As someone who is quite new to the thriller genre in general, Wicked Little Deeds felt like the perfect introduction to reading novels with this theme.
From the Blurb:
From its creepy town mascot to the story of its cursed waterfall, Burden Falls is a small town dripping with superstition. Ava Thorn knows this well — since the horrific accident she witnessed a year ago, she’s been plagued by nightmares.
But when someone close to her is brutally murdered and Ava is the primary suspect, she starts to wonder if the legends surrounding the town are more fact than fiction.
Whatever secrets Burden Falls is hiding, there’s a killer on the loose, and they have a vendetta against the Thorns…
Wicked Little Deeds is described as being reminiscent of Riverdale, and the comparison sticks. But Kat Ellis is, in my opinion, more successful. She weaves together a story full of ghosts, murder, mystery and teenage angst that had me desperate to read on.
Our story follows Ava, a soon-to-be eighteen-year-old who is still dealing with the trauma of being involved in an awful accident one year ago. Her nightmares appear to come to life when Sadie, a terrifying urban legend surrounding her family’s manor home, starts appearing to her. As students at her school begin to turn up dead, and evidence points towards Ava, she becomes determined to get to the bottom of things.
There are a number of characters important to this story, yet Ava is, of course, the main focus. As a result, we hear about characters that seem fascinating, yet aren’t always fully fleshed out. I would have loved to get to know Daphne, Carla and Nic a bit more.
Nevertheless, Ellis does an incredible job at keeping the reader engaged. She throws in tidbits of information that will have you trying to beat Ava to solving the murders, whilst also throwing you off the scent just enough to maintain an element of surprise throughout.
As a first foray into reading thrillers, I found Wicked Little Deeds to be a great start. It was fun, fast-paced and intriguing, yet it didn’t feel clichéd or over-done. Ellis has whet my appetite for more creepy stories and I’ll be sure to check out her other work too.
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