knew that more than most.”

I’ve been curious about this series ever since I first saw the reviews of Knock Knock back in March… When I saw that the sequel was available on Netgalley, I just couldn’t resist getting a copy of both as I thought it would be a perfect excuse to finally try this series. My strange obsession with serial killer thrillers is no secret to those who follow my blog, and this first book of a series I already know I will be following in the future most definitely delivers on that point. While it took me a little while to get in the groove, once I did I simply couldn’t stop reading until that final page. I particularly liked how we don’t just have the detective angle with Lockhart, who I warmed up to quickly by the way, but we also have the psychological aspect analyzed with the help of Lexi Green’s POV. On top of this, the killer itself makes an appearance more than once as well… The story is more complex and intriguing as a consequence, and the psychology angle is further used to describe and analyze the killer and possible motives more thoroughly. I also loved how Knock Knock offered multiple suspects along the way and still managed to pull a surprise final twist out of the hat. I was totally wrong with my suspicions! This ride will get intense, exhilarating and pretty twisted along the way… It’s perfect if you have a taste for dark and disturbing serial killers hunts like me. On to the sequel it is! I’m ready for more Lockhart and Green.